Between 2009 and 2010

I've been back in Spain for almost one month now. I haven't been in my home-city all the time. I went to Madrid to spend few days with an excellent friend there and meet another good friend. I had a great time visiting museums, seeing the city, eating plenty of good Spanish food... The perfect plan. Then I came back home because I had the visit of a very good friend coming from London for a week. I have enjoyed a lot showing him the Basque Country. We spent some days in Vitoria-Gasteiz and some more in Bilbao. It was great as he's been the first friend to come of those I have met since I started living abroad. I still have some more days or possibly weeks in here to meet more 'local' friends. I do not yet know when I am leaving but it should be at some point in January. You know, back to the Middle East.

The year finishes and I am going to do a short review of it as I did last year. Well, in short: it was rubbish! I have had good things, of course. I have kept meeting great people, that's always the best of each year, each day I live. I also liked the move to Manchester, the moment and the reasons why I did it. A good friend told me once that the important thing is not the destination, but the reasons that lead you there. I love this sentence and it is one of my mottoes. This move has been one of the keys of the year I think. And to almost finish 2009, I have spent 2 months working in the Persian Gulf. Though in this case it was about the destination rather than the reasons that led me there. I really enjoyed but it was not what I was expecting nor what I wanted in my life at that moment (I shouldn't complain, I've been lucky after all, I know...)

Anyway, only a general good mood whose source is unknown has kept me in good spirit and fairly optimistic or not too down for most of the year. I have had reasons to be sad and even desperate. The year started with some health problems and with the bad news of the redundancies, which I finally took voluntarily. Leaving the job, my friends and everything behind again in the South-East of England was painful even though I thought it was the right time to do it. The job-hunting in Manchester was very hard and I almost had to give up... I could have got a job but I didn't wait and accepted the one in Bahrain instead. The experience there was good but I've been forced to leave the place I had chosen to settle down. That was bad and left me with a feeling of failure.

Now 2010 starts with the same uncertainty that 2009 has left. I am probably going back to the Persian Gulf hopefully for longer than the last time. Not really looking forward to it although once there I'm sure I will like it. The money is my main reason to go to be honest and that's not a good sign. I know most of the people work for money but I had never done it and there was always something that motivated me more. Well, not this time. I am a mercenary of the archaeology... After the project finishes, I have no plans, no ideas, no objectives. More projects may come up. I may try a new attempt to settle down in the UK and see if this time I find a normal job to pay the bills. Also, I am thinking about a journey once I gather all my money if I can afford it. I will see.

I'm afraid that this is all I have to report. Fairly bad 2009 and void ahead for 2010. Wish me luck, I might need it. Come with me, I might need you.