Meh.....

So, today has been utterly crap, to put it bluntly.

I was asked to work today as the 2nd graders had their Trinity exams. I turn up to school and the co-ordinator tells me to just go to my normal classes for the day as they don't need my help with the exams. Fine. Then while all the other 3 assistants get to join the examiner for lunch along with the 2nd grade English teacher, guess who's stuck covering her class!? Yep - me... Thanks for that guys, much appreciated...not.

And that's not all. Wait for it..

My boyfriend gave me the news that his parents are splitting up. I'm sad. He isn't. He says he's not bothered and doesn't want to talk about it. I'll give him some time though and see what happens.

Then I had to wait ages for my train home. It was packed. When I got off it started raining.

Today has not been a good day.

I hope the weekend is better and everything goes to plan. We're heading down to Sevilla tomorrow morning at the ungodly hour of 6am! It should be a great weekend though :)

Meh, time for bed soon I think. Shower first though.

Besos

Meh

I've been feeling a bit 'meh' recently. I'm not sure why. It may be because I stopped taking my iron tablets for a bit.... but I just bought a pack of multivitamin tablets and lots of fruit so I hope that will help me feel better. I just feel so tired and drained all the time. By the time I've finished work and got home I'm too shattered to do anything else. I do try to go out and meet people at least once a week though!

I have also started Spanish classes which are going great. They are for 3hrs a week, and I am in the Intermediate Level group. It is quite difficult at times but a lot of fun :) The teacher is also very good and knows what he's talking about most of the time, which makes a change from the one I had last year!!

And I have been thinking a lot as well. About God. And whether or not he exists/if I believe in him. It is something I would definitely like to explore a lot further when I get back to uni next year. I might join the CU, although I have heard lots of mixed reviews about it, or just start going to Church and see what it's like. In the meantime I have been reading the Bible a lot and doing lots of thinking! Any thoughts from you guys out there about what to 'do' next!?

We were meant to be going to Avila tomorrow on a day trip but it's currently chucking it down and it's meant to snow tomorrow so we've had to cancel our plans which is a bit sad :( However, I'm still off to Tamzyn's in the evening for a Chinese to celebrate her mum's birthday which will be nice.

Other than that not a lot else is going on.

I want one of these though. It's a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook and I'm absolutely in love with it!! I think I might get one in summer before I start my final year. It would be so handy and easy to take into uni to sit in the library with and work on essays. Plus, it's supposed to have the pretty nifty battery life of nine hours. I mean, I wouldn't even need to get to the library at 8am just to ensure I got a plug socket so I could charge up my laptop! The price tag is currently a little over £300 if I want one in colour. That's pretty reasonable. I think I could definitely save up for one over the next 4 months. But what colour to get? I'm thinking either the pale pink, purple or the red one. Although it's called red I think it looks more like a Magenta Pink; i'd have to see one and decide. If it really is Magenta Pink I'd have to get it!!

Besos

Holidays

I know it's been ages since I last wrote a blog post, but I've decided as a sort of New Years resolution, to blog more this year, so we'll see if that actually happens.

I had a bit of trouble wondering whether or not I would even be able to get back to the UK for Christmas, due to all the snow and ice in the UK, but I did with only a delay of 3hours at Barajas airport. I t could have been a lot worse; one of my friends flights was cancelled, and as she was flying with Easyjet, they don't help you find another flight, so she ended up having to pay 320E for a British Airways flight home!!!! Nightmare.

So, I got home and it was lovely and warm, and there was good food. Christmas day was just the four of us, but it was nice :) This was my main present. A lovely camera. I am still fiddling and playing around with it, working out all the different settings and modes. I've just worked out how to put the photos on to the computer, so that's something!

Other presents included many books, which I am so excited about reading! I got:
- The Brightest Star in the Sky - Marian Keyes
- The Book of Tomorrow - Cecilia Ahern
- Picture Perfect and Songs of The Humpback Whale - Jodi Picoult
- The Hanging Garden and Hide & Seek - Ian Rankin

I got 2 DVDs - My Sisters Keeper, and Confessions of A Shopaholic. I have watched both already. My Sisters Keeper is a beautiful film, but so, so sad. Confessions of a Shopaholic was surprisingly good and very funny in places.






My boy got me this gorgeous present. I am in love with it - the colour is so me, and the heart-shaped clasp is just gorgeous and also so me. He knows my taste perfectly!

Then on the Monday after Christmas, we went into London (me, mum, dad and my sister) to go to the theatre. We saw 'La Cage Aux Folles' I thought it was excellent. Great costumes, dancing, songs and dialogue. Pretty good underlying storyline too.

Then after the show me and my sister went to Oxford Street to look at the lights and had a mooch round the shops. There were pretty lights in London.

Then, I went to Manchester for a week, to visit my boy. When I got there it looked like this:

and when I left, it looked like this...

We had a great week together. We went to see Sherlock Holmes at the cinema - great film. Went for a belated 1 year celebratory meal at Chaophraya Thai Restaurant and had yummy food :) We also went to MOSI as I'd never been before, went to a New Years Eve party, and visited one of my good friends Katy for a well deserved catch-up. We also went to the Royal Exchange on Monday night (cheap £4 student tickets :)) and saw Blithe Spirit. It was excellent and the lead was played by Surranne Jones, who used to play Karen in Coronation Street.

Then I went back to London to stay with my sister for 2 more nights. We went to the Science Museum on Wednesday, and yesterday we went and did a bit more shopping in Oxford Street.



We came home last night. Only just. My parents and neighbours had to shovel the road out yesterday in an attempt to get the cars out. It has just started snowing again... I'm not too optimistic that I'm going to make it back to Madrid on Sunday...




I'll leave you with this photo of our back garden:

Happy

I am feeling very content at the moment, so I have nothing to complain about (well, maybe that I wish my boy was here...)

So, a quick recap of the week! School has been good and busy this week. We have been kept busy preparing the activities for Thanksgiving next week - just about everything is sorted now. I hope the teachers appreciate what we've come up with, because I think they are great. We also have to tell and act out another story for the kids, so I have been reading up on Thanksgiving, since I know very little about it, being British. Yes, I am definately learning alot myself in this job; it's great!!

On Friday, I met up with Abby and Rachel (2 American au-pairs) for dinner, and then we headed off to the intercambio night. It was great fun - spoke to some Americans, Russian, Irish and we also met these 2 lovely Spanish girls: Inma and Fisa. We have arranged to meet up next weekend with them to practice our Spanish and their English over coffee or similar, which I'm looking forward to :]

My Spanish is definately improving. I even went to the hairdresser on Friday, which I was very apprehensive about. However, I came out with what I wanted, so am very pleased with myself. I managed to ask for a cut and blow-dry. To have it cut 3 inches short, my fringe and layers trimmed and for her to dry it straight :) So, another experience.

I had a lovely day today. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if my boy was here too. I missed him lots today :( I went into Sol with my flatmate this morning as she needed to return some stuff and buy some presents. I ended up falling in love with lots of things in H+M. They have even more Hello Kitty stuff here than in the UK, and anyone who knows me will know how much I love anything Hello Kitty. I managed to restrain myself though, and only bought some Hello Kitty boxer pants and a grey and white checked winter skirt which I'm wearing now. I also bought a Hello Kitty t-shirt and a zip-up jacket, but I'm going to take them back tomorrow as they don't fit right. Also going to look for some more, thicker tights and some warm pyjamas.

Then, I went to Sfera and bought a really cute pencil case, and an even cuter notebook agenda. The cover reads: 'Forever With You - I want to make you happy because seeing you smiling makes me happy. I need you.' This really sums up my relationship at the moment, so whenever I use this I am going to be remined of my boy :)

Then, I went to this really posh 5-star hotel, as they were holding a Christmas Bazaar. All handmade stalls with many things; jewellery, decorations, presents, books. I bought a few little presents there and also bought myself a really cute bookmark. It's magnetic and great.

Tomorrow, hopefully Charlotte will be coming over so we can finally sort out and book the hostels for La Puente, and I'll go into town to return the stuff to H+M. Looking forward to another week.

Besos :*

A Productive Day

So, I have Mondays off, as I only work a 16 hour week. I love having Mondays off as, for me, it's the worst day of the week. But not if I don't have to go to work!

Today has been very productive. I had a shower this morning, went to the bank to change my account from a foreigner's to a residents, posted some postcrossing postcards (after the poor shop assistant was able to find the stamps to China!) and went to the supermarket.

Now, whenever I go to the supermarket here it is always heaving; I have yet to find the best time to go when it is quiet. Maybe it's never quiet! I worked in a supermarket last year, and it was never constantly busy. I mean here, the queues always have a minimum of 4 people in them, all with full baskets, with about 6 checkouts open. I pity the poor checkout girls; they have a much harder job here than I had back in the UK. No time to stop and breathe.

This afternoon I made some chocolate chip buns, and this is how they turned out:

They look good! I ate one earlier, and I think they don't quite taste right, the same way my mum's taste. The recipe I found online didn't mention putting baking powder in, but a put a teaspoon in anyway, as I was convinced that's what my mum does. Anyway, next time I speak to her I'll ask her for her recipe and maybe I won't put baking powder in them next time!

Then, I hoovered and tidied my room.

As you can see, I have changed my blog once again! I like it now, although I think the banner at the top could do with being a little wider, and maybe changing the title to black font, instead of pink. Hmmm.....

This evening I am planning to relax, watch some Greys Anatomy, do some more cross-stitch and read. The book I'm reading at the moment is 'The Thirteenth Tale' by Diane Setterfield. It's good :)

Besos

First of all, sorry for the lack of posts! I am just so busy!

This week I (finally) managed to get my NIE number; similar to a National Insurance Number, but for foreigners. In order to obtain this number you first have to send off a form, a copy of your passport and a copy of your nombramiento (work contract). Then you have to fill in another form and take it to a bank and pay 10E and get it signed (for administration costs). Then you have to wait for an appointment. So I found out my appointment was last Tuesday at 8:45am!! So, on Monday I went to the bank and waited 45mins in the queue, only to be told that I couldn't pay 10E as the number at the top wasn't recognised by their computer! So, I go to another bank. And they say the same thing. So I come home and spend the rest of the day worrying that the police arn't going to give me this number. Then on Tuesday morning I get to the police station early and tell them my problem. They tell me to go to the bank next door and try again. So I did, and it worked!! I was so happy :) The rest of the morning was spent queueing outside in the cold, waiting for this piece of paper with a number on it.

I'm just glad it's done now, nothing else to worry about. It also means that I won't get charged by the bank, for being a foreigner, which is good.

On Friday, myself, Andrew and Damaris were invited to Mary-Beths house after school for food and vino. She lives in a small pueblo about 30mins from Alcala. Her house is beautiful; it's completely made of wood and is so cosy and open. It doesn't have central heating; instead a massive wood burner. She had cooked a gorgeous stew with yummy bread and salad. After lunch we went on a walk with her husband Alex and their dog, Chanel - who is the cutest! Then we came back, lit the fire, and ate pumpkin pie with whipped cream :) I could have stayed there all night, it was just so cosy; sitting by the fire chatting.

Also, on Monday, Damion and I 'celebrated' our 1 year. I received a gorgeous bunch of roses to my door, which are sadly wilting a little now! But they were so lovely and I also got a little message with them which made me awww!! We spoke on Skype briefly before he had to go into uni, but we'll have a proper date/celebration when I see him in the Christmas holidays.

This afternoon I am thinking about making some chocolate chip buns, although I don't have any eggs and I don't know if I can be bothered to go and buy any! I think I will though, in half an hour or so.

Tomorrow, I may go and find the swimming pool and see how much it costs, because I really need to do some more excercise....

Besos :*

:]

W ell, it has been a fairly busy week so far! I had both Monday and Friday off though, as I will be working every day next week.

At school, we were preparing activities for Halloween, which is an all week thing this week. I also made my poster display for the school and put it up on the wall, it looks pretty good, I must say!



Myself, along with the other 3 assistants also had to plan activities for each grade (1-6) and ensure that we had all the materials prepared. This involved lots of photocopying, colouring, making posters, laminating pumkins and sticking them on sticks, making skeletons etc.!! We also have to act out a story for each class, and have been given the story 'Scary Mary's First Halloween' to do by our co-ordinator. On Friday of next week all the parents will be coming to the school because the children will be performing Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' for them. The last week or so has seen us attempting to first learn, and then teach each grade a different part of the dance. I must say that it is looking pretty good, although we've not yet tried it with all the school together! Let's just hope Friday brings a nice day as we are going to do it outside in the playground!

Aside from school, I have also had a busy week. Wednesday saw me meeting up with Tamzyn and Charlotte, 2 other ELAs for some tapas and vino at Sol. A very enjoyable evening, and only costing us 9E each, for 4 tapas and a bottle of vino! Excelente!

Thursday, Damaris, Andrew (2 American assistants at my school) and I headed to near where Andrew lives and went to a cafe and had a chocolate (literally a cup of melted chocolate... mmm but so bad!! haha), and then Damaris and I headed to 'Cine Dore' to watch Che Guevara 2; very interesting insight into Che's life in Bolivia.

On Friday evening I met up with Andrew and Damaris again at Cine Dore, where we saw 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'; also excellently done. A great dialogue and an excellent performance by Elizabeth Taylor. Afterwards we headed to a little bar 'El Sur' for some vino and tapas. As it was very close to the cinema, the place had a film theme about it, with posters of various Spanish films lining the walls. I definitely want to check that place out again. I can recommend the huevos revueltos and the musaca, both delicious and another great bargain, coming to 6E each this time, including a glass of wine :]

After food Damaris and I decided we should probably go and join the teachers for a quick drink. It was the night of their long-awaited 'cena', which we decided not to attend as the price was at the top end of our budget, at 50E each!! So, we went to 'Moma Bar' and arrived just as desserts were being served and were treated to some. Shots then followed. We stayed just over an hour and then left around 1am, as we needed to get the metro home before it closed at 1:30, and we left the teachers to go and dance the night away in the club next door.

Today, I met up with Charlotte and Tamzyn again in El Parque de Buen Retiro. Another gorgeous day where we enjoyed a picnic by the lake and then had a lovely afternoon strolling around the different parts of the garden. We also talked a little about our plans for 'El Puente' and Christmas shopping!


I have just watched 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and have made good progress on my Hello Kitty cross-stitch. Am up early tomorrow (6:45) for a very full and busy week ahead; but I'm looking forward to it.

Besos :*