2009 is done.

It’s been a year of seconds, my second year in Madrid, the second time I thought there was a whispering chance of me becoming a more complicated Ms, the second time I was made redundant, I got my second tattoo and I visited the magical, beautiful, fabulously laid back Granada, twice. Plus, I owned two iPhones. For most of 2009, I did things as one of two, it was we as oppose to just me.

There were some firsts too, the first time I moved in with a him, the first time I had a family in Spain, the first time I attended a funeral in Spain, and the first time I was a victim of petty street crime (someone stole my iPhone and as if that weren’t bad enough, I was talking on it at the time!!!). For the first and I suspect not last time, I spent Christmas alone.

I became an honorary Aunty several times, and welcomed in to the world, Dylan, Emmett and Isaac. Meanwhile the decade that gave us the first black president of the United States (something I did not think I would live to see) and the iPhone (how I love thee!) has grown up and left home.

I’ve met, worked with and loved some crazy people this year and wish you and all of my family and friends, health, wealth and happiness for the coming one. 2009 has been an emotional roller coaster of a year for me and I’m quite glad it’s time to get off. All that is left for me to do is to draw a line under Madrid, I believe this is what the Americans call “closure”.

Much ado about nothing

I woke up at stupid o’clock totally freaking out, not just because it’s Christmas eve and it’s still raining but because there are less than 3 weeks to go! A total pre-trip panic, I’m talking full on blood pumping, heart wrenching, terrifying panic.

When I first considered doing the trip alone, the thing that most freaked me out was the thought of arriving in big, badass Bangkok all alone. I managed to solve this one by roping an old mate from uni into doing Thailand with me. Panic over? No.

What’s freaking me out now is all the rest! My total inability to concentrate on reading my guide books other than the food pages, which I must say I have been memorsing verbatim, you should hear my Thai pronunciation...”Kŏr Ƅlah jĕe.an nòy?” Plus the fact that I’ll be in Bali alone at the height of rainy season; it’s been raining in land locked Madrid for a week and I already feel like I’m drowning!

Concentration seems to be a huge problem for me at the moment, the only thing I can successfully say I managed to keep my eye on, was an outfit for my flight to Bangkok. This was another reason to freak out as I had a whole purchasing, drama, Ebay, fail. So instead of just going to the American Apparel website and buying the item full price like a normal person, I thought “no, that’ll bruise my budget too much!” Thus I went on a fanatical Google trawl to find a bargain, which I did.....in a size small. Now, those readers who know me, are well aware I’m no heifer but Madrid has caused me to gain a few pounds which I’m hoping I can shed between now and my departure, next month. Otherwise, just lash a belt round it, that’s my motto!

Then there was the hair growing thing. This trip was conceived as a 12 month jaunt, literally, around the world. However, we then discovered we were too old and decrepit for working holiday visas for Australia and New Zealand so it was condensed to three months. The logical thing for me to do with my hair over a 12 month period was to grow a big funky afro, n’est-ce pas? The last stop on the original trip was to have been Jamaica and I would have hot foot it to the hairdresser to have it converted into a Rhianna-esque mohawk type thing.Despite the now abbreviated trip, I continued with the hair growth, that was until last week when I admitted defeat after nearly breaking my arm trying to get a comb through it.

There seem to be so many variables to consider right now and I’m not concentrating on any of them, instead I’m just here attempting to do my own Christmas single and hoping for the best.

I took this photo surreptitiously when I had to take him to A&E in the summer, I guess that's what panic looks like!

What did I do?

If you look to the left you’ll see that I’ve had a varied career to date, this includes working as a TV shopping presenter for iSeeTV. The plus side was that I worked for an experimental company at the forefront of multimedia technology in the late 90s, the low side was that I had to wear a Debenhams uniform.

Looking back, it seems there’s no stopping me from getting in front of a camera (even in a shocking department store polyester uniform). In 2006, I won a BBC competition to present the weather for a week check out the links to see me in action - in my own clothes! The photo shows me and the other winners been interviewed for BBC local radio.

Xarini's Weather & What's on Guide

Xarini's Weather & What's on Guide 2

What am I going to do?

Lots of people have been asking me this since my split from him, so here's the plan:

1. Go home to be repaired by my mother, sister, aunt and all the other beautiful, strong women I'm fortunate to have as friends.

2. Prepare for my first Christmas alone (do not make a sad face, I'm looking forward to it!!!!!).

3. Pack up all my stuff and put it in a 1m square space in a storage facility in Madrid.

4. Don my switch pack filled with oh so stylish yet practical clothing and hot foot it to Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. I get to fly on A380, baby!

5. Have myself a time, get drunk, eat fabulous things, bronze myself on the beach, have random conversations in a language that no one understands, shop, try not to get killed on an overloaded ferry, not get arrested, do whatever the fuck I want, when I want! Maybe even break self imposed dating rule number 1 (stay AWAY from the Italians!!!!!). Oh yeah, and go see some temples and cultural things, innit.

6. Mostly use, iPhone and Facebook/Twitter/my new blog thing to keep you all updated on the above.

7. Providing I don't get imprisoned or die whilst away, and decide to actually come back, I will return to Barcelona, city of my dreams, and call it home until I get bored or heartbroken again.

Point one was ticked off in November, I'm now on to point two having today braved the snow/rain/ice cack outside to go buy Christmas dinner and drinks for one.

I love it when a plan comes together.

What am I doing?

I thought I would try this blogging thing as I'm unemployed and it's too cold to go outside. Basically I'm bored, I shouldn't be, it's Christmas, I'm in Madrid and next month I'm off travelling for 3 months! But I am bored, why? 


I moved to Madrid nearly 2 years ago having previously lived in Barcelona, and Mallorca. I'm not a fan of Madrid and would have left shortly after I arrived had I not met him and then had the misfortune to be promoted at work.

We did the whole thing, weekends away, met the parents, parents met the parents, got the flat, life in Madrid was bearable for a while. Despite the extreme weather conditions and slow walking people. Then he lost his job, I got made redundant, we planned a big ass trip to Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

Living together is one thing, being at home together all day every day, is quite another. He did moody and stroppy, I favoured bickering, and temper tantrums with tears. We soon realised that we actually had far less in common then we had previously thought. That was the end of that.

So here I am in Madrid, cold, bored, preparing for my first Christmas alone and counting down to flying far, far away.

As for the blog lets see how I cope maintaining it, Twitter and Facebook!