Christmas 2011

Another year goes by and probably we don’t look the same; as the song says, another grey hair and more smile lines show up how we drift away from youth, but this doesn’t necessarily mean giving up our hopes and dreams.

Near the end of the year, I think it is a healthy habitude to review what happened during these twelve months.

The year 2011 started with a lot of things that were near to reach the goal. My daughter, who has been studying in Sicily (Italy) for three years, was near to finish her studies. My son was finishing at the high-school (in fact, in a semi-boarding school) and he was thinking of studying at the University of Navarra –800 km /500 miles – up to the north from Granada. He thought to study law and this university has got one of the most reputed faculties in Spain. On my side, I started having problems getting financing for research projects from the Regional Government and the second try for a collaborative project on “Systems Biology” with MSU/UCL/Purdue colleagues wasn’t successful. I assume that this hideous name: “crisis” is everywhere and started to affect research funds too.

Spain has gone through troubling times, especially during the last summer, in which it was at the verge of being intervened by EU in order to prevent from a defaulting that could make the Euro fall apart. Spain is the fourth economy in the EU (1380 billions of US dollars of National Product), and thus a failure to pay the debts would be a huge problem for the rest of European economies.

Regarding academic issues, as of January 2011, I thought that things couldn’t get worse, and thus they should start to improve --a little bit, at least-- in the following months –very optimistic as usual, I didn’t realize that Mr. Rodriguez-Zapatero had more “brilliant ideas” in the oven to make Spain get out of the crisis. The next “measure” was to lower the salaries of functionaries, which also includes university professors in Spain. In consequence, we started the new year 2011 earning 7% less than the preceding one. Don’t ever say “things couldn’t get worse”, since they actually can!

My daughter finally finished her studies and by the end of July she succeeded the “Laurea” and earned the diploma of “doctoressa ingeniera” at the Technical University of Palermo. The equivalent in US universities could be a M.S. in Civil Engineering degree. After some hesitations during the summer she decided to return to Palermo, where she has recently found a job in an Italian company dedicated to terrain evaluation. She and her Italian boyfriend have settled in Palermo and they are planning to get married next year. I must say at this point, as "a pedantic citation" of Prince Salina in the Lampedusian’s Gato Pardo: “a man at mi age, who think of him as to be still young…”, has to realize that he’s no more and never will be, when he sees the children leaving him and starting lives on themselves.

Regarding my son, he got a “not bad” grade in the regional examination to get admitted in the University, but –because he’s a lucky pal in this world— he managed to get a student seat on “Business Administration and Law” at the University of Granada. You need an “A” grade to have a chance to get admitted in these studies, but he managed to get in with only a “B”. I can’t imagine what he said in the interview, but surely we will know about the adventures and life of the “famous writer to be” when he will finish the book of “memories” that he’s writing in secrecy in his room.

At last, but not least, my life has been plenty of unexpected happenings during this year. I had one trial that I won and new professional expectations that will probably mean moving to the University Complutense of Madrid. People around say that the actual reason of my decision to change to another university in Madrid it’s because I'm looking for getting closer to the famous “Santiago Bernabeu”, the home stadium of Real Madrid. I can make sure to you all that this is not the main reason of my desire to move to the capital of Spain –but, anyway, the latter one has been a good guess!

With the new Government in Spain, the Science and Innovation Ministry has disappeared, and thus the issues related to science funding and new research projects are now managed by the Ministry of Economy. Therefore, might it make sense to live where the money is?

I don’t want to finish this twelve-months-life-briefing without mentioning a short and pleasant stay at the University of Koblenz, kindly invited by my friend and colleague professor Dieter Zöebel. I was accommodated in a typical German “guest-house” looking into the Mossel river; in the morning I could see the beavers and wild ducks swimming in the cold and clean waters of this magnificent river, which produces in its banks one of the best white wines of the world!

As usual, I’m writing this in the very last minute, on my way to home from Barcelona, during the Christmas eve. There is one good thing in that: this writing comes directly from my heart -–there is no make-up in it.

And from my heart too, dear friends, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and that the best of your desires and dreams could made true in the new year 2012.



New Year wish: May 2012 brings the freedom to the tough people that the anthem sings:

In Barcelona: mother's operation

I'm in Barcelona since yesterday to accompany my mother in a eye surgery, which she has to undergo urgently. She has been suffering from heavy pain and humour distillitation in one of her eyes for the last two months. Doctors say she needed a new surgery to replace the cornea since it is unrecoverable --the diagnosis was permanent edema-- in its present condition.

This is the result of a bad catarats surgery she had 5 years ago. We will stay here until Christmas eve if everything goes smoothly with her operation, as I expect it will be if no further complications appear after the procedure.

I'll like to be in an island far away from the rest of the world right now. I'm living one of these moments in which one can't see a clear path to go on with your life.

C'est ton nom (It is your name...)

The song I asked for in the small "bistrot" in Sacré Coêur and that the singer lady didn't know about it...

C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui berce mes jours et nuits | that cradles my days and nights
C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui partout me poursuit | which chases me everywhere (I go)
C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui vient se mêler à mes pleurs | that comes to blend my tears with
C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui trahit mon bonheur | that betrays my happiness

C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui fait que maintenant j'oublie | that makes me to forget now everything
Tous les noms | all the names
Qui ont rempli ma vie | that have ever filled my life
C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui revient s'accrocher têtu | which comes back to stick stubbornly with me

Sur le pont | on the bridge
De mes rêves perdus | of my lost dreams

Qui a tous les pouvoirs | which has all the powers
Qui prend tous les reflets | which takes all the reflections
Du bleu de mes espoirs | from the blue of my hopes
Au gris de mes regrets | to the grey of my regrets
Et quand il faudra vieillir | And when it will be necessary to grow old
Qu'il faudra se souvenir | I will remember
Mes yeux fatigués ne verront | my tired eyes won't see but your name
Encore que ton nom | always your name.

C'est ton nom | It's your name
Que je murmure ou que je crie | that I whisper or I cry on
C'est ton nom | It's your name
Qui dort sous ma folie | that sleeps under my madness
C'est ton nom | It's your name
Dont j'entends le troublant écho | of which I hear its disturbing echo,
Sans raison au bout de tous les mots | without any reason, at the end on every word
Que j'entendrai toujours | that I will always listen
Jusqu'à mon dernier jour | until my last day
Jusqu'à mon dernier jour | until my last day

Romance de Paris

It is already 6 years since that happened 2 us...

Ils s'aimaient depuis deux jours à peine | They loved each other only near 2 days ago
Y a parfois du bonheur dans la peine | There is somtimes happiness in the sorrow,
Mais depuis qu'ils étaient amoureux | but since they had fallen in love
Leur destin n'était plus malheureux, | their destiny wasn't disgraced anymore.
Ils vivaient avec un rêve étrange | They lived in a strange dream
Et ce rêve était bleu comme les anges | and this dream was sky--blue like the angels.
Leur amour était un vrai printemps, oui | Their love was an authentic spring time,
Aussi pur que leurs tendres vingt ans | so pure as their 20 naive years were.

[Refrain:]
C'est la romance de Paris | This is the romance in Paris
Au coin des rues, elle fleurit | It blossomed in the street corners
Ça met au coeur des amoureux | It puts in the lovers' heart
Un peu de rêve et de ciel bleu | a little of dream and blue sky
Ce doux refrain de nos faubourgs | this sweet pun of our inner city quartiers
Parle si gentiment d'amour | so gently talks of love
Que tout le monde en est épris | that everybody feels so passionate
C'est la romance de Paris | This the romance in Paris

La banlieue était leur vrai domaine
Ils partaient à la fin de la semaine
Dans les bois pour cueillir le muguet
Ou sur un bateau pour naviguer
Ils buvaient aussi dans les guinguettes
Du vin blanc qui fait tourner la tête
Et quand ils se donnaient un baiser, oui
Tous les couples en dansant se disaient

[au Refrain]

C'est ici que s'arrête mon histoire
Aurez-vous de la peine à me croire?
Si j'vous dis qu'il s'aimèrent chaque jour
Qu'ils vieillirent avec leur tendre amour
Qu'ils fondèrent une famille admirable
Et qu'ils eurent des enfants adorables
Qu'ils moururent gentiment, inconnus, oui
En partant comme ils étaient venus

Tango

Tango

Quizás nos quede debajo de la coraza
algo que un ángel pueda hacer latir.
Está ya congelado para no sentir,
ni despertarme a la flor ni oler la mañana.

Garnatí.

Licking my wounds in Tetouan

I just took 3 spare days left for a short vacation in Tetouan (Morocco). I came back to our place of these days: "El Reducto" ... alone!

At the moment, I have had 1 trial, 1 "examination" for a professorship in Madrid, 1 appellation for the unfair result, the next operation of my mother and a lot of pending work and problems, as usual.

Trying to get around of all of that, I escaped from my apartment for 4 days, forgetting my bag at the elevator door, in the garage. I was so anguished and craving for leaving that I left behind part of my luggage. I've had to buy 2 shirts and 3 shorts in Tetouan to survive until Sunday. Thankfully, I could solve everything for only 500 dirhams (<50 EUR), which includes tooth paste, shave foam and other personal luxuries that I needed to buy. Also, I called my neighbor to rescue the baggage, which luckily hadn't been stolen! Only the harira soup gives me some comfort tonight, after having had such a hideous adventure.