I suppose it's about time I wrote another blog entry, but I don't really have too much to say...
It's another bank holiday weekend which means general lazing about. I would have liked to have hit the beach but as it's chucking it down with rain I don't really think it's the best idea!
Last weekend Annalisa and I went to a house party. We went to Annalisa's housemates friends house, had a few drinks, chatted, hit the port as per usual and then headed back to the house. At 9am we decided to call it a night and Annalisa and I found a coffee shop open where we had some churros. We watched the barman make them with a big tool in a big fat vat of fat! It was quite interesting to see and I walked home at about 10am in the beaming sunshine along the seafront.
One of the teachers in my school that I work with told me that he works in the University in the afternoons. He mentioned that a few of the students could do with a bit of help with their English and invited me with him to meet the students. I sat with the five students that decided to turn up (there's normally 12) and gave them my number. They're going to call me if they want lessons. It was quite interesting talking to them about University education and the Spanish system. It seems that at 18 they still depend on their parents to help them financially - University consequently has a completely different meaning over here as it doesn't really encourage the students to grow up or become independent.
Once I'd obtained my Residency Certificate I tried to buy my tickets from Melilla to Malaga online. The site isn't equipped for foreigners and so I was forced to go into a travel agents to buy my tickets. It worked out that I saved a bit of money as online they add €7 of taxes and I ended up paying slightly less in the shop. I then bought my Easyjet tickets at home as the agency wanted to charge me an extra €10 for booking them in the shop. So I'll be home 16th Decemeber until 9th January. I'll be flying into and out of London but will be in Bristol from 27th - 31st.
I had a telephone interview last week for a translation placement at Atlas (London based) and I should be receiving my contracts for that soon which is exciting, although very unfortunate that it won't be paid! At least I'll be able to rank up some experience in a well-reputed translation company though...
I also received a certificate from Aston University last week stating that due to my good marks in one of my final year modules (the module that I won the Roevin Translation Prize for) that the Institute of Linguists Educational Trust has certified me. I'm not really a member but it's still another string to my bow and I've spent a fair amount of time updating my details online for companies and agencies to see.
There was a meal for all the teachers at my school scheduled for Friday but unfortunately the organiser had some family problems so it's been postponed until next Friday. I'm looking forward to speaking a bit more Spanish and hopefully meeting some more of the teachers.
My birthday is also next Friday so at least I won't be sitting at home, bored to death, with Gossip Girl as my only friend!
Not much more else to say. Beginning to feel quite lonely as I still don't know that many people and Alberto is back in Madrid until 10th as I said before. Finding myself watching episode, after episode of Gossip Girl and not really practicing my Spanish much. I'm convincing myself that it's only been a month and I can't expect everything to happen all at once.
Will touch base again next weekend.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Saturday, 23 October 2010
The last musketeer
The start of the week went well. I met my last housemate, David. He's pretty cool and even made me dinner one night! He spends most of his time on his computer in the living room or on the phone in the kitchen to his girlfriend. He's from Zaragoza but stays here most of the time unless he has a good bunch of holiday time all bundled into one.
I also met up with a lovely Hungarian girl called Niki who Charlotte (an assistant from last year) recommended me to get in touch with. We had coffee, whilst getting hassled by numerous beggars trying to sell sunglasses/socks/watches/pens - it was nice!
I spoke to the guy at the sailing port about windsurfing lessons again and I just need to find one more person. We'd have a lessons on Fridays and then once we know how to do it we can go and rent out the boat(?!) and go whenever we like.
I went back to the office where I filled out all the paper work for my residency discount as the said my certificate of residency would be ready on Thursday. It wasn't so I'm still waiting until I have my discount code to book my flights.
My lesson with Dunia's kids didn't go too well this week. When I arrived on Wednesday the kids told me that their mother had said that I should stay two hours as they were unavailable on the Thursday. Luckily I didn't have any other lessons so I could do. When the first hour passed and I needed to switch kids the little boy had a sulk and wouldn't come to the table. I didn't really know what to do - whether to ring the mother or to go back the next day... In the end I left and asked the little girl to get her mother to call me. Dunia didn't call but when I texted her the next day she said to go round at 6.30p. Again, luckily I didn't have any other lessons. Hope this isn't the start of things to come...
Thursday night was the usual night out with Alberto and his friends. I've spoken to him about my birthday and asked what we could do but he explained he's going to be in Madrid. He made his friends promise him that they'd call me on 5th and get me out with them, which was sweet! They're all so friendly! I had a lovely Spanish swear word lesson too - always handy!
Annalisa had a house party last night but I felt so tired after Thursday that I dipped out. It was a bad move as I could have met lots of new people and mingled a bit more with Annalisa's housemates but I was just in a chilled mood, drinking cups of tea and relaxing.
Not much else going on this week - was looking forward to hitting the beach with a book but believe it or not, it's raining! It's still in the 20s but it's gradually getting colder.
So... A weekend minging out in bed, watching English series' on my computer. It's no good for my Spanish but it is nice to do nothing!...
I also met up with a lovely Hungarian girl called Niki who Charlotte (an assistant from last year) recommended me to get in touch with. We had coffee, whilst getting hassled by numerous beggars trying to sell sunglasses/socks/watches/pens - it was nice!
I spoke to the guy at the sailing port about windsurfing lessons again and I just need to find one more person. We'd have a lessons on Fridays and then once we know how to do it we can go and rent out the boat(?!) and go whenever we like.
I went back to the office where I filled out all the paper work for my residency discount as the said my certificate of residency would be ready on Thursday. It wasn't so I'm still waiting until I have my discount code to book my flights.
My lesson with Dunia's kids didn't go too well this week. When I arrived on Wednesday the kids told me that their mother had said that I should stay two hours as they were unavailable on the Thursday. Luckily I didn't have any other lessons so I could do. When the first hour passed and I needed to switch kids the little boy had a sulk and wouldn't come to the table. I didn't really know what to do - whether to ring the mother or to go back the next day... In the end I left and asked the little girl to get her mother to call me. Dunia didn't call but when I texted her the next day she said to go round at 6.30p. Again, luckily I didn't have any other lessons. Hope this isn't the start of things to come...
Thursday night was the usual night out with Alberto and his friends. I've spoken to him about my birthday and asked what we could do but he explained he's going to be in Madrid. He made his friends promise him that they'd call me on 5th and get me out with them, which was sweet! They're all so friendly! I had a lovely Spanish swear word lesson too - always handy!
Annalisa had a house party last night but I felt so tired after Thursday that I dipped out. It was a bad move as I could have met lots of new people and mingled a bit more with Annalisa's housemates but I was just in a chilled mood, drinking cups of tea and relaxing.
Not much else going on this week - was looking forward to hitting the beach with a book but believe it or not, it's raining! It's still in the 20s but it's gradually getting colder.
So... A weekend minging out in bed, watching English series' on my computer. It's no good for my Spanish but it is nice to do nothing!...
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Almost in Algeria
So it's been a fun weekend out on the town (the port with five bars) with Alberto and Annalisa. Walking home from a night out with my feet dipping in the sea was definitely an experience I want to relive some time soon - priceless!
Friday was spent in bed, as was Saturday and on Sunday, when I pulled myself out of bed at a very difficult 2.30pm, Alberto was in the living room waiting for me to wake up so we could go to Morocco as planned. Why on Earth he didn't understand that it was off the cards was beyond me but it turned out to be a beauty day!
Brain and his friend were already heading there so I had a prompt 6 minutes to get freshened up (really?!) and get downstairs where they were all waiting for me.
We all rode in Alberto's Discovery for a good hour or so. We passed long, long roads with red soil as high as buildings around us. It really felt like we were heading deep into the country. Every now and again we'd see a random person. We saw a boy on a donkey and we pulled over so I could take a picture but the boy ran away... The guys said it's probably because he'd stolen the donkey...!
We found a beautiful restaurant on a cliff overlooking the beautiful beaches of Morocco in booming sunshine in the province of Saidia, just a little more East than Oued Moulouya. Unfortunately my camera is playing up and decided not to work which I was pretty gutted about... But you can see where I was on a map - almost in Algeria!!!
(Argh - I've tried to insert an image through an URL, through a screen print, through sending myself the image - it won't work - Pod1ers - help?....) Just search Saidia/Oued Moulouya in Google Maps otherwise!
We headed back after a nice meal at a different restaurant (it was only fish and the waiter wasn't very attentive so we moved on from the other one) and hit the beach somewhere near Ras El Ma.
This was when the Discovery came into play. Switch into GI Joe mode (4 wheel?!), belt up and we were skidding across the beautiful sands of Morocco. (My stomach/head/whole life was feeling a bit more stable after having had something to eat to settle my jelly belly of alcohol!)
Friday was spent in bed, as was Saturday and on Sunday, when I pulled myself out of bed at a very difficult 2.30pm, Alberto was in the living room waiting for me to wake up so we could go to Morocco as planned. Why on Earth he didn't understand that it was off the cards was beyond me but it turned out to be a beauty day!
Brain and his friend were already heading there so I had a prompt 6 minutes to get freshened up (really?!) and get downstairs where they were all waiting for me.
We all rode in Alberto's Discovery for a good hour or so. We passed long, long roads with red soil as high as buildings around us. It really felt like we were heading deep into the country. Every now and again we'd see a random person. We saw a boy on a donkey and we pulled over so I could take a picture but the boy ran away... The guys said it's probably because he'd stolen the donkey...!
We found a beautiful restaurant on a cliff overlooking the beautiful beaches of Morocco in booming sunshine in the province of Saidia, just a little more East than Oued Moulouya. Unfortunately my camera is playing up and decided not to work which I was pretty gutted about... But you can see where I was on a map - almost in Algeria!!!
(Argh - I've tried to insert an image through an URL, through a screen print, through sending myself the image - it won't work - Pod1ers - help?....) Just search Saidia/Oued Moulouya in Google Maps otherwise!
We headed back after a nice meal at a different restaurant (it was only fish and the waiter wasn't very attentive so we moved on from the other one) and hit the beach somewhere near Ras El Ma.
This was when the Discovery came into play. Switch into GI Joe mode (4 wheel?!), belt up and we were skidding across the beautiful sands of Morocco. (My stomach/head/whole life was feeling a bit more stable after having had something to eat to settle my jelly belly of alcohol!)
We took a few photos on the beach and I hope the guys don't mind that I'm showing everyone that reads my blog these photos of them... Alberto up front with Brain and his friend Maria del Mar at the back.
We headed back towards the border crossing through Ras El Ma's harbour, where all the fishermen were finishing up for the day. They had big fishing nets laid out across the ground, presumably emptying their day's work.
We headed up to the tall brick wall that looked down over the sea under a cute little lighthouse and saw some more fisherman and three pretty renowned islands amongst the Melillenses.
The Moroccans call the islands 'Les Iles Zaffarines' - in French, what with it being one of the official languages of Morocco. The left island isn't lived on and I think it's Moroccan, as is the right, but the middle one is Spanish (Chafarinas). It's used as a military camp (have I mentioned the massive military presence here?! There's a military camp on every corner - another thing that I have personally deemed unecessary!) and it just so happened that Alberto had some binoculars in his car so we got them out and had a look like proper tourists!
I clearly couldn't take a picture through the binoculars but if interested perhaps Google Earth it? Seeing corners of the world I didn't even know existed.
We headed further back down the windy, lonely roads with the sun screaming fire. We all agreed that the sun in Africa seems like a different one from that of Europe. It really roars and it feels like we're so much closer to it here... Random, I know!
Too much?! Hope you get the point!
Then we headed back to see our favourite monkey in Morocco - Zizo! Unfortunately he's not making another appearance in this blog today - he was boring. I swear the barmen had given him sedatives!
We had a coffee and headed back to the border which seemed to have been transferred into a different world. The boy that hassled Brain last time was nothing compared to this. There was a queue of cars (it was about 8pmish which is when Maria del Mar told me it gets busy) and the fact that it was Sunday seemed to make it worse. There was a big swarm of people individually dotting in between cars, knocking on our windows and talking in through the open bits. My crowd seemed to deal with it pretty well, with Brain chatting away in Arabic to leave us alone and warning them that Alberto is a Civil Guard. I couldn't do anything but look into the centre of the car so as not to look at them in the eye. (We get a fair few beggars around Melilla that approach you when you're in cafes and I've been told it's best to just ignore them. It seems so rude to be so ignorant but if you look at them, or even speak to them then they hassle you for a good fifteen minutes.) These beggars at the border were worrying though. They felt so close, but in a locked car they can't really do anything to us I suppose. They're not violent and don't go around kicking the cars or shouting, as they could. It's all quite sad, really.
Anyway, headed home and went to bed, incredibly glad that I had been dragged out from an evil hangover!
Friday, 15 October 2010
Legalities and paper
I'm getting really confused with what I've written on this blog and what I haven't... Did I tell you I'd set up a bank account?... Anyway, I did. Without my NIE.
On Wednesday and Thursday I was working at school and in between lessons I managed to go back to the Foreigners Office, pick up a piece of paper, go to the bank with it, pay €10, get it stamped, go back to the Foreigners Office and then I finally got a certificate with my NIE. Long winded, but at least I shouldn't have any problems when the time comes for me to get paid.
I just need to go back to the bank and let them know my NIE (if only they would have told me the number before I went to the bank to pay €10 I could have told them then). Lots of unecessary running around, that actually happens to be quite necessary!
To add to my paper frustration I needed to register as a resident here in Melilla, mainly in order to receive the 50% discount on the flight from here back to mainland Spain.
After massive complications which I won't bore you with, the ball is rolling for that too. I need to go back next week to pick up my 'citizen certificate'.
I've also started my private lessons. The boy of 8 speaks better English than I do Spanish and so it was quite difficult trying to explain some things. We sat in their living room at the dining table - looking out across the sea. Mmmmm! I had the girl of 10 on Thursday (his sister) and I helped her revise for her 'I have got' conjugation exam that she had today. I plan to do get some games made up so I can entertain them a bit more and make it all a bit more fun.
Other than that everything seems to be sinking into the norm, going for runs in Los Pinos with Brain, sitting in and watching TV, going to school and private lessons each night.
Alberto came back from the bank holiday weekend on Wednesday but I've hardly seen him as he works 8am - 10pm. It was his birthday yesterday so we went out for a few drinks, pretty much the same as last Thursday - it was cool.
I don't know how I'm going to keep up this blogging throughout the year because I think I'm going to run out of things to say...! Maybe I'll start going down to one blog entry a week?... What do the people say?!
On Wednesday and Thursday I was working at school and in between lessons I managed to go back to the Foreigners Office, pick up a piece of paper, go to the bank with it, pay €10, get it stamped, go back to the Foreigners Office and then I finally got a certificate with my NIE. Long winded, but at least I shouldn't have any problems when the time comes for me to get paid.
I just need to go back to the bank and let them know my NIE (if only they would have told me the number before I went to the bank to pay €10 I could have told them then). Lots of unecessary running around, that actually happens to be quite necessary!
To add to my paper frustration I needed to register as a resident here in Melilla, mainly in order to receive the 50% discount on the flight from here back to mainland Spain.
After massive complications which I won't bore you with, the ball is rolling for that too. I need to go back next week to pick up my 'citizen certificate'.
I've also started my private lessons. The boy of 8 speaks better English than I do Spanish and so it was quite difficult trying to explain some things. We sat in their living room at the dining table - looking out across the sea. Mmmmm! I had the girl of 10 on Thursday (his sister) and I helped her revise for her 'I have got' conjugation exam that she had today. I plan to do get some games made up so I can entertain them a bit more and make it all a bit more fun.
Other than that everything seems to be sinking into the norm, going for runs in Los Pinos with Brain, sitting in and watching TV, going to school and private lessons each night.
Alberto came back from the bank holiday weekend on Wednesday but I've hardly seen him as he works 8am - 10pm. It was his birthday yesterday so we went out for a few drinks, pretty much the same as last Thursday - it was cool.
I don't know how I'm going to keep up this blogging throughout the year because I think I'm going to run out of things to say...! Maybe I'll start going down to one blog entry a week?... What do the people say?!
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Nada más que Nador
I moved bedroom yesterday so got up this morning and cleaned up Davids, did household stuff and then started loading my stuff into my new room. It's so nice and fresh and I have a base for the next 10 months! (and a desk!) :-)
This is the view from my room/balcony - I can see Morocco....
Mount Gourogou (to the far left - don't think it fitted in the picture!) and all across Melilla...
I spent the morning getting more and more bored, getting more and more annoyed that I don't know that many people. Then Brain came in and told me he was bored and that we were getting out and going for a walk. I went downstairs and waited for him as he got a call and when he came down he told me we were going to Nador! He'd spoken to his friend and we were picking her up and going.
When we got to the border gate there was a big traffic jam. I assumed it was because there were a lot of people trying to get out of Melilla where there's a bank holiday and to Morocco, where shops are open, etc. but Brain's friend explained that it's normally busier than that at about 8pm when all the shops in Morocco close and the Melillenses head back over this way.
Brain and I got out of the car and walked to border control so as to sort out all the forms, etc. This is the form I had to fill out - nowhere near half as bureaucratic as my NIE is!
Then I got one of these...
My first ever stamp in my passport! Woo hoo!!!
We waited for Brain's friend on the other side of the border and got hassled by an absolutely relentless kid that wouldn't stop harassing Brain for money. Each time Brain would say no but he kept coming back and I began to realise why people say it's not the best idea to come alone!
We drove through Beni Enzar and headed for Nador. The scenery didn't seem too much different from Melilla. There were a lot more cars and lots of donkeys pulling wooden trailers filled with fresh fruit!
We had to change our money up as soon as we got there (it didn't even cross my mind that they might not use the Euro!). I changed €20 and got 220 dhirma.
We went to a nice restaurant that seemed to be full of Melillenses and whilst Brain and his friend had fresh fish, I had a big, fat, genuine Moroccan couscous. Mmmm! 80 dhirma later (cheap as chips) we headed back to the car and Brain gave some guy that came up to the window some change. I noticed that Alberto did the same the other night. It seems that the poor ask for money for any kind of service, even if it means they just watch the car park. I didn't quite understand because this guy (presumably the keeper on the pavement?!) was stood with a drink in his hand from the bar opposite which indicated to me that he had money to spend... I don't know - there's a lot about the culture I'm yet to understand that Brain said he would explain later.
We drove around the rich part of down where the houses were ridiculously mahousive. Crazy to see how one area is so poor, yet the other is so wealthy. I suppose that's everywhere... Then we stopped off for a coffee in a really funky bar. They had a pet monkey....
He was a big fat poser and liked to play with things outside of his cage (naturally!). There was a boy standing nearby peering in his cage and Zizo decided to tug at his short strings. He was naughty! There was another guy that put his head upside down near the cage and Zizo looked through his hair for nits!
I was watching for a while and Brain decided to step outside and a have a play. He must have been scared of touching poor old Zizo and so used his lovely sunglasses as a hand... Bad move! He teased and teased and Zizo swiped! He bent them to and fro and then decided to wear them as some sort of belt (they were still intact!). We had to call the barmen to come and entice the playful monkey with nuts, it took a while as he wasn't quite as stupid as Brain and held on to the glasses pretty hard. We managed to get them back but Zizo wasn't happy and screamed and screamed (I think he may have bitten the barman too!). A cracking moment that I unfortunately didn't capture on film, nor camera!
We drove up to the Moroccan side of the border to look across Melilla and we could see our house!
We headed back to the dirty, overpopulated border in Beni Enzar...
...Got our passports stamped again and headed back to Melilla.
A lovely day had by all and I still have 100 dhirma!
This is the view from my room/balcony - I can see Morocco....
Mount Gourogou (to the far left - don't think it fitted in the picture!) and all across Melilla...
I spent the morning getting more and more bored, getting more and more annoyed that I don't know that many people. Then Brain came in and told me he was bored and that we were getting out and going for a walk. I went downstairs and waited for him as he got a call and when he came down he told me we were going to Nador! He'd spoken to his friend and we were picking her up and going.
When we got to the border gate there was a big traffic jam. I assumed it was because there were a lot of people trying to get out of Melilla where there's a bank holiday and to Morocco, where shops are open, etc. but Brain's friend explained that it's normally busier than that at about 8pm when all the shops in Morocco close and the Melillenses head back over this way.
Brain and I got out of the car and walked to border control so as to sort out all the forms, etc. This is the form I had to fill out - nowhere near half as bureaucratic as my NIE is!
Then I got one of these...
My first ever stamp in my passport! Woo hoo!!!
We waited for Brain's friend on the other side of the border and got hassled by an absolutely relentless kid that wouldn't stop harassing Brain for money. Each time Brain would say no but he kept coming back and I began to realise why people say it's not the best idea to come alone!
We drove through Beni Enzar and headed for Nador. The scenery didn't seem too much different from Melilla. There were a lot more cars and lots of donkeys pulling wooden trailers filled with fresh fruit!
We had to change our money up as soon as we got there (it didn't even cross my mind that they might not use the Euro!). I changed €20 and got 220 dhirma.
We went to a nice restaurant that seemed to be full of Melillenses and whilst Brain and his friend had fresh fish, I had a big, fat, genuine Moroccan couscous. Mmmm! 80 dhirma later (cheap as chips) we headed back to the car and Brain gave some guy that came up to the window some change. I noticed that Alberto did the same the other night. It seems that the poor ask for money for any kind of service, even if it means they just watch the car park. I didn't quite understand because this guy (presumably the keeper on the pavement?!) was stood with a drink in his hand from the bar opposite which indicated to me that he had money to spend... I don't know - there's a lot about the culture I'm yet to understand that Brain said he would explain later.
We drove around the rich part of down where the houses were ridiculously mahousive. Crazy to see how one area is so poor, yet the other is so wealthy. I suppose that's everywhere... Then we stopped off for a coffee in a really funky bar. They had a pet monkey....
He was a big fat poser and liked to play with things outside of his cage (naturally!). There was a boy standing nearby peering in his cage and Zizo decided to tug at his short strings. He was naughty! There was another guy that put his head upside down near the cage and Zizo looked through his hair for nits!
I was watching for a while and Brain decided to step outside and a have a play. He must have been scared of touching poor old Zizo and so used his lovely sunglasses as a hand... Bad move! He teased and teased and Zizo swiped! He bent them to and fro and then decided to wear them as some sort of belt (they were still intact!). We had to call the barmen to come and entice the playful monkey with nuts, it took a while as he wasn't quite as stupid as Brain and held on to the glasses pretty hard. We managed to get them back but Zizo wasn't happy and screamed and screamed (I think he may have bitten the barman too!). A cracking moment that I unfortunately didn't capture on film, nor camera!
We drove up to the Moroccan side of the border to look across Melilla and we could see our house!
We headed back to the dirty, overpopulated border in Beni Enzar...
A lovely day had by all and I still have 100 dhirma!
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Not so Bank Holiday Monday
So it turns out Monday wasn't the Bank Holiday - today is. So that's when everything is going to be shut.
Annalisa and I went to the Foreigners Office to get our NIEs at 9am and got seen surprisingly early at 11am. We had to get photocopies of each page of our passport so headed into town and did so. We went back and after much unecessary photo chopping and paper stapling (these people are important!) we were told to go back on Wednesday, pick up a piece of paper with a stamp on it, then go to our bank with it, pay €10 and then bring back the receipt. Then we'll get our numbers. (And I thought France was the worst for bureaucracy!)
After that we wandered around town a bit, I picked up some bedsheets, had a bit of tapas and headed back here to watch a film. I had a call from a private student who had seen our announcement in town - I managed to understand what he was saying on the phone - that €15 was too expensive. Seeing as I have so many students (Dunia's children and the woman from school), and Annalisa doesn't seem to have too many yet I gave the guy Annalisa's number instead of lowering the price. He rang Annalisa and told her he's going to give her €5 for the first lesson and if it's any good he's going to give her €10 thereafter - cheeky bugger!
Later in the evning Brain and I went for a run in Los Pinos and came back to the flat. He told me that the neighbour had knocked on the door earlier in the day, saying they'd seen there was an English girl living here and could I give private classes to her children.
I went round and introduced myself, met the kids and the father is going to speak to the school and see how many lessons is recommended outside of school and get back to me. I spoke to Brain and said that I told the neighbour €15 an hour and then backed down to €13, but I think I'll go down to €10 from now on - I feel like I'm thieving people, but I guess that is business?
We were going to go to Nador today, and we also discussed visiting Melilla's caves but I think Annalisa is going to spend the day with her flatmates and I think Brain is much more interested in doing things with me only if my friend, Annalisa, is around!!
TV/newspaper day again for me, which I suppose is better than work! Have fun!
Annalisa and I went to the Foreigners Office to get our NIEs at 9am and got seen surprisingly early at 11am. We had to get photocopies of each page of our passport so headed into town and did so. We went back and after much unecessary photo chopping and paper stapling (these people are important!) we were told to go back on Wednesday, pick up a piece of paper with a stamp on it, then go to our bank with it, pay €10 and then bring back the receipt. Then we'll get our numbers. (And I thought France was the worst for bureaucracy!)
After that we wandered around town a bit, I picked up some bedsheets, had a bit of tapas and headed back here to watch a film. I had a call from a private student who had seen our announcement in town - I managed to understand what he was saying on the phone - that €15 was too expensive. Seeing as I have so many students (Dunia's children and the woman from school), and Annalisa doesn't seem to have too many yet I gave the guy Annalisa's number instead of lowering the price. He rang Annalisa and told her he's going to give her €5 for the first lesson and if it's any good he's going to give her €10 thereafter - cheeky bugger!
Later in the evning Brain and I went for a run in Los Pinos and came back to the flat. He told me that the neighbour had knocked on the door earlier in the day, saying they'd seen there was an English girl living here and could I give private classes to her children.
I went round and introduced myself, met the kids and the father is going to speak to the school and see how many lessons is recommended outside of school and get back to me. I spoke to Brain and said that I told the neighbour €15 an hour and then backed down to €13, but I think I'll go down to €10 from now on - I feel like I'm thieving people, but I guess that is business?
We were going to go to Nador today, and we also discussed visiting Melilla's caves but I think Annalisa is going to spend the day with her flatmates and I think Brain is much more interested in doing things with me only if my friend, Annalisa, is around!!
TV/newspaper day again for me, which I suppose is better than work! Have fun!
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Exploring
I spent Saturday sleeping and exploring. I walked along to the port and asked about waterski-ing lessons only to find that I couldn't communicate. I told the guy that I'd come back another time with someone else who could speak better Spanish than I do! That was frustrating and kind of got me a bit flat...
In the evening I met up with Annalisa and we went for a few drinks at the port. We bumped into one of my teachers and stayed with him and his friends for a bit and when it got later I texted my landlord to ask what time is a suitable time to walk home on my own. I told him that we were at the port if he wanted to join us. We spent the night drinking, dancing and talking and at 8am we drunkenly wandered back to the flat along the beach.
Naturally, yesterday was another lazy day, waking up at 3pm! We went and picked up Annalisa in the car and on the way back Brain showed us the border fence. Everyone was casually walking past it as if it was normal. It's very odd. Everyone is trapped, almost like a prison, but nobody tries to get out etc. Consequently we saw a little bit of Morocco from Melilla!
We came back to the flat, munched on some pizza and headed back into town to see some sort of military ceremony in the centre of town (I saw them practicing the other day with the band, etc.). On the way there my landlord drove us up to Los Pinos which is where there's like a national park, but with a difference - you can see the sea!
It was absolutely beautiful and it felt like we were stood on the edge of the world with a vast sea in front of us. Truly breath-taking (without being too cheesy!).
See the colour of the sea?! Gorgeous!
Then Brain took us down the bottom of the cliff to this beach, then around to another and by that time we'd missed the military ceremony, headed back to the flat and crashed out. A short day, but much exploring done.
Today I don't really have much to do and Monday and Tuesday are bank holiday too, so the next few days are going to be the same. It's windy and rainy so I can't even hit the beach. Bum! I've bought a Spanish book so I suppose I should get my head stuck into that...
Happy Sunday - enjoy your roasts!
In the evening I met up with Annalisa and we went for a few drinks at the port. We bumped into one of my teachers and stayed with him and his friends for a bit and when it got later I texted my landlord to ask what time is a suitable time to walk home on my own. I told him that we were at the port if he wanted to join us. We spent the night drinking, dancing and talking and at 8am we drunkenly wandered back to the flat along the beach.
Naturally, yesterday was another lazy day, waking up at 3pm! We went and picked up Annalisa in the car and on the way back Brain showed us the border fence. Everyone was casually walking past it as if it was normal. It's very odd. Everyone is trapped, almost like a prison, but nobody tries to get out etc. Consequently we saw a little bit of Morocco from Melilla!
We came back to the flat, munched on some pizza and headed back into town to see some sort of military ceremony in the centre of town (I saw them practicing the other day with the band, etc.). On the way there my landlord drove us up to Los Pinos which is where there's like a national park, but with a difference - you can see the sea!
It was absolutely beautiful and it felt like we were stood on the edge of the world with a vast sea in front of us. Truly breath-taking (without being too cheesy!).
See the colour of the sea?! Gorgeous!
It's another part of the border fence which makes sure that the Moroccans don't come into Melilla at the end of the beach. There are police watchmen all along the border fence.
Then Brain took us down the bottom of the cliff to this beach, then around to another and by that time we'd missed the military ceremony, headed back to the flat and crashed out. A short day, but much exploring done.
Today I don't really have much to do and Monday and Tuesday are bank holiday too, so the next few days are going to be the same. It's windy and rainy so I can't even hit the beach. Bum! I've bought a Spanish book so I suppose I should get my head stuck into that...
Happy Sunday - enjoy your roasts!
Friday, 8 October 2010
First photos of Melilla
Here are some other random photos that I took when Hayley and I went for a wander. Just so you get a feel for the town.
Private lessons galore
I had to be at school at 8.30am the following day and after having checked out the bus I decided to give it a go. I left my flat at 7.30am (when it was dark... Is it dark in the UK at 7.30am? Perhaps I'm just not used to seeing this light of day!) and got to the bus stop for 7.45am. The bus sat at the bus stop for ages and I promptly got to school five minutes before my classes started.
I put up my announcement on the noticeboard for private lessons and photocopied a good few others for other places around town. I spoke to one of the teachers that I'll be working with who said she would like private lessons. We've looked at our timetables and established a time that we can fit in the lessons, and also the days that she can give me a lift to school.
I walked back from school, which took me about 35 minutes, grabbed some lunch back here and then met Annalisa on the beach. Dunia had got in touch with me and we'd planned to meet at 7.30pm to discuss her children's tuition - she said she'd been busy up until then.
At 8pm she turned up with one kid in tow and took me back to her house. We sorted out when we can give the kids lessons (both of the young children, twice a week for an hour - 4 hours for €200 a month). Her husband got back and said he'd like lessons too and we said we'll sort that out on an ad hoc basis as and when he fancies it. Her flat was an absolute palace and her children absolute angels. She's educated them so, so well.
Whilst I was there a friend of hers called and said she would like lessons for her children too. She called me this morning and asked the price per lesson. I said €15 and then went down to €13 and she said she'd speak to her husband and call me back. I just hope I'm not spending all my time speaking English and not practicing my Spanish enough.
I mentioned to Dunia that I'd quite like to learn how to windsurf and she said she bought all the equipment and didn't go because she was one of the only women. I said I'd go down and grab some information today and text her and perhaps we'll go to that together. That would be really nice.
Dunia dropped me back to my flat at about 9pm (prime example of how friendly people are here - she didn't really know me at all). I was going to chuck some food on but Alberto got back just as I got in, got changed in a rushed manner and was heading out with his buds.
He invited me so of course, I accepted and we went out for tapas with about 6 of his colleagues from the airport. Alberto's 30 next weekend so it wasn't a big party and the oldest guy there was 48, I think. It was just nice to sit and talk, drink, eat and socialise. They told me that the prices of planes back to the 'peni' (peninsula) are about five times the price of a journey into Melilla so that people are encouraged to stay here. They said they're about €1,000. I was shocked and for the next hour or two was just thinking about Christmas and how Chris was going to manage to come over and go back. About three hours later I found out that they were winding me up. Grar! But they had me going for ages, I almost cried thinking that I wouldn't be able to come back and at the prospect of not seeing Chris for the whole year!
At about 11pm we headed to the 'Puerto deportivo' where there are 4 bars but it's the liveliest place in Melilla! More of Alberto's friends met us there, including the head of the airport (I discovered that Alberto is the second head of the airport) and also the head of Iberia. Good contacts! The place was pretty empty until about 3am when it really started to fill up and we headed back home about 4am.
Alberto really looked after me and saw that a lot of the time I wasn't understanding. He would come and sit next to me and explain slowly and when I scuttled off to the toilet during the night he was worried about where I'd got to.
I love my new housemates!
I don't work Fridays so it's the start of the weekend for me - but that's not such a good thing when you don't really know anybody! Back to my friendly newspaper I go!
I put up my announcement on the noticeboard for private lessons and photocopied a good few others for other places around town. I spoke to one of the teachers that I'll be working with who said she would like private lessons. We've looked at our timetables and established a time that we can fit in the lessons, and also the days that she can give me a lift to school.
I walked back from school, which took me about 35 minutes, grabbed some lunch back here and then met Annalisa on the beach. Dunia had got in touch with me and we'd planned to meet at 7.30pm to discuss her children's tuition - she said she'd been busy up until then.
At 8pm she turned up with one kid in tow and took me back to her house. We sorted out when we can give the kids lessons (both of the young children, twice a week for an hour - 4 hours for €200 a month). Her husband got back and said he'd like lessons too and we said we'll sort that out on an ad hoc basis as and when he fancies it. Her flat was an absolute palace and her children absolute angels. She's educated them so, so well.
Whilst I was there a friend of hers called and said she would like lessons for her children too. She called me this morning and asked the price per lesson. I said €15 and then went down to €13 and she said she'd speak to her husband and call me back. I just hope I'm not spending all my time speaking English and not practicing my Spanish enough.
I mentioned to Dunia that I'd quite like to learn how to windsurf and she said she bought all the equipment and didn't go because she was one of the only women. I said I'd go down and grab some information today and text her and perhaps we'll go to that together. That would be really nice.
Dunia dropped me back to my flat at about 9pm (prime example of how friendly people are here - she didn't really know me at all). I was going to chuck some food on but Alberto got back just as I got in, got changed in a rushed manner and was heading out with his buds.
He invited me so of course, I accepted and we went out for tapas with about 6 of his colleagues from the airport. Alberto's 30 next weekend so it wasn't a big party and the oldest guy there was 48, I think. It was just nice to sit and talk, drink, eat and socialise. They told me that the prices of planes back to the 'peni' (peninsula) are about five times the price of a journey into Melilla so that people are encouraged to stay here. They said they're about €1,000. I was shocked and for the next hour or two was just thinking about Christmas and how Chris was going to manage to come over and go back. About three hours later I found out that they were winding me up. Grar! But they had me going for ages, I almost cried thinking that I wouldn't be able to come back and at the prospect of not seeing Chris for the whole year!
At about 11pm we headed to the 'Puerto deportivo' where there are 4 bars but it's the liveliest place in Melilla! More of Alberto's friends met us there, including the head of the airport (I discovered that Alberto is the second head of the airport) and also the head of Iberia. Good contacts! The place was pretty empty until about 3am when it really started to fill up and we headed back home about 4am.
Alberto really looked after me and saw that a lot of the time I wasn't understanding. He would come and sit next to me and explain slowly and when I scuttled off to the toilet during the night he was worried about where I'd got to.
I love my new housemates!
I don't work Fridays so it's the start of the weekend for me - but that's not such a good thing when you don't really know anybody! Back to my friendly newspaper I go!
Moving Day
On Wednesday Annalisa moved into her flat at 4pm and I was allowed to move in from 5pm. I hung about in the hostel for an hour reading my Spanish newspaper and jumped in a taxi with my masses of bags to hear over to 'El Real'.
When I got there my landlord (Braim/Brain - I'm yet to discover which is the correct spelling) was dealing with the carpenter and seemed a bit rushed so when they left to go out and do whatever they had to do I left too. I wandered around town for a while, trying to get my bearings in this area of town, and to see how far the beach was away from me - about 3 minutes! I found a bike shop and asked how much a bike was (maybe I can go to work by bike?) and it was then that it kicked in. I'd been speaking English pretty much non-stop with Annalisa and now my Spanish sucked bum (as if it didn't before - ha!). I got frustrated, left, and then got really upset. We both knew we had to separate from one another to improve our Spanish and really benefit from being out here, but it'a not a very easy thing to do. One of those 'easier said than done' things...
When I got back here Braim/Brain?! was back from the carpenters. We talked for a bit, he showed me round the flat as he did with the viewing but in more detail - the bin in the kitchen, how the hob works, everyone buys their own communal schtuffs, that kind of thing. He was really patient everytime I tried to form a broken Spanish/English question that he'd already said the answer to previously which I clearly hadn't understood.
Then he said he needed to go shopping and asked if I needed to. I thought we were going to go to the supermarket just up the road (which I didn't realise is really big - it's like living opposite a bit Tescos which is more than ideal). Instead we went down to the garage and drove to a massive supermarket. I got more than enough food and stuffs but am realising already that Spanish people don't eat at home much! Whoopsy!
On the way back Braim drove me up to the old town and we got out and had a walk around and then he drove me around the area where we live like 5 times so I could figure out where I was. Such a nice, friendly guy - willing to give me his time which is great. He and his girlfriend often go to Morocco and apparantly the beaches are stunning. I told him I've been told not to go without a man, so told them next time they go they have to ask me! He said he goes to the desert too - I don't think I've ever been to a desert!
Anyway, we got back, unloaded our shopping via the flat trolley that's kept in the garage and really worked as a team and had a bit of a giggle despite the language barrier. We each cracked open a beer and he made me some brie and jam on toast and served up some cerrano ham with olive oil. Yummy! As we were munching and talking/trying to communicate Alberto came in (the guy that works at the airport). It was nice to see how he came in and made himself at home, kind of a way to tell how things will go with me living here and how comfortable I will feel. He munched down three yoghurts straight, chatted crazily, grabbed his computer, brought it into the kitchen eratically, explained that he's from Madrid, that he goes back every weekend and then scuttled off to work after speaking to me in prettty much perfect English!
This place is like a haven and Braim has got my back. As has Alberto and hopefully David will have too. He gets back from holiday 18th September so I have a while to wait to meet him.
Basically.... I'm getting really fricking good vibes. :-)
When I got there my landlord (Braim/Brain - I'm yet to discover which is the correct spelling) was dealing with the carpenter and seemed a bit rushed so when they left to go out and do whatever they had to do I left too. I wandered around town for a while, trying to get my bearings in this area of town, and to see how far the beach was away from me - about 3 minutes! I found a bike shop and asked how much a bike was (maybe I can go to work by bike?) and it was then that it kicked in. I'd been speaking English pretty much non-stop with Annalisa and now my Spanish sucked bum (as if it didn't before - ha!). I got frustrated, left, and then got really upset. We both knew we had to separate from one another to improve our Spanish and really benefit from being out here, but it'a not a very easy thing to do. One of those 'easier said than done' things...
When I got back here Braim/Brain?! was back from the carpenters. We talked for a bit, he showed me round the flat as he did with the viewing but in more detail - the bin in the kitchen, how the hob works, everyone buys their own communal schtuffs, that kind of thing. He was really patient everytime I tried to form a broken Spanish/English question that he'd already said the answer to previously which I clearly hadn't understood.
Then he said he needed to go shopping and asked if I needed to. I thought we were going to go to the supermarket just up the road (which I didn't realise is really big - it's like living opposite a bit Tescos which is more than ideal). Instead we went down to the garage and drove to a massive supermarket. I got more than enough food and stuffs but am realising already that Spanish people don't eat at home much! Whoopsy!
On the way back Braim drove me up to the old town and we got out and had a walk around and then he drove me around the area where we live like 5 times so I could figure out where I was. Such a nice, friendly guy - willing to give me his time which is great. He and his girlfriend often go to Morocco and apparantly the beaches are stunning. I told him I've been told not to go without a man, so told them next time they go they have to ask me! He said he goes to the desert too - I don't think I've ever been to a desert!
Anyway, we got back, unloaded our shopping via the flat trolley that's kept in the garage and really worked as a team and had a bit of a giggle despite the language barrier. We each cracked open a beer and he made me some brie and jam on toast and served up some cerrano ham with olive oil. Yummy! As we were munching and talking/trying to communicate Alberto came in (the guy that works at the airport). It was nice to see how he came in and made himself at home, kind of a way to tell how things will go with me living here and how comfortable I will feel. He munched down three yoghurts straight, chatted crazily, grabbed his computer, brought it into the kitchen eratically, explained that he's from Madrid, that he goes back every weekend and then scuttled off to work after speaking to me in prettty much perfect English!
This place is like a haven and Braim has got my back. As has Alberto and hopefully David will have too. He gets back from holiday 18th September so I have a while to wait to meet him.
Basically.... I'm getting really fricking good vibes. :-)
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Settling in
My second day at school was pretty much the same. I started at 9.25am and had another lesson at 12.30pm which I later discovered was cancelled.
I asked the school secretary to write me a letter stating that I worked in the school so that I can go to the town hall and claim resident discounts (50% off flights back to the peninsula).
In between my lessons I met with Annalisa and we tried to get our NIEs (a social security number that we need in order to get paid). When we got to the office where we needed to be there was a mass of about 40 people sat down waiting in the hot sunshine. We took a ticket (as if we were at a Tesco delicatessen) and waited our turns. We were 89 and 90. 23 was on the digital display on the wall and we spoke to a lady that was 45. She'd been waiting since 9.30am and it was 11am. We left and decided we're going to have to either camp out overnight or just get there very early!
When I went back to my lesson Annalisa went to the town hall and found out that we need proof of address and an NIE to get our residency discount and that we also need proof of address to get our NIE. Good job we didn't wait! So it may take a little longer than expected to get the ball rolling with the Spanish bureaucratic system proving itself to be a barrier.
We jumped on a bus yesterday and tried to ride it in one big circle, just to see if that was the bus that I need to get from my flat. It took us all the way to the border where the landscape completely changed. It was amazing to see how different it was just a 5 minute bus journey away. A lot of Muslims amongst a market of fresh fruit, cigarettes, toilet roll in bulk, crockery, bedding, you name it! Annalisa is quite keen to go back there and have a mooch around - she's going to have to convince me, and it's confirmed, I'm not crossing that border unless I'm with a man!
We've both put announcements in the local paper for private lessons and when I head into school today I'll put one up there. Some of the last assistants gave me numbers for some private lessons but none of them are responding so I'll just have to keep searching.
I received a text from my landlord this morning to say that I can move in tonight at 5pm. Annalisa also moves out of the hostel this afternoon so no more expensive sleeps and hopefully a better internet connection coming soon.
See you next time.
I asked the school secretary to write me a letter stating that I worked in the school so that I can go to the town hall and claim resident discounts (50% off flights back to the peninsula).
In between my lessons I met with Annalisa and we tried to get our NIEs (a social security number that we need in order to get paid). When we got to the office where we needed to be there was a mass of about 40 people sat down waiting in the hot sunshine. We took a ticket (as if we were at a Tesco delicatessen) and waited our turns. We were 89 and 90. 23 was on the digital display on the wall and we spoke to a lady that was 45. She'd been waiting since 9.30am and it was 11am. We left and decided we're going to have to either camp out overnight or just get there very early!
When I went back to my lesson Annalisa went to the town hall and found out that we need proof of address and an NIE to get our residency discount and that we also need proof of address to get our NIE. Good job we didn't wait! So it may take a little longer than expected to get the ball rolling with the Spanish bureaucratic system proving itself to be a barrier.
We jumped on a bus yesterday and tried to ride it in one big circle, just to see if that was the bus that I need to get from my flat. It took us all the way to the border where the landscape completely changed. It was amazing to see how different it was just a 5 minute bus journey away. A lot of Muslims amongst a market of fresh fruit, cigarettes, toilet roll in bulk, crockery, bedding, you name it! Annalisa is quite keen to go back there and have a mooch around - she's going to have to convince me, and it's confirmed, I'm not crossing that border unless I'm with a man!
We've both put announcements in the local paper for private lessons and when I head into school today I'll put one up there. Some of the last assistants gave me numbers for some private lessons but none of them are responding so I'll just have to keep searching.
I received a text from my landlord this morning to say that I can move in tonight at 5pm. Annalisa also moves out of the hostel this afternoon so no more expensive sleeps and hopefully a better internet connection coming soon.
See you next time.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
First day at school
After a few days of being here I had successfully located my school and knew roughly which direction I'd need to go in for the beach, centre, hostel, etc.
I got up, grabbed some breakfast and headed to school for 11am as agreed with Inma. I got there a tad early and thought that I'd just check out the reception area and get a feel for the school. I told the receptionist I was waiting for Inma, that we had an appointment at 11am in my best Spanish. Clearly my best Spanish wasn't quite good enough. A lady stood at reception took me to Inma's lesson, pulled her out of it and showed her that I was there. I smiled. I then got accompanied by this lady from reception (Rossa) to the staff room, showed the coffee machine, the water machine and was asked to wait there. I mooched around the place, saw some announcements on the noticeboard written in Spanish and in the worst handwriting. Interesting... Whilst waiting I met one of the teachers that I'll be working with (there are six English teachers altogether and I'll be working with five) and the IT teacher - the latter doesn't speak any English so that was quite fun. I took advantage of the 'Melillenses' (people that come from Melilla) and asked what 'El Real' was like. I was told that it's not a bad area and the second most expensive, after the beach front.
Inma came and met me when the bell rang and talked me through my timetable with another female English teacher that I'll be working with (Fuensanta). I have ten lessons a week of 50 minutes each and I have Fridays off. Cushty! She wanted to take advantage of me being there and so has spread me across most classes (15 years up to 18) and I have one timetable for one week and one timetable for another. I'm pretty happy with that.
When I got chatting to Fuentasanta she explained that she lives in 'El Real' and that if we sit down together and look at our timetables she might be able to give me a lift some days. So... things are all falling into place as I was told so many times by you lot!
I went to two classes on Monday. The first was the 17 - 18 year olds. I introduced myself, answered any questions they had for me and then just watched the lesson happen. They staged some phone conversations. The teacher got me and the class to correct them on their mistakes and then they had a debate about whether or not it's a good thing to be 18. One lad spent all lesson quite openly playing with his zippo which was quite distracting but the teacher didn't seem to mind so I didn't rock the applecart.
The second lesson was the 15 - 16 year olds. I went through the same routine; introduced myself, answered the same questions from before but with a new class and then this time the teacher asked me to go around the class and get the pupils to describe themslves as well. There was a hum of noise throughout the class but coming from one kid in particular. He would interrupt other pupils by shouting out to the teacher "How do I say '....'?" or was just generally shouting out above other people. When it came round to his turn he wanted to know my second name (I told him no and said you're not looking me up on Facebook, sneaky!). The class roared with laughter. He asked me if I liked to party (when I said yes he invited me to a party, I gracefully declined). The class roared with laughter. He asked me if I had a mobile phone number (I said no and then asked him to ask me again politely). He asked me again, politely (I said no and gestured brushing dirt off of my shoulder). The kids screamed with laughter. He was relentless! When the kids were done with me the teacher told me I could leave and as I stood up I got a round of applause before leaving. I think I was a hit!
I headed back to the hostel, helped Annalisa try and find somewhere to live in the afternoon and went to a nice Italian restaurant near the beach in the evening. We came back to the hostel and hit the hay.
My first day at school done. That wasn't so hard...!
I got up, grabbed some breakfast and headed to school for 11am as agreed with Inma. I got there a tad early and thought that I'd just check out the reception area and get a feel for the school. I told the receptionist I was waiting for Inma, that we had an appointment at 11am in my best Spanish. Clearly my best Spanish wasn't quite good enough. A lady stood at reception took me to Inma's lesson, pulled her out of it and showed her that I was there. I smiled. I then got accompanied by this lady from reception (Rossa) to the staff room, showed the coffee machine, the water machine and was asked to wait there. I mooched around the place, saw some announcements on the noticeboard written in Spanish and in the worst handwriting. Interesting... Whilst waiting I met one of the teachers that I'll be working with (there are six English teachers altogether and I'll be working with five) and the IT teacher - the latter doesn't speak any English so that was quite fun. I took advantage of the 'Melillenses' (people that come from Melilla) and asked what 'El Real' was like. I was told that it's not a bad area and the second most expensive, after the beach front.
Inma came and met me when the bell rang and talked me through my timetable with another female English teacher that I'll be working with (Fuensanta). I have ten lessons a week of 50 minutes each and I have Fridays off. Cushty! She wanted to take advantage of me being there and so has spread me across most classes (15 years up to 18) and I have one timetable for one week and one timetable for another. I'm pretty happy with that.
When I got chatting to Fuentasanta she explained that she lives in 'El Real' and that if we sit down together and look at our timetables she might be able to give me a lift some days. So... things are all falling into place as I was told so many times by you lot!
I went to two classes on Monday. The first was the 17 - 18 year olds. I introduced myself, answered any questions they had for me and then just watched the lesson happen. They staged some phone conversations. The teacher got me and the class to correct them on their mistakes and then they had a debate about whether or not it's a good thing to be 18. One lad spent all lesson quite openly playing with his zippo which was quite distracting but the teacher didn't seem to mind so I didn't rock the applecart.
The second lesson was the 15 - 16 year olds. I went through the same routine; introduced myself, answered the same questions from before but with a new class and then this time the teacher asked me to go around the class and get the pupils to describe themslves as well. There was a hum of noise throughout the class but coming from one kid in particular. He would interrupt other pupils by shouting out to the teacher "How do I say '....'?" or was just generally shouting out above other people. When it came round to his turn he wanted to know my second name (I told him no and said you're not looking me up on Facebook, sneaky!). The class roared with laughter. He asked me if I liked to party (when I said yes he invited me to a party, I gracefully declined). The class roared with laughter. He asked me if I had a mobile phone number (I said no and then asked him to ask me again politely). He asked me again, politely (I said no and gestured brushing dirt off of my shoulder). The kids screamed with laughter. He was relentless! When the kids were done with me the teacher told me I could leave and as I stood up I got a round of applause before leaving. I think I was a hit!
I headed back to the hostel, helped Annalisa try and find somewhere to live in the afternoon and went to a nice Italian restaurant near the beach in the evening. We came back to the hostel and hit the hay.
My first day at school done. That wasn't so hard...!
Getting organised
The last few days have been busy, busy, busy!
After a second night of kids screaming and even the teacher trying to come into my room to wake the kids up that were in the room next door (lucky I had the lock on so she soon realised she was at the wrong door) I got up early Sunday morning and abandoned any hope of extra shut-eye!
I went down to breakfast and ate amongst the screaming kids - a bread roll, butter, jam and some juice. Sufficient.
I headed back to my room knowing that Annalisa had arrived. I studied my newspaper for a few hours whilst I waited for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. I'd managed to email a few people about flats and had arranged to meet one guy at 4pm at his flat in the neighbourhood of 'El Real'. Annalisa came down to my room, we met, went into town and got some tapas and drinks and she accompanied me to this flat.
We got lost on the way. So we rang the guy and asked for directions. As soon as he started explaining where to go I had to pass the phone to Annalisa - I didn't understand a word! He said he'd pick us up. Cool. So we waited in front of the police station and then it hit me. Not cool. We don't know this guy from Adam. The decision was made, if he was dodgy or anything we weren't getting in that car.
He turned up with his girlfriend in a posh Kia (yes, I didn't know that existed either) and parked up near the flat. We walked through one security gate, round the corner and in the middle of the courtyard was a swimming pool. Sweet! He explained there are two other flatmates. A guy that works at the airport - he's hardly there apparantly, and a policeman who works shifts. He showed us around his cool, very modern flat - nice clean kitchen with posh appliances, airy living room, slightly cluttered bathroom and then there was a problem...
He showed me my bedroom door, but we had to walk through another room to get there. The other room was another bedroom which I assumed to be mine. It was his. The landlord lives in the flat too so policeman, airport man and landlord. Then he showed me my room. Through his bedroom and past a sliding door... It's currently a dressing room and he's knocking out one wall of wardrobes to make extra space, then filling in the wall where the sliding doors are so as 'I don't hear anything'! (I hope you're visualing this - the layout that is...) There's a little balcony and a desk that will stay in there too.
He said that as I'm staying in the hostel I can move in early, stay in the policeman's room (he's been informed that this will happen - he'll be on holiday) and then can move into the dressing room/my room on Monday when it will be complete and will start paying rent from the Monday. €280 per month everything included.
He and his girlfriend then dropped us back to the hostel (the other side of town) and I said I'd let him know later. I've spoken to him since and can move in on Thursday.
Me and Annalisa had a night in on Sunday night flat hunting then for her. Unfortunately I'm going to have to keep paying per night at the hostel until Thursday but you'll be pleased to know the kids left and the nights are silent.
After a second night of kids screaming and even the teacher trying to come into my room to wake the kids up that were in the room next door (lucky I had the lock on so she soon realised she was at the wrong door) I got up early Sunday morning and abandoned any hope of extra shut-eye!
I went down to breakfast and ate amongst the screaming kids - a bread roll, butter, jam and some juice. Sufficient.
I headed back to my room knowing that Annalisa had arrived. I studied my newspaper for a few hours whilst I waited for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. I'd managed to email a few people about flats and had arranged to meet one guy at 4pm at his flat in the neighbourhood of 'El Real'. Annalisa came down to my room, we met, went into town and got some tapas and drinks and she accompanied me to this flat.
We got lost on the way. So we rang the guy and asked for directions. As soon as he started explaining where to go I had to pass the phone to Annalisa - I didn't understand a word! He said he'd pick us up. Cool. So we waited in front of the police station and then it hit me. Not cool. We don't know this guy from Adam. The decision was made, if he was dodgy or anything we weren't getting in that car.
He turned up with his girlfriend in a posh Kia (yes, I didn't know that existed either) and parked up near the flat. We walked through one security gate, round the corner and in the middle of the courtyard was a swimming pool. Sweet! He explained there are two other flatmates. A guy that works at the airport - he's hardly there apparantly, and a policeman who works shifts. He showed us around his cool, very modern flat - nice clean kitchen with posh appliances, airy living room, slightly cluttered bathroom and then there was a problem...
He showed me my bedroom door, but we had to walk through another room to get there. The other room was another bedroom which I assumed to be mine. It was his. The landlord lives in the flat too so policeman, airport man and landlord. Then he showed me my room. Through his bedroom and past a sliding door... It's currently a dressing room and he's knocking out one wall of wardrobes to make extra space, then filling in the wall where the sliding doors are so as 'I don't hear anything'! (I hope you're visualing this - the layout that is...) There's a little balcony and a desk that will stay in there too.
He said that as I'm staying in the hostel I can move in early, stay in the policeman's room (he's been informed that this will happen - he'll be on holiday) and then can move into the dressing room/my room on Monday when it will be complete and will start paying rent from the Monday. €280 per month everything included.
He and his girlfriend then dropped us back to the hostel (the other side of town) and I said I'd let him know later. I've spoken to him since and can move in on Thursday.
Me and Annalisa had a night in on Sunday night flat hunting then for her. Unfortunately I'm going to have to keep paying per night at the hostel until Thursday but you'll be pleased to know the kids left and the nights are silent.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
I've arrived!
So, I'm here! It's hot but everyone seems quite friendly.
My first flight was slightly delayed in leaving as it had to refuel etc. and we ended up leaving about 45 minutes later than planned. As I had so much time between each flights I wasn't worried and still had a fairly long wait in Malaga airport.
I boarded for the second flight onto the tiniest plane I have ever seen in my life. It was a quarter full with about 30 people and I couldn't even take my hand luggage on. It had to be placed in the front of the plane (there was no underneath - we climbed up the stairs that were built into the plane door). It was a pretty scary flight but as we came into Melilla the coastline was gorgeous and I could see the sea which was a beautiful greeny, blue.
I jumped in a taxi and got to the hostel about 6pm. My room is OK - I found out this morning that breakfast is included so I'm going to get some of that tomorrow.
Hayley called me as soon as I got here and I went for a wander around town and met her at about 7pm. We waited in the phone shop for about an hour sorting out her phone. I found out at the end of the hour (I waited patiently hoping I could sort out my phone situation - or the lack of it) that there were no phones in stock. Grrr!
We went to a few bars, had some tapas and I headed back here at about 10pm (in a taxi - I'm yet to learn which areas are worse than others and didn't want to chance it). I consequently have now found out where to get taxis from town which might be important depending on where I'm living.
I slept horrendously... Kids were screaming in the corridor just as I was drifting off to sleep, then pretty much all night. When I did get to sleep I was woken up at about 7.30am by the people next door (the walls are thinner than paper in this place!) I tried to get some more sleep and got up about 9.30am in the end when it just wasn't working. An unhappy, tired, banging headache ridden Stacey. Not good. It sounds like they've just got back now too, so another sleepless night seems to be ahead of me. Hopefully they'll go after the weekend and are just on holiday.
This morning I went to a different phone shop and got myself a nice little Spanish mobile (my number is 0034645119774 but I'll still be using my English phone to receive texts).
Hayley and I had organised to meet at midday and walk around the old town. It was really pretty and the sun was pretty hot.
Then we went to the beach (and saw about 7 dead jellyfish - this place is renowned for it's jellyfish and they normally put up warning flags when there are too many about!).
We both headed home about 7pm arranging to meet later in my area of town. She seemed pretty rushed to get home this afternoon to read an email from her boyfriend and as I thought might happen she now prefers staying in the central area (where she's temporarily staying - about a 40 minute walk - in the dark now - from where I am). I've consequently decided to stay in tonight and try and catch up on some sleep.
I've spent half of the evening looking for flats and am finding more announcements looking for flats than flats available which is quite worrying.
The rest of my evening is going to be spent studying the newspaper that I bought earlier, noting down vocab and trying to get this Spanish malarki a bit better.
So after my first day I kind of have my bearings of the place but there's a lot more that I need to do.
Hey... Rome wasn't built in a day...!
My first flight was slightly delayed in leaving as it had to refuel etc. and we ended up leaving about 45 minutes later than planned. As I had so much time between each flights I wasn't worried and still had a fairly long wait in Malaga airport.
I boarded for the second flight onto the tiniest plane I have ever seen in my life. It was a quarter full with about 30 people and I couldn't even take my hand luggage on. It had to be placed in the front of the plane (there was no underneath - we climbed up the stairs that were built into the plane door). It was a pretty scary flight but as we came into Melilla the coastline was gorgeous and I could see the sea which was a beautiful greeny, blue.
I jumped in a taxi and got to the hostel about 6pm. My room is OK - I found out this morning that breakfast is included so I'm going to get some of that tomorrow.
Hayley called me as soon as I got here and I went for a wander around town and met her at about 7pm. We waited in the phone shop for about an hour sorting out her phone. I found out at the end of the hour (I waited patiently hoping I could sort out my phone situation - or the lack of it) that there were no phones in stock. Grrr!
We went to a few bars, had some tapas and I headed back here at about 10pm (in a taxi - I'm yet to learn which areas are worse than others and didn't want to chance it). I consequently have now found out where to get taxis from town which might be important depending on where I'm living.
I slept horrendously... Kids were screaming in the corridor just as I was drifting off to sleep, then pretty much all night. When I did get to sleep I was woken up at about 7.30am by the people next door (the walls are thinner than paper in this place!) I tried to get some more sleep and got up about 9.30am in the end when it just wasn't working. An unhappy, tired, banging headache ridden Stacey. Not good. It sounds like they've just got back now too, so another sleepless night seems to be ahead of me. Hopefully they'll go after the weekend and are just on holiday.
This morning I went to a different phone shop and got myself a nice little Spanish mobile (my number is 0034645119774 but I'll still be using my English phone to receive texts).
Hayley and I had organised to meet at midday and walk around the old town. It was really pretty and the sun was pretty hot.
Then we went to the beach (and saw about 7 dead jellyfish - this place is renowned for it's jellyfish and they normally put up warning flags when there are too many about!).
We both headed home about 7pm arranging to meet later in my area of town. She seemed pretty rushed to get home this afternoon to read an email from her boyfriend and as I thought might happen she now prefers staying in the central area (where she's temporarily staying - about a 40 minute walk - in the dark now - from where I am). I've consequently decided to stay in tonight and try and catch up on some sleep.
I've spent half of the evening looking for flats and am finding more announcements looking for flats than flats available which is quite worrying.
The rest of my evening is going to be spent studying the newspaper that I bought earlier, noting down vocab and trying to get this Spanish malarki a bit better.
So after my first day I kind of have my bearings of the place but there's a lot more that I need to do.
Hey... Rome wasn't built in a day...!
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