Saturday, April 21, 2007
Saturday in Alcala
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
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
# posted by madrid teacher @ 5:38 PM 
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