The furniture is of course still there. So are the things that we need on a daily basis, like our bed linnen, our toiletries, and all kitchen appliances (I'm waiting to pack those until the very last moment). But all of our other stuff is packed in boxes - books, magazines, clocks, paintings, picture frames, candles, DVDs, CDs, our old Nintendo. It was quite sad, although the cats love their new playground. Granted, it does make for some beautiful pictures.
The absolute worst thing about taking this 9-month trip is leaving our 'boys' behind. It's not just that I'll miss them, the way that I'll surely miss my family, friends, Gouda cheese and sit-down toilets, but what makes it worse is that I feel responsible for them. These are my pets, they are my responsibilty, and I am leaving them behind. Of course I am lucky enough to leave them in the capable hands of my parents, who are great cat lovers, have had cats for years, and who have a beautiful home - a home that used to be Bicho's home and where both he and Manchego have stayed for many a time when we were traveling. But we're still abandoning them and we can't explain to them where we're going or when we'll be back or why we're even leaving in the first place. One day we'll be gone and then 9 months later we'll be back. Perhaps the fact that my all-time favorite cat, Monti, died a couple of weeks before I was due to come back from UCLA, scarred me a little bit in this regard. Overall, it just really sucks.
Luckily I have a great boyfriend who took a day off to spend some time with us at home. We'll be moving our boxes to Almelo on Saturday and we're bringing the cats with us, so we won't have much time left to just be here with the four of us (Pesto usually keeps to his bowl in the study). Some of my favorite memories stem from lazy Sundays spent in our pajamas, watching TV, eating eggs, drinking coffee, with the cats on our lap. You may find me sentimental, but that's just the way that I feel about these things.
One thing that always cheers me up is food. I have so many wonderful cookbooks that I usually try to make something new every single day. The only exceptions to this rule are when I am too lazy to think of a new recipe or when I suddenly have a craving for something that I know will be good, like tofu tandoori, a dish that comes from a package and is not very good at all, but which I still like because of its nostalgia and the abundance of creme fraiche. To cut to the chase: it never happens that I like something so much that I'll end up making it again and again. But behold the two exceptions in the picture below: one is a dish called golden spaghetti (Source: The Silver Spoon: Pasta), a simple pasta with melted butter, cream and saffron, while the other is a dish comprised of oven-roasted tomatoes (Source: The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver) coated with garlic, thyme, basil, dried oregano, dried chili, sea salt, black pepper and olive oil. I have had these two dishes at least a dozen times in the last couple of weeks - they're that good. And look at the picture below - see how our beautiful pasta plate balances on our windowsill overlooking the chaos that is the backyard of our neighborhood - isn't it magical?
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