Today, we have received terrible news from Guatemala. El Volcán de Fuego has erupted and the situation is dramatic. Guatemala needs international help now. We hope it arrives early and the inhabitants can be attended.
It's difficult to talk about tragedies, especially from the distance, but today, The Grandma wants to remember Maya Bond, a member of The Bonds who has a real and closer relationship with Guatemala. In her honour and in memory of all people who are suffering this terrible reaction of the Nature, we are going to reeditate Maya Bond's post, made by her, which was published in February 2 2017.
Here it is...
WELCOME TO GUATEMALA: HEART OF THE MAYAN WORLD
Let there be freedom for the Indians,
wherever they may be in the American Continent
or elsewhere in the world, because while they are alive,
a glow of hope will be alive as well as a true concept of life.
Rigoberta Menchu
Guatemala is located in Central America; we have the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic. And if you want cold you go north and if you want heat you go south. You'll always find that you want.
Maya Bond in El Mirador, Guatemala
Tikal. This is one of the wonderful places you can find in my country. This area is called La Gran Plaza and we can find the Gran Jaguar that they do not allow to climb to preserve it.
In Temple IV one feels an ant over the infinite canopy of jungle. A curiosity, right from this point were filmed scenes of the Star Wars (Episode IV), being the headquarters of the rebels in Yavin 4 (precisely 4), one of the habitable moons of the giant gas Yavin. Also appearing in Apocalypsis Mel Gibson's tape recorded in the year 2006.
The Volcán de Fuego.
We can see it from the city and we are even an area where we constantly
feel many earthquakes, as much for the activity of this one as for the Tectonic foult that we have, that are many.
Panajachel. Its full name is San Francisco Panajachel and is a city of approximately 11,000 inhabitants. it is located in the Guatemalan highlands on the shores of Lago de Atitlan at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level. Volcanoes Toliman, Atitlan and San Pedro in front of Lago de Atitlan.
Semuc Champey.
To get here we have a long road of 5 hours that is worth it, but due to
the bad condition of the roads it is impossible to arrive before.
Among the main languages of Guatemala we find: Itza, K'iche', Q'eqchi', Kaqchiquel, Mam, Poqomchi, Tz'utujil, Achí, Q'anjob'al, Ixil, Akateko, Chu, Ch'orti', Awakateco, Sakapulteko, Sipakapense, Uspanteko, Tektiteko, Mopan, Popti' and Chalchiteko.
Languages not Mayan: Garífuna, Xinca and Castilian.
El Mirador.
There are no words to describe such a wonderful discovery, of which his
first excavations were in 1983. As a curious fact, the pyramid exceeds
200,000 cubic meters to the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Giza.
The indigenous peoples never had, and still do not have,
the place that they should have occupied
in the progress and benefits of science and technology,
although they represented an important basis for this development.
Today, The Beans have enjoyed another wonderful day together. It's very difficult for The Grandma to write a post today because although she knows that it's the end of a season, it's also the beginning of another one full of hope, effort and common help in the distance.
The Grandma has tried to share her knowledge with The Beans during some months and she's very happy with the effort and commitment demonstrated by all of them. Listening to old stories, remembering personal memories, talking about literature, history or music, she has tried to cheer them to start again in the wonderful adventure of learning.
Without temporal goals and without pressure only with the idea of enjoying every moment and giving the best of everyone; without the obligation of demonstrating anything, only with the intention of having an open mind to discover new cultures, countries and stories, The Beans have demonstrated that they are ready to confront whatever they want if they have the strong idea of doing it and the most important, that they are not alone in this difficult and long way to find a success route that determinates the closer future.
It's very important to trust in yourself to be ready to get over the difficulties but it's also very important to know and reaffirm that you are doing this travel rounded by your special family, fourteen different people with different characters, points of views and origins but with the same objective: learning new things every day and enjoying every moment, because it's not important where they come from but where they are going to arrive.
One day, a Bean will come, and the sword will rise... again.
Excalibur, Thomas Malory
Every member of the family has offered her/his colour to a multicultural family that has been able to work very hard every day. Every one of them is important and necessary because The Beans are a sum of all of them and they have left his/her footstep in this wonderful family that is called to do something fantastic in the closer future. Teamwork is the secret of their success, feeling important as a part of a totality and being missed when you're not with them, this family has shined a light in every colour of our hearts.
That's no way to say goodbye
The Grandma is sad and staying in Lisbon is a good way to try to change this sadness to joy. She loves fado and admires Mísia, one of her favourite female singers. They have a lot of things in common: both of them are adult, both of them have a life full of incredible stories, both of them have common Catalan origins and both of them like poetry and literature. The most importance difference between them is that Mísia has one of the most incredible voices around the world, and The Grandma has big ears to listen to her fados.
Some people say that The Beans don't exist and all is a legend although all the legends have a true base. These same people explain that this legend has been transmitted from generation to generation in an oral way across the Via Rubricatus towns with different versions talking about different families with different surnames: The Collins, The Addams, The Holmes, The Poppins, The Bonds or recently, The Beans.
Princess Leia and R2D2
All the versions of this legend have points in common, a reduced number of people who worked very strong to find something they thought they have lost: trust in themselves and force to continue fighting; an old woman with an undetermined age over the 90's, very rich, who loved explaining old-fashioned stories and was a fan of the Middle-Age, -especially Ramon Llull and King Arthur novels- and contemporany fiction like Star Wars films and The X Files Series; and who tries to follow their teachings.
From Ramon Llull, she learnt to think and question things without believing in official versions; from King Arthur, the value of the Round Table: honour, courage, loyalty, teamwork and enough imagination to create their own universe to protect themselves from the enemy; from Star Wars, she learnt to fight against the dark forces; and from The X Files to not give up searching the truth.
This is not the end, this is the beginning of a new season because the best is always ready to arrive.
Ask ev'ry person if he's heard the story;
And tell it strong and clear if he has not: That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory Called The Beans Family. The Beans! The Beans!
Camelot, Alan Jay Lerne
Fado is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best. But even that information was frequently modified within the generational transmission process that made it reach us today.
Although the origins are difficult to trace, today fado is commonly regarded as simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain traditional structure. In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and infused with a sentiment of resignation, fatefulness and melancholia. This is loosely captured by the Portuguese word saudade, or longing, symbolizing a feeling of loss, a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent lifelong damage.
This connection to the music of a historic Portuguese urban and maritime proletariat: sailors, dock workers, port traders and other working-class people in general, can also be found in Brazilian modinha and Indonesian kroncong, although all these music genres subsequently developed their own independent traditions.
On 27 November 2011, fado was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. It is one of two Portuguese music traditions part of the lists, the other being Cante Alentejano.
The Grandma has returned. After some months of living alone after saying goodbye to The Bonds and since September, 20 when she suffered an incredible attack and left to publish on her blog.
She is on fire again and she's ready to start a new journey with a new family.
She's going to leave Andorra la Vella today, her hometown where she has been skiing and visiting her old neighbours and friends.
Tomorrow, December 18, The Grandma is going to join with a new family: The Beans. She doesn't know a lot of things about them, in the same way that they don't know anything about her but MJ and M have been preparing the possibility of starting a new journey together, a journey plenty of adventures, good feelings and unforgettable moments.
She's very happy to start a new life with a new family because she has great memories about her past ones: The Collins, The Addams, The Holmes, The Poppins and The Bonds. She hopes her new family accepts her as a new member and they can travel around the world, discover new cultures and learning a lot of English.
Welcome to The Grandma's Logbook again! We follow...
The Bonds in their first travel together in Berlin
Today, The Bonds have closed a circle that they started in December 2016. After all these months, the family has been working together and very hard to reach their goal: be ready to live the experience of participating in a Cambridge Exam and try to get an accreditation in A2 or B1 levels.
The family has just received the good news and they are joyful and happy with their effort because they have got the objective.
The cercle has been closed and The Grandma is going to follow another way and the family is going to take different paths. The last day of the common work has arrived and today is the result of lots of hours of effort and illusion of an unforgettable family.
Now, everyone of them is going to choose her/his own future and being a Bond will have been a beautiful experience to remember and a starting point to take enough force to continue forward the next goal.
The Grandma is going to follow her own path, too. An unexpected future with lots of mysteries and questions and no answers but she is completely sure that it doesn't matter what will happen tomorrow meanwhile you are the owner of your future and the main responsible of your actions. The most important is growing and learning new things everyday and create new photos to keep in the album of unforgettable memories.
Thanks to all The Bonds because you have written another fantastic page in The Grandma's life. This is the end of the beginning because The Bonds will continue studying English and improving other languages. Come on Bonds, the future is ours!
It's all about quality of life and finding a happy balance
There's a legend, an ancient legend that people from Sant Boi tell from grandparents to grandsons. It's a story about a ghost of a mysterious woman who appears in a roundabout, near the entrance to the city.
The legend says she's the spirit of a Grandma who had survived the most incredible events of the 20th century, even she had survived to die burnt but one day, meanwhile she was driving by car, she decided to jump out through the window and stay in Sant Boi forever and ever.
Nobody never knew why she did it but the legend says it was very difficult to her to live separated from their families: The Collins, The Addams, The Holmes, The Poppins and The Bonds and she decided to join her spirit to them for the rest of her days.
Legends are material to be moulded, and not facts to be recorded.
The Bonds have returned to Barcelona after staying some weeks in Ireland. It has been difficult to leave the green country. The family has spent some incredible days in the island knowing its culture and sharing unforgettable moments with its inhabitants.
Today it's the D Day and the family goes to Sant Boi to do a B1 Cambridge Exam. It's an important day for the family because they have been working very hard to pass this exam but the most important is being ready to do it.
The Grandma has accompanied the family and, perhaps they don't know, but it could be the last time they see her.
There's more to life than passing exams, and paper qualifications can only take you so far. A lot depends on luck, and on being in the right place at the right time, which was certainly true in my case.
The Bonds have returned to Dublin to continue their English exam preparation. Eli Bond continues reading her beautiful Fiana Griffin's book Why do the Irish?
The Irish are the happiest people in the EC, according to a survey carried out a few years ago.
The happiness of the Irish often puzzles visitors who can’t see many objective reasons for great happiness in the State of the nation.
Both the troubled past of the Irish and their religious beliefs have taught them not to look for happiness in material success or possessions although they have begun to do so.
The majority of the population are Catholics and they have been taught that the main purpose of this life is to qualify for a good place in the next life and as a poor oppressed people they learnt to find most pleasure in the entertainment provided by each other’s company.
The Irish have a philosophical, humorous acceptance of the misfortunes of life, summed up by the familiar phrase ah "sure, it could be worse".
Source: Why do the Irish? by Fiana Griffin
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again. May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
The Bonds are still in Ireland. They arrived last month and they are preparing their Cambridge Exams in the Irish capital. Ireland is a catholic nation and this week is Easter, a very important festivity for the Catholiccommunity. This is the reason because of the family has decided to take some free days and enjoy this festivity visiting some of the most beautiful places of the green island. They are going to enjoy holidays during four days and after they are going to continue their exams preparations. Today, they are visiting Contae Lú.
Contae Lú or County Louth is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the village of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county.
County Louth is colloquially known as the Wee County as it is Ireland's smallest county by area. It is the 18th-largest in terms of population. It is the smallest of Leinster’s 12 counties by size and the sixth-largest by population.
Despite its fairly average total population, Louth is the second most densely populated county in Ireland behind Dublin, and the fourth on the island of Ireland, due to its small size.
County Louth is named after the village of Louth, which in turn is named after Lugh, a god of the ancient Irish. Historically, the placename has had various spellings; Lugmad, Lughmhaigh,and Lughmhadh. Lú is the modern simplified spelling.
The Bonds in Mellifont Abbey, Contae Lú
The county is steeped in myth, legend and history, and is a setting in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Later it saw the influence of the Vikings as seen in the name of Carlingford Lough. They also established a longphort at Annagassan in the ninth century. At this time Louth consisted of three sub-kingdoms each subject to separate over-kingdoms: Conaille (Ulaidh); Fir Rois (Airgialla); and, the Fir Arda Ciannachta (Midhe). The whole area became part of the O'Carroll Kingdom of Airgialla (Oriel) early in the 12th century.
A number of historic sites are in the county, including religious sites at Monasterboice, Mellifont Abbey and the St Mary Magdalene Dominican Friary.
The Normans occupied the Louth area in the 1180s, and it became known as English Oriel, to distinguish it from the remainder, Irish Oriel, which remained in Irish hands. The latter became the McMahon lordship of Oriel of Monaghan.
In the early 14th century, the Scottish army of Edward Bruce was repulsed from Drogheda. Edward was finally defeated, losing his claim to the High Kingship of Ireland along with his life, in the Battle of Faughart near Dundalk, by a chiefly local force led by John de Bermingham.
In 1189 AD, a royal charter was granted to Dundalk after a Norman nobleman named Bertram de Verdun erected a manor house at Castletown Mount. Later in 1412 , a royal charter was granted to Drogheda. This charter unified the towns of Drogheda-in-Meath and Drogheda-in-Uriel, Louth as a County in its own right, styled as the County of the town of Drogheda.
The Bonds in Round Tower, Dromiskin, Contae Lú
Drogheda continued as a County Borough until the setting up of County Councils, through the enactment of the Local Government, Ireland Act 1898, which saw all of Drogheda, including a large area south of the River Boyne, become part of an extended County Louth.
Until the late 16th century, Louth had been a part of Ulster, before being included as part of Leinster after a conference held at Faughart, in 1596, between the Chiefs of Ulster, O'Nial, O'Niel and O'Donel, McDonnel, on the Irish side, and the Archbishop of Cashel and the Earl of Ormonde on that of the English.
The 16th and 17th centuries featured many skirmishes and battles involving Irish and English forces, as it was on the main route to the Moiry Pass and the Ulster areas often in rebellion and as yet uncolonised. Oliver Cromwell attacked Drogheda in 1649 slaughtering the Royalist garrison and hundreds of the town's citizens. Towards the end of the same century, the armies of the warring Kings, James and William, faced off in South Louth during the build-up to the Battle of the Boyne the battle was fought 3 km west Drogheda. Drogheda held for James II under Lord Iveagh, but surrendered to King William III of Orange the day after the battle of the Boyne.
The area of Omeath was Irish-speaking until the early 20th century. A native dialect of Louth Irish existed there until about 1930, but is now extinct, although recordings have been made. Within the county 1,587 people use Irish on a daily basis outside of the education system.
I'm Montse Bond. I was born in Rome because there aren't hospitals in Vatican City. I'm from this country, the smallest in the world although one of the richest and more powerful.
I was a diver but I decided to change my working life and now, I'm a cheerleader. It's not easy to be a cheerleader in Vatican City because is one of the places in the world when the presence of women is limited but I like challenges. I love reading and make scrapbooking.
-Good morning, Montse Bond and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. It's an enormous pleasure.
-How's life in Vatican City?
-Well, it's like in other places but in a smaller version.
-Is difficult to be a woman there?
-No, it isn't. It's difficult to arrive to a workplace of responsibility inside the Diplomatic corps or the Catholic Church because, of course, all of them are for men.
-And?
-You must cross borders and search an your opportunity in other place.
-Are you optimistic?
-Yes, I am. I believe in believing. Without hope and trust in yourself you start your race in a position less than zero. You must believe. Believe in yourself; believe in your ideas; believe in your projects. If you don't believe, it's very difficult to reach something.
-Your message seems a coacher's one.
-I like coaching. It's something that I control and I'm good at this. I enjoy a lot.
-Who's your favourite coacher?
-It's impossible to choose. I like Gandhi, because he carried all his nation to freedom; Martin Luther King, because he was proud of his people and his culture and fought for them; Nelson Mandela, because he learnt how to live in peace and respect with her own oppressor and broke the chains that joined with him when he had his chance to do it and Pere Casaldàliga, because he fights for keeping the native cultures of Mato Grosso away from speculators and multinational enterprises.
-If you had to choose only one...
-Charles Chaplin.
-Charles Chaplin?
-Yes. Charles Chaplin put cinema on the top of art with his mute films. Expressing feelings without voice is very difficult. He was a master of communication, a genius of interpretation and a critic voice in front of injustice and abuse of power. He suffered a terrible prosecution because of McCarthyism and he had to exile. He was an uncomfortable voice in a world that only wanted to listen to comfortable and beautiful messages.
-You think that we are not prepared to listen to bad things, don't you?
-Yes, I do. People want to buy happiness and this is something that you can’t buy with money.
-Why do you think people are not happy enough?
-I don't know but I can see that, in general, people don't appreciate little things which are the most important: a sunrise, a good moment with your family or your friends, an afternoon making scrapbooking...
-How can we fight against this?
-Every person has his/her own vision of life. It's difficult to say a good advice for everybody but I can say what I do and I enjoy my life day and night, perhaps, this is the reason I'm a cheerleader. I want to share my happiness with the rest of the world.
-How is possible to change from a diver to a cheerleader?
-Why not? Searching a work is not a question of who you are, it's a question of what you are able to do, which are your skills and how much resistance you are able to offer. I had always wanted to be a diver but I had a terrible experience with a shark. Shark is a dangerous animal which lives in oceans and rivers and finds its prey with its sense of smell. I was swimming and I found one in front of me. It was a terrible experience. I thought I was going to die and since that day I think in life with other terms.
-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?
-It has been a fantastic experience. I'm very shy and when I was a new member of The Bond's family I feel a little strange but it was a feeling of five minutes. They're very good people and you can trust on them. This is very important.
-How is a normal day with The Bonds?
-We haven't got normal days. Every day is a new day and a little treasure that you must enjoy.
-How long have you been studying English?
-Since the Primary School. I speak Latin and Italian. Both of them are Romanic languages and it's very difficult to study English because we have a different phonetic.
-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?
-The most important for us is travelling and knowing new cultures because we believe in diversity, respect and tolerance.
-Which is your best memory with the family?
-It's difficult to choose only one but I remember when I talk about miracles and beliefs. It was a good experience that I remember with a lot of happiness. It was a joyful day.
-You like reading, don't you. Recommend me a book...
-I'm reading three books at time. One is about sinister and disturbing stories of people obsessed with blood; another is about Levi Strauss, the man who invented the jeans and the last is about Christopher Columbus who believed that the Earth was round and decided to sail west from Spain in August 3rd 1492. He was travelling for ten weeks when a sailor saw a bird, followed it and arrived to the island he named San Salvador.
-Which is your philosophy in life?
-Albert Einstein said that "creativity is intelligence having fun". I like this quote and I would add that you must be out of your own.
-Thank you very much, Montse Bond.
-You're welcome.
Sometimes I wonder where I've been,
who I am, do I fit in. Make believin' is hard alone,
out here on my own. We're always provin' who we are
always reachin' for the risin' star
to guide me far and shine me home, out here on my own.
I'm Noemí Bond. I was born in Voeren in Flanders, Vlaanderen for me.
My country is an incredible cultural site and since the Middle-Age, the Flemish influence in Europe has been very important.
I'm a quack, a person who can cure. It's something that I learnt from my ancestors because, perhaps, you know Flanders thanks to its famous art but we also had the most important European doctors and we've continued their knowledge.
I like reading and nature.
-Good morning, Noemí Bond and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. It's a pleasure.
-How can you cure if you aren't a doctor?
-Well. It's long to explain but I try to explain it in a short way: medicine is a the science that takes care of your health and psychology is another science that takes care of your brain. If you mix them, you have a quack.
-Do you believe that psychology helps medicine?
-Of course, I believe it. You must have a good attitude in front of diseases and illnesses because if you fall down in depressive thoughts, then you will have two problems: your disease and your brain.
-How important is our brain?
-The brain is the most important part in a human because it controls everything. We're a mix of neurological connections and if we have a problem with one of them, our body won't be fine. It's science.
-Which is your favourite scientific?
-I like Arnau de Vilanova. He was the most important doctor in the Middle Age. We don't know where he was born but some clues say that he was from Lleida because he defined himself like Arnaus Ilerdensis. Arnau de Vilanova was the first to write a book about medical treatments. It was Regimen Sanitatis ad regem Aragonum and he was known like the doctor of the kings and the popes. Arnau talked Catalan, Latin, Occitan, Italian, Arabian, Greek and Hebrew. Nowadays, the most important hospital in Lleida is named Arnau de Vilanova in his honour.
-The Middle Age is far away. Could you talk me about a modern scientific?
-Manel Esteller. He was born in Sant Boi de Llobregat and he works on the field of epigenetics in health and disease. He's the Director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program (PEBC) of the Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL), Leader of the Cancer Epigenetics Group, Professor of Genetics in the School of Medicine of the University of Barcelona, and Research Professor at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA).
-What do you think is the big discovering in medicine?
-Medicine has had lots but I think in the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher, who discovered DNA and it was first isolated in 1869. Genetics is the clue that can help traditional medicine to improve treatments.
-Why do you think people don't believe a lot in quacks?
-Well, it's obvious. There are a lot of people without any kind of knowledge and preparation who say that they're quacks and can cure you. If you are desperate, you are going to try all things that people offer you. The problem is when this offer is a fake.
-How can you fight against this?
-It's very difficult to do it. People believe whatever they want, and people see whatever they believe although the reality was different. If you listen to a lie thousands of times, you are going to believe it.
-Which is your advice for a newcomer quack?
-S/He should follow the scientific methods without forgetting traditional ones.
-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?
-Wow. We're a fantastic family and I feel very well with them. They are funny and honest.
-How is a normal day with The Bonds?
-We haven't got a standard day. Every day is different because every day offers you the possibility of doing different things and this is fantastic because you aren't bored.
-How long have you been studying English?
-Since I was in the Primary School. In Flanders we study Dutch, our language, German and French because both of them are official in Belgium. English is the fourth language in the school.
-Then, you speak Dutch, German, French and English, don't you?
-Yes, I do.
-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?
I have spent incredible moments with this family. We have laughed a lot and it has been a fantastic experience living with them.
-Which is your best memory with the family?
-It's difficult to choose only one but I suppose that the day when I talked about Steve Jobs. He's a person who I admire a lot. He was an entrepreneur and History needs people like him or like Levi Strauss, who in 1850, met some prospectors in California digging in a river wearing thin trousers and he made new ones with sailcloth for them.
-You like reading, don't you? Recommend me a book...
-I'm reading two books: one is about medicine in America before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the man who sailed from Spain to the west on August 3rd, 1492 and took ten weeks sailing until he saw and island and named San Salvador. Medicine in Azteca, Inca and Mayan world is amazing; and another about Audrey Hepburn, a person who I adore. She's a source of inspiration and both of us are Belgian.
-How can you define yourself with only a sentence?
I'm Irene Bond. I was born in Kraków, Poland. I'm a spy, a person who knows lots of important information and works undercover.
I had a lot of work and prestige during the Cold War but after the fall of the Berlin's Wall the world changed forever and I recycled myself being a computer analyst, another way to obtain important information. I like reading and cinema.
-Good morning, Irene Bond, and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. It's a pleasure.
-I've never interviewed a spy.
-Well, never say never again.
-Is a normal interview or this never had happened.
-This interview is for your eyes only.
-When we talk about spies we think in American, English or Russian agents but you're Polish...
-This idea was true during the cold war but nowadays every country has its important secret services. I'm Polish but when I started to work Russia was the URSS and the European map was another completely different from now. In fact, I can say that I came from Russia with love, because Poland was an active member of the Warsaw Pact, in fact this pact was signed in the capital of my country.
-What can you explain about Poland?
-When we talk about Europe, it seems that we're talking only about Germany, France and the UK. It's a terrible mistake because we're 28 countries in the EU, now 27 with the UK saying goodbye, and 50 in the entire European continent. Poland is a big and historical country. We existed since 1025 when the Kingdom of Poland was founded. We formed a great Duchy with Lithuania, later we were part of Prussia, Russia and Austria and we were determined in the beginning of the WWII when in September 1939 Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany. We were a Soviet satellite state and after 1989 we are a Democratic Republic, again. When you live in a place with these historical events, it's normal that you want to be a spy. We lived in a crossroad between two worlds and you realize that the world is not enough.
-Are you scared with your work?
-No, I'm not. Risk exists everywhere and my work is only a work. It's true that you have license to kill but nowadays the spies are intelligent computers and you must control and analyze the information that they offer.
-How's life living in a border?
-It's interesting because you receive lots of influences and diversity is something that offers you the possibility of having different points of view and this is something very important in our global world.
-You were born in Kraków, a city with a terrible past. How does the global world affect in the population nowadays?
-Kraków is nowadays a modern city which is considered as Europe's Silicon Valley. The city is the headquarters for important multinational companies and cultural diversity is something that you can see in our streets. It's true that Kraków has a terrible story. Everybody remembers how the members of our Jewish community were forced into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from which they were sent to German extermination camps such as the nearby Auschwitz and Plaszów. Auschwitz was declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 1979 and the most important about this declaration was the idea of keeping this horrible event of our recent history in our minds because it represents the human horror and the result of totalitarianism. Auschwitz was a view to a kill and now must be a view to peace, tolerance and respect.
-How is the life of a spy?
-A normal life. You must be cautious, you mustn't speak a lot and it's important that nobody remembers you. You must be like a spectre.
-And the personal life? It must be difficult...
-Well, only a person who works in this can really understand you but you must choose between having a personal or professional life. The spy who loved me had to choose it. It's not an easy election.
-Which is your favourite spy?
-Mata Hari, of course. She was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and executed by firing squad in France. A legend in my profession that demonstrated that diamonds are forever.
-And your worst enemy?
-Lots of enemies: Dr.No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Octopussy, The man with the Golden Gun, GoldenEye... but if I had to choose one, Jaws. Without any doubt. I was working in a mission named Moonraker. I knew Jaws a terrible highly skilled killed with an incredible strength. His name was in tribute to sharks. It seems that he liked shark, the animal which lives in oceans and eat fish, seals, crabs and seabirds. They find their prey with their sense of smell and they are in danger of extinction. Jaws had all these characteristics. He was very dangerous and caught him required an enourmous effort.
-Have you got any secret gadget?
-Well, it's not a secret. Everybody knows that I have a special clock with the last technology. It's called Quantum of Solace and it was a present of Pedro Bond, aka Pierre Beaund, who is an incredible watchmaker, for me, the best of the world.
-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?
-Very well. The Bonds is a very funny family. They respect my job and they don't ask me anything. I like them because they live and let die. For us, the family is the most important. It's the jewel of our crown, our majesty, and we are on our Majesty's Secret Service.
-How is a normal day with The Bonds?
-We haven't got a normal day because we haven't got a planning. We have an idea about our obligations but we can change all things in a second. All depends of us and this is something very interesting because offers you the possibility of being creative and non-static. You can not control tomorrow, and then you realize that tomorrow never dies.
-How long have you been studying English?
-I come from a family of spies. I was born in Kraków but I grew up in Montecarlo, near Casino Royale, where I learnt French and in London where I learnt English. A spy must know languages.
-Then, you speak Polish, English and French.
-Poland is a multilanguage country. Languages are the living daylights for us. Polish is the official language but other languages like German, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Czech, Belarusian, Romani and Yiddish are spoken in my country, too. I also speak German and, of course, Russian.
-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?
-When you have this kind of work, you need people who understand you and give you the opportunity of having your personal moments. They know that I can't explain as things as I know and they respect this, and this fact is very important because I feel comfortable with them.
-Which is your best memory with the family?
-We have lots of memories but I remember one day that I have to offer quick and efficient solutions to different problems that I didn't control. It was very interesting because offered to me the possibility of thinking in spontaneous solutions and this is not easy to do, although, I'm a spy and I'm a person who must be decisive.
-You like reading, don't you? Recommend me a book...
-I'm reading the biography of Cristopher Columbus, who sailed from Spain in August 3rd, 1492 to the west. After ten weeks, a sailor saw a bird. They arrived to land and they named the island San Salvador. So he discovered that the Earth was round. Perhaps, it could be interesting that Columbus had read the studies of Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish astronomer who talked about the heliocentric system. I'm also reading another biography. It's about a universal Polish, Maria Salomea Sklodowska-Curie, aka Marie Curie.
-You're a spy. Can you write a slogan for The Bonds?
-Die another day because you only live twice.
-One last question... is Irene Bond your real name?
-I'm a Bond. I'm Irene Bond, aka Skyfall, although my parents call me Adele.
-Thank you very much, Irene Bond.
-You're welcome.
Those things which I am saying now may be obscure,
yet they will be made clearer in their proper place.
Last Thursday, The Bonds received an unexpected visit. Meanwhile they were having dinner in one of the most delicious restaurants, O'Fogoon, in Dublin, Manola Bond arrived to stay some days in Ireland with them.
Manola Bond is one of the most popular chefs around the world.
Closer friend of Ferran Adrià and the Roca brothers (Joan, Josep and Jordi), all of them live near each other, she's a great expert in cooking and her dishes are recognized around the world as the best of the best.
In her restaurant, named Los Manolos and based in Sant Boi de Llobregat, 10 km south Barcelona, Manola offers a great combination of typical food of Catalonia and Extremadura. Don't forget to visit this restaurantwhich has been prized with four Michelin Stars and taste Manola's desserts.
The Bonds continue their B1 English Exam preparation and today, The Grandma wants to offer them a new webpage which is very useful to check their knowledge and prepare this exam.
