- Take a deep breath: Coge un aire fuerte. Lit. Take a strong breath.
- Breathe normally: Respira normalmente.
- Breathe out: Echa lo. Lit, 'Throw it out'. It's a versatile verb, echar. Used with taking a siesta as well. Inter alia.
Narurally,
I left my umbrella in the waiting room and had to go back for it.
This was unfortunate. For, when I'd arrived, I'd been asked if I'd
drunk a lot of water in advance. I'd said not, thinking: “WTF didn't
someone mention this to me before”. So, I'd been compelled to drink a litre of very cold water as fast as possible, which gave me
nausea. Worse, as the doctor pressed on my bladder I felt a very strong
urge to pee and, once I was dressed, I had an urgent need for a
toilet. The last thing I needed was to have to first retrace my
steps. Why didn't I go to the toilet first?, I hear you ask. Well,
because it was on another floor and I'd already discovered the lifts
took an eternity. I'd used the PROHIBIDOS stairs to get down to the Imaging section but didn't fancy emerging via the door right next to
the nurses' station. But the worst news of the morning was that the
pretty nurse in the Lab wasn't the one to greet me with her smile and
chat; it was some bloody new guy. I didn't even get to see my friend,
Miguel – the super-hyper efficient blood sucker. So it was a good thing I was only dropping off a sample and didn't need to donate blood. Which
reminds me . . .
DONATING BLOOD For those who know nothing of the British comedian, Tony
Hancock, here he is in his classic sketch on this theme. He was
heavily drinking by the time he did this and averse to learning his
lines. If you look, you can see him reading from cards
beside the camera. In fact, in one scene you can briefly see the
edge of the card. Nonetheless, it's one of his best. He later
committed suicide, of course. Well, he could hardly have done it
earlier, could he? . . .
LITTLE
PEOPLE: When I came out of the hospital, it was to find myself behind
3 nuns, 2 of them supporting the one in the middle. The 2 outriders
were tiny and the nun in the middle was minuscule, even taking into
account the fact she was bent over. I tried to snap them all in the
street but had to make do with just 2 of them at the clinic desk.
This was
confirmation, as if I needed it, of my long-standing theory that any
young woman below a certain height – say 150cm – is compelled
by law to become a nun. It's about time, it seems to me, that this was repealed. Unless there's only room in Heaven for very short
people. Like La Menina/The Dwarf.
There's been a mistake. We gave some gold, frankincense and myrrh to Miss Colombia.
FINALLY . . . For the first time in ages, the number of 'Followers'to this blog moved yesterday; it went down by 3. My guess is these are Galicians rendered incandescent by a comment of mine elsewhere that it isn't worthwhile for me, as a foreigner, to learn Gallego on top of Spanish. Apparently some nationalists really believe that I should. Astonishing. But they do like to be angry with everyone else. Nature of the beast.
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