Madrid Teacher

A new princess was born today and as a somewhat royalist thats good news for Spain.
She is named Sophia after the Queen.

However the other news important to me today was in the Sunday times and related to something from my political days in the Liberal Democrats (I still prefer the term Liberal party, still dont accept these SDP upstarts, they are still labourites). However I digress. In a great multi-cultural ward in which many of my family live, a ward in which I have canvassed, delivered leaflets and used up tons and tons of shoe leather, the Labour Party have been accused of electoral fraud (see article in Sunday Times). Now I know it is not only labour who have in the past committed fraud, but this is a ward where the majority of the people work hard but much of the time life is a battle, in the last few years they have voted Liberal for a reason. This is a ward where there are high levels of poverty but people just get on with their lives do not turn to the far right for an easy way out, and they vote for councillors who work on their behalf. They have been neglected by labour for many many years and now Labour feel they have the right to basically view their democratic rights like crap. I sincerely hope that the culprits go to Jail, but like most politicians they will probably walk away scot bloody free. Grrrr

Labels: life in spain, Politics

At my class this morning we dicussed the Property market fall and its implications. No-one seemed that bothered, so thats that sorted then. I love the laid back attitude and long may it last.

Labels: economics

In the financial times the other day there was an article of the end of the boom in Spanish property. This has no consequences for me, but many of my friends are mortgaged to the hilt. I rent and will always rent, when I owned a house it was an hassle and when I sold it it was more hassle and everytime I return home my friends tell me how much I would have made if i kept it, I reply yes but I would need a stress ball the size of Pudsey Asda. My own opinion is that there will be a decrease in prices in many areas of Spain but not in hotspots such as Madrid and Barcelona. My friends in Valencia tell me that prices are not rising, but thankfully they are not falling.

In the FT article it talked about the impact of several corruption scandals in Spain on the fall in property stock prices. This may be the case but it seems to me that the whole system in based on corruption, many friends have left spain with 100, 000 euros in bags when they have sold their properties here, many people seem to pay a part of the price with "black money". It would therefore seem axiomatic that a industry built on corruption with corrupt foundations will be destroyed by corruption and corrupt practices. The corruption seems to be practised at individual, local governmental and corporate level. I know it is not the same in every instance, but it seems to me that it is in a reasonable amount of cases

Labels: economics, Politics

I am not the best driver in the world but today someone went into my car, I know its a taxi driver because someone took his mumber plate. It is amazing, infront of many people he went into my car trying to turn and badly scratched it. At the time when I found out he had driven off already. A colleague of mine said "its Madrid".

I did my arm waving and swearing in Spanish so let off a bit of steam.

I have now calmed down, but what annoys me is that I worked hard to buy this car and then they can´t even be bothered to leave their details. I still wonder whether in twenty years time I will still get angry about incidents like this or just put it down to "living in Spain", I cant even say its better in Valencia which is my usual response to "life in Madrid disaters", I was once at a traffic light at RED and someone drove into the back of my car, reversed and buggered off. I am beginning to think that my car has bad karma, when it was in sheet metal form did it fall on someone.

On a more positive note I made it through the traffic in one hour this morning and it was raining.

Just going to hospital R on another Baja, that should be fun!!!!

Labels: life in spain

Saw this on yahoo españa

Ser inteligente no es suficiente para ser rico, según un estudio

To be intelligent doesn´t mean you will be rich - welcome to my life, only joking, I know my ONCE ticket will come up trumps one day.

I have to have an operation on my throat (the Spanish health system is the best in the world and even the door way at Alcala hospital is smoke free) so I am now officially a part of my Spanish family, we recieve regular calls for updates on my condition. I know the causes are shouting (which I do a lot of in my current job) and probably talking too much for the last 36 years. I love discussions of health in Spain because everyone has a story to tell. I must admit I am enjoying the cause celeb of all this.

One of my colleagues cut his finger today at 9 AM (well the top of his finger), by 4 PM he was having it amputated according to the grapevine which involves 240 humans at work, I phoned said colleague at 5 and it was back to cutting the top of his finger off. It was the topic of the day and the grape vine proved that in discussing health everybody has a story to tell it just might get changed a little has it does the rounds.

Bad for my health today was the crazy idea of tarting up the side of the motorway at rush hour. The head of motorway maintenance but really hate us commuters.

Labels: health, life in spain, wealth and stealth

My hundreth entry is about a tin opener, tonight I bust the ring pull on a tin of tuna, so for the first time in 6 years I needed an everyday tin opener, I can´t ever remember buying one so I asked R. R showed me two pieces of metal joined by and hinge and said this will do the job. How? It is the most insane contraption I ever ever seen. So I resorted to my tool kit, my plastic headed hammer and screw driver and forced the bugger open, the tuna ended up everywhere except in the sauce mix.

A friend of mine was sacked today for the following heineous crime. In the words of Richard Littlejohn ( our very own UK fascist ) you couldnt make it up. Click here for the latest erosion of employee rights



How on this earth or fullers are these supposed to work?




These are the beauties I want for Chrimbo

Labels: life in spain

I teach English on a saturday morning to keep my hand in and for emergencies for example I leave or get sacked from my main job.

I really enjoy teaching english and do manage to get excited over demonstrating present passive and active grammar. It also means that I am up before three on a saturday which gives me time to catch up on things. Now summer is arriving I can also take Nova for a pleasent walk around Alcala. I have mentioned before that I still look foward to shopping in Spain but another of my plus points for living here is the bustle in a spanish town on a Saturday. The Calle Mayor is the perfect place to saunter even when Nova is upsetting the good citizens of the town by tangling their legs in her leed. Today we went to Plaza Cervantes which was chocabloc of people, old people chatting, kids playing and yobbos on their skateboards, although the cool thing about walking Nova is that the skatebaorders stop before crashing into me to save the dog (dogs are wonderful on so many levels). Its a nice little square surrounded by shops on three sides an part of the old university on the other.

Today I also sat down for a bit to read the most interesting book about the Working Classes in London, it is based on the authors research into his family tree ( a hobby of mine but my tree not his). The book is full of anecdotes which have real relevance to my life here in Alcala. The book is The Likes of US - A biography of the White Working Class by Michael Collins

I find this passage relevant to the Pueblo, " friendly disagreements occurred outside the houses in summer, as neighbours sat and put the world to rights"

Another quote just amusing when he talks about Upper Class socialists such as one of the Mitford sisters living in Southwark as part of a social experiment, " Orwell had said that no matter what their views the upper classes still belived the working classes smelled"

Another thing about the sociological aspect of the book that it brought me back to days of studying A level sociology, I would never have expected to hear the term emborgeouisement again. See I still cant spell it.



Calle Mayor, Alcala



The working class

Labels: Alcala, life in spain

Is it me or does Zapatero look a tinsy bit camp, he looks at though he is taking her on a pasadoble.



Photo stolen from El Pais website

Labels: Politics

Havent smoked today but used strong patch, and even better it was 27 degrees this afternoon in Alcala and 22degrees at about 10:00 summer has arrived.

There is a brilliant program on the proposed standard for blogs in UK. Link is through this link. Be quick cos I think its only on for about another 5 days. Interesting arguement of whether Blog code of practice shoudl exist, I think there are reports of cyber bullying and bad comments among some blogs in UK and elsewhere.

Personally, there is always a delete button and I don´t think blogging should be another area where Governments can further curtail our Freedom of Speech.

One of the things which makes blogging unique is the free market in blogs if you dont like it you can choose another. My favourite blogs are linked on the side of the screen, and they themselves contain lnks to many wonderful pages.

Labels: Alcala, Politics

I have smoked for the last two days after stopping for three and half months, I have thrown the rest of the three packets away and bought some more patches, starting to stop again tomorrow, my reasons for smoking I think were justifiable, but there will be no more money going to Camel incorporated from this house.

What is it with this rain? All my Spanish pals are saying "its like being in England" my response at this moment in time is ( bearing in mind my car is still in the garage two weeks after being in the same garage), that yes it is just like England oohh except you normally get your car seen to within 72 hours, or at least they phone you. See my new abstention from cigarettes is making me grumpy again

Labels: Alcala, life in spain

Found a great little bar in Alcala today with a nice little court yard and a building which must be at least two hundred years old, but tastefully decorated, we arrived quite late so missed the paella but it looked rather gorgeous. Bar is called La Corrala on Calle Damas. They had good selection of drinks, cool waiters and thirty something clientele, we will need to try it out at night sometime, will try to talk R into it.

A little orange box of delights has opened infront of the flat, the protable icecream shop or whatever they are called, alternatively it is one big gout bomb.

Labels: Alcala, bars

Car broke down and R broke the phone, is that not omenish, even worse is that because R doesn´t have any money this month and I have a bit and we need a new phone I will have a buy the phone to replace the phone which was my birthday present because its one without a cable ERGO I actuallly bought my birthday present. This following clip as cheered me up, its not Spanish but its funny.

Labels: life in spain

The car is back at the mechanics well at least our less than a year old car managed to last two weeks after its previous visit, but never mind I saw the most interesting game on the train back from Madrid, it involved pressing numbers in order on a touchscreen on one of those hand held computer type things, there were five students involved and they seemed engrossed. What happened to students smoking pot and being wacky.

They were shouting 1, 2, 3, 4, .....34, 35, 36.....67, 68 etc....

Is it me or do they need to get a life

Labels: life in spain

A nice picture of a nice drink

After a few false starts for better weather have we reached the promised clime, although raining today and tomorrow, I saw a picture of the sun on BBC weather and I know its coming, in preparation I have bought my first bottle of Horchata. If you are in valencia go to Horchateria Daniels in Alboraya. It gorgeous, although I still dont like dipping so called Fartons into my horchata. What a name!!

In summer there is nothing better than drinking horchata, I have it for my breakfast and if I am feeling devilsih for my supper as well, though its not the same drinking it Alcala as in Valencia.

Beach in Valencia ( Not Alboraya but you can legally drink horchata here)



the sun



Another olde worlde way of telling summers coming is that there seems to be an increase in flies buzzing around and generally being annoying

We had a wonderful time in Jaen although the procession in the village was rained off. But we saw loads of family and gained the obligatory 8 kilos.

Didn´t get many photos because of the weather buthere is one of one of the grape vines growing. One of the nicest things about easter is its the time for new change, new beginnings and new life.



Also look at these shoes, they are distgusting and a crime. I wouldn´t even wear them on lesuire suit sunday



And this is R´s roving reporter traffic jam in despeñaperros

Look at this junxtaposition (think this is the right word)


Ex-Airbus boss pockets 8.5m euros (bbc)


France will be worst hit with 4,300 job losses. Germany will see 3,700 jobs go while the UK and Spain will see 1,600 and 400 jobs cut respectively (bbc)

And he is probably entitled to the paro!!

Not only do we have a window box, R´s 5 year plan in turning me Spanish takes another giant leap. I have been in Spain six years now, I have the window box, my family say that I shout rather than talk, I am seriously gaining weight and now this,


I bought a freezer box

Its sooo beuatiful, its first load will be a a great big salmon and fruit and veg for Jaen.





Soon to be full of lovely foooood

We are going to Jaen for Easter tomorrow. I will put a few photos of the village, its beautiful, very andalucian and his inhabited by the most generous people you could hope to meet. Kindness does not go far enough in describing the people.

To get in the Jaen mood, listen to this . I love them and it is through this group that I am currently improving my Spanish. To me Los Chichos lyrics are passionate and very very Spanish. My favoutite Chichos song is about falling in love with a prostitute "amor por la noche".

This is "te vas me dejas"

E On withdraws bid (See article)

Several things come to mind.

1) Now we could end up with a Spanish/Italian monopoly on energy (so thats an increase in our bills)
2) Now it could be a three way split between several organisations an increase in costs even in the short term will have consequences (so thats an increase in our bills)(and also a potential increase in diseconomies of scale)
3) How can Spain be taken seriously has the fifth largest economy in the EU if it only really wants to follow the rules it likes.
4) When Zapatero goes begging for more funds at the next EU budget how responsive will other countries be i.e. why should we give you the money if you don´t follow the rules.
5)Oh and now the PP can do what they usually do and attack PSOE but the difference being this time being able to let the facts get in the way of a biased opinion.


I can´t really understand how PSOE cannot see the benefit to Spain in having a free market in Europe, if all countires felt the same then they wouldn´t have benefited from the expansion of Spanish banks in the relevant states.

They must get their heads out of the sand if Spain is to remain the fifth economic power, they can´t always rely on building and tourism.

Libreria or book shop I actually prefer the Spanish version it seems to have overtones of liberty which is what I believe reading brings (unless your reading Chairman Maos little red book).

There is a great little bookshop in Madrid for International books mainly English but also Spanish, Romanian and I think Chinese (so you may be able to buy Chairman Maos bestseller) amongst others. Its called Petras and is near the old santa domingo car park and the oprera house on calle campomanes. They have a great selection.- I couldn´t find a Rebus novel today so played safe and bought one about a British Gangster and the truth about the Angels and Demons book by the da vinci code guy. Theer are loads of cafes nearby and the sabatinni gardens and palace so its great in summer, buy and sit and read in the sun.

One of the things I miss about home is being able to have a bloody good saunter around book shops, but Petras allows me to do this on a smaller scale. I know that I could satisfy this urge by trapesing around the Spanish book shops but it doesn´t feel the same when I have top spend ten minutes trying to translate the blurb.

Even better is that there is a system which enables you to get a discount by collecting stamps on a card, although I must admit that I am always restarting the cards because I seem to lose them between visits. Now I only need to find a kiosko where you can buy a British newspaper for 45 pence not 8 euros 50 cents.




Not a brilliant photo but a great place to read

Please believe me when I say I have no geek traits but this is funny.

I got the date stamp wrong again. And there is no Richard and Judy anymore at the Dock (even better) Now that is Karma

I can´t belive that they are think of sending anybody here never mind someone who had helped unearth a scandal.

This is why I hate Labour. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2047688,00.html

How does anybody expect people to come forward and stop sex slavery when the fools deport people. They should deport Blair to Crawford Ranch in Texas because thats where he really belongs

must now do a nice entry . Karma man!!!!