It was just 9am when we were lying on the beach, but only a short time later very many people came and the beach was crowded, which is unusal for that time. Thomas: "It is weekend, we forgot, that the spaniards have their beachday." Most spaniards are very bubbly, men are always discussing, women chatting.children playing, laughing and shouting. The beach turns from a quiete into a vivid stage.

Suddenly I see someone beckoning to us: "Ah! J. and B. ." They both come directly to us, but can hardly manage to come through the masses of people. J. is from Thailand, B. is british, one is a flight attendant in the mid-twenties, one is a copilot in the beginning of his thirties. They get to know each other in Thailand and arranged to meet here in Sitges for their holiday several times. Many would find both of them very attractive!
All together we were sitting on two sunbeds. B. is an adventurous guy, and in a bitchy way he tells us what happened, but just to have some fun. J. is a more silent guy and doesn't talk very much. He asks whether we travel to Thailand. B: "When I was in Thailand, I as a european was often asked, whether I would like to have sex, even with children." J: "Because many sextourists from western countries want to have sex with minors and children, those devils." J. had also bad experiences with western sextourists. He continues: "When I meet some of those sextourists on the street, they unashamadly try to buy sex from me, but in a very brash way." After a short break J. carries on: "I grew up in a family of the middle class. My parents took care of my younger sister and me, so we had enough of everything and didn't need to land in the hand of the devil."

Both are scene clubbers, they go out and return not before 4 or 5am to go to bed, they have breakfast around noon and their dinner is of course not before 9pm. One time J. und B. showed us the nightlife of Sitges, the bars open not before midnight. The clubs were so loud, that we were not able to stand it. That is why we prefer to go out to a café or bar with them, afterwards they can go out and enjoy the nightlife!

J. and B. are very nice people, they need to be concentrated for their daily job in the sky and in their holiday they just act out their feelings. That is nothing for Thomas and me, but every man has the right to lead his life the way he wants. For me there is no "absolute" in life! Both know, that the beach is very crowded today, and tried hard to be on the beach early, however they didn't find a free sunbed. When talking to both of them time flies. We leave the beach and J. und B. take over our sunbeds. Back to the hotel for a short stop, then we usually have lunch in a chinese restaurant (with a kind and funny female owner), then we linger on the beach promenade for a while.

It is another beachday for us. Normally we stand up early and after breakfast we go to the beach directly. Short before noon we usually leave the beach and go back to the hotel, just before the masses of sun worshippers arrive and present themselves like sardines in a tin.

On the way back to the city for our small lunch Thomas would like to have a souvenir photo of me with the famous church of Sitges in the background. I am ready for it, but suddenly I start laughing:
This morning we were relaxing on a sunbed on the nearly empty beach, when suddenly a couple came closer. The man had some beach bags and other beach stuff and handed it all over to his wife, then he began to straighten the sunbeds, mats and cushions. Now we heard the wife talking: "No, not this one, the other one, the second from behind . . . . . . Yes, this one . . . . No, this one is dirty, we cannot lie on that one . . . . . . . . . . The sun shines from that direction later, the bed has to stand the other way round . . . . . ." Suddenly the wife handed all the stuff back into the hands of her husband and she said: "Here, take it . . . . . . . that way . . . that way . . . this way and this, this is how it should be arranged." The woman noticed our presence, turned around and ssw us reading german newspapers, she talked to us in german: "How can I live together with this man for over thirty years now?" We did not react yet, but the man looked to us too and added laughing: "How can I bear this woman for over thirty years now?" We started to laugh and they both laughed with us.
The woman suddenly came up to us and reached us her hand: "Hello, Helga." The man followed up: "Hello, Joachim." We introduced ourselves too. The atmosphere relaxed. We asked: "How comes you both met each other and married?" The man answered immediately: "I didn't want to, but she was behind me constantly." The woman responded to it instantly: "But you liked what I cooked." The husband looked to us and said: "That's correct!". I said: "Nobody is perfect, you cannot have all in life." The man replied: "Yes, that's right!" . . . . . . . Then we continued to talk to the couple about this and that of everydays life. When we left the beach around noon, we wished both of them a nice holiday and also accepted their best wishes for us.

Thinking about it later I found the couple very honest and likeable. There are other people, who present theirselves in the public as a happy perfect couple, like a shiny apple. But truly this apple is rotten from inside. Apart from that you should laugh, as long as you can laugh. You never know how long the world is going to be all right. You should breathe as long as you can breathe . . . It is possible, that you are not yet able to breathe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Or that you have to pay for breathable air, like for drinking water today.

Lao-Tse: "A rich man is one who knows that he has enough." And I say, you should let go what you should let go. Trying to hold on to something very intensely can have the opposite effect, that is especially valid regarding power and career.

- in the year 2015 - Chau Tran (Qing Lian)

(See also Documentation/2001/Journey/Spain)