Back again!

Finally, my flatmate and I took a trip to Cartagena. It was only 20 minutes down the motorway, and I wasn´t entirely sure why we hadn´t explored that way before, but we hadn´t. I hadn´t heard brilliant things about it from the locals... but then I don´t tend to hear anything brilliant about the area from them, even though they are quick enough to defend their homeland if anybody says anything against it. And I was pleasantly surprised! There was a well-kept harbour, bustling despite the fact that it was early on a Sunday afternoon. Some of the boats were impressive - I loved the old wooden "pirate" boats, but there were also plenty of shiny new white ones which must have cost their owners a pretty penny.


It was very pleasant to walk along the pavements in the sun, listening to the music playing in the bars and restaurants and admiring the architecture of the buildings growing up the hill behind us.

Walking into the town centre felt like entering a different world from that of the rest of the Spain that I´d experienced so far. It didn´t feel run down and depressed. The buildings, whose architecture was mostly beautiful if you looked up, were well cared for, and the streets were tidy. The people walking around were well dressed, the shops - although closed for the Sabbath - were plentiful, and none of them were empty or boarded up like they are in most of the towns, and the cafes and bars were full of happy people chattering and drinking. It felt like a town with a life! I was particularly delighted by a series of bronze statues who sat around on the benches in the streets. They were quirky and added to the character of the place.

The week before I went home was a good week. At work I really felt useful for once. My boss was in the UK, so there was more for me to do (even though I couldn´t do a lot of what he does), and on top of that I had been asked to write two reports and prepare powerpoint presentations on them... to be delivered in Spanish! The prospect was mildly terrifying, but in a really good way. Plus, once I´d written one, I earned a rare "well done" from my manager. On top of this, I was beginning to be able to talk. Over lunch there were conversations about the capsized cruise liner, about the merits of christenings and baptisms, and about how a first date should never involve food. And I managed to keep up, and occasionally take part. I even tried to explain Quakerism... which is hard enough in English! I almost felt sad to be going home just when I was getting into the swing of things. Maybe I wouldn´t want to go home at the end of the 6 months here after all.

10 days in the UK went by all too fast. I laughed with friends and enjoyed the winter and relaxed with family, went to the cinema (Ralph Fiennes´ Corialanus - not one for the faint-hearted), the theatre (RSC´s The Taming of the Shrew - not one for the prudish) and a recital of ´cello music in Cambridge (courtesy of my sister).

10 days, it seems, however fast they go by, is long enough to forget every word of Spanish that I knew! I´ve felt a bit like I´m back to square one this week, but it´s getting slowly easier again now. Work has been hectic around me, thanks to the weather. Snow in France and northen Spain has been wreaking havoc with international logistics, with lorries getting stuck all over the shop, and struggling to cross the channel. The snow forecast for the UK is only going to make things worse. And although it´s warmer here than in the rest of the continent, it´s still unseasonably cold. We´re dropping below freezing at night, and struggling to reach double figures in the middle of the day. I predict problems in the harvests over here in the next few weeks - the plants just aren´t used to these temperatures.