I hate telesales people!

I know it is only their job, but they wind me up!!! Today somebody called asking for Don Jaime Garcia at 13.00. I informed them that he was at work but the caller decided that Jaime's señora would suffice for the purpose of this call. She then went on and on without breathing for about 4 minutes about this super-duper, all singing all dancing, self-cleaning, four headed, super deluxe massager affair that they were giving away for free to me, as a lucky inhabitant of 121 C. Vinateros to help them advertise there new, young, fabulous company. The only catch was that we had to pay 11,95 for delivery. I told her I was not interested, she laughed and said 'but, mujer, why ever not? It's free! What number flat do you live in?" I repeated that I was not interested. She repeated her four minute non breathing rehearsed speech about the all singing all dancing miracle massager toy and then said so what number do you live at? I told her again, not interested. "Come on mujer, why not?" Oh fuck it! Send the chuffing thing! "Ok, so the delivery man will come tomorrow in the morning, what time is good for you?" No time is good for me in the morning, I work all day. But what about early in the morning, say 10? What planet is this woman from? I have a job!!!! I told her I was only home on Monday's and Wednesday's between 10 and 2. But what about lunchtime? You must go home for lunch? What does she think I am? A bloody funcionario? I WORK FROM 8 TO 8!!!! What about in the evening, say 6p.m? I WORK ALL DAY!!!!! Oh well, that is a pity, we are only delivering in your neighbourhood tomorrow, perhaps next time you can enjoy our special free offer.

Can you believe it? I told her I didn't want her stupid massager, she talked me into it by making me feel stupid for not wanting her super-duper free gift (for 11,95 but it will be on the market for over 50) and then told me I couldn't fucking have it because being a working woman, who in all honesty is in need of a massage, can not be at home to receive the bloody thing in the middle of the chuffing day! I should have just hung up. AGGGHHHH!!!

January Catch-up

There isn't much to catch you up on in this first month of 2008. So far the new year has been a bit shit to be honest. Reyes was spent in the village for a day with Jaime's family which was fun but I started with a bad cough. This cough continued for ten days before I went to see a doctor, who told me, surprise surprise, that I had a cough. No shit, Sherlock! She gave me codeine tablets which didn't work so I continued coughing for another week and then I got a bitch of an earache which brought me to tears and sent me off to the Emergency Doctor at 11pm on Monday last week. The doctor told me I had Otitis and Bronchitis and gave me some meds and set me back to my GP who then gave me the 'baja' so I stayed in bed for a week and got bored to tears. I went back to work today but the cough is still upon me and I'm soooooo fed up! Nedra came from Seattle to visit us folk she left behind in the Iberian capital, but I only got to spend about 80 minutes in her company cos of my dreaded lurgy! Being sick sucks.

December Catch-up

My Christmas tree was decorated (sample - left), curry was eaten with old students and colleagues (see Nick devouring curry, right), Justin and I did a lot of shopping, he introduced me to a fab market in the North of Madrid, near the academy, and I told Nancy about it ( a new addition to the BLC) and we have made marketing and Sunday Lunching a regular occurrence at the Moratalaz Flat. Justin and I went to see Delirium by the Cirque de Soleil in the Palacio de Deportes at the beginning of the month which was well worth the 52 euro entrance charge. The BLC had their annual Christmas lunch, we were short on people this year with only 12 of us making it out for dinner and drinks, but much fun was had and a lot of noise was made. The last men standing were the three Moratalaz Sunday Lunchers, Justin, Nancy and myself who somehow managed to get the bus home.

November Catch-up

I haven't blogged in well over a month, haven't really had the time, and all my blogging moments have been spent updating the BlcBlog, which I have taken over from Nedra now that she has fled the country.

To catch up with what happened in November, I can say that there was a lot of drinking and partying towards the end of the month to send Nedra off to her new life in Seattle. Sara and Tim came to visit and lots of fun was had with them, lots of eating out, drinking and general merriment. Here are a few choice photo moments for your enjoyment.

Nedra's Surprise Party

It took a fair bit of planning by Sam, Alex and I, but we managed to keep it all a secret, get most people to the venue on time and pull off a top dog Suprise party for Miss Nedra Rivera. With pressies and chocolate cake and cava to boot! I had some great pics and vids but stupidly, blondely, managed to delete everything. Thank God for David Wile and his youtube post though.

For full photo coverage you will need to check out my facebook profile x

Faye and Nedra's Almudena Day of Fun

Today was el Dia de la Almudena, the patron saint of Madrid, which meant a day off work and in my case a whole day to spend with the soon-to-be-departing-for-Seattle-Nedra. The day started with preparing an inventory of all Ned's books, DVDs and CDs (millions!!!) and scavenging around Nedra's flat for unwanted items that could be my new treasures. Half way through the 'inventoring', which led to many a giggle at (a) Nedra's general quirkiness and (b) my inability to pronounce certain names, general ignorance at certain authors/bands and a worrying case of dyslexia, we stopped to hop round the corner to Tandoori Station for much needed curryation. After the final leg of the inventory making, we headed out to La Riviera to see an American band called Wilco that I had never heard of, but someone we worked with couldn't use his tickets so we bought them and went to check them out. I listened to some of their stuff on their website and liked all the songs so I was optimisitc about it. I wasn't disappointed, it was a great gig. Here is a short video that I took at the show. Enjoy x

Not kissing in the movies on a Saturday night...

Jaime and I went to the cinema again in Jaime's village. Yes, Jaime's little village has a cinema with two rooms. The choice was El Orfanato (which we had already seen) and a Ben Stiller film called The Heartbreak Kid. We bought two tickets for the latter and entered the cinema. Nobody checks your tickets so you are free to roam about the cinema. Jaime pointed to a room and told me to go in and find a seat. I went in and did so. Jaime came in 20 minutes later when the lights were already off with a load of popcorn (hate Spanish Popcorn, it's salty). The trailers had started and the one for Heartbreak Kid came on. That's a bit shit, I thought, showing us the trailer of the film we are going to see. Then the film started and it dawned on us that we had gone into the wrong room. We had seen this film before. Jaime turned round, called me 'tonta' and then sulked. (Jaime's automatic reaction to anything is to blame somebody else) The credits started to roll and I told him to get up, we had time to move and swap rooms if he got up right then when we wouldn't disturb anyone. However, he refused to budge, he would rather watch the same film again than have to admit to everyone in the cinema that we have made a mistake. I'm not sure if he is extremely stubborn or just plain stupid! By the time he reached for his coat and popcorn, giving in to my constant bugging, the film had properly started and we had little choice but to stay put. Needless to say we didn't speak for the rest of the evening!

Kissing in the back row of the movies on a Saturday night

Jaime and I have just got back from the cinema and it is the first time we have been to the pictures in absolutely ages. The last time was when we went to see a critically acclaimed film called Hard Candy, which turned out to be pretty dull and Jaime was so bored and mad at wasting 2 hours watching it that he vowed never to go to the cinema with me again. That was well over a year ago so I think Jaime must have forgotten what he said. This time we went to see a new Spanish suspense / terror film called The Orphanage which was great. It was very jumpy and girls were squealing throughout the cinema which made Jaime and I giggle quite a lot. It was nice to be on a 'date' with my other half, we don't go out 'out' much anymore and it was nice to cuddle up in the cinema and hold hands. Afterwards we went for a quick beer and a bite to eat and then home.

The whole experience reminded me of a song I used to listen to on my record player by the Drifters:

Kissing in the back row
of the movies on a saturday night with you
holding hands together you and I
holding hands together (yeah)
smooching in the back row
of the movies on a saturday night with you
we could stay forever, you and I
we could stay forever, you and I
hugging and a kissing in the back row of the movies