Red, red fruit

I am up to my elbows in fruit. I went a bit mad today and bought kilos and kilos of fruit. Apples, bananas, pears, mandarins and strawberries (two and a half kilos of strawberries).

I'm going to liquidise and freeze some of the strawberries. Some others, I'm going to immerse in strawberry jelly to pig out on tomorrow - better than ice-cream - and whatever's left will get eaten over the next few days. I shall be smelling of strawberries and sick of them by Wednesday.

Must check to see if strawberries make a good facepack.


UPDATE:

loads and loads of facepacks here.

The smallest things

Had a weird experience today. We were in the middle of a teacher development session looking at 'humanist' theory and practice. We were doing an exercise where you had to talk about a cherished object (normally in class the students would bring something in having had plenty of time to think about it).

When we were asked to find something on our person that was 'cherished', I was stuck. Like most teachers living abroad I tend to travel light and all my cherished things are digital now and stored on my computer or the internet. However, looking through my purse I came across a business card. His business card. The one he gave me the first time we met. And I burst into tears. Sometimes it's the smallest things that throw us off course.

Zero

Ah today...

sometimes it's so difficult to find something to write about but at others it's not. Unfortunately, today it's difficult.

I think I've written before about how little happens here. I'm working on my on-line course in the morning, teaching in the afternoon then straight home to check on the on-line course before going to bed. Time spent in the fresh air - 10 minutes maximum, time spent interacting with people I don't work with or teach - zero minutes.

Is it any wonder I don't have anything to write about?

Sorry I've been a bit slack about posting recently. Partly it's because I'm so busy with the training course but also because I'm not feeling particularly inspired. I did start writing a piece about car drivers who wave at pedestrians to cross the road in front of them - particularly dangerous here - but it hasn't quite come together yet. It's a bit ranty and bitty so maybe you'll get to read it sometime in the future or I might just dump it.

Not a lot is happening at work except my students continue to amaze me. As I mentioned before they are teaching each other and the ideas and sheer inventiveness they display is awesome (and I use that in the non-US sense - I mean they really leave me speechless and completely impressed). I've already filed some of their worksheets (properly credited) in our resources file, I just wish I could come with half as much.

L and I believe we've booked accommodation for the long weekend in October. We're going to Cordoba which is near the centre of Argentina and I'll be taking loads of photos. I've decided to treat myself to a paid flickr account so that I can store all of my photos there and when my new camera arrives I'll be upping the number of photos that I take - watch out!

Card

Thank you mum and dad for the congratulations card. It arrived yesterday and I'm the only one who got one!

Cock of the walk I was!

Posting

I've managed to sort out the problems that were preventing me from participating properly in the on-line tutoring course. I'm now getting into the swing of things but I feel like a latecomer to a party, desperately trying to get to know people who all seem to be best friends and trying to understand conversations that I've joined half way through.

I shall persist and I shall overcome (I've just got to pay for it now).

Lose to Win

I have had a weekend which has been both frustrating and relaxing.

As I've said before, I recently started an online tutoring course. Part of this course involves posting on a discussion board. Now I'm not an expert but I believe I can do this (I often browse the help boards here on blogger for answers to problems). Unfortunately I haven't been able to access the boards properly on the site we're using. I have spent a lot of hours trying and feel I'm getting behind with the course, which I don't want to do. However, I've asked for help and we'll see what can be done by the tech people. That was the frustrating part.

Knowing that I couldn't do the work I wanted to do freed me up to do something completely pointless. The weather here in BsAs has been awful (like the worst British winter days although not as cold) so there's no incentive to go out. On the other hand, U has channels on her tv that I don't (I've been going to hers to watch Dr Who every Saturday) and Sunday was a 'Lose to Win' marathon. I don't know if this programme is on in the UK but basically two teams compete against each other to lose the most weight for a prize. We watched four competitions (eight hours tv) which consisted of 'Engaged Couples'- prize, a dream wedding; 'Restaurant Families' - prize $50,000; 'Military Wives' - prize $50,000 and 'Families who'd had a Crisis' - prize $50,000. In fact the biggest prize for all these people was the improvement to their health and confidence. The format was totally repetitive (something you notice after watching back-to-back episodes) but the results were astounding.

Of course the best bit was sitting on the sofa, drinking diet coke and eating brownies while criticising the whiny girls.

Hypocrite? me? whatever do you mean?

Hair again

I may have mentioned before that Argentines are obsessed with their hair. A couple of examples.

There was a poster campaign running, not long after I arrived here, showing a before and after shot of a lion's mane. Only, the before shot was the mane standing out from the lion's neck and the after shot was the mane lying flat - totally the opposite of the UK.

If you go to the supermarket or Farmacity (the equivalent of Boots here) you will see shelf upon shelf of shampoos and conditioners. Shampoos for blond hair, red hair and brunette hair. Shampoos for straight hair, wavy hair and curly hair. Shampoos for dry hair, normal hair, greasy hair. Shampoos for dyed hair, bleached hair and never touched-by-chemicals hair. And shampoos for any combination of the above. All with their matching conditioners. As if this weren't enough, there are deep conditioners, curl activators, curl suppressants, hair gels, hair mousses and hairspray.

Anyway, here's the latest innovation in the advertising war - GOD.

There is an advert currently running on tv for something which helps the curls, and the product is delivered by the hand of God (out of grey clouds) to a woman who's complaining about frizz (a big concern here). Considering that this is a predominantly Catholic country, I find it amazing - I doubt we'd get away with it in Britain.

Shana Tova

It's the end of another teaching week here in rainy BsAs. This week I've taught twenty four hours (including a 'double' class where the students of two classes were combined into one), finished off my adolescent reports, had two Italian lessons (but my teacher has agreed to not give me any homework) and fooled around on the on-line training course. Tomorrow is parent's day for my non-exam classes so I'll be spending the afternoon waiting for the occasional parent to drop in and be reassured about their child's progress. I don't have any problem students, just a few who don't work as hard as they could and some who don't have enough confidence in their own ability.

Wednesday to Friday this week is Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah so a lot of my students haven't attended. This meant that I had a 1-to-1 with one of my baby birds. I asked him what he wanted to do (1 to 1's are an ideal opportunity to deal with specific problems or weaknesses) and he said 'Conditionals'. I have to admit I came out in a cold sweat. If there's one area of the English language I cannot get my head around, it's conditionals. I've been teaching for seven years now, I've taught all levels from complete beginners to post proficiency, I've taught general English, business English, English for specific purposes and Cambridge exams. I've taught conditionals several times but never, never, never have I felt able to answer the question 'What type of conditional is this?' Luckily, the school used the same coursebook a couple of years ago and someone went to a lot of effort to create activities which take you through conditionals at proficiency level. So I grabbed those and some grammar books and the two of us worked our way through the exercises. He said he was happy at the end and, I must admit, the time flew.

A thunderstorm has just started overhead, no doubt it's woken up a few people but it doesn't bother me. Truth to tell I love the noise and the drama. I know better than to go outside during one - I don't want to be struck by lightning - but I love the pretty light and sound effects.

Ok, I'm off to bed. Lots to do tomorrow.

PS the title of this post is a traditional Jewish greeting at this time and translates as 'A good year'

I'm feeling totally uninspired

Ah, what to write about today...

The weather has been up and down with hot and humid followed by a little rain and then cold and wet. The problem isn't the weather but what to wear. Do I wear my fleece and get wet and sweaty or my waterproof and stay dry and sweaty? Then, once I'm at work, everywhere is hot so we open the windows but then it's draughty and the insects come in. Decisions, decisions, decisions, life is just sooo difficult at the moment.

Being the sort of person who doesn't do things by half (what absolute rubbish, I do as little as possible) I am currently studying Italian and have started the On-line Tutoring course. This means I've given up my morning lie-ins and had to become much more organised. Now, I know what you're thinking, 'Shiralee is one of the most organised people we know' - HA! is all I can say. Already I feel like I'm running from pillar to post trying to cover everything and I really need another six hours in the day. Luckily I've instituted a system whereby my students teach each other (I'm still there providing guidance, just not pouring all my energy into the classroom) and in doing so I know what I'm going to be teaching those classes for the rest of the year. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) this is only for half of my classes and I still have to look over the material and be prepared for the difficult questions but it has the big advantage of leading my students towards autonomy and thus increasing their confidence.

Oh, and finally and quickly... Dad, you found this place when you were over here and, to my shame I've never tried it. Maybe this Saturday.

Speed-o-post

I'm nicking an idea from another blogger and instituting Speed-o-post. This consists of me making a brief comment about different things with absolutely no attempt to make them into a coherent whole.

Yoga
U has lent me a book on yoga and I've started doing it (almost) every morning. It's only supposed to take a 'few' minutes but I spend about half an hour doing it. This means I have to get up thirty minutes earlier than I would like but, as L says, 'think of it as thirty minutes of intense relaxation'. I am getting more bendy.

Music
I've spent this weekend listening to Led Zepplin. I was sent the complete works in a little yellow box by a certain mustachio-ed friend. I've heard a fair amount of Led Zep (as I will be calling them from now on) but never listened to them over a period of 11-odd hours. They were (and remain) bloody fantastic.

Books
I'm most of the way through reading a book called The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. It's not the sort of thing I would normally pick up and read but it was lent to me by U and has been thoroughly enjoyable (although not a lot has happened).

Studying
Now that the DELTA is officially over and I am DELTA qualified, it is time to stretch the brain anew. I am currently enrolled on a distance learning course for on-line tutoring. It starts on Monday and should take at least a couple of hours a day. Is there no end to my greed?

Insects
With the warmer weather, there has been an rise in the insect population. The flat has had a silverfish infestation since I moved in (and I'm on the ninth floor), however I was assured this is normal and, truth to tell, they are harmless enough and I don't see them often. Unfortunately, we seem to have a cockroach outbreak at the school so we're having to be extra careful in not leaving food or dirty plates around (I remember it was ants in Egypt). The recent stormy weather seems to have lead to an increase in Daddy-longlegs and I have a couple currently circling the room. No doubt the mosquitoes will be back soon.

Elephants
I had intended to ride an elephant this weekend but that involves a one and a half hour bus journey to get to the elephants and the weather has been overcast, stormy and humid. This makes the thought of said bus journey (which will be very packed) very uninviting. I've postponed it to my birthday weekend. It will be my treat to myself.

Thus ends my first foray into Speed-o-post.

At last...

...my results have appeared.


I have PASSED

If there were any way to make this announcement flash in different colours, play loud music and set off fireworks, I would do it.

I'm that happy.

Picture at the top

Thanks to some help from a fellow BsAs blogger I've managed to change the photograph at the top of the page from the standard issue to one I took on the balcony of my current flat.

Probably the only thing I'll miss about BsAs when I leave are the outstanding sunsets (when you get to see them, rather than the people in the flats opposite).

Here are a couple more...





and I promise I haven't played around with the images

Why are we waiting?

I am in limbo at the moment. I still haven't received my DELTA results and it seems I won't be getting them until someone finds the person who has the key that unlocks the door to the room where the key to the filing cabinet in which the sacred piece of paper is stored. At that point someone might get their act together enough to actually unlock said filing cabinet, take out the envelope containing the piece of paper, read it and write the contents in an email to send to me.

Or maybe not.

Still waiting...

It's 11:30 on Tuesday morning, here in BsAs which makes it 4:30 Tuesday afternoon in Milan. I still haven't received my DELTA results. I think I'll probably be the last person on the planet to get them.