Reflection and anticipation

Thanks to Image of the Day for this beautiful phot

There is a sense of  déjà vu -  of completing a full circle of life - as we find ourselves in Alcala la Real for a second summer. Last week, the fair came to town for four days of noise, unnecessary extravagance and fun - depending on your point of view - and I was reminded of our first visit last year and how it, and not the weather, marked the beginning of summer here.

And now it continues as we arrive at the last week of term. Ruy and Romy have finished all their course work and the emphasis at school seems to be on fun. They are practising their dances for the end of term extravaganza, playing games, eating bread spread with olive oil and chocolate (I haven't tried it but they are complete converts.) No homework until September. At secondary level, it's a little different. Mateo has had a lot of tests in the last term, which he has found quite exhausting and tedious at times but he was pleased to discover he has passed all he needs to pass and doesn't have any retakes this year - well done, Mateo - he got good marks in his sciences and a huge improvement in Maths and Spanish too. We have decided to move him to another school in the town from the next school year for a number of academic reasons (it's a more interactive school, with young teachers, additional language support, more hands-on science teaching....and so on.) Mateo will miss his friends but living in a close community like Alcala means he can continue to see them out of school and may already know some of the students in his new school. There are four secondary schools in the town and I teach students from all four and have seen no rivalry or segregation in my classroom between the different schools. When I think back to my own school days, I have very different memories. There was an unpleasant intolerance, mistrust and real barriers between the kids in my school and the one down the road from us. We finished our school day 15 minutes after the other school and once, we came out to find a big gang waiting for us -  an all-out battle ensued. Obviously I scuttled home very quickly and took no part but as I lived just across the road, I was able to watch and witness everything until such time as the police arrived.... I think this resulted in changing the final bell to the same time at both schools. It is most definitely not the same here. Thank goodness!

I too am coming to my last week of teaching at the Academy after doing a full academic year. Teaching has its frustrations but also its great pleasures. I have a number of classes that are such a joy to teach, where the enthusiasm and engagement of the children is reward enough in itself. I also have a couple of classes - young teenagers - who are more interested in catching up on gossip with those at a different school, skipping the class or simply not engaging in the lesson. I try my best with them and have thought of all sorts of different educational games to try and encourage them and sometimes it works a bit and I have to be satisfied with that. And whilst they don't always concentrate in my class, if I see them in the street, they always give me a warm and respectful greeting - in English - which pleases me greatly.

FR is continuing his work with Escenica in Granada after his excellent month-long course in November. The work he is doing now is not exactly lucrative but we hope that it will pay dividends in the future - not necessarily in financial terms but in terms of establishing a group of people who believe in something and use theatre as the medium to share these beliefs. I do hope so as he has put such a lot of effort and time into it.

It has, on reflection, been a good year.

I'm working on the 'patience' bubble...

And in just a few weeks, we will have been in this house for a whole year - how fast the time has gone! I will tell you know that for the past month or so, we have been involved in a protracted discussion with an estate agent and a buyer about a property we have seen.

And yes, it's here in Alcala la Real!!

However, it is too small for us as it stands and the kitchen is in the garden but not joined to the main house.

It has damp walls in a couple of rooms and the staircase is showing signs of a problem and it needs a new roof and it only has a tiny garden.......it's not perfect. And the owner wants more money than we can sensibly pay him, considering it will need almost as much again spending on it once we get it. IF we get it.

The property is empty, so obviously it's not someone's home, it's a second (or even third) property and I suppose there is no pressure on the owner to sell. It's a buyer's market at the moment but in this town, there are very few properties for sale and what is available are the old, empty and, quite frankly, ruined houses in the historic centre. It is a lovely town, no doubt about it, but I have come to discover that its original houses are not of a very high quality or standard. There are some very well made new ones, but they are either for a standard family with two children (and no dog) or in a price bracket well beyond ours.

So, we are working on the owner and hope he will drop his price a little bit more - just a bit more - and if he does...well, I think I might be celebrating just a little! But let's not rush things - patience, patience, patience. Give me patience....now!!

Thanks Doug!