The End

Do you remember this time seven years ago? Yep 1999. Do you remember the big Y2K panic. All the computers were going to crash, electricity and gas supplies would be cut off and, worst of all, traffic lights would stop functioning. Well, as we know, it didn't happen (unless, of course, it did and we're all dead but working under the illusion that we're all still alive, in which case how do you define life? eh, eh? come on all you scientists, answer that one!).

Ummm, where was I? Oh yes, the end of the world. So here we all are seven years later about to go into another new year and I thought this might amuse you.

Well it makes me smile.

Feeling Groovy

I seem to be getting into a groove. Finally, being on holiday has kicked in.

I think I've got the gym routine worked out, I'm going to be doing some more cooking on Sunday (my day of rest) and next week I'm going to start work for my training course. I only have four books to work through and most of January to do it. Luckily I've read most of them before but this time I have to do the tasks rather than just read! Still it'll get my brain moving and that has to be a good thing.

I hope you all had a good Christmas (those I've spoken to definitely seem to have had) and that you're geared up for the New Year. I'm anticipating more fireworks - the testing committees have been out in force today - and a late night followed by a lie in. Now remember, I'm three/four hours behind you so when you're raising your glasses and toasting in the New Year, I'll be sitting here wondering what all the fuss is about (although I might try to listen to BBC Radio Four).

Muscles

From one extreme to another! After hitting the gym regularly before Christmas I was feeling good (and losing weight btw). Then there was Christmas itself. Just two days of sitting around doing nothing but eating, drinking and watching DVDs on my laptop (thanks Mauro, Space 1999 is good fun) but, oh what I price I have paid.

Ok, I expected to put a little weight (two kilos which will go as quickly as they arrived) but did I really deserve a bout of sciatica? I managed to go the gym on Wednesday and do my class but in the afternoon I was confined to bed, in so much pain I was unable to sit, stand or lie comfortably.

It has eased overnight, but you should have seen me rolling on and off the bed to go to the loo and walking up and down my living room at 2am trying to find some pain relief. I went to the gym today and walked on the treadmill - I find exercise does help - and I feel much better. I still have to get up and walk around every fifteen minutes but the actual pain has (more or less) disappeared.

Oh, and my wrist is much better.

Early start

I was woken up this morning at 6am by an enormous boom - so loud it shook the bed. Nope it wasn't an earthquake just a rogue firework.

BsAs is pretty silent, so quiet I can hear the occasional individual car. We have blue but cloudy skies and the birds are singing. It's cool and fresh and I wish my beloved parents would come on line so that I can wish them happy christmas and go back to bed!

Silent Night

Remember the Christmas carol "Silent night, holy night, all is clear, all is quiet"? Well not in Buenos Aires it isn't.

It seems that here (as in many European countries) they give and receive presents on Christmas Eve and to mark the onset of Christmas, they have fireworks. So bang (no pun intended) goes my early night. I have children playing some sort of xylophone, a tinkly piano and lots of happy screaming, all accompanied by fireworks.

Let me tell you about the fireworks. It seeems it's not enough that they be brightly coloured (and beautiful they are too) but they must also be loud, very loud! In fact, so loud that I actually wondered if there was a gunfight going on earlier and quite a few car alarms have been set off. One of the neighbouring blocks had a banger party in their courtyard (and I don't mean sausages) which was so loud (and I can't think of another word for loud) and echoey, I couldn't hear the film I was watching on my laptop (and I was only about a foot away from the speakers).

However, this is not the closest I've ever been to fireworks. I remember being on holiday in Malta, standing on the ramparts of Mdina while fireworks were set off in the fields below - fireworks which exploded at my eyelevel. The dazzle lasted a good few hours and the smell of sulphur and saltpeter was incredible.

Here, they've been going on for about an hour but I think they're tailing off, so I might try to get some sleep.

Happy Chrimbo to you all and may you unwrap what you were hoping for.

PS, check out the post below

Happy Christmas

Being the other side of the world from the people I love does make it difficult to give Christmas gifts (not having much money doesn't help either). So I decided to create an internet gift for each of you (and when I say create I mean google).

Mum - you shall go to the ball

Dad - I just wish I could get you a season ticket

Sean - although you probably already know about this

Colleen - It's news Jim, but not as we know it

Olivia - because I know just how important they are to you

Rosie - who knows, you could become their greatest fan

Hughie - hope this is still of interest to you

Philip - because I think you should

Emily - because sometimes we need guidance

Assorted animals - awesome!

Jayne - look at the logo!

David - should keep you amused for hours (although you probably know all about it already)

Robyn - in the hope that you'll have as much fun annoying your parents as this song probably does

Den - as if you need any help

Gerard - just because

Mauro - should help with communication

Chiara - to keep you going on your travels

the man (yes, I know! but it's complicated, ok?) - you know you want to

OK that's me done. If you're not on the list, don't take it personally - you probably haven't bought me a suitable present either!

Christmas Eve Odds and Ends

So my lovelies, what have I been up to since we last spoke? Well, a little more food shopping - I've decided to treat myself to a big bottle of diet coke, not really as a mixer for the Baileys but as an alternative: I think the caffeine in the coke will counteract the alcohol in the Baileys (either that or I'll be very sick - watch this space). Also a bag of chocolates (everything comes in a bag here - more on that in a later post) and a bag of peanuts. Now aren't I the devil.

Also I've bought myself a bottle of champagne for New Year's Day. It's proper champagne but really cheap as it's made here. A contradiction I hear you say, "Surely only wine made in the Champagne region of France can be called Champagne, what you've got yourself there is a cheap imitation." Well, you are right, they don't call it champagne rather sparkling wine made using the methode champanoise by Chandon, in other words it's champagne in all but name. Having said that I haven't tried it yet so it could be horrible, it is extra brut so I'm not having anything sweet beforehand.

Finally a little shock and a big relief today. I went to get some stuff out of the freezer compartment of my fridge and the food in there wasn't frozen. Hmmm thinks I this fridge is suspiciously quiet (you know what I mean, mum) quickly followed by OH MY GOD the fridge has broken down, I've put too much into the freezer compartment and it's given up the ghost, oh hell what am I going to do?!?!? (think of this said in one sentence with no pause for breath). Being of the philosophical school I shut the fridge door and decided to ignore it (ostriches have nothing on me). The big relief? twenty minutes later it sprung back into life. Now I just have to buy a new lightbulb (I got the wrong size earlier) and wait for my right wrist to stop hurting. Oh, haven't I told you about my right wrist?

Ok, so you may remember from here that I've moved my laptop from the desktop to two inches above the desktop (and it seems to have worked a treat). Downside is that I was typing in a really unnatural position and my right wrist (the one that sees all the action) started playing up. I compounded this by doing a body balance class which includes a lot of down dog. Now when I type I have a tupperware box under my right forearm to ensure my wrist is in the correct position and that it doesn't get any worse. If I could show a picture I would but hey...

Cookathon

I've been cooking. I love cooking but only when I have the time and I'm cooking large amounts - cooking quickly for one just doesn't cut it.

Now I know (in my head) that Christmas is nearly here but I can't get into it. It's too hot, the sun is shining too much and there isn't the shopping frenzy that I'm used to in the UK. So my cooking hasn't exactly reflected the festive season. Over the last couple of days I've cooked bolognese sauce (but don't tell my Italian friends, they'd be horrified at what I've done with the recipe), spinach and pumpkin frittata (like quiche but without the pastry base), pumpkin and tomato soup (pumpkin is my new thing) and lentil stew (not so stew-y more tomato-y). My freezer compartment is stuffed and I'm a little worried because I've got no room to make ice to go with my Christmas Bailey's. I may have to wait until everything is frozen and then juggle a little.

What will I be eating on Christmas day? Oh probably pumpkin and tomato soup followed by steak and rounded off by ice-cream. All washed down by Bailey's. Of course, if I get going on the Bailey's too early, it might just be the ice-cream - still it's only one day a year.

Kitten

It started out as a lecture on toilets. How the type of toilet changes with increased status or money until one actually reaches 'the throne'. We (who?) were in a showroom and there was a baby to be cared for. We decided not to put it in nappies but to swaddle it and allow it to wee as it wished. At some point I was told about making dresses using linen and given an old-fashioned paper pattern with no size markings for which I was very grateful. Then we decided to go for a walk (why?) and the baby turned into a kitten, a very pale ginger kitten that I could communicate with. We set off on our walk, looking for another blanket for the baby/kitten. We walked through a fayre with big old farming machines, all painted turquoise, until we came to a house. In the house I found a bed but no baby blanket - I wanted a yellow baby blanket. The kitten wanted to get down because it had wee-ed so much the swaddling smelt awful so I let him down and he ran off. I managed to catch him and had to explain why it was so dangerous for him to be out on his own. In the end I open a big deep drawer and put the kitten in there to play.

I'm not a neurotic mess, am I?

Siesta

There is something quite wonderful about being on holiday - my afternoon siesta. I've just woken up from today's and I feel goooood. I have odd dreams when I sleep in the afternoon.

On Monday I dreamt about the man: no, I'm not going into details.

On Tuesday I dreamt about school: I had a class of teenage boys who had to give me their homework. For some obscure reason they had rolled it up and put it inside some plastic bangles and I couldn't let them go home until I'd pulled apart each and every bangle and looked at each piece of homework. In the meantime, two male colleagues were waiting to use the room for another class.

Today I dreamt I was in a restaurant with a group of people who I knew well (we were friends) but who I can't identify now. One of them was a famous actor/comedian and he was telling a story. We were all in hysterics but at the same time I knew the story was originally concocted by Eddie Izzard - the actor was even using the same phrases - but it wasn't being told by Eddie Izzard. Either way I woke up with a smile on my face.

Wonder what tomorrow holds in store?

New things

Today has been a day of adventures. First I went to the body balance class - oy vey! - the bits that were aching before are aching double now and the rest of my body has joined in in sympathy. The worst part? The muscles at the front of my thighs. I had difficulty walking in a straight line on the way home from the gym (not helped by the cracked and dirty pavements).

After the gym (ignoring the home, shower, eat part) I went to the supermarket. Such a giddy round eh? BUT and it is a big BUT, I not only did my shopping but I also had it delivered! (picture of Shiralee dancing in her chair) I am sooo pleased with myself. Given that my Spanish is (still) minimal and his English is non-existent, armed only with the verb ENTREGAR written on a piece of paper and having no idea if there was a minimum spend, I fronted up to the cashier, smiled, said and showed my word and Voila! (ok two hours later) my shopping was delivered. And it was only two hours later. I used to get my shopping delivered in Cairo but they spoke English in the supermarket and everyone had everything delivered there (actually, everyone has everything delivered here, I'm just a bit slow to catch on).

Finally today I went to the dentist. Again he spoke no English and I spoke no Spanish (and I'm not 100% happy with the work but we'll see) to have my front tooth filled. It's not a cavity as such, just where the enamel has cracked and left a gap. Anyway, I have a biting surface again.

The rest of today? Maybe some cooking, maybe some sewing, maybe some reading. Choices, choices.

Achey bits

Oh I ache and how I do ache. I went to the gym this morning to do a class called bodymix. It's half an hour of body pump and half an hour of body combat (check out the mini-videos and, no, I don't move around like that - yet). Now when I was back in the UK, I used to do these classes regularly (5-6 times a week at two hours a time). However I haven't done a class since February - and am I glad it's only one hour in total. As usual I was the oldest and least fit one in the room (and there were only about eight of us). Several were obvious gym addicts (I still don't think women should have six packs) and one was about sixteen. Of course, it was the sixteen year old who gave up first, leaving half way through the class because she couldn't do any more.

I came home and had to have a siesta - well, I am on holiday.

Tomorrow it's body balance - peace, here I come.

The holiday is here

Today is the first day of my holiday. Ok, it's Saturday and I don't work on Saturdays anyway but YEA I'm on holiday. I have seven weeks of holiday, punctuated by Christmas, New Year and a visit from my beloved parents.

Today has been good: breakfast with M (a colleague who's off to New Zealand) followed by a visit to the supermarket to buy a fan (upright and oscillating). Then a trip to the gym, a long cool shower and a nap. Finishing off with another trip to the supermarket and a thunderstorm.

So, in detail... breakfast was at the new bar right next to the school. First time I've been there since it opened. M and I spent a good couple of hours chewing the fat and it was good. I like the fact that you don't get hassled here even when you've finished your food and drink.

The trip to the supermarket was a mixed bag, the fan is great although I had to assemble it myself and I'm left with a couple of bits left over (I know I should be worried but the fan works, so what the heck!) but the bread I bought was mouldy when I took it out of the wrapper. That's the problem with the heat here and their fondness for polythene wrapping.

With the heat I find my feet are swelling up so I'm trying to make sure I go to the gym regularly. Problem is, the heat is just as bad in the gym as outside. There are big fans (and I mean big) and I was lucky enough to get a treadmill right in front of one which meant I could actually do some work albeit for only 45mins. However, once I'd finished I had to walk home and let me tell you it was unbearable (although obviously I have borne it) - it was so hot that my sweat was sweating. In fact it was so hot I actually had a cold shower and I didn't bother to try to dry off, just laid down in front of the fan and fell asleep.

Another quick trip to the supermarket this evening to buy some fruit and a pizza and home just in time for the thunderstorm to start. There has been lightning pretty much all evening, but in the distance, until suddenly the wind rose, the thunder roared and the rain came down. The storm is directly overhead and, like so many storms here, it is spectacular. Sheet lightning giving us purple skies, crashing thunder vibrating through the building and steady, persistent rain - I wish I had the words to bring it all to life. And a blessed side-effect? The temperature has dropped.

Thing is I've just noticed it's 2am but it doesn't feel like it and I don't feel like sleeping - I find the energy of the storm to be very invigorating and the cold air blowing in through the windows to be refreshing. Still I should go to bed, I want to go out tomorrow.

Alright

I had a choice tonight, go to the works Christmas party and talk to (or be ignored by) the people I work with or go to see Casino Royale alone...









That Daniel Craig's a bit of alright.

Little things

It's funny how the smallest of things can trip you up. I was going along quite happily (well maybe 'not unhappy' is a better description), I'd taught my last class, marked my last composition, given my last feedback. I'd been to the gym and tomorrow I'll deal with anxious students for the last time this year.

Everything was on track, I was in the supermarket getting something for supper when I had a flashback. November last year, being in the supermarket with him, I'd forgotten to get the fresh fruit and veg weighed - he remembered; I'd bought a bottle of port for nightcaps - he opened it for me. Little things.

I had to bite the inside of my cheek very hard to stop myself from bursting into tears.

No matter how big a bastard he's been (and it was big) I still miss him.

Hot, hotter, hottest

Dear god, can it get any hotter?

I've just been to the gym (which isn't air-conditioned but has enormous fans everywhere) and I'm melting. I expect to sweat at the gym, that's part of the fun, but after just twenty minutes I wasn't sweating... I was Big Chief Running Water. I had to take my glasses off before they were washed away (good point, I couldn't see any crazy arm waving; bad point, I couldn't see any crazy arm waving) and my towel became completely drenched. I had to stop after only thirty minutes for fear of causing a flood.

I came home, had a (cold) shower and I'm sitting here in my underwear... and the sweat is still popping out of my forehead. I have a towel on my lap to catch/wipe away drops and an empty water bottle beside me (note to self, must refill [but not with bodily fluids]). So, not only am I on three showers a day but I'm changing my clothes at least twice a day, I have no idea what I'd do without Colin, he's a lifesaver.

We had another almighty thunder and lightening storm last night so, by rights, it should be cool today - not a chance. In fact it's so hot and humid that my laptop keeps turning itself off because it's overheating. It's now sitting on top of an upside down wire basket (in-tray type not shopping type) so that enough air can get to the vents.

I remember it being hot in Egypt but it was dry there. Here the temperature isn't as high but the humidity....

Round up

Hey ho, it's 8:45 on Sunday evening and I'm back to work tomorrow.

I've just been to the cinema to see The Prestige and a fine film it is. Not perfect, being a bit overlong, but a good balance of plot, character and scenery. Five main characters and a bit of a twist at the end which, if you haven't seen it, I won't spoil for you. It had Michael Caine in it, actually playing a character rather than some variation of Michael Caine. I tend to forget what a good actor he is even though he's in one of my favourite films (Sleuth 1972). The other surprise for me was Christian Bale. I didn't recognise him, didn't know him from any other film but he was impressive. He had a London-ish accent throughout the film which only seemed to slip once (but even that may have been deliberate). Hugh Jackman made up the the male cast and he has a very mobile face which he uses to good effect to show his feelings (not something you see often nowadays). The other two members of the cast were Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall, each playing to their strengths and very convincing.

And here's a surprise, I've just looked up the credits on the internet (wonderful invention) and realised that David Bowie had a minor part (Tesla). When I was watching I kept looking and thinking 'who the hell is that' but Bowie? never in a million years.

Of the three films I've watched this weekend The Prestige was definitely the best, scoring high marks for depth of acting, plot credibility and attention-keeping ability. I'd recommend it.

Long Weekend

As I think I've mentioned before this is a long weekend and rather than waste it indoors I thought I'd have myself a mini film festival. Now when I say mini film festival, I do mean mini - the days of watching three films on the trot have long gone.

So yesterday I went to see The Illusionist - interesting but not original. I liked the acting, the dialogue, the scenery but the story... ohmigod how old hat. I've been trying to think where I've seen it before and I can't place it but it must one of those sci-fi/fantasy/crime things that I so enjoy.

Today I went to see The Devil Wears Prada - again an old story but Meryl Streep is magnificant. Very much rainy Sunday afternoon, nothing better to do and don't we all love a happy ending (let's ignore the infidelity) film.

Tomorrow I plan to see The Prestige (yes, another magician film but my choices are limited, people). However, the upcoming films look sooo good. We have Borat (yea Kazakhstan), Casino Royale (I hope to be shaken and stirred), Prairie Home Companion (I've been listening to that on BBC7 for years), Stranger Than Fiction (Emma Thompson playing herself again) and one about a future where women and men are suddenly no longer able to have children until one young girl becomes pregnant - the race is on to get her to a place of safety (unfortunately I don't remember the Spanish title so I have no idea what it was called originally).

I think I'm going to be well entertained over the next couple of weeks - oh and BTW we've been having earth tremors this evening, must be a quake happening.

Update: Sunday 10th December 2006; 13:34... the name of the film is Children of Men and it stars Clive Owen.

Music

Thank god for music, nothing helps me change my mood more.

I have an external hard drive with about 40Gb of music on it, an embarrassment of riches to chose from. I have old favourites (CDs I own and love), stuff sent to me by friends and lovers, and odd & ends I've downloaded after reading about it on-line.

Choosing what to listen to is difficult when there is so much. A lot of it is love songs, the most common type of song written - such a rich vein of loss and despair - beautiful to wallow in but not appropriate to now. Now I'm feeling.. not exactly angry, more a little disappointed and cynical at how easily he gave up.

So a trawl through my music was in order to create the right kind of playlist to support this feeling, and, my, there's some really nasty stuff on that hard drive. I've rediscovered Soft Cell (remember Tainted Love? Damn! but it's good), Billy Idol (best sneer in the business) mixed in with a little Fine Young Cannibals, Cake and Linkin Park. I've added a pinch of Fats Domino and Labi Siffre and a sprinkling of other performers and I have nearly three hours of fighting music.

Bliss.

Thinking

There's a real downside to working split shifts.

No, it's not being at school at 9 o'clock morning and evening.

The problem is the time between the shifts. There's a fair amount of it (5 - 6 hours), time enough to do my washing, cook a curry, check my emails, read a book etc. Doesn't sound bad, does it?

The problem is it gives me too much time to think. I can't go to the gym because all I do there is think. And I don't want to think at the moment. Thinking leads to crying - not a good thing to do on a treadmill.

So I sit at home and try not to think.

Saturday Walk

Yesterday I thought I'd take a walk. Buenos Aires is mainly built on a grid system and many road go from one side of the city to the other. On looking at the map I realised that one of the roads perpendicular to mine goes all the way to the water front and there was green stuff near the end.

Ripe for exploration, I thought. There isn't a lot of green stuff in BsAs although there are several parks (unfortunately generally surrounded and bisected by roads - the car is king here) so any small amount is worth finding. Also I needed to get out of the flat and get to know the area a little better.

Off I went, camera in hand, past the railway tracks, through a posh area then through a less posh area. Despite the walk there was very little to photograph, BsAs is very urban and the pavements tend to be broken up and covered with dog debris. After about half an hour I reached the green stuff. Hmmmm not so much a park as a strip of grass and some trees between two roads. However, it was shady (lovely trees) and relatively quiet.


As you can see from the photo, the ground was a mixture of green and yellow - blossom from the trees which, funnily enough, you can't see from under the trees but here's a close up. While walking I saw a lot of birds including several of the local pigeons. These are a dun brown colour and apart half the size of the the usual city pigeon. I tried to take some photos of them but they blend into the background much too well for my camera.

I also saw a red crested cardinal - very vivid. Go to Alex Earnshaw's Website for a picture, it's a fair way down the page but the whole site is worth looking at.

At the end of my walk I found a children's playground with all the usual things (slide, swings etc.) a little merry-go-round and three ponies. I couldn't go as far as the water as it's part of the docks and closed to the public. However there are some interesting fountains and several posh looking restaurants.

By then, I was hot, sweaty and hungry but I didn't want a sit-down meal, I wanted tea and medialunas. Going across one block and starting the walk home, looking for a cafe I was amazed at the difference. The road I had walked down was lined with expensive, sometimes gated, tower block communities while the road I walked up was lined with older properties, some of which were actually houses. The pavements were, at times, in even worse condition and there were several cars 'in need of attention' along the way. Yet, somehow, it seemed much friendlier. People were talking on street corners, leaning out of windows and gathered at the local parrilla for lunch. On the way, I saw several cats (unusual here in the city of dogs) including these three sunning themselves.

Finally I found a cafe and buzzed for entry - that's another aspect of life here, often you have to be buzzed into cafes and shops, due to the fear of crime. When I went in I was hit immediately by the ice-cold air-conditioning which was a little frightening but at the same time a bit of a relief after the heat outside. Half an hour and a pot of tea later I was ready to go back out there.

The walk home was uneventful and I was glad to be back indoors. I realised I'd been out in the sun for too long - a buzzy headache and feeling of weakness - so an early night followed. Today I've stayed indoors listening to the radio.

It was interesting to see how much the quality of the city changed over a few blocks, from wealthy to average - none of the areas I walked through were particularly poor but there are few original buildings left. Whenever one comes up for sale it's snapped up by a property developer, torn down and a block of flats built on the land. Maybe in a few decades time Portenos will look back with regret but, for now, this is the way of things.

Next weekend - another road, another direction. BTW more photos on Flickr.

Christmas Things

Well Christmas is making a showing here.

The supermarket has Christmas decorations, Christmas food and Christmas sweets (but thankfully no Christmas presents). The hall are decked with boughs of (paper) holly and the Christmas trees are up.


In fact the corner of the next block has gone so far as to put down a red carpet and erect a twenty foot Christmas tree. And the thing is, because it's summer, the carpet won't be completely ruined by rain and snow and it'll retain its essential redness well into January.




Here's a close up of the Christmas tree - I don't know where it came from or how real it is but it does look pretty. If you look carefully, you can just see some other decorations including small Christmas trees.

It is a bit weird though, looking at Christmas trees while wandering around in t-shirts. I'm finding it difficult to come to terms with the idea and I haven't done anything about it (ie, no pressie buying)

What happened?!?

Hey, it's Friday night - where did the week go?

I've been working hard, split shifts (morning and evening) but with the afternoons off - I quite like it. Trouble is, all I've done is come home, listen to the radio and flake out... it is sooo hot here. The temperature is probably in the mid thirties but the humidity is very high so I'm sweaty all the time. I'm sleeping naked and uncovered so I'm vulnerable to the mozzies - who are having a feast.

Anyway - good news and bad news this week. Good news is that the sinusitis has almost gone (just a little blocked every now and then) and the crack in my foot has almost healed. Bad news is the filling in my front tooth has fallen out and I can't get a dentists appointment until 19th December (unless I go as an emergency - paranoia rating high, how can they fit in an emergency but not a regular visit?). We'll see how it goes.

I had an email from the man this week. I had invited him to spend New Year's Eve and Day with me and he said he couldn't. I asked why not? Sixty days later he replied. It seems he has a more exciting holiday planned.

I cried for about 20 minutes after I read the email. Thank god for work - it's taken my mind off the email completely and I've been able to process the pain. Every communication from him hurts me in some way - it's probably for the best, a little bit of the love dies each time, I become more accepting of the things that will never be and the regrets become more distant.

Anyway, to end on a positive note - I hope to visit a wildlife/nature reserve this weekend, soak up some sunshine and take some photos. Watch this space.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a mixture.

It was last classes for two of my favourite groups of students. With one I went out for coffee and the other stayed and had a farewell drink in school. I'm going to miss all of them and I felt sad about saying goodbye.

On the other hand, it was the last day of regular teaching. I've given reports to all the students who turned up (including telling those who failed what their options are) and done all my paperwork, cleared my locker, level board, register and homework file. I have nothing left to do (touch wood) until we start teaching intensive courses on Wednesday. So that means I feel relieved.

Then again, I have nothing to do, no last minute making good, no 'forgotten' files, no undone extra-curricular responsibilities. I'm a bit bored.

Finally, in three weeks time my holiday starts - and I haven't got the slightest idea what I'm going to do to fill the time. I don't have a lot of money so I won't be going away (maybe a couple of daytrips) and this is the summer holiday here so prices have gone through the roof. I anticipate being lonely.

I'm not in a good place at the moment.

A couple of bright spots: I received a Dr Who calendar from Mauro yesterday - to give me something to look forward to in the new year and as proof that someone cares for me. Many thanks my friend. Also a certain combo from Blackhorse Lane have sent me a book on birds of Argentina - at last some way of identifying the feathered things around me. Much appreciated, Jayne, David and Robyn.

Knowing you are all there and that you care is what keeps me going.

Phone call

Phone call from reception "Shiralee, there's a friend here to see you"

A friend? Could it be?

It was a student come to collect their results and say goodbye.

Hope is a treacherous beast.

Woe, woe and thrice times woe!

I was just checking my blog, as you do when you're bored, and I realised that in the last post I told you I had a bout of sinusitis and I've also realised that I haven't had a single comment or expression of sympathy - from anyone! Not a single 'poor dear' or 'I know how bad it can be' or 'there, there', not one, not from anyone (can you tell I'm a bit peeved by this?). Come on people! - I took painkillers!! And you should know how rare an occurrence this is!!! (punctuation abuse is a further indication of my peevedness)

On top of that, because I was so busy taking care of my sinuses, I neglected my feet and now have a crack on the ball of my left foot where the skin got so dry it gave up.

Pain at both ends.

Now I know people read this and I can understand the desire to hide behind anonymity, I do it myself. It's the blogging equivalent of hit and run (I call it lurk and read) but is it really beyond your capabilities to leave a comment of sympathy? All you have to do is click on '0 person(s) raised their hands' and type something nice.

Go on, give it a go - make my day

The Weekend

I spent the weekend at Santa Clara del Mar last weekend.

Positive things: the sun shone, I exposed my belly to the sun for the first time in more years than I can remember.

Negative things: I got a bout of sinusitis, I was bored out of my mind.

I won't be going back again.

Childish Things

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:11

I've been pondering on whether to post on this subject. I don't know if I want to post because I need to express my feelings or whether it's because I'm hoping the person in question will read this and act on it.

Some of you will know that while I was in Italy I met and fell in love with someone. Of course, as is the nature of my life, he was (is) married with two daughters. He is also a workaholic and emotionally unavailable. Although I tried to find compromises which would not impact on his family and work, ultimately it wasn't possible. I was willing to compromise, he wasn't.

This man is the only one I've ever really been in love with, the only man who I've ever wanted to have children with - and I realise that this is never going to happen.

One of my reasons for coming to Argentina was to put distance between me and him; to see if my feelings were true; to see if he had any real feelings for me; to give us both breathing space. And what I've come to realise is that no matter how I feel, the feelings are not reciprocated.

So now it's time to move on, to remove his photo from my phone, to remove his hold on my heart. I've only a few more tears to shed, a small flicker of hope to extinguish and several deep breaths to take.

Wish me well.

Feeling hot, hot, hot...

Oy vey!

Another almost sleepless night (but not totally). The temperature here in BsAs is high and made much worse by the 753% humidity. Luckily, it's overcast this morning which means the temperature is bearable.

Yesterday I did some shopping for a friend and that meant popping in and out of shops and malls. And everytime I opened a door I was blasted in the face by ice-cold air conditioning - my right sinus is still considering suing me for physical and emotional distress (either that or planning some cruel and unnatural punishment in retaliation).

I hate air-conditioning. Using it means your body can't adapt to the real world temperature, it's either too hot or too cold and lots of germs go flying around in the recycled air.

Today's weather report was brought to you by sleepy and grumpy, and the letter Bah!

Ten Things

I found this while reading another blog and I thought I'd give it a go...

The exercise is to list ten things that, for whatever reason, you think but would never say to a particular person in your life. Don't name the person to whom it's directed, just the comment.

1) Why does everything have to be done at your pace?

2) Just because you say it, doesn't make it so.

3) Oh would you just SHUT UP!

4) No I didn't answer your email. Why? because I have nothing to say to you.

5) Please call me, I miss you.

6) Don't second guess me, you're always wrong and it annoys the p*$$ out of me.

7) Stop whining - the reason it's difficult is because you don't do any work.

8) Please stop making promises that you have no intention of keeping, I'm bored with them

9) Welcome to my reality.

10) "Man's milk" is the most disgusting phrase in existence, don't ever use it again.

Gymtastic

You don't half see some funny things at the gym. Normally I go quite late in the evening when it's relatively quiet but today, being Friday, I thought I'd go a bit earlier, get it out of the way so to speak.

OH MY GOD!!!! (sorry about the punctuation abuse but OMG!!!)

A bit of background here: I'm not very adventurous at the gym, I have a treadmill I like and I pound the hell out of it for about an hour - no, I don't run, I just walk quickly. All the treadmills are arranged in fours; two side by side facing another two side by side with room for people to walk down the middle (oh work it out for yourselves, it's standard gym stuff). Anyway, the upshot is that you end up staring into the face of someone who is also using a treadmill. Now many people are able to look around when walking/running but not me. I have the most terrible sense of balance and even moving my head puts me off kilter so straight ahead is where I look, always.

So I'm nicely settled in, mini-disk blasting away (I hate the music the gym provides), staring straight ahead and a women gets on the opposing treadmill. Nothing unusual there I hear you say, true I reply except she is still carrying her handbag and as she starts the treadmill going, the handbag is hanging from her shoulder. In fact it stays there until she works up a sweat and has to take off her fleece whereupon both bag and fleece are casually thrown on the floor regardless of the inconvenience to others. Then, once warmed up, she starts running. Now I know that men find it difficult not to be distracted by breasts but I thought I was immune (after all I have a fine pair of my own) however I could not stop watching this woman's boobs. Bouncing up and down, up and down - and not together - and I started getting dizzy; bad balance and bouncing, not a good combination. I wanted to shout 'Get a decent sports bra' very loudly and several times. Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish so I just had to adjust my sights and concentrate on the handlebar in front of me.

After twenty minutes she upped and left. Whoopee I thought but, no, oh no. Who should get on the treadmill next but an elderly gentleman in shorts and singlet. Ok, not a problem - he looks old enough to be my great grandfather. He's stringy but obviously works out regularly, and being stringy, he won't bounce. And indeed he didn't bounce. What he did was incorporate moves that would have made a baton twirling majorette proud. I move my arms as I walk (if I don't the blood collects in my hands and they get stiff and swollen) but this guy was flinging his arms high over his head so that at their extremes they were 180 degrees apart. This manuveoure meant that he had to walk at the end of the treadmill and I swear it was only luck that stopped him from falling off. After 30 seconds of this my eyes were firmly fixed on my handlebar lest I burst out laughing, fall sideways off the treadmill and make a bigger fool of myself than he was making of himself. Luckily, he gave up after about ten minutes and was replaced by a rather well-built, muscular young man.

There is something very satifying about watching a well-built, muscular young man run.

Good

I done it!


Ok, lousy grammar but... I done it!


Quite pleased with myself because.... I done it!


What?


What have I done?


Oh, right, my input session for teacher development (on discourse, actually, seeing as you ask)


And ok, it wasn't just me, N did a lot of the work and he came up with most of the ideas but...


I done it!


I will now take a stroll to the gym with a big grin on my face because...


I done it - and it was gooood!

Hair

Argentina is supposed to rate second only to Brazil for the pressure on people to look beautiful. I don't know, there are some very good looking people (men and women) here but they tend to be both rich and young. As people get older or poorer the level of attractiveness goes down.

Despite this, advertising abounds with products on improving your skin, reducing or removing your cellulite and, most of all, having fantastic hair. Like many other nations, there are shops solely dedicated to cosmetics (with none of the workaday stuff we all need like soap, deodorant etc), all of which seem to do a roaring trade. To be honest I'm a bit intimidated by them - and the lack of Spanish doesn't help.

In addition there is Farmacity, which is like Superdrug, for all your everyday needs. And here's the funny thing, every store has shelves upon shelves of shampoo and conditioner. Just about every combination is catered for... except mine (fine, flyaway in need of volume and getting thinner by the day). It was fine until recently, I could get the Pantene ProV which adds volume but they've just redesigned the packaging and my preferred combination doesn't seem to be available. So I've had to resort to a local brand - I'm now on my second 'type' - I have no idea if it's what I should be using but the word volume is somewhere on the label so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Oh, and I've got to get my hair cut again. Do you have any idea just how traumatic this will be for me? well, do you?

And singing and dancing

...so where was I?

Oh yes, San Antonio de Areco. As the coach was driving into SAdA the rain started and, unfortunately, as we walked into the town the rain just got heavier and heavier. We did manage to see the end of the horse parade.

(see flickr for more photos)

Finally we stopped for lunch (ok but not brilliant) and made it last about two hours - I even had a coffee.

Despite our delaying, the rain was still dropping out of the sky, so on went L's jacket (to keep her dry) and up went L's umbrella (to keep me dry) and off we trudged. Over the river to the park where it was all supposed to be happening. Lots of horses everywhere, looking a little sorry for themselves - although they were generally tied up under trees they were still getting wet.

Anyway, we made our way to a hall where people were congregating and were ushered in. There wasn't really anywhere to sit and we annoyed some locals by blocking their view. This wasn't done on purpose, we just didn't know what to do. In the end, one of them offered a seat to L and I managed to get out of the way. There was music and dancing then some speeches (I have no idea what about) and then they brought coffee and food around. As we'd just eaten we declined. We noticed that almost everyone else was wearing a green wristband with INVITADOS on it so we were pretty sure we weren't supposed to be there but there was nothing else going on.



After an age of speeches we left and walked back into town and had a look around the silver workshops. Finally we stopped for tea and then back to the coach station and the bus home.

All in all, not the day we had hoped for but still much better than being stuck in my flat on a rainy BsAs day.

Update: Wednesday 8th November - I've just re-read this and it is so gloomy. I did enjoy the day but not getting wet.

More horses please

Just a quick post as it's late and I'm tired (and it isn't even 11pm yet).

Today L and I went to San Antonio de Areco, a gaucho town two hours outside of BsAs. As I'm sure you know gauchos are the South American cowboys (some would say the original cowboys). They spend the summer farming cattle out on the plains of Argentina, preparing all that lovely beef for me to eat. However, traditionally, they have gathered in the winter in towns to sit out the winter doing normal human things (marrying, having children, drinking, telling stories etc.). Now don't be mislead, if you didn't know it was a gaucho town, you wouldn't know. The houses are made of brick, the roads are sealed, people have cars etc. The major difference seems to be that there are lots of horses. Every gaucho needs his horse (and they are 'he' - this is a traditional society) preferably more than one.

Of course, the owning, breeding, riding and care of horses is very important to this group of people and this is reflected in their traditions. Soon the gauchos will be heading back out onto the plains for cattle husbandry and this weekend they had a grand fair at which they planned to show their horses, have a rodeo and lots of singing and dancing. Dancing is seen here as a very masculine thing to be able to do (ladies, you know how you feel when you see a man who can dance well) and everyone from about the age of ten upwards learns and participates.

This is what L and I went for. It didn't work out quite the way we hoped but more on that later....

Best Year Yet

Many years ago I bought a book called Your Best Year Yet. It is a self-help book designed to help the reader fulfil their dreams. I know it sounds trite but it is very useful, if only because it sets a framework which allows you to decide which desires are achieveable and which are pipedreams. From there, it gives a series of steps which help you work towards making your desires reality. I used the book for about four years, but always got a little lazy about mid-year, so while I achieved some of my desires I never reached the goals I really wanted to.

Unfortunately, after a couple of house moves I managed to lose the book. I still had the notes from previous years but it didn't feel quite the same. Anyhow, last night I was searching the net and I googled Best Year Yet - and guess what popped up? Yep, an online version. So I worked through it and came up with my goals for the coming year. A lot of them are to do with looking after myself, improving my health and fitness, as well as sorting out the mess that is my personal life.

I really recommend this book/website especially if you're looking for a way to 'unstagnate' your life. If you do it properly (and honestly) it helps you take a long hard look at what you're doing and why, what you really want and what's stopping you from getting it. The book/website doesn't offer any magic solutions but it can be a powerful tool for changing your life.

I'll keep you updated.

Honesty

Ok, where do I begin?

When I set up this blog it was to serve two purposes. The first was to let everyone know what I was doing in BsAs and the second was to reassure those who love me that I was fit and well and not going mad. I know it hasn't suceeded particularly well in meeting those purposes.

Partly this is because I don't really do very much here. My journey to work is so short that there isn't time for anything interesting to happen - how many times do you want to hear that I stopped at the kiosk to buy water and waved to the encangardo in the adjoining building? - and, often, I just come home from work and crash in front of the computer.

In addition I haven't been completely honest. I have a habit (and I'm not going to discuss how this came about) of concealing my feelings. This is mainly because I don't want to worry those who love me (yes, mum, I'm talking about you) but also because I don't like having to deal with the distress of others when they find out I'm not a 100% happy bunny. I find it more draining to deal with another's need to talk about my feelings and 'solve' my problems. Often my problems aren't solveable, they just have to be endured until they have gone, and I'm very good at enduring.

However, being so far from friends and family, I have realised I need some kind of outlet for my feelings. The more perceptive of you will have picked up on my allusions to loneliness and lack of like-minded people but I hope I've been careful enough that this hasn't been a recurring theme in my blog. But this is my blog and I should be free to write whatever I like, without having to deal with other people's emotional fall-out. I know from experience that writing about how I feel brings relief and also puts things into perspective for me. Often, the mere act of putting pen to paper (or keyboard to software) is enough to shift me out of whatever downer I'm in.

So I guess this is a heads up. The blog may get a little more whiney, more 'poor me', more 'what the bloody hell am I doing in this godforsaken country'. Should you feel inclined to try to discuss those posts with me, ask yourself this question...

Am I (the reader) doing this to try and help Shiralee or to reassure myself?

Cycles

OK, what's going on?

Monday I felt completely flat - not enough sleep, even with an afternoon siesta; uninspired - thank god we're near the end of the year; and not inclined to be more than minimally civil to anyone.

Tuesday I had a long lovely lie in, so relaxing, and my students accuse me of being hyperactive (not that they used that word, more like crazy waving hand gestures). Of course by the end of the day all I want to do is sleep again and I'm still feeling quite anti-social.

Tomorrow - who knows.

The only thing I do know is that I really don't want to make any effort at all. I would expect this to happen over the course of a month, not over a couple of days.

Must check my biorhythms.

Insomnia

Bah! I had a terrible night last night, not a wink of sleep was had. In fact I didn't start feeling tired until 7am. If I'd fallen asleep at that time I would have slept through my alarms and missed my morning classes.

So, up at 7:30am and a slow stumble into work. Couldn't concentrate, kept bumping into things and almost dropping them. Thank goodness my early morning class is so nice, I drank a milky coffee, told them I hadn't slept and we did the lesson. Luckily my second lesson ended up as a one-to-one so we had a reading lesson.

I had to cancel my private student - I'm not sure I would have got to his office without falling asleep. As is it, I came home, got into bed and dropped off the planet. Side effect is that I feel like I've been kicked in the ribs (my mattress is so hard and I didn't move while awake or asleep) and have to be careful when breathing deeply.

Three more hours to go and then another nights blissful sleep, I hope!

Update 22:30 I've just re-read it and made a small change to the grammar. Now I'm just about to go back to bed for a blissful zzzzz.

Plans

So, here we are at the end of October and I've been in this country for eight months. Doesn't time fly when you don't have a life?

We've got about five weeks of normal teaching left, followed by a couple of weeks of intensive exam preparation (and if you thought I didn't have much of a life before now, wait until I'm doing split shifts every bloody day). This is finished off by a week or so of 'preparing for the new academic year' (whoopee) before we finally break up on 21st December. Of course, the end of term being so close to Christmas means that even if anyone wanted to fly home for the festive season, they couldn't afford it - I wonder if it's deliberate to prevent anyone flying home and deciding not to come back (me, I love conspiracy theories).

I'm not sure what I'll be doing during the summer break (remember I'm in the southern hemisphere and we're going into summer here). I've been invited to go away with my host from last weekend and I've got a friend from Milan flying into BsAs for a one-night stopover on 3rd January. She's travelling (as we speak) to Argentina by ship and will be spending a few weeks walking all over Patagonia. Then on 11th January my beloved parents are coming to visit. By then the weather should be hot and humid so it'll be interesting to see who wilts first!

I start back at school sometime around the beginning of February because I'm going to participate in the DELTA course being run here. I know I've done it before but, having spoken to others who took the course elsewhere, I don't think it was particularly good. Additionally, being referred on the coursework element was a huge hit to my self-confidence. I feel I need to participate in a course in order to pass the externally assessed teaching practice and thus pass the DELTA.

I actually considered giving up teaching and going back into an office job in the UK. The only reason I didn't was because (and if I've said this once I've said it a million times) my worst ever day teaching was still a million times better than my best ever day in any other job. I love teaching and that's another reason why I want to get this DELTA qualification.

Then in March, it's back to teaching proper and before you know it, it'll be this time next year and I'll be wondering where to go next!

Shopping (or not)

Now that the weather has started heating up and the humidity is rising, it has become necessary to find some light cotton trousers. I did bring four pairs out with me but two of them have become worn and holey, and the other two are just a little bit too small to wear comfortably.

So today I went to the biggest shopping centre reachable by bus and had a good old look around. Sad to report, absolutely nothing! I have two problems, one is actual size (I'm about three times bigger than the average woman here), the other is length (I'm about six inches higher than the average woman here). What the Argentines call large or extra-large is what we'd call medium, so my chances were minimal anyway.

On top of all that, there is the problem of material. There is a tendency to use synthetic material but when they use natural material (mainly cotton) it is poor quality and badly made.

Now I have a choice: lose some weight (not a quick remedy) or get some trousers made. I'll be pursuing both options but in the meantime count yourselves lucky that you live in Europe!

Nothing in particular

So what has happened recently?

Not a lot. Following a couple of broken nights due to the heat, I managed to sleep through both my phone alarm and my alarm clock, not waking up until 11:50 this morning. I did feel good though, much more relaxed than I have been recently.

Work is trundling along - it's only five weeks to the end of term (although we have a couple of weeks of intensive exam courses after that) and we are all getting a little bored and restless.

Tomorrow we're off to the other school for a joint meeting, what fun! L is giving a teacher development session (jointly with someone from the other school) so even if attendence wasn't compulsory I'd be going to give her moral support.

Social life - not really gone anywhere or done anything since the weekend but that's not surprising. This weekend will be one of catching up on homework, doing a little work on my Spanish (I hope) and chilling out in general. I'm going to try and finish the film in my camera so that I can get all the films developed - yes I know I was supposed to do it this month but... (frowns while trying to think up a good excuse)

Anyway....

Nope can't think of anything else to tell you so toodle-pip!

Evil Teacher

I have this thing going with all my classes - I'm an evil teacher; I give them homework and I expect them to do it, I give them work to do in class and I expect them to do it, I don't often use songs and videos even less (I don't see the point - most songs are badly written and if you put a video on, the students' brains switch off), I've little patience for excuses and none at all for whining.

The thing is, in reality, I'm quite easy going. Especially with adults, after all it's their money and if they want to waste the opportunity, it's their choice (which is why I don't make the most of my Spanish classes).

However, I might have overstepped the mark yesterday.

It was (as I've said before) hot and humid but as it is only the very beginning of summer I assumed it would get much worse. So when my students started complaining about how hot it was and how much they needed the fan on (the air-conditioning wasn't working, thank god - I hate air-conditioning, bad, nasty, nasty, bad) I told them to stop whining. I told them to get on with the work, I told them it was going to get a lot worse before it got better and that if I could put up with it, so could they.

What I didn't know what that yesterday was the hottest day in BsAs for 70 years.

Ummm, sorry?

The Weekend

Well, I hear you ask, how was the weekend?

Well my dears, it was an interesting experience. I got there at 10:55pm, only 25 mins late (pretty good since we drove through a marvellous lightning and rain storm) but what's 25 mins between friends - enough to have my host running up and down the station convinced I'd changed my mind and wasn't coming at all. Luckily I have more patience than him and waited for his re-appearance just five minutes after I arrived.

From there a short taxi ride to his home - ummm... it would have been a short taxi ride if we hadn't got lost (I tell you all those packed-sand roads look exactly the same at midnight after a rainstorm and at one point I thought I'd have to get out and push as the taxi was getting mired in the mud) - some beer and a long, long chat deep into the night.

One unfortunate outcome of this chat was that I discovered my host to be a practiced debater but holding opinions on which we have absolutely no agreement. For example: the reason the tax on cigarettes and tobacco in the UK is so high is because the British Government is in the pocket of the Mafia. This means the Mafia are instructing the government to maintain the high taxes so that the great British public will continue buying blackmarket cigarettes (which according to my host account for 62% of all tobacco consumption in the UK) supplied by the Mafia. Now I know it sounds plausible but I have great difficulty in believing this (and I like conspiracy theories). Anyway we agreed to disagree (or I refused to discuss the issue any further, whichever version you prefer) and finally we went to bed at 4am.

The next day we did nothing; walked to the bakery for medialunas, sat and chatted, went to the supermarket for food, played a board game he has invented - good but not really my thing and in the evening we walked down to the beach, then onto his local bar where I met M&F who run the bar and J&S (who I think are a couple but mine host says no). Good discussion including how Eire benefitted from the EU and how it has mainly avoided the problems of the UK, the relative virtues of New York and BsAs, what I do for a living and where I'm off to next. J also teaches English although he isn't trained to do so (A "I speak the language therefore I must be able to teach it even though I don't know why we use the words we do in the order we do and how to spot, correct and prevent mistakes" type of teacher).

Early to bed that night and up early the next morning for a bus trip into town to buy my ticket home (next time I'll get a return), more medialunas, more chat, a short walk around the area, a skim of the local free-ads paper (my host is trying to buy a car) then back onto the bus for the journey into Mar del Plata.

My journey home was a bit confusing. We got stuck in a traffic jam and then suddenly the coach did a u-turn and went back the way we'd come (very worrying). Turns out there was a demonstration on our motorway so we were diverted. Go into the bus terminal only an hour late but luckily picked up a taxi immediately and was home before midnight (just).

Sorry to tell you that there are no photos. I took my camera but the batteries died on me - maybe next time.

Getting off the bus in BsAs was like walking into warm chicken soup whereas Mar del Plata was wonderfully fresh. The heat and humidity haven't let up since I've been back and I'm sitting here in a puddle of my own juices. I'm back to two showers a day just to get rid of the stickiness. I had planned on going to the gym tonight but just couldn't be bothered - maybe tomorrow.

....and we're back

and in one piece. More later but now I need to sleep.

We're all going on a summer holiday....

Well, actually, it's a weekend by the seaside. I'm leaving in about zero minutes time, catching a supercoach to Mar del Plata and from there, another bus onto Santa Clara del Mar to stay with a new friend. We've emailed a lot, and met once and he seems a good guy plus I need a weekend by the sea. I haven't had a holiday by the sea since last November when I was in Italy. Ok I grew up by the sea but, you know what.., it's not the same.

I have good memories from my last seaside holiday, lets hope I have good ones from this one.

See you on Monday.

Afternoon Tea

After dragging my tired and slightly incoherent body out of bed at some unreasonable hour this morning (my fault, I confused my time with UK time) to speak with my parents, I went back to bed for a couple of hours kip which actually left me feeling more confused than ever.

Finally I got up and showered and, realising I didn't have anything I wanted to eat in the house, I took myself over the road to the local patisserie for tea and medialunas (aka croissants) while I marked a whole load of homework. I got there fairly early and the place was almost empty. Two hours later it was packed to bursting and the noise level was incredible. Argentines have that Mediterranean trait of unselfconsciousness in public (you often see youngsters eating each other's faces) which is still somewhat surprising to me. However I was stuffed with tea and pastries and it was time to go home.

I had hoped to go out and take some photos today but by time I got home the light had gone and it wasn't worth the effort. So, not a particularly busy day but much was acheived and I'm happy.

BTW sorry Dad, I didn't mean to ramble on like that, thanks for your patience.

Springtime

It is Spring here in BsAs and, the same as everywhere else, Spring means fresh, new, lovely. Unfortunately Spring also means, hot, humid, wet (see my last post). However, I'm not complaining because one of the most amazing things here is the smell.

As you should be aware, I have a very acute sense of smell - yes I'm the one that can always smell gas - and it is one of the most delightful senses to have. Here in BsAs, in Spring, everything smells. Most of it's wonderful but sometimes there's a bad odour.

A few weeks ago I tried to get some of my students to construct a scent calendar. In other words what smells did they associate with each month of the year (pine for December, strawberries for June, etc) and they had no ideas at all - they claimed there were no smells in the city because it is a city and all the smells are drowned out (but they don't know what by). Eventually they came up with mothballs for May because that's when everyone takes their winter clothes out of storage (especially the big, old fur coats so beloved of middle class ladies of a certain age) and... that was about all!

At the moment the shrubs and trees are beginning to flower and that means jasmine, orange blossom, honeysuckle and bougainvillea (excuse any bad spelling). These are the good smells.

The bad smells? The tree that smells like cat's piss, the cat's piss itself (the humidity makes it worse), the sweaty armpits of people who think deodorant is for wimps (it so isn't).

Still, you can't appreciate the good without acknowledging the bad.

Early Morning Wake Up Call

I was woken up this morning by someone throwing water all over me and, before you get any funny ideas, that someone was Mother Nature®.

Remember I'd said how hot and humid it's been here? Remember I'd said I had all the windows open (and therefore an insect encrusted ceiling)? Well MN® decided that enough was enough and I was to be warned about my blase attitude to the weather. How dare I go shopping in flipflops when it's raining? What gave me the right to sit around in my gallebaya in the middle of the night and then sleep naked with no covers over me? it's wrong, it's indecent and I had to pay! (grammatically, that sentence is all over the shop and yet it feels right - oh the highs and lows of being a native speaker English Language teacher. Anyway...)

Very early this morning, too early for me to check the clock, MN® started a rainstorm and, being a mischievous sort of force, she decided to change the direction of the wind - just for a few minutes you understand - while throwing as much water out of the sky as possible. The outcome of this was several fold. Firstly, I was woken up by water hitting me even though I had the wooden shutters down (like in Milan); secondly my poor laptop and all the associated electrics (which live next to a window that was also left wide open) got drenched; thirdly I was running around naked at stupid o'clock, shutting windows, mopping up puddles of water, drying off hardware and trying not to get electrocuted. I am very grateful that (touch wood) nothing seems to have stopped working and I'm still in one piece.

The sun is trying to break through the cloud cover at the moment but I don't have much hope of its success. Oh, and all the insects have gone.

The Long Weekend

This weekend is a long weekend here. That is because Monday is a national holiday, not that my students can tell me why it's a holiday. Now when Monday is a holiday we don't have a meeting on Friday so technically we have a four day weekend. However, long weekend or not, I still have to plan lessons for next week. I also have my Spanish lesson on Friday morning so I didn't even get much of a lie-in. Then I spent until 6:30 this evening planning, writing and generally sorting things out.

I had planned to go away this weekend but the person I was supposed to be staying with hadn't been in contact so I didn't know where I was staying or how to get there. In the end I emailed him this morning, cancelling. I'll probably go next weekend instead, when hopefully I'll be less tired.

On a completely unrelated note, the weather here is hot and humid and the only way to keep cool is to open the windows and allow the breeze in. Unfortunately this also allows all the insects in (including but not limited to the mosquitoes), so now my lovely white celing is covered with small black spots - all live insects, I couldn't kill them all even if I wanted to. I've got the mosquito repellent plug in and I'm thanking my lucky stars that I don't react badly to bites.

Visitors

You may, or may not, have noticed a little button at the bottom of the left hand sidebar. The button called 'StatCounter'. This delightful little device allows me to find out whether anyone has been reading my blog (you may remember this rant not so long ago about nobody commenting). It isn't sophisticated enough to tell me who has visited my blog but at least I now know that people are reading (in some cases returning every day to keep up to date with my meanderings) and where in the world they are. So far I've had visitors from the USA (pretty sure that was a mistake - 12 year old boy who has created a D&D blog), Vietnam (hi Dave), Argentina (no, it isn't me), the UK (hello you gorgeous people), Italy (Jam is good) and most recently Australia (g'day).

Keep up the good work and maybe one day I'll reward you with something decent to read.

Mobile Phone

I've finally sorted out my mobile phone. I still can't receive texts from Europe but at least my voicemail has my message on it now. So, if you were the one who tried to call me yesterday and didn't leave a message, please try again.

Birthday Wishes

Firstly, many, many thanks to all of you who left comments (that would be two of you) wishing me happy birthday; also to those who sent me emails and other birthday greetings. All were gratefully received.

I would especially like to say "Thank you" to my brothers who made such an enormous effort not to forget my birthday - oh wait, they made no effort at all... not a word via email, blog comment, telephone call, messenger voicemail etc. etc. It's good to know that two people who I'm so closely related to, care so much about me.

Anyway, my weekend was wonderful. The house is on the Rama Negra (The Black Branch) and took about one and a half hours by boat. The boat ride was like a bus ride but on the water, people get off at their local jetty (some privately owned, some public) but the way out is drop-off only and the way back is pick-up only. There are no roads therefore no cars. The only mechanical noises were from the neighbour who needed to strim his lawn (big lawn) and the radio commentary of a football match. However these didn't last very long and much better were the noises of the local wildlife.

I actually went out there on my own, never having been there before, with just a set of instructions and a hand drawn map. It is a bit of a trek especially as we have to take our own sheets, towels, bottled water (the tapwater comes straight from the river) and food. L joined me later and, once she had turned on the gas bottle, we were able to make a cup of tea and relax.

The house is basic but comfortable and clean. It stands on stilts for those times when the river floods. I was woken up in the middle of the night by something sniffing around the front door and on the roof. At first I thought we had an intruder but then I realised it was an animal - but I don't know what kind. I also saw a woodpecker, a bee as big as my thumb (black body with orange sides), a flying ant-like insect about an inch long (and orangey-brown). Everyone seems to have a dog but they are generally well trained (although they bark a lot).



The Tigre House (more on Flickr)

I really enjoyed it but all good things have to come to an end and at 6:30pm L and I caught the boat home. The journey back was a little hellish. There were a gazillion people trying to get back to BsAs, so much so that they had to send out extra boats to pick people up, we had to queue for tickets at the train station (unfortunately the return tickets are only valid for one day) and then squeeze our way onto the platform and finally onto a train. We were lucky in that we got onto the first train that came into the station. When we got back to BsAs, we went to a local cafe and had something to eat and finally to Persicco for birthday ice-cream - L's treat for me and a lovely way to end my birthday weekend.

Birthday Weekend

As you all know, it's my birthday on Sunday - if you don't know, I'll be 45 years old. To make the most of the birthday, I'm going away for the weekend. The school has a house in Tigre, on one of the islands off the Rama Negra. It's nothing spectacular, but it is quiet and out of the city. I'm taking all my Spanish notes and I'm going to try to put them in order (and this includes doing all my outstanding homework - yes I know... but teachers make the worse students). I'll be taking my camera and a good book to read, mosquito repellent and a quilt. I have to catch a train then a boat (which takes about an hour) but I think it'll be worth it.

Even though my birthday is on Sunday, we had the ritual cake and card today (much as I tried to avoid it, I couldn't). It was originally going to happen on Monday but that is another teacher's actual birthday so I elected to have mine early (more cake for everyone). Here's a picture of my corkboard containing momentos of all my social visits and the big pink thing in the middle is my birthday card!

Storms

It's 8:22am and, as I sit here typing this, there is the mother (and father and probably grandparents) of all storms happening outside my window. Rain is falling vertically and with intent, the lightning is flashing across the sky at regular intervals and the thunder sounds like someone clearing their throat prior to a major announcement. I wish I could show you a picture of it all but, unfortunately, all that would come out is a huge grey blur.

And I have to go to work.... thank god it's less than two minutes away.

So English Village....

There are a lot of people who came here from the UK many years ago and have been here ever since. And, of course, when they came they brought their cultural values with them. For many Anglo-Argentines this means courteous behaviour, polite language and (unfortunately) a middle class snobbery. On the whole they are nice people but somewhat out of touch with the UK as it is today. Equally I have found similar groups wherever I have lived abroad (ok, not in Poland) but especially in Egypt. The separation between the Anglos and the rest of the population seems to depend on how long ago it was that the British/Europeans were the dominant class, thus in Egypt (British kicked out after the second world war, I think) the Anglos are more or less completely out of touch. Here in Argentina they are the 'elite', continually refering back to the days of one-to-one (when one peso was worth one US dollar and everyone was wealthy). One of their constant worries is crime. They see Buenos Aires as a crime ridden and dangerous place to be feared and hidden away from behind locked bars. However, don't let me deceive you, as I said before they are nice people who mean well (but can be slightly patronising) and are doing their best to maintain a decent standard of living.

Part of that standard of living is The Country Club. Every Anglo-Argentine seems to be a member of a country club, somewhere to go at the weekend to escape the city. One of these clubs is the Hurlingham Club (in the suburb of Hurlingham!) and this weekend they held a fete - to which L and I went.

How can I describe the experience? The thoughts that came to mind were 'Very Miss Marple', 'Very 50's', 'Very old country'. Everything was the same, bric-a-brac stalls; second-hand books; clothes (but not second hand); jams, marmalades & chutneys; arts & crafts; bouncy castle; etc. The only thing that was different was the lack of a tea tent (although there was a tea room), and the addition of a parilla (open air grill/barbecue) and alcoholic drinks. Here's a photo... (go to flickr for the other six).

Round up

So it's the end of another teaching week and it's been pretty good. My proficiency students have come to terms with the schedule they've set themselves (I only had to say "You set the timetable" twice before the complaints stopped), the rest of my exam classes are beginning to see the light and actually get down to some work and I'm starting to feel a little inspired again - but only a little.

A couple of my teenagers have recently turned 18 and they think it gives them license to leave early without their parent's permission (they have to bring a note if they are under 18). I've told them not to make a habit of it because I will, still, contact their parents to check that it's kosher.

Talking of kosher, I believe that it was recently the Jewish New Year, that next weekend is Yom Kippur and that, in between, there have been some days of special significance. Unfortunately I can't make head nor tail of my students' explanations so if anyone out there could do a 'Judaism for Dummys' (which is probably copyrighted) crash course for me, I'd appreciate it.

Tomorrow we have a semi-annual open meeting for teachers and I've been asked to chair it. Sounds like all those years of experience will come in handy - wonder if I was first choice?

Trembling

I have had such a long day today. One of my colleagues is away on a birthday trip to Brazil and I agreed to cover one of his classes, so my day went like this:

up at 7:30
BREAKFAST
into work at 8:30, photocopying etc.
start teaching 9:30
finish teaching 12:30
travel to private student 12:45
start teaching private student 13:30
finish teaching private student 14:30
arrive back home 15:15
LUNCH
back into work 15:30
start teaching 15:45
finish teaching 17:15
BREAK
start teaching 18:15
finish teaching 21:15
leave work 21:30
home 21:32
DINNER

In total eight and a half hours teaching with one and a half hours travelling. Funnily enough, despite feeling tired, I'm feeling good (although I do expect to sleep well tonight).

On several occasions recently I've been sitting at my computer when I've suddenly felt like I was rocking back and forth. The feeling was extremely weird, like standing on a ship in choppy water. I had no idea what was wrong with me and I began to worry that I might have something wrong with me - maybe my balance sensors were out of whack or my nervous system was breaking down.

Anyway, just as I was packing up this evening L asked me if I had felt the earthquake on Sunday. The feeling of relief that washed over me was unbelievable. Having been told this, I checked the earthquake lists and found several quite bad earthquakes in the Mendoza area which were strong enough to cause tremors here in BsAs.

So, the good news is I'm not falling apart although the apartment block gets the shakes every now and then.

Photos

Ok, I've finally got around to sorting out a flickr account so all my Argentina photos are up for you all to see. I apologise for the poor quality of some of them but they were taken with a 2.1 megapixel digital camera (which was as good as it got when the camera was given to me as a present) and, yes, I know some phone cameras are better than that now - go figure. I still haven't got my other (conventional) photos developed yet but hopefully I'll be able to do so next week, once I've been paid.

There are photos from La Boca, my winter holiday and my recent trip to Recoleta Cemetery. More will be added as they are taken.

Enjoy.

Recoleta Cemetery

I've been meaning to go to this place almost ever since I got to BsAs.

Recoleta is a posh part of BsAs and the cemetery is the last resting ground of it's rich and famous - and, of course, this includes Eva (Evita) Peron (although her husband, Juan, didn't make it here and is buried in a slightly less posh place (Chacarita Cemetery), however Evita's family had a mausoleum here and here she is kept (buried isn't quite right as the coffins don't go into the ground).



The cemetery is a wonderful place, full of grandiose buildings in many different styles. The mausoleums range from simple brick built boxes (some so narrow that there's just room to get the coffin in) through to ornate miniature cathedrals (one reminded me of Westminster Abbey). The building materials are similarly varied with bricks, sandstone, granite, marble and a host of other materials I can't identify. All of them have windows of some sort so you can see either the coffins or the stairs down to the vault. Quite often the windows are stained glass and, like all stained glass windows, are meant to be seen from inside the building. I got this photo by looking though a window in a door.


Even though it's in the middle of the city, it is very quiet because it's surrounded by a pedestrian only area (and several expensive hotels) although there is a good market not far away - I even bought a pair of earrings. So there's no sound of cars just the whirr of camera and birdsong. While there I was stopped by three people who tried to ask me in Spanish where Eva Peron's mausoleum was. The look of relief on their faces must have echoed my own when I replied in English - and they found what they were looking for!

Negotiating

I was woken up by the hammerers again today and I've been like a bear with a sore head all day because of it.

I had my Spanish lesson this morning and I could not concentrate at all. I couldn't remember any of the vocabulary I've spent hours learning, I couldn't remember the simplest verb (to be, to have, to know etc.) and, in all honesty, I hated being there. I know I'm not a good language learner or a good student but when I have made the effort to learn, it really annoys me that I can't use the damn language.

From there to the teachers' room and an afternoon spent planning.

I may have alluded here to difficulties I have with one particular class. Teenagers who have a very high level of English and absolutely no self-control. When I'm trying to teach them, I often feel like a fox surrounded by a pack of hounds which are about to rip me to bits. I can be talking to one student, answering their question, and another will start talking as if they are the only one in the room with me - and then get upset when I don't respond immediately. Anyway, I turned the tables on them (in the nicest of ways) last Wednesday. We only have ten weeks until the end of term, so I asked them to plan what they wanted to do in the lessons until then. Being a responsible teacher, I did provide a series of questions to guide them but then I left them to it (not that I left the room, you understand). In all honesty, what they came up with is a bit of a nightmare - bits of everything with no common thread linking them together. However, that is my job so I've spent today looking at what they want to do and turning it into proper lessons. Hopefully, I won't be hearing "Why are we doing this?/Do we need it?/What's the point of this?" again but I'm not holding my breath.

On a related note, my adult class at the same level also opted to plan the rest of the term but their plan is much more coherent. Rather than chose things from the coursebook, they chose themes and asked for vocabulary and exam type tasks (including writing, which surprised me). Much easier for me and much more meaningful for them.

Both of these mean I don't get much of a weekend this weekend but it will make things much easier for the rest of the term.

On a completely unrelated note, I haven't had a lot of energy over the last week or so and I've been feeling quite miserable. I checked my biorhythms yesterday and everything is negative but (and here's the good news) they are on the rise so things should be looking up soon.

Students' Day

Today is an unofficial holiday here. It's Students' Day. All the students (in BsAs at least) get the day off to meet up with their friends, have picnics, do daft things etc. This is on top of Teachers' Day (about two weeks ago) which is suppposed to be a day off for the teachers (but in reality is another day off for the students) and which I didn't get off (although I was sick on that day with the dreaded grippe). In addition, students in their final year of high school get an extra two week holiday in term time when they go to a resort and ski/dance/have fun. [And they feel so hard done by - they are always complaining about the amount of work they have to do. Huh!]

So I thought I'd have a nice quiet day of pampering. I booked a facial at the local beauty parlour and planned a long lie-in.

I was woken up at 8am by the sound of hammering, and not the consistent hammering of a skilled carpenter but the irregular tapping of someone taking tiles off a wall - in fact, two someones taking tiles off a wall. And because flats are built on the stack principle all the bathrooms are in the same place so it sounded like the noise was coming from my bathroom. Oh well...

I had the facial - very nice - and I've booked another. They aren't cheap but I need them, my skin is really suffering here, the water is quite harsh and I haven't found a cleanser I like (and, let's be honest, I've never had good skin).

Thankfully the hammerers have stopped for the day so it's nice and quiet at the moment. I'll be going to the gym this evening for the first time in over a week, now that I can breathe through my nose again.

Oh, and the sun is shining and I'm wearing flipflops again.

It's not our fault

Went to the mobile phone shop this afternoon to try and sort out my messaging problem. You see, I can send messages to Italy - where I'm assured they are received - but I can't receive messages from Italy.

I had a similar problem with the previous service provider (but couldn't send or receive) and was told it was because there wasn't an international agreement between Argentina and Europe! This time (different provider) I thought it might just be the settings on my phone. But, OH NO, it seems that the problem is in Italy - their equipment isn't compatible.

So there you have it, Italy (a first world nation) doesn't have the right equipment to interact with Argentina (a second world nation - despite what it thinks).

Of course this has absolutely nothing to do with Argentina defaulting on a government bond which left thousands of Italian pensioners broke, or Argentina defaulting on payments to the World Bank/IMF (don't know or care which one) both of which actions have left Argentina with a less than glowing credit status. No, it's the fault of the equipment in Italy.

Sulking

I've been sitting here for ten minutes staring at an empty screen wondering what to write about. Should I refer you to some of the other blogs I read? How about I update you on the colour and consistency of my phlegm? Or maybe I could tell you about how bored I am here in BsAs? The trouble is nothing seems to happen except work and crashdown from work. Even on those weekends when I do something social, it doesn't exactly set the world on fire. The thing I miss most here is decent conversation. It's not that I have no-one to talk to, but none of us know each other well enough to have one of those free-ranging conversations that make you cry (either from sadness or laughter).

My friends I miss you.

It's my birthday soon. I don't want any prezzies (too old to need that kind of validation) but I would like to know you read this. So please, stuff my comment box with messages.

Or I might sulk.

Walkies

Where has today gone?

I slept until late and have spent the afternoon and evening listening to the radio. I haven't actually done anything today. I haven't even been out of the flat. I know I shouldn't do this but having been so ill this last week, I've used today to catch up on my sleep and to enjoy some brain-dead time. It has felt good not to do any thinking and to switch off the need to concentrate, allow sound to wash over me, words to go in one ear and out of the other.

But, and it's a big but, this is becoming a bit of a habit. I started changing things before I got the bloody cold and I intend to get back on track next week. I find I'm getting fidgety after sitting around all day (albeit sitting around interspersed with getting up making cups of teas and omelettes) so I need more physical activity but I really don't want any more mental activity because I get more than enough of that during the week.

The gym beckons but it's shut until Monday so I guess I'll have to go walkies!

Bleeding 'ell!

Ah the weekend, such a lovely time of the week, and good news from this end. A mole which decided to bleed about four weeks ago is not in any way dangerous according to the dermatologist.

I didn't like the look of it but the doctor is an expert in these things and, having seen it twice, says it's a verucca (which in Spanish is used to describe anything that's not a mole) and definitely benign. She doesn't speak English and my Spanish is somewhat limited but the word benign is the same in both languages.

She also told me I should map my moles. Anyone interested in getting naked with me?

(Do not answer that question!)

Bouncing 'round the classroom

I went back to work today. Not fully recovered but so bored that the thought of spreading my germs didn't hold me back one little bit. Luckily I wasn't teaching in the morning so I had a long lie in.

Only three classes today, the first of which only had two students. Interesting though and it gave me the chance to concentrate on their individual needs. Unfortunately they were the best and least best of the group (don't you love that euphemism?) so finding a happy medium wasn't easy - in fact it wasn't possible.

Best bit of the class? Shiralee's uncontrollable coughing fit. You know how, once you get started, you just can't stop? Well that was me. So I'm half way through telling them what I want them to do and I get the urge...

Now normally I can control my cough reflex but this one wasn't to be held back. I tried to keep talking, I reached for my bottle of water, I unscrewed the top but before I could raise the bottle to my mouth, the coughing started.

And once it started, it didn't stop. This was coughing with a vengence. All those times I'd supressed a cough, all those times I'd washed away the urge with a drink of water - the cough was back and it meant business!

First it was the coughing, then going red in the face, then my eyes started watering, then I had difficulty finding time to breathe, finally I bounced around the classroom. All this time my students were staring at me...

And what was going through their minds?

I wonder if she'll forget to give us homework!

Time Off

You know how it is. When you're working and everything is piling up, you long for a day off when you can catch up with all those little irritating things that cause you to trip up all the time. Then your body says 'enough!' and inflicts a nasty headcold on you with it's associated problems.

So I haven't been:

• sleeping properly - waking up every half hour to wipe my nose, clear my throat, dispose of the phlegm


• eating properly - an extremely sore throat does not lend itself to good food and, much as I like ice-cream, there is a limit even for me


• able to concentrate - after about 20 minutes I feel like I want to doze off (but see above) and I keep losing track of what I was doing, starting and not finishing things


• able to see my friends/colleagues and join in social activities

I really wanted some time off but not like this - hell, I can't wait to get back to work.