Faye in Spain

I hate telesales people!

2008-01-28T13:46:00.000+01:00

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

2008-01-27T13:38:00.000+01:00

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

2007-12-26T21:15:00.001+01:00

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

2007-12-26T20:59:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-19T13:39:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-11T15:10:00.000+01:00

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...

2007-11-02T15:03:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-20T23:23:00.001+02:00

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

Our New Baby

2007-10-15T23:12:00.000+02:00

Last week it was out with the old and in with the new as Jaime and I traded in our old red Golf GTI (the one to the right of Jaime in the photo) for a shiny new (or new to us - 10 months old) red Golf TDI Sportline ( the one on the the left). She is a beauty and I could really tell the difference on the drive up to Jiame's village, so comfortable, so quiet, so sexy! I am so in love with the car,but not so much with what she is costing us per month!

Jesus Christ Superstar

2007-10-07T15:10:00.000+02:00

Last night we celebrated Nedra's birthday in style. We started the evening by going to see the fantabulous Spanish version of Jesucristo Superstar which I absolutely loved and want to go back and see again! Then we went to Gumbo's for dinner, a New Orleans style restaurant, but really it was supper since we didn't sit down to eat until quarter to 12 at night! Had some lovely food and lots and lots of laughs. It's just sad that it oculd be one of the last birthdays we ever get to celebrate with Miss Rivera, who has booked a flight home to Seattle for the 20th of November. Boo Hoo!

Catch Up

2007-10-07T15:03:00.000+02:00

So I know that I have been very bad at writing my blog over the summer and I have been paying more attention to my facebook page so I thought I had better update you on what I've been up to over the past few months.

The first week of September was spent down on the South-East coast of Spain on one of our annual camping trips. A new tent was pitched which was lovely and spacious and we went to many a beach soaking up the sun and swimming with the fishes. After that I went to Huddersfield to visit the folks and the friends and play Bingo (and win) with my dad.

Last week I started back at work which was a killer but I am happy with the classes I have got, if not with the timetable.

I think that is all that I can tell you about our summer holidays!

Yorkshire Airlines

2007-09-30T15:08:00.001+02:00

This fair tickled me, this did.

A Stroll in the Park

2007-08-29T21:21:00.000+02:00

Today, in a moment of madness, I ended up walking all the way home from Avenida de America to my house, which took me about two hours. As usual walking so far was not the proposed plan of action, I had decided to walk to Manuel Becerra to catch the 71 bus to my barrio but as always I miscalculated, went in the wrong direction and before I knew it I was on Calle Serrano. (can you believe that after four years in this city, I still can't find my way around!) So I though what the hell, I've come this far, I may as well take a walk in the Retiro and catch a bus at the other side of the park. By the time I had crossed the park, it was only another four metro stops to my home, and although it was all uphill and the sun was beating down, I decided I may as well go the distance.

My unplanned wandering around the city was very pleasant, I hardly ever go into the centre or the park and I forget how beautiful Madrid really is. And how is it that I can live so close to such an amazing green space and never pop in for a quick stroll around? I get so caught up in the hecticness of city life that I sometimes forget to take the time to enjoy it and it really is worth taking the time to do! And on this occasion, not only did I have a lovely walk, get some much needed exercise and see the city a little, but I also got to finally finish A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens while I was walking home. (Dangerous I know, but I can't help but walk and read, as you know I have 1001 books to read, and I have only just finished number 70!)

Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-23T20:07:00.000+02:00

The waiting is over and I can breathe again! I have passed the DELTA! What a relief and a weight off my shoulders before I go away on holiday. I am so happy and I have more letters to put after my name if I wish to be Poncy! I introduce you to Miss Faye Hobson, BA, CELTA, DELTA. Mmmm, perhaps I should think about doing a Masters next, I have 20% of it already with the DELTA under my belt.

Birthday Celebrations al estilo Spanglish

2007-08-19T19:28:00.000+02:00

The birthday celebrations began last night with some lovely fish and chips in a British fish shop I stumbled across one day last month when I got lost on the way back from a class in the centre. The café, which goes by the apt name of Fat Tony's, serves all sorts of coronary-inducing delights to please the hoards of ex-pats and Brit holiday-makers in the Spanish capital.

After the fish and chip supper we went to Santa Ana to sit on the terrace and sup a few glasses of Tinto de Verano and open presents and generally laze about chatting and catching up. Then as the terraza closed the last men standing went on for a final drink in a bar near the plaza, which for me was a very refreshing mojito.

Birthday Dinner

2007-08-15T14:48:00.000+02:00

Just been out for a lovely meal with Jaime for his birthday to an Asian restaurant that we have been meaning to try for years but we have never got round to it. It's called Bamboo and it is not too far from our abode. We had the Indo-China Taster Menu for two and there was so much food that I can't move! Very nice though and the service was fast, friendly and efficient, something that is not always easy to find in the capital!

Life begins at forty...

2007-08-14T13:37:00.001+02:00

Happy 40th Birthday to Jaime, who came into the world on this day back in 1967 and into my life in 2003 and I hope we will be able to celebrate at least another 40 years of life together.

A weekend away

2007-08-12T23:36:00.000+02:00

Jaime and I have just got back from a lovely. long weekend in the pueblo with Jaime's parents. As you can see, the estate is looking particularly picturesque at the moment with all the sunflowers that they have planted. We had a great time relaxing and not having to worry about work. I enjoyed pottering around the garden and down by the river checking out the orchard and the little baby chickens which were born a couple of days ago. It was fantastic being able to sleep a full night at last without having to wake up to disentangle yourself from sweaty sheets in the Madrid heat. We had great food as always and Jaime's mum prepared us some river crabs since Jaime loves them so much. On Saturday we spent the day on the beach at Liencres where I caught painful sunburn on the parts I forgot to cream, namely my buttocks! Ouch!

Una Noche de Cultura

2007-07-29T11:51:00.000+02:00

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

2007-07-21T14:24:00.001+02:00

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!

2007-07-11T23:23:00.002+02:00

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?

2007-07-09T21:50:00.000+02:00

The global vote for the Ne w Sev en 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

2007-07-09T21:38:00.002+02:00

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

2007-07-09T21:30:00.000+02:00

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!

How the f # & k ?

2007-06-18T22:40:00.001+02:00

Britain's Got Talent.

2007-06-18T22:27:00.000+02:00

For the last few days I have been completely mesmorised by youtube links to a British TV show called Britain's got talent. The aim of the show was to find somebody to sing in the Variety Show in front of the queen and on Sunday, Paul Potts was announced the winner of the show. I started watching the audition videos and I was really impressed by Paul singing Nessun Dorma. I have never really liked opera, I always thought of it as just warbling noise but this audition tape leaves me in tears every time I watch it and I think Mr Potts may have converted to me to Opera Tenors. What I like most about this video is the look of low expectation from the judges when Paul announces that he is going to sing opera and then the looks of sheer astonishment when they realise that he can actually sing. It sends shivers down my spine, I am so glad that he won!

(I was also very impressed by Tony Laf's audition but he unfortunately didn't get into the final. It's also worth checking out some of the other videos, the bad and the good, for good comedy value!)

YOUTUBE ROCKS!

C'est fini!

2007-06-06T21:19:00.000+02:00

Well, it is finally over! I have finished the DELTA course. I managed to get my Case Study finished at the weekend and handed in a day before the deadline, which is good going for me! I handed in all my reflections and this morning I sat the written exam. My hand was killing after 3 and a half hours and 21 pages of scribble, but I think it went okay. Fingers crossed that the results are good when I get them in September. Of course, the exam could not go smoothly for me, as you know I tend to attract disaster. Halfway through the exam Alistair came in to give us all a free beverage and he spilled Coke on my table! Luckily it only went on the question papers and material and not on my answer booklet, so the crisis was more or less averted. I am so happy to be free finally, I want to run out onto my balcony right now and break into a rendition of George Michael's Freedom!

Only another 946 books to go...

2007-06-02T15:40:00.000+02:00

The God of Small Things Enduring Love

Pastoralia white teeth The Reader

A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich

Fugitive Pieces birdsong the catcher in the rye

The life and times of Michael K

Love in the time of Cholera

To kill a mockingbird

Many Happy Returns 06-05-1989

2007-05-07T22:49:00.000+02:00

I remember when this little michilin tyre bearing sumo wrestler came into the world and I was happy as larry to have a little brother but also as jealous as hell. I mean I had been an only child for 8 years and now I was going to have to share my parents with this farting and crying 'bundle of joy'.

Happy 18th birthday to my little bro, Adam, who is not all that little anymore. Hope you had a great day yesterday with your mates. Love you lots, your big sis x

B . I. N. G. O !

2007-05-02T12:54:00.001+02:00

Last night I finally managed to talk some people into going to Bingo with me. I have developed quite a liking for the game after being introduced to it at my father's Working Men's Club in Lepton.

Justin, Nick, Leticia, Jaine, her cousin Jen and Martha all accompanied me to the Bingo Hall after copious amounts of wine in the Barrio. I was feeling a little typsy by the time we arrived, we had to show our ID to get in and then wait for the red light to go green so that we could enter the room. I was rather taken aback, not at all like Bingo at the club with my parents on a Tuesday night, this is serious stuff. The room was ginormous with row upon row of circular tables and people hunched over with very serious faces. The stakes are much higher too, it costs 2€ for one little card, but of course the benefits are higher too.

It was about the fourth round and I had decided to buy 3 cards and push the boat out a little! I couldn't afford a full six for one game. I was crossing off the numbers here and there and I suddenly realised that I only needed one more number. Number 33. I nudged Justin and started flapping my arms and when the woman called 33 it was like everything went into slow motion. Nick and Martha were shouting "Faye that's your numer, that's your number" and I was looking down gormlessly thinking 'They're right that's my number" and after a few seconds I screamed BINGO at the top of my lungs. A lot more excitedly than anyone else in the room to have called Bingo previously. The usherette came over and informed me that I had won 304.56€ and then I spent the following ten minutes in a state of shock and hopeless giggling, I couldn't believe that I had just won the equivalent of 200 quid in under 25 minutes. This could be potentially dangerous, I can feel an addiction forming. I will have to quit smoking to fund my new habit I think!

Midnight Feasts; A Childhood Treat

2007-04-30T19:51:00.000+02:00

(First of all I searched on Google for an interesting image of a midnight feast, unfortunately the term midnight feast seems to bring up many photos of Elle Macpherson, anybody have any idea as to why??)

Martha and I were chatting the other day about owt and nowt and the topic of midnight feasts came up. Something that I haven't thought about since I was very little. It was the highlight of having somebody to stay over when I was little or of going to sleep at a friend's house. We would set our alarm clocks for midnight so that we could creep downstairs, or in my case down the hallway, to the kitchen to collect delectable snacks! At Laura Hampshire's house I remember that before we went to bed we would investigate the stairs and remember which steps were creaky and which ones were ok to walk on. Once at my house Laura and I snook into the kitchen to get some food. It wasn't as good as being at Laura's because they had a treat box that was full of chocolate bars and sweets and my mother wasn't big on buying us 'teeth-rotters' so on one midnight feast I think we had some crackers with cheese and a Superted Vitamin Tablet!

Those were the days!

Agghhhh!

2007-04-30T19:46:00.000+02:00

I have procrastinated for too long and now I am paying the consequences! I have been shackled to my computer for about 7 hours today tap tap tapping away on the keyboard trying to write something vaguely interesting about consciousness-raising and narrative tenses. I have finally finished it although it is sure to come back for amendments! It was the worst essay I have had to write so far, I have been putting it off since December when I actually taught the class that goes with this assignment. But I have pushed send on the email and it is flying through cyberspace to Alistair's inbox as we speak. Fingers crossed that it's not too bad an offering!

The big read continues....

2007-04-27T23:18:00.000+02:00

Still plodding along with the list of 1001 books you should read before you die. It has been slow going these last couple of months because I just having been in the mood for reading. I have read several books which don't deserve mentioning, I honestly think people can die without having read them, either that or they might die while reading them...of pure boredom. I am beginning to question who exactly has put this list together and on what they are basing their opinions. I know I don't have a degree in English literature or anything but some of the stuff on this list is just pure shite. However, two books which I definitely recommend you read are the Life of Pi by Yann Martel (adventure story of an indian boy on a lifeboat with an array of zoo animals - but it goes deeper than just action and excitement) and the other book is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is made up of six interlocking stories which you have to read in order and then in reverse order to find out the ending of each tale. You will need to perservere with the second book, it starts off quite badly, the first story is pretty dull and heavy going but it just gets better and better. And as much as i don't like the story that starts and ends the novel, it wouldn't be the book that it is without it. Well worth a read, even Richard and Judy think so!

I love t'internet!

2007-04-27T22:55:00.002+02:00

I was surfing the net the other day and I decided to search for Jaime's village, La Vid de Ojeda. I came across a webpage that someone has built to show photos of villages around Spain. There were more than a thousand photographs of Jaime's village and I begin to look through them all. I was amazed to find pictures of Jaime's father when he was younger, Jaime's house when it was still a working water mill, loads of photos of the house as it is now, members of Jaime's family and I even stumbled on a photo that looked like Jaime as a child. I wasn't sure because who ever had posted a comment on the photo had named everyone apart form the little boy I thought was Jaime. He was labelled 'desconocido' meaning 'unknown'. I showed Jaime the picture when he came back from work, and I was right. It's him. Can you work out which one is Jaime in the following pictures?

I also found this amazing aerial view of Jaime's house...

T'internet is just great! It never ceases to amaze me!

A Disgusting detickery

2007-04-23T23:42:00.000+02:00

Had my first meeting with a tick or two at the weekend in the village. I had jus tfinished eating lunch with the family and I had gone outside to see what the lads were doing. Jaime was standing by watching his brother search through the fur of their pet Rottweiller, with a pair or garden gloves on. I assumed that this was for protection from the dog, which at the time I did think was a little flimsy to protect someone from the jaws of Mozar. At closer inspection I decided that the boys were pulling dried peas or garbanzos out of the dogs fur. How did they get there, I wondered. Then Jose threw one of these peas on the floor and it started to move, then Jaime stamped on it and a load of blood squirted out. Very strange beans these, I said to myself. Then the men, the oracles, enlightened me as to what was going on. I then spent the rest of the afternoon, and well to be quite honest I am still doing it now, itching and checking that no ticks have crawled into my ears. Grosse! If anyone is interested in seeing what happens when you stand on a tick you can check out this youtube video that I found. I swear that website is mental, anything you could possible want to find must be on there somewhere. Some nutter with a camera will have taped it at some point!

Here comes the bride....

2007-04-23T23:24:00.000+02:00

Jaime and I went to the village this weekend to attend his cousin's, Agustinin's, wedding. He married Puri on the 21st of April. The ceremony was lovely if not a little long. I was extremely uncomfortable and ready to leave, after an hour the priest told us we could go in peace and I was very relieved, which was shortlived since he then changed his mind and decided he should sing a hymn before we all left. Another five minutes later we all poured out of the church into the glorious sun, which was quite surprising for April in the village. After the whole photograph palavar, we hurried off to the reception to have a few drinks and stuff our faces. And stuff ourselves we did at the Asador el Roble. We started with a plate of Lomo and Jamon Iberico and paté, then we had fiddler crab, then we had langostinos, then we had clams in marniere sauce, then we had hake stuffed with prawns in an almond sauce, that was followed by Lemon Sorbet and then that was followed by Log oven roasted lamb and then we had dessert and then we had cava and then we had coffee and then we had a licquer and then we....

Well, you might think that we went on to dance and drink and what have you but unfortuantely something terrible happened. Jaime's 75 year old father slipped down the stairs and cracked his head open. We had to call an ambulance and he had to have 14 stitches before being taken to the nearest hospital 60km away for scans and x-rays. Luckily everything is ok but he gave us all a very nasty shock. Jaime's mum had an anxiety attack and we had to take her to the health centre too but she calmed down when Bis finally arrived back home at 1,30 am with his sons Jaime and Jose (covered in blood but relieved). Thank god. Although it just goes to show how our lives can change in a mere second, one moment we can be as happy as larry feasting and having fun and the next moment we can be worried sick about our loved ones or lying on the floor in a pool of blood. It really makes you realise that you have to live each moment as if it were your last.

I'm back from outta space...

2007-04-23T23:08:00.000+02:00

I've been absent for a very long time, been a) too busy and b) too lazy to post anything for a very long time. I thought I had best make an appearance before people begin to write me off as a blogger. Not much happened in March, I had another DELTA observation which I passed with a distinction which made me v v v happy. I wrote some essays too but I still have quite a few to go and I am quickly running out of time!

Easter has been and gone. Jaime and I went to the UK to visit the family and celebrate my mother's 50th birthday. I arrived first and a few days later I went to get Jaime form the airport in Nottingham only to discover that he had forgotten to catch the plane! Numpty! So dad and I had to trek all the way back again the next day and collect the silly bugger. When he finally arrived we made sure that we had a good time. We went out for a couple of lovely evenings first with Tara and Terry from Uni to a Kareoke bar where Terry gave us an interesting rendition of All I want for Christmas. He put his heart and soul into it, bless him. And the rest of us put our earplugs in. We also went for a beautiful meal at Mustard and Punch in Honley with my school friends and their other halves. (Here's another pic, cos Sara was missing from the first). On the final Saturday my mum had a big pie and pea supper for 40 or so friends at the house and everybody had lots of fun, Adam, Jaime and my uncle David, who had come over from South Africa were having a merry time in the garden gazebo, while others in the conservatory were showing signs of having used the chocolate fountains set up in there. All in all we had a good trip, got to see a lot of close friends and family and I got to do a bit of shopping, which is always a bonus.

The Big Read Continues

2007-02-27T22:47:00.001+01:00

An interesting read.

A very enjoyable read about life in
New Zealand during a gold rush. A
very moving story.

A very strange book to read
since it jumps between the story
of the author and descriptions of
the films that the author is watching.
At first I was annoyed at having to
read about Hector Mann but in the
end I really got into the book, so far
it is one of the best on the list.

When I first started reading this book
I thought I was going to hate it and it
seemed a bit off the wall. The more I read
the more I loved it so I read the whole thing
in about 24 hours. It made me laugh out loud
and it made me cry. One of the best books I
have read in a very long time, definitely
recommend it. There is no quesion as to why
this one is on the list!

Visions from the capital of romance

2007-02-27T22:33:00.000+01:00

On Friday I went to the cinema with Nedra to see Paris, Je t'aime. I had been wanting to see this film for quite a while and finally it came out in the cinemas here last weekend. I was intrigued to see how 18 different visions of life and love in Paris could be put together to make a film. There is a segment for almost all of the 20 arrondissments of Paris, each filmed by a different director.

The film was fantastic. Some of the stories were not as engaging as others but they only last about five minutes, so there is really no time to get bored. The majority of the plots are interesting and some of them are fantastic. I particular liked the Coen brothers segment starring Steve Buscemi as it was very funny, the Isabel Coixet offering was very moving. It is really worth going to see. It is difficult to pick a favourite part of the film since all the stories are so different but you can spend hours trying like Nedra and I did while walking to the Tibetan restaurant for dinner and even while we were waiting for the food to arrive.

De Rodriguez

2007-02-18T19:44:00.000+01:00

They do say that while the cat's away, the mice will play, and that is what I have been doing this weekend while Jaime has been up in the Pyrenees skiing. On Friday I went to the cinema with Cathy and Nedra to see a German film which is translated as 'The Lives of others'. It was my first foreign film experience in the cinema when I didn't understand the language that was being spoken. I really enjoyed the film even though I did fall asleep for a few minutes in the middle and woke up with a little grunt. It was far too hot in the cinema and it made me feel sleepy, nothing to do with the film though, which I really enjoyed. After the film we went to Swagat for some lovely Indian food and then off to bed to finish yet another book from the epic list. Last week I read a book by J.M.Coetzee which was soooooo unbelievably dull that in the end I skimmed so much that I think I only read a third of each page. It was too much like a political essay than a novel and I did not enjoy it at all. A definite thumbs down for Elizabeth Costello. I hope this isn't a sign of what his other work will be like since he has about 9 books on the bloody list. I was expecting great things from this Nobel prize winner. The last book I read was great though, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A little bit sci-fi but a very interesting read. I am now on with my first Zadie Smith novel, On Beauty and so far it is good. I'll let you know how it goes.

On Saturday my weekend of fun continued and I went out for drinks with some friends to celebrate Dave's birthday. I even got to practise a little of my now very rusty French on one of Alex's friends. I think I finally got into bed at about 5.30 this morning. Exhausting!

Today has consisted mainly of cleaning so that Jaime can see that I have done something more productive than eat and drink all weekend, and I have even done my DELTA homework, (although not as much as I would have liked).

All in all it has been a top notch weekend.

The Double by Jose Saramago

2007-02-11T23:09:00.000+01:00

Last night I finished another book from the never-ending list of literature that I am trying to get through before I die. I thought that it was the first book that I had ever read by a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, until I consulted the list of winners and realised that I had also read things by Camus and some others on the list. Well, it is still the only book I have read knowing that the author was a winner of the Nobel Prize. It was a great read, much better than the Jeanette Winterson book I read on Wednesday which to be quite honest I didn't really understand or enjoy. This book had a great story to it, once I had got used to the way it was written. Dialogue is not presented in a traditional way, but runs continuously within the text. It's a little confusing at times to know who is saying what but you soon get used to it. Out of the three books I read last week, it is the one I most enjoyed. It tells the story of a history teacher who discovers that he has a doppleganger when he is watching a film that was recommended to him by his friend, the Mathematics teacher. The story is about his quest to find his duplicate. A very entertaining read.

Congratulations and Celebrations

2007-02-10T19:50:00.000+01:00

Jaime and I are very happy to announce that we are getting married. We are not sure on a date yet, but we think it could be in the coming year (2008). All I can tell you is that the wedding will be in Spain, in Jaime's village, apart from that I can't tell you anything else. I am so happy, I can't stop looking at my ring and Jaime thinks that I have gone completely bonkas. I also get the impression that my family are quite excited about the whole thing and Enid has said that she is already thinking about knitting a hat. Watch this space for any updates on the happy occasion. Love to all, Faye and Jaime. xxxx

Book Worming

2007-02-10T19:44:00.000+01:00

I really enjoy reading but sometimes I find it hard to choose something to read. There are many books that I know I should read but which I have never got round to reading. Martha, the girl who is staying with Jaime and I at the moment, is a big reader and writer and she has set herself the goal of reading 100 books before the end of the year. She came across a list of the 1001 books that you must read before you die, so we have decided that we will try to read as many of those books as we can. Looking through the list, which spans from 2005 to the 1600's, I realised that I had already read 25 of the books on the list. This week I got another 3 books under my belt. Some of the books on the list seem pretty heavy going but I am going to give it a go all the same. Check out the list, how many of those books have you read?

Two down, too many to go

2007-01-28T19:37:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted for a while but I have been very busy trying to complete some essays for the DELTA which, in a moment of madness, I decided to undertake this year. So far I have passed my first two observed classes, one course planning essay and I have just this minute completed my assignment on reading in the intermediate classroom. Just taking a well deserved break before I start thinking about the next 2,500 word essay I have to churn out before mid-February. Oh the joys of studying, it's weird to be getting my head back in the books after so long. I had forgotten how long it took to write a half-decent piece of work.

No news to add really, apart from general work, study and house stuff not much is going on. Jaime is still on with the English classes, maybe he will put what he has learned to good use when we go to the UK in April.

Happy New Year and Felices Reyes Magos

2007-01-06T23:32:00.000+01:00

New Year's Eve was spent at our flat in Madrid with Nedra, Seamus and two of his friends from Ireland, Sean and Rosin. I managed to get together a pretty good buffet with far too much food since leftovers are still taking up room in my fridge. We successfully swallowed our grapes along with the chiming of the bells and then we enjoyed many a free firework display from our balcony. After seeing in the New Year with some Cava we settled down for a marathon pictionary and charades competition which led to much merriment and downright hysterics when it came to Nedra trying to mime 'Meet the Fockers." Excellent entertainment.

Started 2007 well with a lovely curry at Guru with Nedra, Seamus, Aisling and Greg. I don't eat curry often enough here so maybe we could make this a regular thing in 2007.

Jaime and I went up to La Vid de Ojeda for the weekend for more food, drink and present giving. This time it was for the Three Kings. Jaime's niece and nephew were highly excited by the whole thing. I introduced the tradition of Christmas Crackers into the Garcia Perez household and it seemed to go down very well as everyone wore their paper crowns. After a lovely lunch I settled down to play Briska with Jaime's parents and brother-in-law. It's my new favourite pastime.

Crimbo in Huddersfield

2006-12-30T19:04:00.000+01:00

So far I am having a fab Christmas holiday. It started very well because on the last day of work I discovered that our Christmas lottery ticket had won me 100€, which I was only aware of thanks to Neds otherwise I might have thrown the ticket away as it didn't show up as a winning number when I checked it. Thank god for t'internet.

I have just got back from my Christmas trip to Britain where I went to stay with my folks and the little bro, who is not so little any more and has passed his driving test on the first attempt. I got time to have my hair cut (thank goodness because it was getting very scraggy) and I got to do some shopping and pick up some bargain shoes and a dress in the sales for Jaime's cousin's wedding in April. Speaking of Jaime's cousin, the lucky sod won 20,000€ on El Gordo! Suppose the cash will come in handy for the giant wedding.

Christmas dinner was fun as always in the Hobson household with people having far too much to eat and even more to drink. My grandparents were there showing that they still love each other after almost 60 years of marriage.

On my last evening in Huddersfield I went for a beautiful meal at the Golden Cock with my parents, (with Mum sporting her new brown hairdo) Adam, Aunty Carol and Andrew and Uncle Brian and Julie. I had the most succulent lamb Henry in the world and we had a great time catching up. The funniest part of the evening though was when we arrived home and started to dress Adam up as a woman. I haven't laughed so much in ages, in fact it was so funny that I actually did wet myself, but only a little.

I arrived home safely yesterday afternoon, with clean, dry knickers. The bloody thieves at sleazyjet charged me a tenner for being 2 kilos over the weight limit! No Christmas Goodwill from those bloody scrooges! Now I am getting ready for the next party on New Year's Eve so watch this space. Merry Crimbo everyone!

Compeed those Cold Sores

2006-12-17T17:08:00.000+01:00

Having been a sufferer of cold sores since I was a little girl I am aware of many of the creams and things available on the market. Zovirax has always been a firm favourite. I was not aware of Compeed though until a friend told me about it a few days ago when yet another nasty trouble spot was rearing its ugly head. Compeed has to be the best invention ever! You put a small, transparent plaster on the sore and it heals really quickly. The magic is that you can hardly see the plaster and you can put make-up over the top of it. I put one on when the coldsore was first starting to develop and it has almost gone already after only 2 days. Miracle!

Crimbo Paella Party

2006-12-17T16:51:00.000+01:00

It was the BLC Christmas Party last night at the Champagneria Gala. It really isn't very Spanish to eat paella at night but we don't care about being 'guiris'. I had the seafood paella and had a whale of a time pulling the heads of prawns and cray fish and sucking out mussels from their shells. There was once a time when I wouldn't even eat salmon because it looked funny and now I can't get enough seafood. It's funny how our tastes can change so much.

The dinner was a cool mix of academy people past and present, new and old and everyone seemed to have a fab time. Enrique even managed to put in an appearance which I don't think has happened in almost a decade. Nedra had forgotten to bring her camera but that didn't stop her from using mine to take her usual spontaneous snap shots of unsuspecting people. Here is a pretty cool one of mine and Carmen's hands.

After the restaurant we went to a Jazz bar where the barmen tried to ignore us for 10 minutes but finally realised that we weren't going anywhere and so served us our Irish coffees. Little by little people started leaving and only the hardcore party animals were left. God knows how I managed to join them but I did. In the end it was just Alex, Kate and myself in some nightclub called Bogui (yes, really!) where you couldn't move or get to the bar or breathe. It was not my cup of tea and after waiting for the metro to open at 6 am I then decided that I would much rather take a cab and get home quicker. I finally climbed into bed at 6.30. God knows what happened to Kate, she really was the last woman standing when Alex and I left the club. For all I know she could still be strutting her stuff on the dancefloor as I type.

Tis the season to be jolly

2006-12-03T20:32:00.000+01:00

I realise that I haven't written anything in over 2 months and really I have no other excuse than that I really didn't feel like writing anything. However, I have finally decided that I should try to update my blog a little. It isn't like I haven't been doing anything to tell you all about but I've just been lazy.

Since the last time I wrote my parents have been and gone (they came for just under a week in September and we went to Toledo, played mini golf and went bowling which was hilarious since my dad lost and my mum won, unheard of in the Hobson family), I have started a new teaching course (the DELTA), I have been to see the Cirque de Soleil production 'Alegria' with Nedra for her birthday (which was fantastic) and had a beautiful Thanksgiving meal with turkey and all the trimmings prepared very kindly by Nedra.

I have begun my Christmas shopping and I put my Christmas tree up on Friday afternoon. I am getting into the festive spirit and can't wait to fly home and visit all the family. Hoping for a Bing Crosby style White Christmas this year.

Happy Holidays x

Days 1 & 2 - Journey to Conil

2006-09-22T16:26:00.000+02:00

On Sunday 10th September we set off on our long, long drive, or should I say Jaime's long, long drive to Conil de la Frontera in the province of Cadiz. After 8 long hours we finally arrived at the campsite I had chosen, Fuente de Gallo. We were very happy with the campsite, it was reasonably priced, the plots were very big, the bathrooms were for the most part clean and there was a lot of security. It was quiet on a night, except for the random Cock which crowed at the most bizarre times, I had always believed they only crowed when the sun rose on a morning. It was 5 minutes walk to the beach too. My only complaint would be that the supermarket was shite. And there are millions of stray cats which come around looking for food and jump in and out of the bins on a night.

It was really quite heartbreaking watching them but at times they were a bloody nuisance, like when they were eating off our neighbours' table. Some of them were little kittens and I wanted to bring them home with me. When Jaime wasn't looking I put out some dairy lea triangles and left over tuna for them to eat. It was probably a mistake because at one point there were 6 cats fighting over cheese in front of our tent.

This year we decided to do some proper camping and so we bought a stove and grill to do our own cooking on, or should I say for me to do the cooking on. It was great fun and it made the holiday a lot cheaper than last year in Portugal.

Days 3 & 4- Vejer de la Frontera and Cadiz

2006-09-22T16:11:00.000+02:00

Vejer de la Frontera is a beautiful hill top town with white buildings and winding streets. The magic and wonder here was really found by just wandering around the cobbled streets and looking in at the spectacular Andalucian patios. The Jewish quarter was impressive and the views were amazing. I once remember entering a competition for some channel 5 programme, like 'House in the Sun' or something like that and it was to win a house in this town. It's a shame I didn't win, it seems like a lovely place to live.

Cadiz was also a pretty place to visit, we walked around the entire city from one side to the other, which was a fair trek, taking in the cathedral, the little churches, the park, the beach and the port.

Day 5 - Gibraltar

2006-09-22T15:48:00.000+02:00

Of course we couldn't go all the way to the Costa de la Luz and not go and visit the little piece of Britain that is on the south coast of Spain, the famous Gibraltar Rock. It is really rather a peculiar place, to get there you have to walk across the runway to the airport and when we were leaving we had to wait for a plane to land. Then the whole showing your passport and speaking English thing was strange too, we were only 5 minutes walk from Spain. Passing through the tunnel, which was once the only way on and off the rock, was like walking into England. Everything was so British, Marks & Spencers, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the pubs which spelt of pies and peas. There were Union Jacks all over the place and even the policemen were the same. The only big difference between the rock and the UK was the price of cigarettes, a mere 1€ 50 for a pack of Marlboro lights!

Unfortunately the chairlifts to the top of the rock were closed due to the wind and so we didn't climb up to the top and I didn't see any monkeys. On the whole I didn't think much of Gibraltar, it's good for novelty value and cheap tax free booze and fags and perfume, but not much else.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped off in Tarifa where you can appreciate, just how close parts of Andalucia are to North Africa. In this picture you can see the Atlas Mountains of Morocco as Jaime contemplates the view.

Tarifa is unbelievably windy, apparently it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It's understandable that this seaside town is a haven for windsurfers and kitesurfers, in fact it is the kitesurfing capital of the world. There are so many people doing it on the beach that from a distance it looks like pretty tropical birds and swooping across the bay. I'd never seen anything quite like it.

Days 6-9, Sun, Sea and Sand

2006-09-22T15:35:00.000+02:00

We had seen everything that we really wanted to see in and around Cadiz and Conil so we decided that we would dedicate our last 4 days to doing nothing but relaxing on the beach. So with our Factor 30, our parasol and our beach towels we sampled many of the beaches that the Costa de la Luz has to offer. We went to Zahara de los Atunes ( I didn't like it here but Jaime thought it was good), El Palmar (which we both decided was great), the beach that was just outside the campsite in Conil and then Los Caños de Meca which I thought was too shingly and the waves weren't very good but it did have a fab bar in a thatched cottage.

With all this sunbathing I managed to get a nice little tan going, well for me anyhow, and Jaime of course is very brown. Sunbathing was always followed by a trip to the Eroski supermarket in Conil and some cold beers and some ice-cream on a terrace in the town centre. Lovely! We also sampled the nightlife on the Saturday which meant drinking cocktails and sitting on beanbags in one cool bar. I couldn't believe how small the bars were, I didn't seem to matter though since most people took their drinks outside and stood in the street.

Day 10 - Return to Madrid via Carmona

2006-09-22T15:16:00.000+02:00

We were going to stay an extra day but when we woke up on Tuesday morning it was overcast and it looked like rain so we decided to head back to Madrid. We broke up the 7 hour journey by stopping off in Carmona, a town between Seville and Cordoba. I had been reading about it in my guide book and I was very interested to see the Roman Necropolis. It was really quite fascinating, you could climb down ladders into underground tombs and tunnels, and some of the funeral urns and frescoes were still intact.

After visiting the Necropolis we ate our sandwiches in a pretty little park and then we went to have a drink in the beautiful Parador which has been built in a 14th century Arab fortress. Apparently it is one of the most spectacular paradors in Spain, I would say this is more because of the architecture than the views that it offers.

After our flying visit to Carmona we were homeward bound again, feeling a little bit sad that our holiday had to come to an end. For as much as I say that I am not a beach person, I think I have realised these past 10 days that I love the sun, the beach and the sea and I would quite like to move to somewhere that can offer me these things in the future.

The Browns come to Madrid

2006-09-09T15:57:00.000+02:00

My Aunty Carol and Uncle Andrew came to Madrid from the 2nd to the 6th of September. They decided to stay in a hotel which was very swish and modern (Le Petit Palace) and just off the Gran Via.

We had a great time, we went to the museums, to El Escorial and had lots of lovely food and drink. In fact on the last night I think I had just a little too much to drink! We all went to Segun Emma for tapas on the first night and the food was absolutely scrumptious as always. After that we went to the sexy ice cream place and I had my all time fave and Jaime decided to eat the floral display. On the last night we went to the Champagneria Gala for paella and Andrew and Carol attempted to drink from the special sweet wine jug, and then I showed him how it is really done! ;-)

I had a really great time and I really hope the Browns come back one day soon.

Another Farewell...

2006-08-30T23:54:00.000+02:00

Our dear friend Henny passed away this morning after spending a month
in hospital. It's hard to believe that just over a month ago Jaime and
I were with her and Carmen eating lunch, laughing and joking. She will
be missed but never forgotten. At times like this it is hard to know what
to say to people but I personally find a lot of comfort in a poem by Henry
Scott Harold.

Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped away
into the next room.

I am I,
and you are you;
whatever we were to each other,
that, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name,
speak to me in the easy way
which you always used,
put no difference in your tone,
wear no forced air
of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we shared together.
Let my name ever be
the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect,
without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all
that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.

All is well.

Henry Scott Holland
1847 -1918

RIP Henny Clare Burke

2006-08-30T23:52:00.000+02:00

A Fond Farewell

2006-07-31T20:07:00.000+02:00

Saturday was time for another farewell. This time it was Jake's turn after nine years of teaching at the BLC. You can see him in the photo reading the book which we all wrote messages in for him to remember us in years to come. It was a great night, but also sad because we had to say goodbye to someone who has been a great colleague and friend.

A fair few of us got together for the evening at Pablo Casal's (Dave and Cathy's and soon to be Alex's flat) Clare, Eve and Javi (the newly weds) were there, Greg managed to fight his way across Madrid on public transport and arrive fashionably late and Seamus was there with his daughter, Ash. The night was long with plenty of G&T's and some lovely food prepared by Cathy and Kate. You really should try Kate's houmous and salmorejo if you ever get the chance! And of the course the night wouldn't have been complete without people getting up and dancing to Dave's Elvis CD and funky disco ball and Colin giving a superb rendition of his erotic novela - Ye Conquest.

Kamikaze Chess

2006-07-21T21:20:00.000+02:00

There is really no excuse for the fact that I haven't written anything for almost amonth, except for the fact that to be quite honest I haven't done anything worth writing about and I haven't been feeling particularly inspired to scribble down any thoughts.

I am almost at the end of the first month of intensives and they are going quite well, my students are all lovely but the teenagers are hard work on a morning.

To pass the time between classes, Clare, Jake and I have been playing chess against each other. At first Jake was unbeatable and to be honest I was a little rusty since I hadn't played for about a decade. I remember learning to play chess when I was staying at the Ingoldsby Hotel in Torquay one summer when I was little. It was before my brother was born I think so I must have been quite young. A man taught me in the bar, I can't recall his name. However, nobody in my immediate family could play chess so my parents bought me an electronic chess set and it was fun for a bit but I missed the rivalry of playing against someone.

Anyway I have been getting gradually better and I have won the last few games against Jake. Clare and I were getting a little tired of playing today so we invented a new version of chess which I have decided to name Kamikaze Chess. You are only allowed 5 seconds to make a move or you lose your turn. This led to us rolling around in fits of hysterics as the pieces went flying off the board and back into the box as fast as lightning and at one point I had managed to get three pawns to the other side of the board and had 4 queens. Great Fun.

Apart from that, nothing new. Oh, the new fridge has arrived and it is super sexy!

Let's celebrate...

2006-06-30T17:48:00.000+02:00

It has been a busy week or so on the social calendar and a month full of surprises and celebrations.

First of all, Mª Angeles and Javi (whose wedding we attended in May '05 ) became the proud parents of Celia on Wednesday 21st of June, so Nedra and I went to the hospital on Friday to visit the happy family.

Then on Saturday we went to Robledo de Chabela, a village an hour or so out of Madrid, where Sam and Josue have a beautiful house. We had a barbecue, which of course the men were in charge of, to celebrate Sam's birthday. There were lots of delicious treats and plenty of homemade sangria and cava followed by some birthday cake and coffee, prepared by the lovely Nedra.

I was thoroughly enjoying lounging around on Sam's veranda on a sunny afternoon but unfortunately we had to rush back to Madrid for further celebratory events. We had a dinner to get to in La Camocha (venue of last June's farewell party) to say sayonara to Katie and Lewis who are moving back to England today after 2 years of teaching at the BLC. I couldn't face all the food and drink after the BBQ and I don't know how I managed to keep going until 6 in the morning! A good night was had by all, I think we had most continents represented at the meal, here are Alex (American), Renée (Australian) and Dan (British) enjoying themselves.

Sunday had me celebrating alone in a neighbourhood bar watching England v Ecuador. I was a little shy to cheer when we scored so the Spanish locals decided to give me a helping hand, which I thought was really sweet. I'll be able to cheer (hopefully) a lot louder tomorrow because a group of us are going to watch the match in town.

Last night we went out for a few drinks and the waiters in our local gave us two bottles of champagne to celebrate Clare's birthday and Lewis and Katie's final night at the BLC. And after all that drinking I think I will be on a detox next week.

Oh and I mustn't forget to say Happy Bloggerversary to me, I have been randomly scribbling things on this blog for over a year now, I know most people don't read my ramblings but at least one day I will be able to look back and see what I was doing at this time in my life.

Dumb Waiter .... and I don't mean the lift thing.

2006-06-19T18:26:00.000+02:00

After my last class this afternoon I decided to go to a café nearby for a glass of coke and a little snack. I clearly picked the wrong bar, it was like entering a bloody morgue, the waiting staff were clearly not happy to be there.

The first waiter just plain ignored my request for a café con leche so I tried my luck with the waitress and ordered a coke. I sat down and tried to relax with my ice-cold beverage when the fun really began. Not only does the bar have the atmosphere of a funeral it also seems to employ the most ignorant people imaginable.

One waiter decided to ask the Moroccan pensioner at my side if he was going to watch his country playing Spain tonight, to which of course he replied no since Tunisia is not his country. The barman then asked what the difference was because he thought they were the same, I mean they share a border right? Er, no, not last time I checked unless Algeria has disappeared! So the Moroccan answered that the waiter was Spanish and not Portuguese or French just because they shared borders with Spain. Then the dumb waiter replied that no he wasn't Spanish but in fact he was European. By this point I think I was rolling my eyes around and huffing and puffing, but it only got worse.

The dumb waiter said that if we were living in Spain what did we call Galicia and Euskadi???? He then said what about the other 26 Autonomous Communities?? I started running through them in my head and I made 16 + Melilla and Ceuta so I forgot one, Aragon. There are 18, not 28! So then I thought perhaps he meant the Provinces but of course 28 is a long way off the actual number of 50. I couldn't help myself and I just started giggling in my chair.

Geography is clearly not that waiter's strong point. Ruining my enjoyment of a quiet drink on a sunny afternoon clearly is.

Food Glorious Food

2006-06-17T00:30:00.000+02:00

Marisa, who I did the CELTA course with in November 2003, is moving back to Florida after 7 years in Madrid. I met up with her and her dad this afternoon for the first time in about a year so we could catch up before she moves to the other side of the world. After a she did my Tarot cards we went to a tapas and wine bar in the centre of Madrid called Según Emma (see pic) and then we went for ice-cream in the new and trendy Giangrossi in Calle Cava Baja.

The food is so good at Según Emma's (a little treasure tucked away next to the Mercado de San Miguel which I only learnt about thanks to my restaurant conoisseur friend, Nedra.) We had potatoes with Palmero sauce (green peppers, garlic, almonds and olive oil), my favourite Goat's Cheese and caramalised onion tosta and some fantastic pork fillet in wine. I even tried the Salmorejo ( a type of Andalucian cool tomato soup) which is rumoured to be particularly good there and the waiter told me that usually it didn't go down well with Anglosaxons but I quite liked it. All this was swilled down with a bottle of beautiful Ribera del Duero.

The ice-cream was out of this world. I had my usual favourite Mint Choc Chip but the chunks of chocolate were humongous. It was the perfect dessert! A lovely evening and one I hope to repeat when my family visit in September.

England v T&T

2006-06-16T01:21:00.000+02:00

The England boys had me worried for a while but they managed to pull themselves together at the end of the second half, just in time, for a 2-0 result and another 3 points securing their place in the Round of 16. Respect to Trinidad & Tobago though (another of my teams in the draw) for being such fighters!

Along with England, my Ecuatorians are through and it looks like Sweden could be joining them, so fingers crossed. Although in the next round I'm going to playing against myself all over again!

Roland Garros Final

2006-06-11T18:34:00.000+02:00

Just finished watching over three hours of a mighty match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and I feel absolutely exhausted so God knows how they must feel! I was rooting for Roger because I wanted him to make the history books as having won all the major tournaments but he missed out again on Roland Garros, the only title he hasn't held. Nadal won for the second consecutive year and it seems that World Number 1 Federer just cannot beat the Mallorcan youngster on clay courts.

Never mind Federer, perhaps Wimbledon can be yours for the fourth year in a row!

The Tennis also provided some star spotting moments with Pedro Almodovar, Jean Reno and more interestingly Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn (are they lovers are they not?) sitting in shades and sunhats in the crowd.

I love Youtube

2006-06-11T00:12:00.000+02:00

You can get almost everything on Youtube, it is my new favourite toy! I don't quite understand how it works since I posted a six feet under vid on my blog before and now it isn't available, but hey it was good while it lasted.

I was looking at other vids and I came across this video of Damien Rice singing the Blower's Daughter intercut with clips from Closer (which is one hell of a movie which I have on DVD and must have seen about 4 times so far). If you haven't seen the film, I really recommend it, it is a true to life look at relationships. It's a film about what love really is at times, painful, raw and harsh. It's about how vulnerable we are as humans in love. Clive Owen is excellent, this is the film that made me sit up and notice him as an actor.

Damien's song is great for the film, haunting and painful too, everytime I hear it it pulls on a nerve inside me and I find I have to choke back the tears. I remember being in the teachers' room once and one of the teachers put it on the CD player and I had to really concentrate on not bursting into tears at the table. A truly beautiful song.

And we're off

2006-06-10T21:54:00.000+02:00

So the football has started and so far two of my teams have won their matches and two of them have drawn so I am a happy bunny. I was particular impressed by Trinidad and Tobago's effort against Sweden, managing to draw 0-0 with only 10 men, a very exciting match indeed! England beat Paraguay after the Paraguayans scored an own goal from a Beckham cross, it was a pretty dull match and it was a shame that the England lads didn't manage to actually score a goal! According to some player comments on the the FIFA website they are blaming the midday heat in Germany for their less than perfect performance. Ecuador also surprised me yesterday by beating the Poles 2-0. As far as my money is concerned we are off to a good start!

2006-05-31T21:49:00.000+02:00

There are only 9 days to go before the 2006 World Cup kicks off in Germany and I am beginning to get quite excited. Today at the academy we had the drawing of the teams for the BLC Sweepstake. Only 8 teachers wanted to take part which means that we get 4 teams each. The teams were divided into 4 envelopes according to their seeding, which meant that everybody got a completely shite team, a quite shit team, an ok team and a 'proper' team. Sam did the honours and picked the names and the teams for everyone. I squealed with delight when I got England, I don't think they will win (although I would really like them to! It's been 40 years of hurt god damn it - please don't let us go out on penalties again!) I also got Sweden, Ecuador and my personal favourite, Trinidad and Tobago! So fingers crossed for my teams, hopefully at least 2 of them will get through to the knock-out rounds. One of them needs to get to the semis so that I can at least break even. Perhaps I will be as lucky as in the Euro cup and I might be able to double my money! Watch this space.

Educational Music ?

2006-05-28T16:30:00.000+02:00

I came across this on the internet this morning, well first of all I found a parody of the original and then the original was on the Spanish news. I'm not sure if it is supposed to be a campaign trying to get youngsters to wait until they are married before consumating their relationships. Possibly Catholic Spain on a no sex before marriage campaign in the 21st Century! If this is the purpose of the song and they really want to reduce the level of teenage pregnancies and abortions in the country they should try a more serious approach. Or perhaps they should consider making contraception easier to get hold of and cheaper! I still remember the time I went to the Chemist's down the road to ask for the pill and the Pharmacist when off on one, babbling at me about the Bible and trying to give me a leaflet on the Rhythm Method. Perhaps the Spanish Government need to review who they allow to open pharmacies in this country!

The other possibility is that this is some sort of publicity joke by MTV. I am going to investigate into the matter but in the meantime you can piss yourself laughing at the song and it's parody here.

Let's do this crossword together
and put the other thing off til tomorrow
Singing with you
Fills me with joy
Let's leave everything else for another day
I'd like to kiss you
but without getting you dirty
I want to hug you
without direspecting you
Love is knowing how to wait...
I love Laura, but i'll wait 'til we are married
I love Laura, but I'll wait 'til we are married
I won't take away that flower, the one who will destroy her, won't be me.

Young man, remember that love is born from respect
That there's nothing more beautiful in a couple
Than knowing how to wait for the special moment
that is consumating your love
Your patience will be rewarded!

If you understand Spanish and you want a real giggle check out the parody here. It is x-rated so don't watch it if you are a bit prudish! For those who don't speak Spanish I'm not going to write that filth on my blog page but it begins "Let's do a 69er together" as opposed to a crossword. ;-)

Square Eyes

2006-05-28T13:59:00.000+02:00

I spent all evening on Friday til 5 o' clock in the morning watching the final series of Six Feet Under. I just couldn't stop watching it, you just say to yourself, "one more and I'll go to bed" but it is such compulsive viewing that you keep watching one more until there are no more left to watch! It was absolutely fantastic, I loved every minute of it and I think I was blubbing non-stop from about the 9th episode.

The ending was amazing with the beautiful and haunting voice of Sia singing Breathe Me. (I hadn't heard of this Australian singer until I bought one of the Hed Kandy Winter Chill Albums and Breathe Me is my favourite track on it).

The video isn't very good quality but you can watch and listen to Sia here.

For Neds...

2006-05-22T21:10:00.000+02:00

I have decided to answer Nedra's questionnaire to prove that she is not the only one who is willing to take the time to answer a crazy amount of questions with the end of getting to know people better. So I'll take a deep breath and here I go...

1. What time did you get up this morning? I got up at 8am this morning which was very pleasant. I arrived at work to be told that my student wasn't coming meaning that I could have stayed in bed til past 12 which would have been even nicer!

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds are a girl's best friend! Hate pearls.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Ditto. The DaVinci Code, Friday night, 12:20 p.m. show with Nedra. However unlike her I have read the book.

4. What is your favorite TV show? Friends. I love it so much, i just watch it over and over again hour after hour. Whenever I feel down I snuggle up on the couch and watch the gang.

5. What did you have for breakfast? A bowl of Fitness and Fruits and a glass of orange juice. Operation Bikini has begun.

6. What is your middle name? Don't have one. Wish I did though. People at high school were convinved that my middle name was Amanda. God knows why.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian without a doubt.

8. What foods do you dislike? Offal (why do people eat the shite when the animal has lots of lovely flesh to eat?) raw tomatoes and olives (they smell bad). When I was little I hated ketchup and I wouldn't even eat pizza cos it had tomato sauce on it! I like them cooked now but I can't eat a raw tomato. I remember the first time and ex-boyfriend cooked for me and he prepared a side salad on my plate with 6 cherry tomatoes chopped in half. I swallowed them all whole because I didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that I hated tomatoes!

9. What is your favorite potato chip? I miss crisps from the UK, they have the best varieties. Spain is crap for potato chips. Black Pepper and Sea Salt Kettlechips and Prawn Cocktail Seabrook crinkle cuts are great, and pickled onion Monster Munch.

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? James Blunt, Back to Bedlam is constantly on my CD player while I am cleaning and Amaral Pajaros en la cabeza.

11. What kind of car do you drive? Can't drive, I was born to be driven. A job which Jaime kindly carries out in his old, red VW Golf. It is on its last legs, the heater broke and it is like sitting in a freezer in Winter.

12. What is your favorite sandwich? I like Nedra am also fond of the Welsh Rarebit (always wondered why it was called that) but I wouldn't say it was my favourite. I miss the Lemon Chicken sandwich from Dunker's Delight in Huddersfield. Delina's do a fab Roast Beef with capers, sun dried tomato and rocket that will set you back 5€.

13. What characteristics do you despise? Lying.

14. Favorite item of clothing? It was my pair of Guess jeans that I bought in TK Maxx for a right bargain price but I wore them to bits.

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? South Africa to visit my uncle .

16. What color is your bathroom? White with blue furnishings. If I could decorate it myself I think it would still be blue .

17. Favorite brand of clothing? Bronx shoes are a big favourite of mine, clothes I don't really care (unlike when I was a teenager and all my clothes had Ted Baker or French Connection written on them and we used to jump out of New Look when nobody was looking so we could pretend we hadn't been there if we saw someone we knew. How sad!)

18. Where would you want to retire to? A house looking onto a quiet beach where the climate was always mild but warm enough to swim.

19. Favorite time of day? Dusk.

20. Where were you born? Princess Royal Infirmary, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Yorkshire born and bred.

21. Favorite sport to watch? Football but only if its the World Cup, Tennis but only if its Wimbledon and figure-skating.

24. What type of detergent do you use? Whatever is on offer in Carrefour.

25. Coke or Pepsi? Always Coca Cola.

26. Are you a morning person or night owl? I'm definitely nocturnal, always have been and always will be. Don't do mornings.

27. What size shoes do you wear? 41 Spanish, 8 British. Obviously a descendant of Big Foot.

28. Do you have pets? Jaime sold the fish and the birds died. Back at mum's is Smudge the cat and Milly the Dalmation. R.I.P Tweekey, the moggy that was a year older than me and died when I was 17.

29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? Not as yet. Watch this space.

30. What did you want to be when you were little? A flight attendant too, (maybe that is what all little girls want to be) and then a lawyer. Soon decided that all the money in the world would not be enough for me to lie to get some bastard off on a murder/rape charge.

31. Favorite candy bar? Ooh that's a hard one. I prefer a box of chocolates (preferably Thorntons) to a bar. Wouldn't say no to a Mars Delight though.

32. What is your best childhood memory? Playing with Grandma Hobson. I really miss her.

33. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? I've been a waitress (both ordinary and silver service), I've cleaned people's houses and the changing rooms at a golf club (will never forget standing in the showers armed with a de-greasing product - ugghh), I've worked on a deli in a supermarket, I've stacked bread and stuck forks up chickens bums on a rotisserie, I 've worked in the Job Centre helping the unemployed, I've cut bits of rubber off metal workings till my fingers cramped up and I've worked as a legal secretary and as an admisistrative assistant in a Human Resources company.

34.What color underwear are you wearing? Black and pink stripy pants today.

35. Nicknames? Fazzle, Hobnob, Hobbers, Faz and Biscuit.

36. Piercing? Ears (one in each) and belly-button.

37. Eye color? When not red and itchy they are blue.

38. Ever been to Africa? Morocco three times and South Africa once.

39. Ever been toilet papered? Fortunately not, wet paper (like wet bread) turns my stomach.

40. Love someone so much it made you cry? Haven't we all at some time?

41. Been in a car accident? No (Touch wood)

42. Croutons or bacon bits? Nothing if we are talking soup. Unadulterated.

43. Favorite day of the week? Also Saturday because you don't have to work and you don't have to get up the next day.

44. Favorite restaurant? Bradley's, Huddersfield. Never had a bad meal, it is great food and it has just the right amount of pretension.

45. Favorite flower? Orchids or lilies.

46. Favorite ice cream? Mint Choc Chip and Phish Food or Chunky Monkey from Ben & Jerry.

47. Disney or Warner Brothers? Couldn't tell you.

48 Favorite fast food restaurant? Used to be Maccy D's but I have switched to Burger King. Although do you remember the days of Mr Wimpy? I had a Mr Wimpy party for my 9th birthday I think.

49. What color is your bedroom carpet? Don't do carpet - bad for my allergies. Parquet flooring.

50. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None so far. Will let you know if I ever get around to taking the bloody thing.

51. Before this one, who did you get your last e-mail from? Victoria.

52. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Ooh, somewhere I could buy lots of pretty shoes.

53. What do you do most often when you are really bored? Sleep. That way I can avoid eating which is what I would do to kill the boredom if I were awake.

54. Whose responses to this questionnaire are you most curious about? Nobody will respond so it doesn't matter. This questionnaire has been doing the rounds forever so I have at some point or other read my friends answer

55. Last person you went to dinner with? Jaime, Aunty Carol and Uncle Andrew.

56. What are you listening to right now? I'm not listening to anything but I can hear Jaime watching the news in the other room. He's addicted to it.

57. How many tattoos do you have? None. Scared of the pain.

58. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? the egg, but it didn't contain a chicken, probably a dinosaur.

59. What's the one thing you regret not accomplishing? I've only been here a quarter of a century, I'm too young for regrets. I used to wish that I had spoken to my grandfather before he passed away but now I know that that doesn't matter cos he knows what I wanted to say.

60. What's the one thing you're most thankful for? Like Nedra said, the gift of life. Knowing that there are people who care for me and I care for them too.

and relax.........

What I should have expected...

2006-05-21T21:21:00.000+02:00

I went to the cinema to see the Da Vinci Code in English on Saturday night with some friends from the academy. As with any adaptation I was left feeling a little bit disappointed. I found the film entertaining but it just wasn't as exciting and gripping as reading the book. It made me think that anyone who watches the film without having read the book will be left wondering why millions of people the world over have been hooked by Dan Brown's novel.

Culture Sunday was cancelled this week since Jaime had to work so hopefully next weekend I will get to visit somewhere educational. Ha!

Good Old San Isidro

2006-05-15T12:35:00.000+02:00

Thanks to the Patron Saint of Madrid I am enjoying another three day weekend. The weather is glorious and I should really be outside enjoying it but domestic duties are calling me! Jaime is at work unfortunately, perhaps when he gets back we will do something.

We continued our plans for Culture Sunday and yesterday we visited the Cerralbo Museum.

It is a palace come museum that once belonged to the Marquis of Cerralbo. During his life he collected many pieces of art and european interest ranging from stamps and coins to beautiful clocks and suits of armour. When he died, in 1922, he donated his small palace and all of its contents to the Spanish State. It is well worth a visit, the building is beautiful and there are some beautiful pieces inside, the amazing staircase, a lamp by Murano, frescoes and also some paintings by El Greco, Caravaggio and many others dotted around. It is as cheap as chips to get in, about 2.50€ and if you go on a Wednesday or Sunday it is completely free.

First past the post

2006-05-07T20:53:00.000+02:00

Woke up nice and early this morning and set off to collect Nedra and Seamus to go the races at the Madrid Zarzuela Racetrack which has reopened this season after 9 years of closure.

My only knowledge of horseracing comes from a board game someone bought me when I was younger called First Past the Post where players had to move their horses around the track and try to be the first to cross the finish line. My dad always used to et me choose a horse on the Grand National too, if he was placing a bet but I only choose the horse by the pretty colours of the jockey's outfit!

Today's betting went more or less along the same lines and I didn't do too badly, I won bets on four out of six races so in the end I only came away 5 euros worse off! Nedra and I both had beginners luck on the first race picking the winner and the 2nd placed horse but it turned out that they were the favourites so we didn't win much. Then the horse I picked because it had the same name as a place in Lord of the Rings also paid dividends! On the last race I picked 2 of the favourites and a horse that wasn't expected to do well but had a cool name - Crocodile Star. Another good choice since the 2 euros I bet on him turned into 10 euros 80! You don't know what you are going to win until the end of the race so it's quite exciting handing your ticket in, the Spanish don't seem to have the concept of 'odds'.

We had a great day, lunch, sunshine and ice-cream. I can't wait to go again, maybe next time we can talk more people into sharing in the fun!

Dos de Mayo

2006-05-02T17:32:00.000+02:00

Today Jaime and I continued our touristy weekend by going to see the Palacio Real. Neither or us had ever entered before and Jaime decided that after 9 years of living in the city it was probably about time!

The first stop was this commemorative plaque for those who began the uprising against the French occupation of Spain this same day, in this very place, almost 2oo years earlier.

Then we walked around the palace, the most amazing parts being the Porcelain Room and the beautiful ceiling in the Gasparini Room. The Pharmacy was also fascinating with its glass and porcelain jars with the names of old medicines. Jaime, being a man, seemed to enjoy the Royal Armouries the most.

We had worked up quite an appetite walking around the palace so we headed to Plaza Descalzas for a Menú and a well-deserved caña (or two). After a stroll around the city I was ready for a nap, it's hard work this tourist lark!

Bank Holiday 2 - May Day

2006-05-02T09:36:00.000+02:00

We didn't get up early enough yesterday morning to go on a day trip to Toledo or Cuenca as we had planned so we had to make do with a stroll around one of the parks in Madrid and a trip to the cinema. However, with views of the Royal Palace and the Almudena like the one above (taken from el Parque del Oeste) I wasn't disappointed to have to stay in the capital. I also got to see the Temple of Debod which I didn't get chance to look at the last time we were in this part of town. After an ice-cream and a refreshing Clara we went to the Cineplex to watch the latest Bruce Willis pic, Lucky Number Slevin, which was well worth the 6.50€ they are charging these days. All in all it was a lovely day!

Things that every woman needs...

2006-05-01T15:23:00.000+02:00

A: When she goes out on a night to a busy, centre of town bar .

B: When she is living with a member of the opposite sex.

C: To ensure that she looks beautiful even when she is sitting at her computer.

Playgrounds for the over 65's!

2006-04-30T16:45:00.000+02:00

I saw the most curious and ingenious thing today when I was passing through my barrio on the bus. There is a little park in Moratalaz where senior citizens can get some exercise doing what they like best, sitting on a bench and chinwagging! It was like a mini gym outside in the street where old people were congregated, having their sunday stroll and a chat with their fellow neighbours. You can sit on a park bench with a friend and work those leg muscles by pedalling on the pedals provided. Or you can climb up and down some little steps and work up an appetite for our Sunday lunch. There were even some funny wheels and ropes for the oldies to work on their arm strength. I was stunned, is this a common thing in Madrid? or in the world? Why have I never seen this before? If it isn't common it is a bloody good idea and the British government should get some installed back in Old Blighty!

Bank Holiday Weekend

2006-04-30T15:54:00.000+02:00

Unfortunately Jaime has to work this weekend so we couldn't go away, I haven't been paid yet either so a bit strapped for cash at the moment. There has been a severe lack of CELTA students in the past few months which hasn't helped matters!

So with Jaime out of the house and me all on my lonesome I decided a) to clean, b) to watch DVDs and finally c) to do something cultural. The cleaning and DVD viewing took place yesterday leaving me free to wander around the Prado museum today.

This was my second visit to the Prado, but the first was very rushed and carried out rather half-heartedly having already whizzed around the other two museums in the 'Triángulo de oro'. This time I was keen to go investigating the masterpieces of Goya, El Greco, Vélazquez and Rubens among the many other famous painters represented amongst the almost 9,000 paintings within the four walls of this magnificent museum. However, for me the best painting is still the one that I only saw on my first visit to the Prado thanks to a postcard in the gift shop. I was so tired I was falling asleep on my feet when I first saw the picture of the Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch and I remember thinking to myself I have got to find this painting. And find it I did, in Room 56 on the ground floor. And I forgot all about being tired when I was stood gazing at this wonderfully amazing tryptych for about an hour! It was as magical today as the first time I saw it. I find the piece truly intriguing, disturbing yet at the same time brilliant and beautiful and so far I haven't found a piece of art that can captivate me in the same way.

Wedding Bells in Aguilar de Campoo

2006-04-23T22:20:00.000+02:00

Jaime and I went to Aguilar de Campoo this weekend to attend his friend's wedding. Fernando got married to Conchi in a lovely chapel in Aguilar (hermitage) and then they had a lunch reception in a hotel in the centre of town. The wedding started at 1pm and I eventually climbed into bed at 2am! A very long day, copious amounts of wine and Jack D and way too much food. We had Serrano Ham, Salmon Paté, langostinos (yum yum) and small crabs (which I didn't eat as it was far too complicated to open the buggers with nutcrackers and pull out the meat), we had hake and then lamb and then sorbet and then dessert. I was full to bursting by the end of it all!

I hadn't been looking forward to going since I didn't really know anyone (except for José (Jaime's brother) and his wife, Marta, and we weren't sitting at the same table.) However, I had a fantastic day (and night), everyone was lovely and I think out of the 160 guests I managed to learn about 15 names! Jaime had a great time, he hadn't seen his friends in a long time so you can imagine what state he was in by the end of the night!

The next day, after dragging myself out of bed at 12pm, I went for a little walk around Jaime's parents' estate. They live in an old water mill, and at this time of year it is very green and picturesque! The weather was superb. Here you can see Jaime's Rottweiler, Mozart, resting in the shade with Jaime's village, La Vid de Ojeda, in the background. And here is a picture of Jaime with his niece (Maria) and his nephew (Pablo) under the apple and pear trees. I think Freud would have something to say about Pablo's recent obsession!

Mr Dixon

2006-04-17T22:59:00.000+02:00

With spring here and summer just around the corner I can't help but miss the old ice-cream van! Even though it was a little nippy in Huddersfield at Easter, that didn't keep the Dixon's van away from Manor Park Way! I resisted the urge to buy a 99 although I doubt that they actually cost 99p these days.

I remember running out of the house when I was little to the sound of the ice-cream van to buy Screwballs and Fabs and Apple cider lollies. I wonder if kids around Great Britain are still buying the same iced treats? What was your favourite ice-cream when you were little?

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T20:02:00.000+02:00

Happy Easter, everyone!

Jaime and I arrived home late this afternoon after spending a lovely week in Great Britain. The weather wasn't too bad, it rained as usual but we did have some sunshine during our stay.

The week began with my usual trip to the hairdresser's so that Amanda could sort out my mop! How I love being pampered at the salon.

On the Wednesday we set off for Edinburgh, my parents had kindly offered to drive us up there for a short break. The hotel we stayed at was lovely (even if I was convinced that it was haunted), I had full Scottish breakfast every day and even managed to have a bit of haggis! I also took advantage of their water supply and had lots of lovely, hot bubble baths! Something I miss here in Spain.

While we were in Edinburgh we walked around a lot and visited Holyrood House,
it was a very pretty building but I was a little disappointed since Queen Mary's apartments were closed and I had been told that you can spot the blood stain of her secretary there. I had been hoping to catch some paranormal activity but I was out of luck. We wandered around the pretty gardens though and saw the Abbey ruins. Jaime enjoyed being a guard for a few minutes too.

We went on a guarded tour down Real Mary King's close where unfortuantely we couldn't take pictures, it was very interesting but yet again I didn't see or hear any ghosts! And I thought Edinburgh was supposed to be the most haunted city in Europe! We also went to a bar recommended to us by Scottish friend Steve, called Dirty Dicks, which is a cool pub where women are in no danger of entering the wrong toilets.

On the whole I enjoyed my first visit to Edinburgh, I took the customary picture of a Scott in kilt and sporan, playing bagpipes and we saw some rather interesting statues, (my guess is drunk students). On the way back to Huddersfield we passed through the Lake District where there was still a little snow on the hills and we had a coffee in a very posh hotel by Lake Ullswater.

Back in Huddersfield Jaime and I had some lovely meals. On the Friday we went to a new Spanish tapas restaurant called Mas and on the Saturday my Aunty Carol and Uncle Andrew took us for a meal in my fave restaurant, Bradley's. After dinner we went to one of Huddersfield's new trendy bars, Lounge 68. A fab night.

Now we are safely back home in Madrid and to be honest I am exhausted. I think I am going to take a leaf out of our cat's book and have a nice nap (but preferably on something more comfortable than the bonnet of dad's car).

Girl fried in Spain

2006-04-11T17:58:00.000+02:00

Was looking at my web counter thingimibob and discovered that someone linked to me after doing a search on MSN Finland. I am intrigued to know what the hell they were trying to find with the search words "Girl fried in Spain". Could it be a new Spanish delicacy? Or perhaps it is a rather harsh tabloid headline refering to a recent arson attack in the Iberian peninsula? I have no idea, any suggestions? If aforementioned Finn should return to this sight, I would love to know what exactly it is that you were looking for!

Time Filler

2006-04-06T21:41:00.000+02:00

If you have a little time to spare and you have nothing more productive to do, why don't you check out this Virgin Music Poster and see if you can guess the names of the 75 bands which are depicted within it. It is quite addictive and once you get started, you'll be surprised how many you can name! Have Fun!

Enough to make your blood boil!?

2006-03-31T23:36:00.001+02:00

If you had the chance to banish some of your worst nightmares to the depth of a locked room, what would they be and why? In the comical TV show, 'Room 101', Paul Merton poses that same question to his guests. After giving a class from an Advanced book on the same topic, it got me thinking. What would I send to Room 101? Living in Madrid, I find it all too easy to come up with several pet peeves.

Nomation Number 1: Space Invaders
I'm talking about the people who seem to have no awareness of personal space. Take the underground for example, why do people insist on reading their hardback book when the train is jam-packed? Why do they have to stick their bloody novel into my spine so I can feel every turning of every page? Why did a woman feel it necessary to lean on me and effectively squash me against the bloody wall the other day when she had enough space to park a car at the other side of her? And then when I asked her to move she refused to do so telling me that I should buy a car!

Nomination Number 2 : Inconsiderate umbrella carriers
I understand that an umbrella is a very practical and useful accessory and that there are times when people need to protect themselves from the pouring rain, but God damn it we need to have a bit of common sense and manners, folks! Madrid is a big city, there are a lot of people and most of them have no idea about (a) personal space, as I said above, and (b) the danger of using an umbrella that has a spoke sticking out of the side in the style of a lethal eye-poker-outer device. Imagine the scene: Plaza Castilla, rush hour, 25 people standing on either side of a zebra crossing, it's pissing it down, everyone is carrying an umbrella, (30% of which have a spoke loose), the green man starts flashing, people start crossing, (but this is Madrid so people have to cross the street in a diagonal or sometimes zigzag fashion depending on whether or not they have just seen their bus pull up), Faye Hobson is in the middle wearing her Barbour waterproof hat looking like a twat, but not getting in anyone's way, she proceeds to cross the street, ducking and diving but still not completely avoiding getting smacked in the chest twice and scratched down the side of the face. AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Nomination Number 3: Spanish Drivers
- The red light means that you stop your car! It does not mean that you can keep driving until the people waiting at the zebra crossing decide to launch themselves into the street so that they can get to the other side before the red man starts flashing.

- A zebra crossing is for pedestrians, it is not a place to park your car, nor is it the place you stop when the light turns red so that myself and all the other poor folk have to zig zag in and out of the traffic hoping that we can get to the other side before the lights change and the cars set off, regardless of whether or not people are still on the crossing.

-The horn should be used as little as possible. Blaring on it non-stop for ten minutes is not going to make the traffic move any faster. It is a traffic jam, the traffic is at a standstill for a reason and not just because the drivers ahead of you have decided to stop and have a rest!

-Drink driving, speeding, double parking and talking on the mobile phone while driving is not clever, knock it off!

Nomination Number 4: Inconsiderate Mobile Phone Users

Here I'm talking about the type of person who screams "I'm on a bus" at the top of their voice down the handset and you can hear their entire conversation. The other day I even saw a woman using her hands free on the bus when she had the phone in her other hand! I mean we hear even more of the bloody topic of conversation when you are talking into a little microphone!I'm also talking about the type of people who think it is a good idea to scroll through all the possible ring tones on their mobile three times before choosing one when sitting on a train or bus. I'm referring to the selfish bastards who leave their mobile phones switched on in the cinema because they can't live for fear of missing an important social/business call.

I am beginning the realise that the more time I spend in the city, the less tolerant I am becoming. I am afraid I might explode one of these days. There are so many more things that wind me up something cronic;

- Dog-owners not cleaning up their dog's crap
- People standing on the steps of the Underground handing out flyers.
- The sextet of musicians that play four songs on repeat all day long outside the academy (I can't take anymore "Oh when the saints" or flipping "My Way"!!!!)
- Road works

I could go on and on but I think I had better stop before I give myself a hernia, so the rant is over. However, feel free to post a comment with your own nominations for Room 101 and if you are interested in some of the nominations made by British Celebrities you can check it out here.

"A taste of England in Spain"

2006-03-20T19:38:00.002+01:00

We have had a lovely, long weekend thanks to San José. I can't say that I have really done anything to take advantage of it, except for sleep a lot. I have done a lot of cooking though and thanks to a trip to the Food Hall, Jaime and I had a fantastic Full English Breakfast yesterday with tasty bacon, Heinz beans, British pork sausages, fried mushrooms and a fried egg. Delicious!

I could have spent a fortune in that shop but I was very well behaved and I only bought two packs of bacon, which was on offer, a pack of sesame Ryvitas and a bag of Salt and Vinegar Discos. I will have to go back though, I spied some Angel Delight and Heinz Treacle Pudding! I refrained from picking up some penguins and throwing some Tunnocks caramels into the basket, but it was very, very tempting.

The whole trip sent me a little doo-lali since I almost asked the checkout girl if she could give me my change in euros instead of the 5 pound note I thought that she had put into my hand.

In mourning

2006-03-12T18:26:00.001+01:00

Sent Jaime to our local Blockbuster video store on Friday night to get something good to watch on TV, to ease my boredom after having spent all day vegetating on the couch with a headache and a sore throat. To my dismay he came back empty handed. Apparently Blockbuster are closing down! Not just our local store, but all 105 branches in the Spanish peninsula! The American chain is quoting the reduction in rentals caused by an increase in video piracy as the reason, (it has risen from 5% to 60% in the last three years in Spain). The company was said to have lost over 5 million euros in 2004.

Everytime I went into the store, which was at least once a week, all the latest DVD's were out and I would have to wait until the following week. I don't recall ever entering the store and having my pick of the bunch! Maybe this is just an excuse for Blockbuster to pull out of Spain? Or maybe there is some truth in it? I mean in Yorkshire I wouldn't have a clue where to go to by pirated DVDs or CDs but here in Spain, up until recently, you would trip over blanket upon blanket of burnt films while walking down a 10 metre stretch of road.

I suppose I will just have to join the local videoclub, at least I will be doing my part to keep small businesses up and running, but instead of waiting a week to see that new release, I may just end up waiting months! I hate to admit it but American superchains just make life that little bit easier sometimes!

Blast from the past

2006-03-01T23:32:00.001+01:00

You know that you are a child of the eighties when you can remember owning numerous pairs of slouch socks in every colour under the sun. I used to go to school in my black uniform, with purple or green slouch socks falling down my leg. How sad! The trouble is I thought I was soooo cool!!!

You know you are an eighties child if you can admit to having worn a global hypercolour T-shirt. You know the ones that started off as one colour and then when you breathed really hard on one part of it, or when you sweated, it changed colour.

You know you are getting older if you can remember a time when you wore some cheap tacky perfume like Exclamation or, like all the other teenagers you went to school with, you doused yourself in Body Shop Dewberry or White Musk!

Do you remember when you were in your teens and you just had to own a pair of Reebok Classic Leather trainers, a Sweatershop jumper, Kickers shoes for school and a Naf Co 54 coat? Doesn't it just make you cringe?

I guess the above fashion horrors are the downside to being an eighties child but hey there were some good things too. Quality Saturday tea-time viewing meant sitting on the lounge carpet with your dad watching the A-team and Nightrider. And a bit later came Baywatch and your dad suggesting that you swapped your mother for one of the big-breasted, red swimming costume clad babes on the TV.

In the 80's we had none of these Hi-tech video games. I remember my cousin bringing his Spectrum round to our house and us having to sit there for hours waiting for the bugger to load only to find that we hadn't cued the tape right! And the bloody noise it made, waaaa woooo wiiiii rrrrrr!

I could go on and on, it's so much fun! If you are a child of the eighties and you fancy reminiscing a little more, check this out. Go on, I double dare you!

If only...

2006-03-01T21:47:00.000+01:00

It's a real shame when good, British artists get overlooked for the likes of people like the Spice Girls and any other manufactured bands out there! What is the world coming to when talented singer / songwriters who produce some pretty hot tracks are pushed to one side to make way for trash like the Pussy Cat Dolls? I mean 'Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" isn't really a very thought-provoking lyric now, is it?!

Take the short-lived, Nottingham born band Sunhouse, for example. "Who?" I hear you all cry. Exactly! They were around for about a year in the late 90's, nobody has really heard of them, they never really made it anywhere and they split up soon after releasing there debut album, 'Crazy on the Weekend'. Although apparently the lead singer, after overcoming drink and drug problems, is now singing with Brit band, Clayhill.

I was fortunate enough to learn about them from an ex-boyfriend and his clique, they in turn had heard about them from someone else who had heard the song on a film( British flick 24:7), liked it and checked out the closing credits to find out who was singing.

I had forgotten how bloody good the CD was until I put it on the stereo the other day while cleaning the house. You can listen to some extracts here, or if you know me well you can borrow my copied version and burn it, or download it onto your i-pod (or 'your-not-an-i-pod' an explanation of which can be found in a January entry on Ned's blog)

If only less money had been spent on the Spice Girls and Boyzone and more attention had been paid to these guys, they might have produced more goody fabness, a great shame.

Happy Pancake Day

2006-02-25T19:11:00.001+01:00

I found this fantastic picture of some housewives taking part in the world famous Olney Pancake Race, circa 1950. I wasn't really aware that people took part in pancake races but apparently this tradition is so popular and fun that some Americans decided to copy it and take it to Liberal, Kansas.
I've never really known why we celebrate Pancake Day, I'm not a religious person and to be quite frank I am ignorant about most religious festivities. For this reason I decided to do some investigating on the net. I discovered that Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent and therefore in the past was the day when households had to use up all the fats and eggs they had in the house, since they were products that were forbidden during Lent. Fats and eggs, the ingredients for a good Pancake! To find out more you can go to this pancake happy page.

The Easy Way

2006-02-22T19:17:00.000+01:00

Before New Year I had decided that with the chiming of the clock on New Year's Eve ( or at least on the morn of the 1st of January -when the celebrations were over) I would stop smoking. I really believed that this great feat would be aided by the new smoking ban coming into effect from the 1st of January in public places in Spain. Well, aided I was not, it would be more accurate to say that any attempts to kick the habit were thwarted by the blasted tobacco law! It became easier to smoke, all the bars I went to were still smoking bars, my brand of cigarettes actually went down in price and I could smoke without worrying about annoying the non-smokers since they had obviously chosen to frequent a smoke-friendly bar. The only real difference was that I had to go outside to smoke, but hey this is Spain and at this time of year it may be cold at times but the sun is usually shining and standing in the street doesn't really pose a problem. So I continued to smoke.

A few months went by, I had just about given up on the idea of quitting having realised that Jaime was right when he said I had no will power, when along came Alan Carr and his Easyway. Yes, a fellow ex-smoker thrust his book upon me and within 3 days of reading I had become a non-smoker. As easy as pie. No cutting down (had already tried and failed), no patches (refuse to admit I was actually 'addicted' and needed nicotine), no chewing gum and other substitutes (thank God, no weight gain) and no need for will power (since I have proved on the numerous occasions that I have quit smoking that I have none!) Just me, Alan Carr and a little light reading.

So here I am, a week after reading a method that has a success rate of over 90%, a week of killing off the Nicotine monster that was residing in my tummy and I feel fab, happy to be a non- smoker and raring to get more fag ash Lils onto the band wagon!

Late Arrivals

2006-02-18T21:23:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures I took the other week when a few of us went to see a friend's band playing in the Chesterfield Café in Arguelles. Nedra and I had been for some lovely grub in a Peruvian restaurant previously (having attempted to get served in a Columbian first with no joy). The waiter took a great liking to Miss Rivera, so perhaps we will have to go back. The band was good as always but the place was full of posh school kids which made me feel far too old, especially when one of them suctioned his 18 year old lips to my cheek. Nice!

Katie and Lewis : The BLC Love Birds

Dave and Nedra enjoying themselves

Happy Love Day

2006-02-14T21:49:00.000+01:00

to everyone! If you're in a relationship I hope your partner has treated you to something special and if you are not I hope you have still treated yourself to something special.
If you are bored one day you could go to this website and make your own hearts and signs. It's silly but you'll be surprised how much time you can spend (waste) being creative. I would post a picture of my Valentine's day present from Jaime but it is just too tacky! (both the idea of posting a pic and the actual gift) It's the thought that counts and all that crap.

Back to Skool

2006-02-06T23:12:00.000+01:00

I was just looking at the Leeds University website and reminiscing about the four years I spent there, when I came across the graduation webcasts from my year. (If you want to see me get my degree go here , scroll down to July 14th 2003, ceremony 2 and skip to the 34.50 minute mark or to see my dad looking bored out of his head listening to one of the language professors going on and on and on, skip to the 9.30 minute mark).

I had forgotton how funny it was. It was the only day I remember wishing that I had a middle name or a double barrel surname. Some people had ridiculously long names like 'James Peter Kirk Patrick Dixon' and 'Alexander Michael Smolinski Marqués'. I think my dad almost choked trying not to laugh out loud - I mean how many names does one person need?? It's a bit much when your parents decide to name you after your father's father's father's father! I felt a little embarrassed when they called out 'Faye Hobson', but at least another single named friend went before me, 'Sarah Grimsley'.

Pukka

2006-01-25T21:31:00.000+01:00

Jamie Oliver does it again! I love this geezer. I tried out my Christmas Flavour Shaker for the first time tonight with one of the recipes Jamie includes in the packaging of his new invention. This is the revolutionary new pestle and mortar affair of the 21st century which makes bashing herbs fun and oh so simple. I pulverised some lemon, thyme, rosemary, garlic, oil and seasoning and poured it over my chicken before whacking it on the grill pan. Absolutely pukka, as Mr Oliver would say.

Anyone who likes cooking up a storm in the kitchen has probably already got one but, if you haven't get your bloody skates on and buy one. If you need more convincing, check out the video of Jamie in action!

Happy Birthday Seamus

2006-01-22T14:55:00.001+01:00

Yesterday we went round to Seamus's flat with our two fold-up chairs, 2 bottles of red wine and a hip flask of vodka to join in with his 40th celebrations. He had put on a lovely spread and we nibbled our way through chorizo, Irish smoked salmon and other delicacies.

Sam had got him a fantastic Atletico cake which we put forty candles on, I still have the red fingers to prove it!

We played Charades for a while and nobody managed to get my interpretation of Matrix when I proceded to jump around the room in supposed Karate positions.

We had a great laugh and rolled home at about 4.30 after doing the taxi run in Jaime's poor, little, red car. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so no pics.

Happy Birthday Seamus, y que cumples muchos más.

Epiphany

2006-01-07T15:19:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was 'Reyes' in Spain , that's 'Kings day'. Jaime and I went up to La Vid de Ojeda in Palencia to spend the day with his family and watch his niece and nephew opening their presents. My gift to Maria went down a treat, it's a board with pegs and you make pictures, so simple and yet they played it for hours and hours. Even I got in on the action, I might ask Jaime to get me one for my birthday!

The kings brought me a nice new hair-dryer. They must have realised that mine kept turning itself off every 2 minutes. God Bless Caspar, Baltasar and Melchior!

Google

2006-01-04T20:51:00.000+01:00

Google is so informative at times! I just went on Google to look something up and I noticed that the search engine had adopted this strange dot formation? This led me to the conclusion that today must have something to do with being blind or Braille. I typed 'Braille Day' into the search bar and low and behold the 4th of January is World Braille Day!

HAPPY 2006!!

2006-01-03T20:45:00.000+01:00

Happy 2006 Everyone! As you can see from the photo we managed to have a little bit of snow this Christmas. Had a great time in England with the family and catching up with friends. Here's a picture of my grandparents waiting for their xmas dinner, and a snapshot of Milly looking beautiful beside the xmas tree. I managed a night out in Huddersfield with the girlies guzzling some rather nice Brazilian beer.

New Year's Eve was spent with Jaime and Seamus at Henny and Carmen's house. A great laugh was had by all. Good food, Irish smoked salmon and special bread courtesy of Seamus, copious amounts of cava and champagne and even live music from Henny with her flute playing along to Los Chicos del Coro (Les Choristes /the Chorus). The guiris managed to swallow their grapes in time to the chimes of the clock in Sol, unfortunately the supposed Spanish pros were about three grapes ahead of the chiming! Tut Tut!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good luck for 2006, may all your dreams come true!

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Robin flew away...

2005-12-18T21:25:00.000+01:00

Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee etc. Christmas is coming! I am going in to my last week of work and I cannot wait to have a holiday. Turkey dinner, mince pies, crimbo cake and presents! I'm so excited!

Went out on the BLC Christmas dinner last night. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to recharge the camera so there are no pictures and there were some cracking photo moments! My flatmate Beth managed to fall over a few times before I got her into a taxi and sent her on her way. For the first time ever I managed to stay awake until the underground opened again at 6, so I got home at about 7, very naughty! I only suceeded in staying out since I stopped drinking at about 1am! Which meant that I got to giggle at everyone else in their drunken debauchery.

Christmas is coming

2005-12-05T22:33:00.000+01:00

Courtesy of my Australian friend, Andrew, take a peek at this video and music ensemble. Proof that, as the festive season nears, some people have far too much time on their hands and rather large electricity bills.

Felices Fiestas