Letter 19

Susan Solomont with Miss America Teresa Scanlon

“Summer time’s done and gone my oh my”

I always find this time of year difficult, the transition from summer and the joy of long days, warm weather and a more relaxing, easy going pace.  But no matter how difficult, I do make the transition to fall. It’s a little easier in Madrid because the weather is warmer, and it gets dark later in the day.  But the time has come. White pants are no longer appropriate, and the black pants are out of the closet.

Of course, we’ve been busy.  Here are some highlights.

Miss America came to the Embassy.  Teresa Scanlon from Nebraska is 18 years old.  She won the 2011 Miss America contest, and she has been traveling the globe, talking about an important issue, eating disorders.  As you can imagine, Miss America is very pretty, and despite her youth, extremely poised.  We enjoyed meeting her.  While taking pictures, she asked us if we’d like her to wear her crown (Yes!).  Instead Alan said, “Would you wear this crown,” and he handed her a Boston Celtics hat.

Continuing our September 11 commemoration efforts, the Volunteers In Action committee, together with the Embassy’s medical unit, held a blood drive with the Cruz Roja (Red Cross).  A Cruz Roja bus equipped for blood donations parked in the Embassy parking lot, and volunteers from the Embassy community give blood.  It was heartwarming to see how many Embassy colleagues and community members gave blood.  I’m a little ashamed to admit I’d never donated blood before.  I am afraid of needles, and I’ve avoided blood drives in the past.  This time I volunteered and it was simple and painless.   I was also very surprised by how good I felt afterward, not just physically, but spiritually as well.  For all who have donated before, thank you.  For those like me who never did, try it.  It feels good to be a blood donor and to help people this way.

At the end of September, Becca returned to Madrid, and Alan and I accompanied her to Berlin to watch her complete her 5th marathon.  Let me repeat that: Becca has run and completed 5 marathons (Boston, NY, Chicago, Cape Cod and Berlin).  Becca was the baby who didn’t roll over in her crib, and the girl who never ran a mile.  In her senior year at Tufts, she joined what was called, the President’s Marathon Challenge, an initiative of Tufts President Larry Bacow’s to advance health and fitness on campus.  Becca learned to train and run in her first Boston Marathon.  Her focus and determination has been inspirational, and we are in awe of her.  Perhaps there is hope for the rest of us to accomplish a feat like running a marathon.  This was our first time in Berlin, and because of the race, we didn’t tour this grand city as much as we wanted to.  We did spend time with our good friends Ambassador Phil and Tammy Murphy.  They were wonderfully hospitable and their kids are great.  We got a glimpse of their busy lives, and we should all be proud of the fantastic work they are doing as US Ambassador to Germany.

When we returned to Madrid we observed the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.  Last year, Alan and I discovered a wonderful Jewish congregation in Madrid with whom to celebrate the holidays.  For me, it was a very emotional time.  I missed the things that are familiar to me and I was sad throughout the service. This year was different.  We joined the same congregation for worship in a hotel function room in Madrid.  The Rabbi and many members of the congregation have become friends.  This year I sat with two prayer books in my hand (one with Spanish and one with Hebrew) and things felt more familiar.   I understood more in Spanish.   I enjoyed the Cantor’s voice (he’s a member and President of the congregation) and the Argentinean pianist who accompanied him.  During silent meditation he played everything from Beatles to new age waterfalls.  Spain is home to a small community of approximately 45,000 Jews. not very many.  As I looked around at those celebrating the holiday, listening to their voices joined together in this small hotel function room, I was reminded of our link to our ancestors and to the vibrant community that once existed in Spain.  Happy and healthy New Year to all.

Following Rosh Hashanah, Becca and my friend Alice, (who was visiting) took a road trip to Caceres in Extremadura, in western Spain.  Cáceres is a small city, dating back to 34 BC when the Romans were making their way across Spain.  Caceres has a small but very well preserved old city, Ciudad Antigua.  There are ancient palacetes and iglesias (small palaces and churches) everywhere.  The small, contemporary hotel where we stayed has a fantastic one star Michelin restaurant, Atrio.  I highly recommend it.

After saying good-bye to Becca and Alice, I resumed my work schedule, hosting another event in my Women’s Leadership series.  I moderated a panel discussion on social media and marketing.  The panel featured Javier Zapatero, President of Google Spain, Gwen Alston of MocaMedia, a company that uses social media to market and distribute documentary films, and Elizabeth Martin Shukrun, Cultural Affairs Officer at Embassy Madrid.  The event drew about 80 women business leaders in Madrid, and it reinforced my belief that the Embassy can help bring women together to discuss the issues and challenges we face as we strive to grow our businesses in today’s global business world.

I still take early morning walks with Stella, but she has decided she is bored with walking on the Castellana, so she and I have changed our route.  Now we walk along Serrano and the side streets that run alongside of it.  I’ve discovered that even though Madrid is a late night city, it also bustles early in the morning.  On my new route, I watch storekeepers prepare to open for business, and I walk streets that are being swept and washed.  Madrid is such a clean city. Restaurants and cafes are filled with people having breakfast.  No matter what time of day, they are always busy.  Spain is such a social country!

I love watching young children on their way to school.  Parents walk hand-in-hand with their kids, who are often wearing school uniforms.  The uniforms remind me of the children’s book, Madeleine:  “Twelve little girls in two straight lines, the smallest one was Madeleine.” In Madrid, little boys are in grey shorts, blue knee socks and button down oxford shirts.  The youngest wear smocks over their clothes, which make them look like little artists.  The girls wear smock dresses or plaid kilt skirts.  It’s all so sweet.  Even on days when there is no school, children are beautifully dressed, with outfits that match their siblings and sometimes their parents.  There are no Gap’s in Madrid, and very few kids wear jeans, sweatshirts or tee shirts.  It’s a bit of a throw back in time and a charming one.

I made a quick trip back to Boston to be home for Stephanie’s fall break and to observe Yom Kippur with Becca and Stephanie at our new temple in Wellesley.  I was very involved in the building of the new temple, and this year was our first High Holiday in it.  It is a magnificent and inspiring building, a truly beautiful work of architecture and art.  In the sanctuary, we are bathed by natural light and surrounded by the melodies and familiar faces of our home.  At the same time, I was struck by the fact that the observance of these holidays takes place the world over, whether in Wellesley or in Madrid.  It felt good to celebrate the New Year with my daughters and our friends, but I missed Alan of course, and our home in Madrid.

Time passed very quickly, and before I knew it, I was back in Madrid.  The week I returned may have been our busiest yet.

The streets of Madrid are papered with signs and banners, announcing the arrival of the Broadway show, El Rey Leon, The Lion King.  We contacted the director and creative genius of Lion King, Julie Taymor, and she visited with us at the residence.  We hosted a small reception with friends from the Madrid cultural community, and we really enjoyed spending some time getting to know Julie and husband Elliot.  A couple of nights later we attended the show’s premier, and we loved every minute of the entirely Spanish performance.  Hakuna Matata to all.

The same week we also attended the Prince of Asturias Awards in Oviedo, Spain, in the northern province of Asturias.  Now in its 31st year, these prestigious prizes are designed to encourage, promote and recognize the scientific, cultural and humanistic values that form part of our universal heritage.  The awards ceremony is presided over by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Asturias, heir to the throne of Spain, and it is a very big deal.  This year eight awards were presented, including to three Americans: Joseph Altman for Technical and Scientific Research, Howard Gardner for Social Sciences and Bill Drayton for International Cooperation.  In addition, one of our favorite artists, Leonard Cohen was awarded the prize for Literature.  Meeting Leonard Cohen was a thrill.  We attended a tribute to him at the Jovellanos Theater in nearby Gijon, featuring a brilliant array of musicians, including Javier Mas and his son, the Webb Sisters, Glen Hansard, and Nacho Vegas. We also heard his poetry read by the niece of the great Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, who inspired Cohen, and by Spanish Professor Andrés Amorós.  We were seated in a box next to the artist himself, and we could observe first-hand how moved he was by this tribute.  This was one of those amazing pinch-me moments we continue to have.

The Awards Ceremony itself was fantastic.  Alan was seated on the stage with the Prince, the Princess and the award recipients.  I was seated in a box that faced the Queen, Sofia. It was an elegant ceremony to which my words won’t do justice.  It was designed to recognize greatness in several fields.  Some of the recipients were invited to speak, and they gave beautiful remarks.  I strongly suggest you try to Google Leonard Cohen’s remarks.  Breathtaking!  When we left the Theater, the streets of Oviedo were lined with people dressed in traditional Asturian costumes and playing traditional instruments such as “gaitas”, which sound and look very much like bagpipes.  Everyone cheered, and all of us who attended the awards ceremony paraded through town, back to the hotel for a celebratory reception.  OMG (oh my God), it was wonderful.

Finally, many of you ask in your emails whether Alan and I ever have down time?   Yes, we do.  And some of you ask what do we do with our down time.  One of the promises Alan and I made to each other is that we’d try to have a date night, once a week.  Sometimes that means dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Madrid.  Occasionally we get to see an American movie with Spanish subtitles, but most of our downtime is spent at home on weekends.  Lately, one of our main activities has been to watch movies on DVD.  We just finished watching the latest episodes of Upstairs Downstairs and the series, Downton Abbey. They are both PBS shows and I suggest downloading, renting or buying these series.  They are wonderful and the only thing wrong with them is that there aren’t more episodes.  We can’t wait for more Downton Abbey, which we hear is coming in January.  Happy watching to all.

In closing, let me remind people that past Hola’s are available on the Embassy website.

Hasta luego, con cariño

Susan