fredag 4 juli 2014

Viernes 4 th of July

The time to say good bye to Spain has arrived. The two weeks have just rushed by and we`ve had a really good time. I have now an official diploma, that  I´ve accomplished  level A1 in Spanish and can talk about personal and familiar things and everyday life at slow pace. Not bad, eh? In addition to the diploma, I also got  written  remarks from la profesora, that I´ve been an attentative student and have worked hard.  Or, to be honest, that is what I make of the lines in my still-so-poor spanish. I´m considering to continue with spanish, in the form of an evening class. It could be the project of autumn 2014.
Thursday afternoon I took a stroll around the block and saw this flyer, advertising a musical Matilda, 8 euros between 18.30-20.00. I decided to go since I´m well aquinted with  the story. So a short visit to the playa del Bil-bil (long enough, though to get the lower part of my stomach gingerly red) and then off to the theater. Five adorable children and four almost adults amused the audience (14 relatives and me) with the story of Matilda, an extraordinary intelligent child with super natural powers. Mrs Honey is her teacher and Mrs Trenchbull the bad principal and aunt to Mrs Honey. I estimated that I understood every 20th word and that is not too bad, eh?
 I met up with Christine again and we had this plan to eat paella as farewell dinner but it wasn`t that easy to find. Most restaurants  in Arroyo serves paella but only in Sundays. So we went down to the playa, again! a walk for 20 minutes and to  the restaurants lining the beach and found this lovely fish restaurant. Chistine ordered the sword fish (pez de espada?) and I took the paella marisco. Gorgeous!

torsdag 3 juli 2014

¡Hola!
The countdown has started;  we are leaving Spain tomorrow. It`s been two lovely weeks! If we are to do this again, perhaps next year it will not be an easy thing to top this stay. We`ve had an  excellent professora and the  most suiting apartemente, five minutes walk from school, a most ample stay.
During these two weeks I `ve had  lousy sleep at nights. I haven`t been able to turn comfortably in my bed and I am a most frequent turner, like a chicken put  on an electrical skew. I`ve had this feeling that the bed is to narrow which it isn`t and every time I turned I woke up with my heart pounding and expected close contact with the floor. I´ve put pillows from the sofa under the mattress, to make a barrier but it doesn´t help. Hopefully it will adjust when I get home, perhaps it´s my husband´s snoring I'm missing... not.

onsdag 2 juli 2014

Miercoles

We are heading towards the end of this trip. If we were to do this again, we would have expanded our stay with two or three days, free from classes. It would have been nice to spend some more time at the playa or perhaps take a trip to Gibraltar, Marocco or other places nearby. For now, we finish class Friday  at 14.00, then back to the flat for inspection and then off to the airport.
Yesterday we spent some time in the kitchen making gazpacho; tomatoes, crumbles of bread, peppers, cucumbers, onion and garlic, easy-peasy. We talked about kitchen vocabulary in class and in the book there was this recipe for gazpacho so you could say we did our homework. After the delicious soup I had a powernap and then we were headed for the ........ tada! playa. It's a treat in the evening, no risk for burning accidents and less populated. I took a swim and it wasn't my intention to soak the entire body, inclusive the hair but it was a bit windy and the waves were high so it just happened.
Christine found this dress in a beach shop, one of many, white with fringes and straps laced with strass, so elegant and it fit her perfect. This trip has doubled Christine's dress wardrobe, I think the white dress and in addition to the shopping list yesterday, a beige one in linen,  they were number four and five. Lovely!
To finish off the evening we had our pictures taken, dressed in hats, gloves and jewelry and heavy make-up imitating the fashion in the 1920`s. It as really fun an a bit nervous, all was made in full display and we had a bit of an audience but the woman taking the photos was in full control, choosing hats and steering us into the correct poses with a firm hand. I'm very pleased with my photo, considering the model, ha ha.
I have made a discovery today; once upon a time, beeing a spanish student back in the gymnium I must have learnt one or two things. Somewhere, deep down the knowledge has been hiding, waiting for a moment , just like this, a similar learningsituation to pop out. Twice I have used tempus and grammar that we haven't had in class yet. I am amazed! Fragments of Spanish grammar being there! I used past tense once ( hacer comida) and objects direto (Me gusta cocinar las dineros por me hijo, me gusta hacerlas or something like that) spontainiously. It happened  by accident so I was as surprised as anyone. Happy, happy!

tisdag 1 juli 2014

El primero del July

Yesterday evening we went to the playa. Amazing feeling to sunbath at eight in the evening. I took a dip in the sea and stayed in the water for at least 20 minutes. Cold at first but then lovely, similar to the sea at the east coast of Sweden, in Ahus. ! I thought that if this was to be the only time I took a dip this summer it had to be worth it.
Before the playa we ate at an Indian restaurant, a full menu (starter, main course and postre). I asked for media spiced dish, curry with chick peas and rice but it was more spicy than I expected. But later that evening the rumble in my stomage was from the icecream not the spices. The icecream was heaven sent, very creamy and rich and of course, made of full fat cream, en masse. Thank you for this rançion lactose, I heard my stomach mumble.
Today´s lessons were intensive, as always. Reflexive and pronominala verbs and we practised in writing and retelling the events and hours of an ordinary working day. The general feeling has changed from complete blank to accually be able to ask and answer, not only si or no' but to extend the answers and to make follow-up questions. Nice feeling indeed. Christine and I are still forming a group of our own. The fellow who came to class  yesterday chose to get one-to-one teaching with Elena. Imagine, that was us a week ago!