Una Noche de Cultura

Friday night was a night of culture for me and my friends in Madrid. Clare, Nedra, Carmen, Greg and I all went to the Teatro Español in Plaza Santa Ana to see a Shakespeare production in English. The production was called Cymbelline, a tragicomedy which tells the story of Imogen and her secret husband Posthumus who is banished by the King. It's a long time since I have read or heard Shakespearean English and i found it quite hard to follow, thank God there were Spanish subtitles to help me out!

After the show had finished we rushed off in taxis to Alonso Martinez to see one of Greg's friends playing in a band called Bassando. They play a mixture of Jazz, Blues and Bossanova music and it was really good. Mark, Greg's friend, could play the saxophone, the Spanish Guitar and the flute and he also sang in Portuguese. Some people are just tooo talented!

After five hours of sitting on my arse I was getting tired and very hungry so Nedra and I wandered off to Tribunal in search of the Red Bar to get a bite to eat. Finally at two-thirty and with my belly full of chesseburger and chips I dragged my tired self home to bed.

Potter Mania

Harry Potter is back! Last night I finally got to see the fifth installment of the Harry Potter saga after patiently waiting ten days for a time when the BLC Potter Fans could all get together for a viewing at the original version cinema in Sol. It was well worth the wait! The film was fucking brilliant and by far my favourite to date. Imelda Staunton was perfect as Dolores Umbridge, I hated her and wanted to smack the bitch! The film was just perfect!

After the film we went for some drinks in Plaza Santa Ana to chatter about the film and the characters and all the usual post-movie babble that goes on. In all the excitement of the film I had completely forgotton that the seventh and final book was due out the next day. Nedra, who is always up on what is hot and happening in Madrid, informed us that Casa Del Libro was opening it's doors at 1 a.m (midnight in Blighty time) to start selling the book. I looked at my watch, it was nine thirty, could I really hang around town for three and a half hours to buy a book? Yes, I could!

Clare and I walked through the doors of Casa Del Libro at 12.56, the atmosphere was mental and the shop was packed. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and the paper has been ripped down and people are stampeding and I am crushed against the bookshelves and stepped on and elbowed and I am pushing my way forward and I am reaching and reaching and I have it, I have my book! The queue for the till (only one visible till is open, of course, this is Spain and organisation and preparation is not a strong point) is ginormous, I say queue but really that is not the right word since it conjures visions of a neatly organised line when it fact it was a more a herd of animals pushing forwards. I have never felt so violated as standing in that queue, hot sweaty bodies of strangers rubbing against me, some womans humongous sweaty breasts rubbing up and down my back as she kept going up on tip-toes and back down again, press cameras flashing everywhere and complete mayhem. We finally reached the till, paid for our books and with great relief fell out of the shop into the Madrid night with my book in hand and a feeling of euphoria running through me.

It was about time someone wrote me a song!

I received a message on MySpace from a band called SuperJimenez, who have written a song titled 'Faye' which you can listen to on their official website or on their MySpace.  The song is pretty cool and rocky although I am slightly biased since it shares my christian name. Check it out!

The New Seven Wonders of the World - Where is the Alhambra?

The global vote for the New Seven Wonders of the World took place in Lisbon on Saturday and I have to say that I am slightly disappointed and shocked by one of the entries that made the top 7. I can understand the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal, I can understand the Colossuem in Rome but I can't believe that the Christ Redeemer in Rio, Brazil which was built in 1931, was chosen over architectural gems such as the Alhambra in Granada, the Acropolis in Greece or Stonehenge. I imagine it has something to do with the amount of people living in that
part of the world who voted, or perhaps all the god-fearing citizens who wanted a symbol of religion to be in the top 7 modern wonders. But come on folks, is it really that much of a wonder in comparisson to the Alhambra?

Facebook Fanatic

I received an invitation in my Hotmail account to join facebook and I had heard people talking about it at the academy, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.  It is actually pretty cool, I have managed to get in touch with people who I haven't spoken to in years and years and find out what they are up to and where they are in the world these days.   The tool for uploading photos is also really easy to use and quicker than say Flickr or Shutterfly and it is great to be able to look at photos of people you used to go to school with.  I have become slightly addicted to playing about on Facebook and that is the reason why I have been neglecting my blog.  However, I am back, and I will try to keep this thing up to date!

Taming the Teens

So this July I have been sent to the north of Madrid to do English workshops with a bunch of teenagers which is proving to be hard going.  The kids are nice enough, the problem is that they are kids and I don't really enjoy screaming at the top of my lungs for four hours on a morning at a group of fifteen moody teens.  The school (Pinosierra) I am working at it is pretty cool though, and the teachers seem nice, although they don't really speak to me unless it's to comment on the fact that I am foreign.  I have survived my first week and I only have 3 more weeks to go!  Deep breaths!