A very long day

I am exhausted.

I left the house at 8am and gatecrashed B1 grammar (just as well, as I learnt a new usage for the conditional tense) and attended first 30 minutes of conversation. I had planned to catch the 11.30 coach, so thought an hour would be plenty of time... I got to the coach station at 11.15 (after a much longer walk from the end of the line for my bus 11) and found a long queue to buy tickets and the machines were out of order. 11.30 came and went, so I resigned myself to catching the 12.00 one which gets into Marbella at 1.25 (interview at 1.30 - I planned to call the school if it looked as though I was going to be late). When I finally made it to the counter (at 11.45), they told me I was in the wrong queue. Luckily, the queue for the Marbella tickets was really short... if I had known which queue to join, I would have caught the 11.30 coach!

Got my ticket (only 5 euro) and got on the coach. It wound through all the tourist places (like Torremolinos) and finally arrived at 1.20. I grabbed a taxi and we made it to the school with 3 minutes to spare! The taxi cost me 14 euro for a 5 minute ride, but I didn't have time to argue and just paid up.

I met with the Deputy Head (Mrs Stevenson), who is lovely. She showed me around the school and we chatted in English (which felt really odd!). The primary kids (from Early Years, aged 3 to Year 6, aged 10) were all in Hallowe'en fancy dress and I got to watch them having a scare each other competition. The site is lovely, very clean and modern. The kids seemed well-behaved and the staff were all very welcoming. Mrs S informed me that they had had a mound of applications for the post and were going to go throught them over half term (next week) but wanted to interview me whilst I was in the area. She said that my application had stood out and that it was very strong.

After a tour, I had a kind of interview with Mrs S, the Head of Languages and the French teacher who is going on maternity leave (Anne). She teaches all the classes (Years 7 to 13) and has a large proportion of Key Stage 4 and 5. It looks like a lovely timetable! I was feeling quite confident at this stage and started to relax.

Then I was taken to her classroom by Anne. Suddenly things went downhill. First of all, we spoke French. 5 weeks ago, that would have been just fine. Today, I kept messing up. I was tongue tied and kept coming out with not only Spanish words, but weird grammatical mistakes that seemed to be a mixture of French, Spanish and English. Bear in mind that Anne is French, so there was no hiding these mistakes... Then she started quizzing me about my knowledge of French history, politics and current affairs. My mind seemed to empty itself and I started to feel panicky. I didn't want to blag it, so I was just honest and said I didn't know much about these. I felt like such an idiot and I just wanted to run away. She even left me alone with the A level set text for five minutes and then quizzed me about it, the use of informal register etc.

Then I met again with Mrs S. She was brimming with positivity and said she really liked me and asked that I let her know if I get invited to any interviews in the next couple of weeks before accepting them. She said that they need to go through the other applications, but I should expect to hear from them in the next 2 weeks and she seemed to be implying that I stood a really good chance of getting it. I admitted that I hadn't felt too confident about the other part of the day. I can't help but think that I won't be appointed once Anne feeds back. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really didn't feel that it went well. It is most unlike me to feel lacking in confidence in interviews and especially about my French. It was not a nice feeling.

Then I came home. I was told that it would be easier to get a bus to Fuengirola and then to Malaga, so I did that. I got to the bus stop outside the school at 4pm. The Fuengirola bus arrived at 4.40 (and only cost 2 euro). It arrived in Fuengirola at 5.15ish. I saw that I would have to wait for an hour, so I grabbed some tortilla and coffee (hadn't eaten all day) and then did the crossword whilst trying to ignore random creepy, smelly men who kept trying to talk to me!

The bus arrived on time (only 1.80 euro) and we got to Malaga at 7pm. I then had to get the number 11 back here and finally got home at 7.50. Nearly 4 hours door-to-door. Ugh.

All in all, I am glad I went and I would be very happy if I did get offered the job, but I do not feel that it is likely. I forgot to ask about the salary, but I think it would be quite good as it is a fee-paying school. They were really impressed that I, myself, went to a fee-paying school and they couldn't understand why I would want to work in state schools! The class sizes are amazing! The year 7 class is considered large... it has 18 students: precisely half the number I had in my Year 9 class last year. The Year 8 class has 15 and Year 9 has 16. Years 10 and 11 have about 10 each and the sixth form is a fairly normal 3 or 4 per year. Apparently the kids do not misbehave in class and you need to plan to teach the entire 45 minutes of the lesson, as you do not need to waste any time getting them quiet etc. It would be really interesting and different and nice for 4 months, but I think I might find it really boring after a bit...!

During my journey home, I suddenly felt really homesick and almost burst into tears on the bus. I don't know why, but I just desperately want to see my family and Pip right now. I think it suddenly hit me that I am a long way from home and I am also very tired. I wanted to talk over the interview with my parents instead of it just going around in my head. I feel a bit better now I have blogged about it - some kind of catharsis in a way!

It's a 3 day weekend now. I have no idea what to do, but might buy some presents tomorrow and then post a box of stuff home, as I fear I am going to be way over my allowance for the flight otherwise. Aside from that, I just want to unwind. I have just started a Spanish novel (I have read all the English ones from the school's exchange shelf) and it seems to be quite easy. If the weather is OK, I might be able to spend some time on the beach, as I have not been all week.

A coincidence

I have just returned home from the birthday tapas eating. I had such a great time and the most strange coincidence...

The woman whose birthday is it is called Helen. She lives here but is English and is a friend of my new friends here. I had not met her until tonight (I thought...), but they kept saying "you should meet Helen." Anyway, she walked into the room and I had that weird "I know you but I don't know where from" feeling. It turns out that she is also friends with my friends in Nice and I had met her twice before whilst on holiday in Nice! How bloody weird is that?!

Ana's car is still in the garage so I can't get a lift tomorrow. Never mind, I will just need to work out the buses. I am going to go into school, gatecrash the 8.30am B1 grammar class and go to the first half of Conversation, then leave at about 11ish so I can get the 11.30 bus from the bus station to Marbella. It might take up to an hour and a half and then I need to get a taxi to the school, so don't want to risk having to get the 12.00 bus. I feel quite unconcerned about the trip. If this job is meant to be, I will get there without any problems and all will go well.

My friends have decided that I need a leaving party! We are going to go out for a meal on Monday night because Monday is fiesta (again!) They are so lovely and they all want me to get the job so that I will be back in Andalucia soon. I'm thinking that, if I do get it, I can do lots of supply for a couple of months and get plenty of cash together and then come over a bit before the job starts... spend some time in Marbella for a couple of weeks and get to know the area and come here and see my Malaga friends too. The world is my oyster this year. What a wonderful situation to be in. I was always saying how I wished I were married and had children, but then I wouldn't be able to be spontaneous, so I am starting to see the freedom I have.

Guinea Pig

Today, we were guinea pigs... there were student teachers taking some of the lessons. It was great because I have been a student teacher myself and I have observed and mentored student teachers and today I experienced the other side of it - being the student!

In the conversation class, we had 2 different students and it was about Spanish culture and stereotypes. very interesting. the first student was stronger, as she had better contact with us and we all spoke more easily. The second student ran out of planned work a bit early and had to fill in a bit. All in all, they did a good job - but teaching 8 motivated adults must be somewhat easier that 30 distracted 13 year olds!

The B2 grammar class was normal, with Isa. It was a great lesson and also kind of sad because 3 of the 5 students are finishing this week. Tomorrow is their last day and I won't be there (Marbella!), so it was our last lesson together. After the rocky start (my paranoia, mainly) it has been a really positive class. Next week, it will be just Moo (the chicochino) and me.


My B2 grammar class:
(I'm not sure about the spellings of the names)
Me (looking very fat, yuk!), Prisilla, Isa (teacher), Taru, Moo and Marilyna


My private lesson was again with 2 separate students. The first was the most confident but she spoke far too fast and, since I am the only student, it felt quite stressful, like I was being given a test with quickfire questions - a bit like an interrogation! Then I had the most nervous student ever! She was actually very good and I see a lot more potential in her than the other one, but she needs to get over her nerves. Fortunately for these 2 that I am a good student and like to get involved. I imagine that an individual class with someone who holds back would be really hard work. (I think that is why my lesson was chosen!)

I rang the English school this morning and have arranged to get there for 1.30. This is good, as I have some time to find my way there of the lift doesn't work out. I'll find out tonight - we are going out for someone's birthday - eating tapas in town. Ana will be there so she'll let me know if she can give me a lift tomorrow. If not, I have to negotiate the buses!

Think of me at 1.30 my time! (Also, best wishes and good luck to my cousin, who also has an interview tomorrow - but for veterinary work!)

Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhh - I am getting quite nervous. The secretary I spoke to said it would be fairly informal, but I really want to shine and make the choice eay for them.

Big news!

I have just had the most exciting email from the English school in Marbella:

"Mrs Stevenson is interested in meeting you and wondered if you could come for an interview on Friday."

Hell, yeah!!! I have replied to confirm and asked if I can call them tomorrow to clarify details. I wonder if I will have to teach... I wonder if I will be able to speak French now that my head is full of Spanish... I wonder how I will get there... Aaaargh!!!

Concessive clauses

I seem to have less time to update this these days. The closer it gets to going home time, the more homework I am doing and more practice essays etc. I have just spent 3 hours doing all the exercises I could find on the imperative. This should be a basic thing (A2/B1 level), but I missed out on it and have never actually studied it. Fortunately, the negative imperative is basically the subjunctive, so that is that taken care of. The affirmative imperative is a bit harder to get your head around, especially when you add direct object and reflexive pronouns into the mix, but I think I have just about worked it out now (after about half an hour lesson and the 3 hours at home). I am determined to work out which grammatical areas I still have blanks for and get these sorted in my remaining private lessons. Isa is very flexible about what we do in those lessons, so I can basically jump around any different things I need to study.

In the conversation class today, we looked at superstitions again. It is an interesting topic and it was fun comparing the superstitions of our various countries, especially when they have slight differences.

***Complicated grammar coming up. If you can understand it, read on... it's good stuff!***

In B2 grammar, we continued with some high-level subjunctive/indicative uses, focusing on oraciones concesivas. I would be extremely surprised if I ever have to teach how using aunque with the subjunctive (see example a) expresses information already known by both parties, whereas the use of aunque with the indicative (see example b) demonstrates that there is new information being given to the interlocutor (yeah, I know!?!?)

Consider: a) Aunque sea inglesa, me gusta hablar otros idiomas.
and b) Aunque soy inglesa, me gusta hablar otros idiomas.

Both translate as "Although I am English, I like to speak other languages" but, in a) both the person talking and the person listening already knew that I am English, whereas in b) the person listening (the interlocutor) didn't know that I was English before I said this. In a), the most useful information is that I speak other languages whereas in b) the most useful information is that I am English.

Subtle, devious, complicated and... bloody brilliant!!!

This usage is most interesting because normally the subjunctive is used over the indicative when there is some element of doubt or hypothesis. In the case of aunque (and a pesar de que (despite) and por más/mucho que (howevermuch)), this is almost turned on its head. I felt mightily proud of myself once I had understood it, especially when you consider that I am concurrently getting to grips with using the past tenses correctly and using the imperative. I love learning!!!


After my private lesson on the imperative, I stayed for the culture class (also with Isa). No-one else is coming this week, but I am fascinated because it is about contemporary Spanish cinema. Today, Isa set the scene by telling me about how Spain came late to free ideas and democracy, post-Franco (ie 1975). I was rather ashamed of how little I know about Spain's political history and have been doing a Wiki* on it. Tomorrow, I will be finding out how the cinema flourished post-Franco.




* my new expression for using Wikipedia to find out information!

Fin de Semana (weekend)

It's becoming increasingly odd to write this in English! (Don't worry, I will not suddenly start writing entirely in Spanish.) I have gotten into the habit of writing short essays in Spanish in the past tense for Isa to mark each day in order to practise my past tenses and I keep pondering on the appropriate tense whilst blogging!

On Saturday morning, I woke up feeling distinctly rubbish. It was cloudy and rain was forecast, so I decided to postpone my tourist day and instead slept almost all day!


On Sunday, I woke up feeling a lot better and made my way into town by bus. I aksed the driver to tell me where I should get off in order to visit the castle of Gibralfaro. He seemed amused that I intended to walk from the centre, implying it would make more sense to catch another bus. When I got off, there was a marathon taking place and I had to wait for 15 minutes to cross the road (I took advantage of a brief gap in the runners)!



Then I started the climb. Many steps. Quite a hike. I wished I had brought some water as I got very thirsty. At the top, I was very happy to see a cafe and gulped down a can of diet coke in record time. Then I paid my €2.10 and visited the castle. It was very beautiful.




The views of the city and the port were absolutely breathtaking, especially as it turned into a beautifully sunny day.






I found another sundrenched cafe and finished my Spanish novel (with dictionary) whilst drinking coffee. Then I walked back down and came home to change and grab my towel before heading to the beach. I managed to get in a couple of hours of sunbathing before getting ready to go out again. José and Juan Antonio took me to Torrox, where we met with some more people. It was a funny little place and the locals' accents were even stronger, if that is possible!

The other exciting thing that has happened is that I have spotted a great job opportunity: teaching French in an English school in Marbella! It isn't far from here and would be the best possible thing for me. It is a short maternity cover, from February to June and I am going to send my application today. I might have to drive over if I did get it, as I would want all my stuff and possibly Pip too! Anyway, we'll see if that is what Fate has decided I should do. It really would be the best thing in terms of both my career and my Spanish. Plus, the life in Spain really does suit me.

Right, I had better go and write a summary of the book for Teresa. I promised her I would do so...

A joke/chiste

I had a great evening. We all met in town and then 4 of us came back to this area and ate ice creams on the beach! It was really nice and I am understanding more and more each time I meet with my friends.

I also learnt a new joke that I have to remember for next week:

Le dice un argentino a su esposa:
- Querida, hoy voy a hacer el amor afónico.
La esposa intrigada y emocinada responde:
- Che, que bueno... y como es eso?
A lo que el argentino contesta:
- SIN VOS!!!

You need to a) understand Spanish
and b) know that Argentinian Spanish uses vos instead of usted. It's a good one though!

New words

If there was ever any doubt about how friendly the malagueños (people of Malaga) are towards foreigners, this is a good example:

I have a fringe. I had it cut before coming out here, but it had started to grow over my eyes again and I needed a trim. I have cut it myself before and usually ended up with a mess! In the UK, if I pop into the place where they cut and colour my hair regularly, they do a free "fringe trim" but, if I go somewhere different, I usually have to pay a nominal sum. On my way home just now, I went into a hairdressers (having found the word for fringe in my dictionary: flequillo) and asked if they could trim it. She did and, when I asked how much I owed her, she said "nada" (nothing). How lovely! So now I can see again and I have learned a new word!

My lessons were both mainly conversational: Sergio's was discussion about "designer babies" and abortion and then Isa's class was all about chat-up lines and pulling! We also looked at ways of using the various superlative forms, of which there are many in Spanish (they are very dramatic people!). A very interesting lesson and I now know some really good colloquial language.

I looked at a past paper for Spanish A level this morning and was, frankly, flabbergasted by how easy it was! I do not anticipate having any major problems with doing the A level when I get home. I just hope I can get it out of the way quickly and do not have to wait until June.

Out in town tonight then I plan to do some Malaga-based sightseeing this weekend. The weather is a bit less sunny, so should be good for walking around the various castles and museums.

Tenses

Every day, the air is noticeably cooler, but it is still very sunny here.

I wasn't able to enjoy the sun so much today, because I spent the afternoon filling in an application form. It is for an independent school in Bristol and is a maternity cover starting in February. I also noticed as I was filling it in that it is part time - 4 days per week. I would be able to do supply to make up the hours if necessary, but in fact a spare day each week could be a very good thing for my Spanish A level and OU degree aspirations.

My lessons were all great today. I am still holding back a little bit, to ensure that others get the chance to participate, but I felt much less reluctant to speak. In the conversation class we read a text about plastic and cosmetic surgery and then discussed it. It was a great topic, because people had strong and differing opinions and this led to much more interesting discussion. After the class, Lothar (the German student) told me that he was really envious of my Spanish! He said that I have made lots of progress and am almost fluent! I feel quite proud of how far I have come in 4 weeks.

In the grammar class, we looked at comparatives. I then had a good private lesson, continuing with talking about things using past tense. Yesterday was describing a book and a film I had read and seen. Today I talked about my education. Isa has a good memory for what we tell her about ourselves. Considering many students only stay for a week or so, it is incredible that the teachers can remember our names, let alone how many brothers and sisters we have etc!

I really want to crack the perfect preterite/indefinite preterite/imperfect tenses. I feel like I am on the verge of getting it, but I still need to think...

1. Did this event happen once/infrequently (preterite) or regularly/habitually/over a long period of time (imperfect)?
2. Did it happen recently/is it connected to the present (perfect preterite) or did it happen a long time ago (indefinite preterite)?
Cuando era pequeña, me gustaba rosa (Imperfect: when I was little, I liked pink)
Hoy, he comido un bocadillo. (Perfect: Today, I ate/have eaten a sandwich)
(El año pasado,) fui a Francia. (Indefinite: (Last year) I went to France)

There are other things that need to be taken into account, but those 2 questions are a good rule of thumb.

Shakira sings the Subjunctive!

***A word of warning: If you find grammar really boring, stop reading now. I don't mean stop reading the whole blog, just this post... It is very grammar-heavy!***

I like Shakira's songs, especially her Spanish ones. I like the way she plays with words and, although her sentiments can be a little trite, they are familiar and therefore easy to understand. I was listening to one of them (Que me Quedes tu) on my iPod on the beach earlier (sorry to keep going on about the beach, but it is amazing to be able to sunbathe there in the second half of October) and I realised that it would be a great teaching tool when teaching the subjunctive!

In the song there are 18 distinct verbs and all but two appear in the subjunctive. The indicative is only used twice. There are also lots of interesting words and so it would be a great dictionary exercise as well as a great grammar piece. I can't wait to use it in a lesson! It is only a shame that it only uses que (that) and not a variety of hypothesising phrases (tal vez, ojalá, espero que, prefiero que, ruego que + subjunctive) or even some really challenging constructs, such as my current favourite with si + the imperfect subjunctive + the conditional (si fuera un animal, sería un delfín)! I suppose really able groups could write some of their own with these. Even fairly low-level students should be able to invent more like Shakira's basic ones... Oh, now I am getting all excited about getting back to teaching again!

OK, so now here is the song. I hope you enjoy it! I will bold all the verbs in the subjunctive.

Que se arruinen los canales de noticias
Con lo mucho que odio la television
Que se vuelvan anticuadas las sonrisas
Y se extingan todas las puestas de sol
Que se supriman las doctrinas y deberes
Que se terminen las peliculas de accion
Que se destruyan en el mundo los placeres
Y que se escriba hoy una ultima cancion

Pero que me quedes tu
Y me quede tu abrazo
Y el beso que inventas cada dia
Y que me quede aqui
Despues del ocaso
Para siempre tu melancolia
Porque yo, yo, si, si
Que dependo de ti
Y si me quedas tu
Me queda la vida

Que desaparezcan todos los vecinos
Y se coman las sobras de mi inocencia
Que se vayan uno a uno los amigos
Y acribillen mi pedazo de conciencia
Que se consuman las palabras en los labios
Que contaminen todo el agua del planeta
O que renuncien los filantropos y sabios
Y que se muera hoy hasta el ultimo poeta

Pero que me quedes tu
Y me quede tu abrazo
Y el beso que inventas cada dia
Y que me quede aqui
Despues del ocaso
Para siempre tu melancolia
Porque yo, yo, si, si
Que dependo de ti
Y si me quedas tu
Me queda la vida...

Las apariencias engañan

Ironically, the theme for today's B2 lesson was stereotypes, with the title las apariencias engañan which means "appearances can be deceptive".


I take back everything I said earlier about Isa...

I took a back seat during the grammar class today in an attempt to be less monopolising. I answered only when directly asked something and didn't ask any extra questions!

In my private lesson afterwards, Isa asked me if there was something wrong. I decided to explain my fears and she was really surprised. She said that she much prefers students to talk lots and ask questions. She said that, especially at B2, it should be mainly the students doing the talking and that today's lesson had been much less fun for her with lots of silences and her having to do all the talking! I realise that I had been totally wrong and she said that, if the others have a problem with me talking and asking questions, that's their problem and I shouldn't let it affect me and how I learn.

It was a real relief to hear that and know that I can go back to my usual self. I much prefer to ask what a word means rather than keep searching in the dictionary. By the time I have located the word, I have missed the rest of the sentence!

We ended up having a long chat about lots of things and it was a great lesson. She is actually much more approachable than I had thought and I feel much happier about being in the B2 class now. We have a new student in with us this week: a Chinese lad called Moo (his actual name is far longer, but we shortened it because none of us could pronounce it!) He has been at a school in Barcelona for a few months so has a really good level of Spanish. The B2 class certainly has students with a higher level which suits me really well. The B1 class was just right for me at first, but I had started to get frustrated by its repetition of ideas I understood and I am really glad I moved up when I did. I only wish I had enough money to stay here long enough to progress through levels C1 and C2, but I don't so I need to just make the most of the next 2.5 weeks.

I have just spent an hour or so on the beach doing the crosswords. I allow myself to buy just 1 or 2 Telegraphs a week and have to make the puzzles last! It costs €3.20, so I can't justify buying it every day, but once or twice a week is OK.

B2 - Avanza :)

So, I have been promoted to level B2!

There are several benefits from this, not least of which is that my 8.30am lesson is no longer! That was Grammar B1 (8.30-10), so I now get into school at 10.15 for the conversation class which all B1 and B2 students have (Sergio is the teacher). Then, at 12, I have B2 Grammar with Priscilla (Brazil) and Taru (Finland), with Isa teaching us. This goes on until 1.30 and then I have my superintensive 45 minutes with Isa from 1.45 until 2.30. It is so nice to have a bit of extra time in the morning.

Isa has yet another totally different, and equally valid, teaching style. Where Teresa is flamboyant and dramatic and Sergio is calm and logical, Isa is quite firm and has a more detached style. I still learn a lot, but I am a bit scared of her! My way of learning is to ask lots of questions, make sure I understand something completely, constantly checking I am doing it right. This has not been a major issue before. I think the other students have found it a bit annoying, but Sergio and Teresa didn't seem to mind too much. In Isa's lessons, I always get the impression that she finds me a bit annoying. She is still very patient and perfectly polite, but I am going to have to rein myself in a bit, I feel. That's OK, I will just check things I don't understand in the grammar class later in my private lesson.

I had another ride on the motorbike yesterday. José and I went to Rincón de la Victoria again. It was good to chat in Spanish again after all the French this weekend. I was even able to add to the conversation this time and people understood what i was trying to say! We are going to go out in the centre again on Friday.

Did I tell you about Spanish TV? They do this really funny thing: when a news item is on, they play appreopriate background music, like in films. For example, an item about poverty - sad, heavy music; an item about someone's jackpot win - happy, tinkling music. It's really funny and quite distracting!

Morocco - Sunday

Part 2: Sunday


So, we got up early on Sunday and had breakfast in the hotel. We left at 7 and headed to Chef Chaouen. When we arrived, we were able to use the toilets in the hotel and found that the lights didn't work. All the girls started flipping out "I can't go to the loo in the dark"! I suggested that they use the light from their mobiles. My mobile actually has a function called flashlight, which converts it into quite a high-powered torch, so I had no problems.



Then we met our guide and were given the tour of the medina. It was the most idyllic place you can imagine. Whilst maintaining many of the market aspects of the Tetwan and Tanger, Chef Chaouen lacked the grime and claustrophobic feel of them. It is painted in bright white and blue and the inhabitants repaint all the buildings and walls 5 times each year, so it seems clean and well cared for. The sky was blue and the sun was shining, so the colours almost hurt your eyes, they were so vivid. It was without doubt the most beautiful town I have ever been to.


The town was built around the river that runs down from the mountains and the old medina is still visible in the mountains but, apart from the Mosque, the old buildings are apparently in ruins. The town is named after the mountain, meaning something like "2 horns" because of the peaks of the mountain. The people of Chef Chaouen still wash their clothes and rugs in the river and use the public steam baths to wash themselves.







We were taken to a shop where they make rugs and throws. They demonstrated how they make them on a loom, using cotton, silk and camel hair. We then had the chance to purchase some. Unlike the day before, this place didn't use haggling - the prices were fixed. I was very amused to see that far more of us wanted to buy something here - we just are not used to haggling and feel safer knowing what to pay.



I bought a beautiful large throw with a picture on it. I didn't have enough cash and was taken to the bank to withdraw some money... but the banks were not working. I couldn't understand the reasons given "No hay luz" (there's no light). It was only later that I found out that the whole town had had a power cut, hence lights and banks were not working! In the end, the guide lent me the money and I paid him back when we reached Ceuta and a working bank.

Later, we had free time and I visited several (bartering) shops and stalls. I got some presents and managed to barter quite well.



We then had lunch in the hotel (they had a generator for the kitchen!) and then made our way back to Ceuta where we said goodbye to Tarik and then got the boat back to Algeciras. Some of the boys had purchased Moroccan clothes and had decked themselves out... I didn't like to tell them that, when they put the hoods up, they looked rather KKK!

I finally arrived back in Málaga at about 11pm, exhausted but having had the most amazing weekend of my life!

Morocco Friday and Saturday

OK, so here goes with my Morocco entry.

Having got as far as Saturday night, I am so exhausted that I am going to stop there and write up the rest tomorrow...

Friday
I caught the bus at 3pm and met the other people. I sat with Nadia, from Switzerland. I realised that her Spanish was a bit weaker than mine and we chose which language to converse in. We both speak French, so this became our language. It was amusing: an English girl and a german speaking Swiss girl staying in Spain on a trip to Morocco talking in French!

The others were from many different countries: Germany, Holland, USA, England, Switzerland, Norway, Italy and New Zealand to name a few. We all mainly chatted in Spanish and I tried to avoid those who opted for English.




We got to Algeciras at about 5pm and caught the boat at 5.30pm. It was a little boat and we mainly stayed on the deck. I didn't get to see any dolphins, but I did get a good look at Gibraltar.






We arrived at Ceuta at about 7pm. Still in Spain, but finally on the african continent. We got on another coach with a really cool driver called Tarik with whom I ended up chatting a lot in Spanish (and some arabic!) He took us through the border into Africa.



At the border there were loads of people with bags of clothes and other objects. Apparently there are no taxes on items in Ceuta, so people go over there to buy things to sell in Africa. We were not allowed to take photos at the border, so my picture was rather covertly taken, shhh! I was very happy to discover a stamp in my passport - my first one!





We also met our guide. He has a very complicated arabic name and so he goes by the pseudonym Michael Douglas! He is very witty and told jokes all weekend. He speaks lots of languages, like everyone in Morocco. I was constantly struck by how many languages everyone can speak there. In the UK, it is unusual to find someone who is fluent in more than just English and anyone who can speak 5+ languages could get any job they want... in Morocco even beggars speak Arabic, Spanish, French and English as a minimum!






Once through the border, we made our way to our hotel in Tetwan/Tétouan. We filled out a form and decided whom to share a room with (I was with Nadia). We were given a cup of mint tea which is the normal drink in Morocco - made with lots of sugar and very tasty! We dropped off our bags then ate in the hotel restaurant.





We had a vegetable soup followed by couscous and other Moroccan food.






I stayed up for a bit chatting to Talik and learning lots of useful arabic words. Then I went to bed. I remembered to use mineral water to brush my teeth.







Saturday

Due to the 2 hour time difference, I was awake at 5am and breakfast was at 8, so I had some time to waste. I was happy to find that the hotel reception had wi-fi! Breakfast was great - lots of different breads and pancakes with honey and jam.







We set off at 9 and went into Tetwan. The centre seemed quite Western at first... just the currency (dirhams - I changed some euro) was different. Then we entered the medina (old town). Suddenly I was in a different world. The smells assault you - nice spices and breads and then revolting stale fish and putrid rotten meat.




There are stray cats all over the place. Apparently dogs are considered dirty but cats are sacred, so they put up with them.







My flipflops suddenly seemed a very bad idea - my feet were wet with bloody water and fish juices from the floor. Then again, those with trainers ended up with very stained footwear, at least I could wash my plastic flipflops! We walked around and Michael told us all about the history. We looked inside a Mosque (from the doorway) and had demonstrations of clothing and rugs and various spices and "natural hygienic products". It was the most eye-opening experience of my life and I spent the whole time in awe, shocked, repelled, attracted and amazed in equal measures. It was hard to know where to look, what to say, how closely to hold your bag...


We had a demonstration of carpets in a cooperative and tried to barter prices











then had lunch in a typical restaurant. Some of us got henna tattoos (once the paint dried the dye underneath it didn't show up much due to my tan, but the photo shows how lovely it was when it was drying!) and there was a bloke doing something amazing with a tray and some candles (click on the box to play the video - warning, there is a lot of background noise!):











Then we headed to Tanger. We stopped off on the way to ride camels. I enjoyed the experience, but did feel very sorry for the poor animals who had to keep getting up and down for us to get on and off. The again, it was pointed out to me that they are beasts of burden and would otherwise be carrying heavier loads and probably not getting so much food and water.



Another stop off, at a place where you can see where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet.









I had a mint tea in the cafe and got chatted up by a waiter when I spoke some arabic!










In Tangers, we visited another medina. This one was more open and less smelly, but still had loads of shops and people trying to sell you things. We had an hour of free time and I opted to go alone. I bought some postcards and wrote and posted them. I then managed to haggle for some dinky shoes (I got the original €14 down to €7) and then drank mint tea and chilled out, chatting to locals in French and Spanish.

Back to the hotel and we had supper. It was very tasty with the typical vegetable soup that we ate twice a day and then some yummy spicy meats and vegetables.

Sunday to follow tomorrow...

Tired

Well, it is Monday, I am back from Morocco and I am exhausted! I will update properly later with all my pics and tell you all about the most amazing weekend I had.

By the way, I got 99.9% in my exam on Friday! I basically got it all right, but got stuck with a couple of the irregular verbs. I had made a sheet about the subjunctive (what it is, how you form it and when you use it) with loads of colours and some pictures. Teresa made photocopies of it for everyone else and they were all really impressed! I was a bit embarrassed, but quite proud too.

Right, lessons now. I might be doing level B2 from now on. I really hope so, as many of the students on the trip this weekend (from other schools) were doing B2 and my Spanish was as good as theirs.

¡Marruecos!

So, I've just met with Abdel and I've paid up - I'm off to Morocco tomorrow!

The bus picks me up at 3pm and we head to Algeciras where we take a boat to Ceuta. The we go by bus to our hotel in Tetouan and unpack. We have some free time and eat there. On Saturday, we visit Tetouan and get to go on a short camel ride for just €1! Then we visit Tanger before returning to the hotel.
On Sunday, we visit Chechaouen and then head home, arriving back in Malaga at about 10pm.

All travel and food and hotel and guided tours for just €185. Not bad, eh!?
I'm extremely excited!

I have a big test tomorrow with Teresa, all about the uses of the subjunctive. I need to go and revise now... on the beach of course!



I just made a fool of myself again by taking a photo of the supermarket trolley/basket hybrid. It must be quite entertaining to see a mad brit taking a photo of their shopping: I did get some funny looks!

Lessons and lights

I am typing this on my laptop! They only charged me €30, which is not bad. They cleaned a lot of viruses off and also installed a better virus scanner free of charge!

I forgot to tell you about who is in my extra class this week. The teacher is Isa (the one who did the cultural classes in week 1) and there are 2 girls from my conversation class: one from Brazil called Christina and another from Norway called Taru. Their Spanish is of a higher level - they do a separate grammar lesson at level B2. This means that what I am doing with them is much harder - good! We have been studying how to use compound tenses in subordinate clauses expressing causality etc. It is definitely above A level and I am almost in over my head, but holding up just about.

Isa pointed out yesterday that us 3 have different learning styles:
Christina just listens, takes in and does it. Being a portugese speaker helps!
Taru looks confused at first, then suddenly has "ah-ha" moments, when you know she's got it.
I ask lots of questions, constantly checking I have understood and needing examples. Isa says this is because I'm a languages teacher and that she would be the same if she were in my position.

I always stay for the full 90 minutes with Isa - she said it doesn't bother her. What a bargain!

Whilst in town yesterday, I took photos of the traffic lights I told you about.



I felt very silly taking them!

Hobbies

Not much to report. Have my fingers crossed that I might be able to pick up my laptop later today.

I have swapped some books at the school - they do this useful intercambio (exchange) where you give them a novel in any language and then pick out another one from the bookshelf. Since I had read all of my (6) novels I had brought with me in 2 weeks, I was relieved to be able to get some new ones. The staff think I have no life, to read so much. I do, I just read a lot before I go to sleep (as in, for 4 or more hours) and also on the beach. I do also do all my homework and spend time with friends and even watch a little Spanish TV (mainly just the news in the morning)!

I have submitted the form to extend my stay by 2 weeks. I am trying not to think about how much money this will have cost me. After all, it is an investment in my future and maybe makes doing the job from hell for 2 years worthwhile (i.e. the increased salary -> savings -> this experience)!!!

I wish I could just see Pip for a bit though. I miss her so much!

Well, I had better go into town to see if my laptop is ready.

Yummy juice!

Today I got 90 minutes of extra class instead of just the 45 I was meant to have! We are studying things that are far above A level - surely degree level grammar. I´m totally happy with this and am going to extend my stay by 2 weeks in order to get to the highest possible level before I go home.




Yesterday I chilled out on the beach and then had a fresh melon juice in a bar by the beach. Brought my usb cable into school, so can upload the picture!

I will also add the photos to the previous post (churros etc).

Rain and sun and churros

Well, my laptop is still poorly and I won´t be getting it back until Wednesday. I popped into school today to see if it was open and it is, so I can quickly update!

On Saturday, I went into town to ask about my laptop. When I got there it started raining and didn´t stop for hours! I was wandering around trying to find the shopping centre and I got soaked - no umbrella! Totally drenched... Then I found the shopping centre and was able to dry off in a toilet with hot air hand dryer. I tried on lots of lovely clothes and then went to the supermarket in the centre to look for an umbrella. At this supermarket, you have to wrap up your bag in sealed plastic (a security measure). I started chatting with the security guard and he helped me to find an umbrella. As I was leaving, he gave me his phone number! I´m trying to decide whether or not to call him. He seemed really nice and is called Sammy.

Then I came home and watched a film in English on the TV.



On Sunday, José collected me at 10am and we made our way to Churriana and Ana´s house. Her and her husband have a churro place, they make churros that people buy at a hatch thing next to her house. It´s ironic that she is called Ana and she makes churros in a town called Churriana!







There were 6 of us in total: Ana and her husband (also called José), José, me, Raoul and Juan Antonio. We ate churros and drank coffee and they were yummy! I have some photos but can´t upload them until I get my laptop back.





We stayed until about 5, including eating a massive lunch at about 3.30 - pork and homemade chips and salad and then I had a yummy curd thing that comes in a pot like yoghurt called cuajada. Very yummy with sugar. I also saw a weird fruit I had not heard of before, called a chirimoya or custard apple. It wasn´t ripe, but Ana is going to let me try it when it is. The weather was lovely for several hours and we were sitting in Ana´s kind of patio area which is within her house, but is outside. How very Spanish! (Photos at a later date!)


José then took me to a house in the mountains that he had rented over the summer, with the possibility of buying it. In the end he decided not to buy it as it is very remote, but it was beautiful. We had to pick up some things he had left there and return the keys. I could imagine myself living there and writing a book. It really was so idyllic. Again, photos to follow!



On our way back to mine, José and I tried to find a swimming pool near me, but there didn´t seem to be one. I got home at 8.30 and was exhausted!

Today the weather is uncertain. It is a little chilly, but the sun seems to be trying to come out.

Poorly laptop

Apologies for lack of post yesterday... my laptop is not well! It seems to have caught a virus and it had been being quite slow for a few days, but yesterday it was totally knackered and wouldn´t even log in properly. I asked at the school and they suggested a repair place in the centre. For now, I´m at the school, using their computers.

I had my classes, including my private lesson with Sergio, where I learnt about the uses of the imperfect. Normally, it follows the same rules as French and English, but there is one use I had no idea about: they use the imperfect as a form of politeness. It is from the conditional, which resembles the imperfect for verbs ending with -ar. This means it is possible to say "I was having a coffee" where we would say "I would like a coffee"! Very odd but kind of cool too, as it is not a use I had heard of before and I hope to be able to use it soon!

Then I headed into the centre. I found the PC shop and it was closed. Shops here usually shut in the afternoon and then reopen later (to avoid working during the heat, I suppose). It was 3pm and the shop was due to reopen at 5pm, so I wandered around and even went into the huge department store called el corte inglés. It is rather expensive so I didn´t buy anything! Then I had a coffee and sat in the sun. At 5pm, I waited a bit and the shop reopened. They said I would need to leave my laptop with them so they could clean it because it is full of bugs. It should only cost about €30 which is their minumum price for anything. I hope to be able to collect it today. If not, I´ll have to wait until Wednesday because of the double Bank Holiday next week.

When I got home, José came to pick me up (in his car - the motorbike has a dead battery) and we met up with some people in town. I have been invited to someone´s house on Sunday to eat churros, a very typical Spanish breakfast thing. It should be fun... the woman makes them herself!

So, today I am off to the centre. I´m going to take my power cable into the repair shop so, if they haven´t fixed it yet, at least it won´t run out of juice before they can. Then I am going to try to find the other shopping area I have been told about, near the station.


I have some very exciting plans for next weekend! I´m going to go on a trip to Morocco! It costs €185 but this includes travel, 2 nights´ accommodation, all your meals and guided tours around various cities. It will be my first time out of Europe and I can´t not do it while I am so close! I was going to go alone, but José banned me, saying it is far too dangerous and I would end up spending more than that anyway! I am also seriously considering extending my stay here by a week or 2. At the end of our stay, we get a certificate of our level and I hope to be able to do B2. At the moment I am doing B1 and I reckon I could ask to move up the week after next and then do 2 or 3 weeks on B2 in order to get this certificate. The levels are from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Levels and I think the B1 would not look very impressive. Ideally I would like to get the C1, but I would need months here to manage that. I am very aware that this experience is a once in a lifetime one for me and it would be silly to leave before I have reached an adequate level. Although less time might be cheaper, it would be a waste of money in many ways.

So. That´s that for now. Unless (a) my laptop has been fixed or (b) I can find an internet cafe, you might not hear from me until Tuesday. ¡Hasta luego!

Every cloud has a silver lining

The outcome of yesterday's horribleness is that I now have a private lesson (just me) with Sergio at 1.45 each day. It means waiting around for a couple of hours, but I just went to a cafe and read some more of the book. Then I get to do whatever grammar I want for 45 minutes - at my own pace!

We looked at direct and indirect object pronouns today and it really is not that bad. We also touched on how to use the future tense to talk about a hypothesis in the present. I'll be able to do all the little bits and pieces that I'm not clear about now with Sergio.

I am absolutely exhausted today. I don't know why, but I just couldn't face the walk and got the bus to and from school, despite the sun being out. I suppose we are all entitled to a lazy day sometimes.

There is a Bank Holiday in Spain next Tuesday and, being Spain, they take the Monday off too "el puente" (the bridge)! I think the school is going to use the Monday in lieu and we will still have classes on the Tuesday. I might use this long weekend to travel a bit. Or maybe just explore the touristy things of Málaga.

I was comparing French and Spanish earlier when I was learning about pronouns and I tried to give a sentence in French. It was a really simple one but I couldn't remember the words at first. It was like I needed to work out where the switch was to return to French mode. Aaargh! Maybe I should visit France after I finish here!

Intracontinental relations reach breaking point

It was a bit chilly again this morning, but it is now scorching!

Grammar lesson: First of all we read some more of the book. I seemed to be the target for criticism about my pronunciation today and felt a bit upset that I couldn't say the words with feeling. The problem was that I didn't understand what I was reading, so struggled to put feeling into it. Before tomorrow's lesson, I will read the next few pages with my dictionary (instead of re-reading it after the lesson as we are meant to). Then we continued looking at temporales.

Sergio's lesson was more on the environment and then we used the subjunctive or indicative to give opinions about things.

Then it was time for the extra lesson. Laura was not there and the 2 german women had got themselves into full german speaking mode by the time Teresa arrived. We marked the homework on prepositions... in the whole 45 minutes, we managed to just mark 2 exercises because the germans didn't get it and were taking so much time. It was a gapfill and we were taking it in turns to give our answer (a choice of 4 possible words). After half an hour of slow progress, I was getting quite frustrated with the constant silences when one of them didn't know the answer. I started saying the answer after a silence. Annoying, maybe, but can you imagine how much time we had already wasted and now we were sitting waiting for each answer. Had they not done the work at home?

I had just said one of the words, when one of the women whipped around and had a go at me in german. I don't really speak german, but I got the meaning: "would you just shut up!" Then she proceeded to rant about me and how annoying I am to the other woman - in german! I was so extremely shocked by this that I just sat there in silence, my heart pounding. Teresa didn't understand what had happened and we carried on with the work. At the end of my 45 minutes, I got up and said to the women (in Spanish) that I could understand some german and if they had a problem with me, they should tell me this in Spanish as it is very rude to speak about someone in another language. They just shrugged and said "bye then". HOW RUDE! I was absolutely fuming. Bless her, poor Teresa had no idea what was happening and followed me outside. I explained it all to her and she told me that she finds them pesadas (tiresome) and that she agreed that what they had said was very rude. I am going to be taught separately from them from now on - my level is above theirs so I will be given my own work to do away from them.

I will refrain from making any xenophobic comments here as I know plenty of polite and pleasant germans. These 2 are simply rude, old women and their nationality is irrelevant. I am still very shocked at their arrogance and hope I don't have to see them too much in the school.


Afternoon on the beach and now I am going to watch some TV

Motorbike-tastic!

Jose collected me at 7.30 and we went on the moto to Rincón de la Victoria for a couple of hours. It was a friend's birthday so we had some cured ham and delicious little cakes to celebrate. I got Jose to take a photo of me on his bike to show you how amazing it is... also note my tan - you can only really see my feet!

Here comes the sun!

Thankfully, it was nice again today. It was fairly unhot this morning, but the sun was out and getting hotter when I finished lessons.

Teresa's lesson: we tok it in turns to read aloud from the novel for 15 minutes. So far, so good. It has a few words I don't know, but the gist is fairly clear. Then we looked at when the subordinate clause in a sentence takes the subjunctive because of the linking word. It is very high level stuff and I am sure I will be more than prepared for A level grammar after these 4 weeks!

With Sergio, we continued on the theme of the Environment. The Dutch and American girls looked like they were close to sleep several times but I enjoyed it.

Laura and I were joined by 2 more German women for our private lesson. I started to get a bit pissed off with the way the 3 of them were chatting in German before Teresa arrived. Not only are they (presumably) in Spain to learn Spanish, but they were 3 Germans in a room with an English person, so it was actually quite rude. Once Teresa was there, I felt OK about saying in a jokey way that we only speak Spanish in the class. Teresa backed me up and they stopped conversing in German. I am going to be so hated by all the other students! The other 3 all have 90 minutes and I am meant to leave after 45 minutes, but we were in the middle of something, so Teresa said I should stay for a bit to finish it off. Bargainous! We covered prepositions today and I finished this off on the beach later (as well as the 2 other homeworks set earlier on - it took me a good hour and a half!)



I spent the afternoon on the beach and had a little swim in the sea too. The back of my neck feels a bit sore, I think I missed this area with the suncream! There were really cute pigeons on the beach. One near me had a purple patch on its neck, so I took a picture.


I think Jose is collecting me later to go into town, but it might have been tomorrow... I'll get ready and see if he turns up!

Week 2

I was lazy this morning and got the bus into school because it was drizzling. It has been rather dreary and cloudy today, so I haven't done any sunbathing.

Lessons:
Teresa: we went through the homework in some detail. I'm not sure how, but it took the whole 90 minutes! She is very good at deviating from the subject in hand, so we ended up chatting a lot - all good when it is in Spanish and therefore useful! Teresa said it would be good if we bought a couple of short classic Spanish novels and read them in class and at home. I bought them both in the bookshop near my flat on my way home. Haven't started reading them yet - decided to watch the Spanish film I downloaded instead: El Labarinto del Fauno. I've watched it before (with subtitles) but had forgotten how sad it was. I almost wish i hadn't watch it because I cried most of the way through the last half an hour and now feel rather morose. I also ate too many pipas (sunflower seeds) whilst watching it and feel a bit sick!

Anyway, the books are:
Crónica de Una Muerte Anunciada by Gabriel García Márquez (this is the book from which came the excerpt we studied with Sergio last week)
Bodas de Sangre by Federico García Lorca

Neither book looks very easy or fun, but they are both short and I hope to finish at least one before I leave.

Sergio's lesson: Our topic is about being ecological and we looked at lots of vocabulary and discussed how things are in each of our countries. It being a Monday, the next cohort of students arrived. We had one new classmate today, a Finnish girl.
Our class is now:
Me (UK), Timmy (USA), Barbara (USA), Steffi (Holland), Lila (Germany), Lothar (Germany)Isabella (Sweden) and New Girl (Finland).

Then Laura and I had our private lesson. Sergio has taken over a bigger class at this time, so we had Teresa. I do really like her, but I find her quite tiring - she is so dramatic and cheerful! Sergio has a way of explaining grammar calmly that I had got used to, so I am having to adapt to Teresa's method. We went over the preterites and did some worksheets, then she explained the imperfect. My homework for this class was to revise the future tense, as Teresa was going to do this with Laura in the second half of the lesson. In the end, I spent 2.5 hours doing this and a load of exercises on the preterite when I got home. The weather being how it was, I thought I would make the most of some indoors time. The forecast is good for the next couple of days, so I will get some more beach/pool time in then.

Teresa keeps telling everyone what a brilliant student I am! It makes me feel proud of the work I am putting in, but also a bit uncomfortable because I remember resenting her favourites last Monday! Then again, I would rather be a favourite for being hardworking than for being cute and ditzy like last week's teacher's pet, who usually just giggles when she doesn't understand something. She giggles quite a lot.

Rain!

I woke up at 5 because it was raining so heavily! I think it has stopped now and at least the pavements won't have so much dog poo on them today!

I had quite a dull day yesterday - just did my homework on the patio and wandered around a bit. I met up with some English people last night, which was OK, but I did not like speaking English at all. I think I'll stick to Spaniards again for a bit.

3 very cool things I have seen here:

1. In supermarkets they have a kind of cross between a trolley and a basket. It is like a big basket with an extendable pulley thing, a bit like on a suitcase. It is smaller than a trolley, so more maneuverable, but so much less sore on your arm when you have a pack of diet coke cans than when you have to hold a full basket in the UK!

2. The pedestrian crossings in the centre have a countdown on them. When it is red for pedestrians, it counts down until you can cross and then it counts down again how long you have left to cross when on green.

3. The curtains in my living room have a rod attached to them so I can open and close them without actually pulling the curtain (they are white muslin-type material and would get dirty if I kept tugging them.

All so sensible and so simple. I'll ty to remember to add pictures when I have some.


Lessons again today. I've missed school over the weekend. After all, that is why I am here and I have felt a bit restless without the structure. I wonder how many new arrivals there will be and if Laura and I will be joined by anyone in our little class.

Clothes and mortorbikes

I went into the town centre yesterday to explore a bit. The main shopping street is called Calle Larios (see picture) and there were lots of tourists and shops. I am totally in love with Spanish clothes shops. I remember this from when I lived in Bilbao, but then I had no money and couldn't justify buying much. That said, it is clear that Spanish clothes are a lot cheaper than English ones. The prices that you pay for poorer quality clothes in the UK (H&M, New Look etc) are the standard prices in these shops for clothes of a much higher quality.


I bought a really cute skirt so I can stop wearing my tattered denim cut-off mini skirt all the time. The photo doesn't really do it justice - it is very cute, with a kind of puffed effect that looks nice. It was just €12.


Then I saw a shop that looked quite fun and went in... It was like my idea of clothes heaven! Called Desigual (which translates as "atypical", it lives up to its name. The clothes are all brightly coloured and funky, with floral and animal patterns, made of really comfy material and totally gorgeous! Apparently there are Desigual shops in London, but the prices are double there. It is not cheap in Spain, but on a par with FatFace, so manageable. I simply had to buy a dress! The neckline is very low, so I wore it with another top underneath last night (more about last night in a bit!) It cost €44, so I did feel a bit bad, but I had to treat myself! This site gives you an idea of their lovely clothes and the prices in the UK. My dress would cost about £70 in the UK!

Then I decided to have a coffee and some lunch while I wrote my postcards. I found a cafe that did tapas and had a slice of tortilla with bread and a coffee. Very nice.

When I came home, I went to the beach for a couple of hours and then got ready to go out. My new friend José picked me up at 7 and we went into town to meet with the others. He collected me n his motorbike - a very lovely Harley! It was such a buzz!!! I felt like a really wild young thing in my short dress and brown legs on the back of a shiny moto! José got me home at about 11 and then he stayed for a coffee and we chatted until 1am! He doesn't speak any English and he has a really strong Andalucian accent, so it wasn't always easy to understand what he said, but we coped. In Andalucía, they do not pronounce the 's'. An example that makes me smile is mí mismo (myself) is said mí mimo which I totally didn't get at first!

Many of the other people last night spoke with strong local accents and I struggled to get what they were saying. The people I understood most easily turned out to be from other regions: one from Galicia in the north and another from the Costa Rica in South America. I learnt another great verb last night: equivocarse, which is to make a mistake.

Well, today is Sunday, so it must be a another beach day! I think I will treat myself to some more tapas for lunch. This evening I might be meeting with some of Bill's English friends, but I am kind of reluctant because I am worried that, if I speak English, I will find it hard to get back into Spanish again.

Being sociable

So I finally met up with some Spanish friends of a friend who live here this evening. We spent a couple of hours chatting and it was great fun. We are going to meet up again tomorrow night. It is great to start to meet people not linked to the school at last! I found it really hard to understand them when they spoke to each other, because they spoke really fast and not very clearly, but when they spoke to me or I spoke to them, they were very patient and slower! I hope that, by the end of my month here, I will be able to follow what they say more easily. It is a very different matter trying to understand "real" Spanish, as opposed to the slow, carefully enunciated Spanish at the school!

Frustration!

I am so frustrated by some of the other students. The young ones seem to be here for a holiday - they are very brown and clearly spend far more time on the beach than anything else! In class, they work hard on the grammar, but as soon as they have to actually discuss things, they clam up and refuse to speak. It seems that only Lothar (an older German bloke) and I actually make an effort at times. I don't mind too much - I'm here to learn and to practise, so I take every chance I can get to do this, but I hate that there are often long silences and I always end up stepping in to fill them. I think it might be because Lothar and I are older and are paying for this ourselves, so we intend to get the utmost out of it. The young 'uns (mainly German/American and in their early 20s) all live in the student house and they appear to speak English and/or German together. When they speak to me in English, I always reply in Spanish! I know I must get on their nerves a lot but, as I said, I'm paying a lot of money for this experience and I intend to get my money's worth.

Teresa's lesson was looking at the way using ser or estar with certain adjectives can totally change the meaning (I must remember to say significado (meaning) and not significación (significance) as I have been doing). It's really amazing how it works: e.g. el chico está orgulloso = the boy is proud, el chico es orgulloso = the boy is arrogant; estoy lista = I'm ready, soy lista = I'm smart etc.

Then we had a new teacher as Sergio is away today. Antonio is young and obviously not very experienced (está verde - he's inexperienced, as opposed to es verde - he's green!) so he had a hard task holding a conversation lesson for 90 minutes with our class. He had prepared talking about mitos (myths) and it was like getting blood out of a stone for much of the time. They warmed up a bit when we discussed the superstitions that exist in our countries, but couldn't cope again when they had to create their own superstitions. I enjoyed it, but kept feeling myself cringe when the others went quiet.

After the lesson, I expressed my frustration to Lothar and he said that he found that Antonio spoke too fast and the others didn't understand. Maybe I need to go easy on them!

So, I am now all finished for the day and am going to go to the beach this afternoon. I think I'll go to the centre of town tonight and have a wander.