Una vida Holandesa en Mallorca

In Nederland was het vnl. werk en af en toe een (alhoewel erg leuk natuurlijk) uitstapje.
But last week we really went on holiday. No internet, no phone connection, house from 1781, 38C in the shadow......... Everything in holiday atmosphere:-)
The only thing missing was peacefulness as we went on holiday with friends and their two daughters of 22 and 6 months. But whatever, we´ll rest at the job (still no childcare, two weeks to go). Next week: fieldwork in Cadiz:-)

We needed to cool down a bit. Mallorca was getting too hot and too full with tourists. So we went to the Netherlands. Also handy for babysitting (no childcare in August here). Cooling down was NOT a problem..... Soooooo much rain. But it was nice to see you all again, I really enjoyed the barbecue, dinners, lunches and coffee:-) Thanks for all the company, I miss you too much for the rest of the year........

Last saturday I was invited to accompany friends on a flight over the Tramuntana in a 4-seat plane. Incredible! The weather was excellent, views great! Here a picture of Sa Calobra from the air.........

Now it really gets interesting.....
My country vs. the country I live in, it will be exciting (and a bit scary) sunday...... Lucky I have my orange vuvuzuela (and Spanish are not as enthusiastic with these kind of details)

This is the first time in my life that I am officially on strike. Okay, I am working (who cares if I work or not? well me when that paper does not get finished!) but anyway I signed up for the official strike. The Spanish government decided it was easier to lower the salary of it governmental employees (ambtenaren and contracts) then raise taxes on second, third or fourth houses, cars, or high (commercial) salaries. After 6 years (postdoc-ing) in Spain, I still EARN LESS THAN A DUTCH PHD STUDENT 6 YEARS AGO (I am sure they even earn more at this time). And for those that say that life must be cheap here: Well NO. Only my car, and food&drinks in bars, in the supermarket it is similar and clothes (especially children´s clothes) and many other things (e.g. IKEA) are CHEAPER in Holland. It is a disgrace how low the salaries (and pensions) are in Spain. And the politicians rob the country clean, millions stolen only in the Balearics, if only they´d return that.................
So I do NOT agree with this proposed 5% LOWER income. Fuck you Spanish government. Take my day´s salary and the penalty on participating in the strike and choke on it.

We will be almost a month in Svalbard. During that time we managed to get hindered (shops closed, uni closed etc) by a total of three national holidays!!! The last one was Norway-Day.
It is a lot like Mallorca-in-the-freezer here, weird people, inefficiency, need to know people to get something done, never friendly, have managed to get kicked out of restaurants, bars AND taxis. But Mallorca has one thing going for it. They are WAY better in celebrating things:-)

Okay, 12 degrees short form the pole. But cold, icy and snowy. And full of problems........
Will upload photos when possible. Keep an eye out for my Flickr page, Facebook and our scientific blog on:
http://www.eu-atp.org/wordpress/