Chorizo and arugula fusilli. That wedding dress...

Ten boxes, with mainly winter clothes and shoes, were delivered to our house last Wednesday. They came from a big warehouse in Australia, fifteen minutes from Canberra, where they have been untouched for three years, since we moved to the Philippines in September of 2011.

When the truck arrived at the residence, I was thrilled - although the big container from Manila hasn't been delivered yet. The boxes were left in the television area, upstairs. With a glass of wine and the music of Chambao in the background, my old favourite  Spanish group, I decided to enjoy the unpacking process. You would think that opening boxes and unwrapping brown paper is a tedious thing to do. You might be right, but not for me. I knew that during that hour or two, with no kids to distract me,  I would be delighted with the things I would find inside of the boxes. 

One of them was my wedding dress. 

I took the dress to the terrace, at the back of my house, where there is always a lovely cool breeze  coming from the Atlantic, to get rid of the smell of humidity from the box where it was packed.

With the last sunshine of the Peruvian sun, my mind began to fly in time to a happy past, bringing  me back flashes of memories that made me smile.

... and suddenly I forgot I was in Lima.

I was actually in Madrid, in Almirante street, number 15. I was ringing the door bell of Nick's apartment. It was January of 2002 and I was 24, doing my articles in a law firm that belonged to my neighbour. The night was cold but very pretty thanks to the Christmas lights that were still hanging from the trees of the capital.

Nick and I were together for 15 months, a bit after we met on the Easy Jet plane in September of 2000. Our relationship was good, although it went also through some challenges, I guess like any relationship, but mine had two people from two different cultures, languages and backgrounds.

Nick loved Spain, its culture, the food, the people and his diplomatic life, obviously. He was totally integrated in my country, even he spoke Spanish like a native, without that terrible "guiry" accent. Of course, I helped him with the mistakes.

However, Nick had struggles to understand my dad, who was from Andalucia, South of Spain, and spoke very fast and exaggerated the pronunciation  of  the consonant "z". The night I introduced Nick to my father and his wife Inmaculada we were in a tapas bar near my dad's home. When we arrived at the bar, there was a tense moment. We needed to break the ice, but I didn't know how because I was nervous, so I drunk more wine. My dad, who noticed my state, decided to start the conversation with Nick and said, If you hurt my daughter I will cut your "balls", but Nick laughed hysterically and replied Of course! I knew Nick didn't understand a word of what my dad just said. I laughed so much that a couple of tears run through my face. Since that moment, my dad loved Nick as someone very special.

On the 12th of January of 2002, Nick called me many times during the day to confirm I was meeting him after work at 8.30pm. Nick's youngest sister, Marie Claire, opened the old door of the apartment. She was spending Christmas with Nick but also with Nick's parents, who came with her from Australia.

I recall lovely moments of those Christmas we shared together. One of those moments was the engagement night.

Nick kissed MC on the cheek and whispered in her ear, Wish me good luck! and closed the door behind him. I just heard the word luck and immediately thought the worse, that he was going to break up with me.

We came down in the lift, holding hands. My hand was sweating and his hand too; I was concerned, he was excited. Finally, out in the street, there was still an uncomfortable silence between us, quite unusual. I was anxious and kept thinking, This is the end, Esther, so pretend you don't mind. Nick was thinking the opposite, actually, Will she say yes? 

He stopped me by the arm when we reached the corner of Colon and Recoletos, right in front of the Colon statute. What the heck? I said to myself, and then, in the middle of the street, with people walking by, he gave me a pink rose and said, Follow me "around the world in eighty years" and our life together will be like Colon's, a big adventure. Would you marry me?

I did not expect it at all - mainly because I had always dreamed about that romantic moment in a different way! But Nick doesn't like cliches so he proposed in a cold night, with a noisy traffic around us, but in a very meaningful place. No ring, no romantic dinner.

We went back to his apartment and took his family out to a fabulous place where we ate delicious roast chicken with fries. We also celebrated our engagement with family and friends with a brunch at Nick's apartment a week after. The big heavy rock came years later, in our tenth wedding anniversary, and I bought it myself.

Ancient Chinese wisdom tells us that "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". 

So I said yes to his question.

This recipe is great for a fast dinner and cheap. I used the arugula from our vegetable garden as it grows beautifully.

• 1 red onion, peeled and cut in slices
• 10 slices of a good quality eating chorizo, such as Cantimpalo, cut in small pieces
• Grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• A bunch of arugula, but rocket is fine although it is more pungent
• Fusilli pasta, enough for 4 people

1. Cook the pasta according to the package in plenty salting water.
2. Meanwhile,  in a big frypan, fry the onion until soft and add the chorizo, cook for 2 to 3 minutes. 
3. Once the pasta is cooked al dente and drained, add it to the frypan and mix it well through the onion and chorizo. Add the parmesan cheese and stir. Add the arugula and mix it.
4. Serve immediately with a bit of extra parmesan cheese on top.

Chorizo and arugula fusilli