CAT's JANUARY

I have always enjoyed writing diary and thought that my blog could be wisely used for this purpose. I'm quite a nostalgic person and I can't stand the thought of forgetting. Forgetting what I've been doing, forgetting things that have happened, forgetting nice things people have told me and forgetting what I've been thinking... Because we DO forget, even if what happens to us at the time is intense and true and we think that 'this, I'll never forget'.

Let me start off with January, a month which turned out to be a gorgeous and very special month in my life.

In February M and I have been together for a year. I'm so in love. He's the best boyfriend I could ever imagine. And as our parents had never met, we thought we'd invite both sides to our new flat for New Year's. Already in September everyone agreed and the plan felt wonderfully natural. And when December 31st arrived M and I opened the door and all of a sudden we sat all 6 having coffee in our new blue and white sofa. Outside, the crisp blue December sky showed its best face. And as we'd expected (otherwise we would NOT have taken the risk to invite them), they got along really well and we all enjoyed eachothers' company. M was a bit nervous in the beginning and for just in case he'd prepared some funny games we could play. He loves quizzes and had accordingly prepared one about Brussels and one for each of our homecities. I was the chef in charge of the evening but really, this mostly meant delegating to our more-than-willing parents to prepare their bit of the dinner. And yes, they did really well - and exactly what I told them (for once). We had brought warm-smoked salmon from home and we had a lovely dinner. M's mum had baked a chocolate cake, which she also brought all the way from home - in the luggage on the plane! M's dad was in charge of peeling the potatoes, which he gladly did, poor man! The others all had slighly more elaborated tasks... It was wonderful to spend this evening together. M's family feels like my family and it was lovely to see that our parents got along (almost) as well as M and I do!

Back to work for three weeks. Cold, dark and windy, rainy and well, cosy inside - but sometimes the latter is not sufficient for your sane survival. So on the 28th we left on a 7-day holiday to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan! 5 hours away, Jordan is a destination we'll surely return to. Enjoying 28 degrees and a beach almost without other tourists - we were surrounded by magic. Beautiful! Apart from hanging out on the beach to the tunes of Jack Johnson in a mix with Oriental tunes, we visited the ancient city of Petra as well as the Wadi Rhum desert (the latter in picture above). We also went snorkelling offshore where we ended up together with loads of jellyfish, but more on the positive side - surrounded by white reefs and amazingly colourful little fish. And a tank deliberately sunk by King Abdullah some years ago as he is a keen diver. And most importantly I ended up eye to eye with a poisonous Stonefish! Luckily they are lazy creatures and don't move very much. One sting and it could be fatal.




As Aqaba is just across the guld to Eilat, we decided to pop over for some hours. Which we did, but the border crossing included a crossexamination about my whereabouts due to a stamp from Morocco in my passport. But eventually we got over. The crossborder differences were striking. Maybe one day we'll return for a longer trip, but in this day and age the presence of weapons and patrolling military did not give me a reassuring feeling. Quite the opposite. When we returned back across the border, the handsome Jordan borderpoliceman gave us a warm smile and said I have beautiful blue eyes. Just like their beloved King, who has blue eyes as well.