Sick in Spain December 12, 2007
Posted by Luke in Madrid, Spain, Travel.4 comments
So I am officially sick – well, not officially. I haven’t been to a doctor or nuffink. Don’t believe in the cretins. But I have been to a chemist, or a farmacia, to be precise. I’m not enjoying it, and I’m still working. Still putting in the long, hard road, and quite frankly, still whinging as well. And why not? I’m sick. Someone give me sympathy!!
I’ve got some Christmas and New Years Plans now. I was going to head to Malaga for NY, and although still a possibility, I am now more likely to celebrate the coming of 2008 in Berlin. I’m not quite sure where that is but I think it’s a pretty big city somewhere in Europe. Maybe Switzerland (sarcasm, hey?). I’m meeting up with my mate, Jon, who teaches in Lithuania – Vilnius, to be precise – and hopefully roadtripping for a week or so. But who knows, these, like so many of my other plans, may fall to pieces. I should consider a contingency plan – perhaps Malaga. But I’m looking forward to it, especially to the prospect of 16 or 17 days off work!!!!!!
Also, any one have any advice on how to get past a stumbling block in Spanish? It’s not anything specific, moreso the entire language. Help! I feel like I’m going backwards in it.
Now to marking, and writing, tests!
Hasta luego!
The streets are filled at night and sober… September 23, 2007
Posted by Luke in Madrid, Spain, Travel, Uncategorized.3 comments
It´s been five days here now. I haven´t written enough mainly because it´s difficult to find the time.
Friday I went to get my NIE, the residency number for foreigners. I lined up for two hours with about 200 odd other people. At about 10.30 the guy at the door came down to the 100 or so people left and said something in Spanish, which caused mass furore. I looked at a Dutch girl I had been talking to and said ¨this can´t be good.¨ It wasn´t. It turns out they only let 60 people in a day. We weren´t in that 60. Só it´s back there again tomorrow morning – this time at 7 to try again. I could try and make an appointment but apparently they do not answer the phone particularly regularly. A French guy had been trying to call for three months and no answer.
I met a Swedish guy and a couple of Northern Irish guys later that day and headed down to watch Ireland play France in the World Cup. Now that´s an experience. The pub was packed full of French and Irish trying to outsing each other. France won, by the way. After I grabbed a quick dinner at 11pm (after the game), we headed out for some more drinks. We found a bar quickly (there´s at least two every metre). Ordering a doble, I received the biggest beer I´d ever seen. See normally a doble is drinkable – about the same size as an Adelaide pint. This doble was a litre and a half of beer. I could barely hold it. At 12€, it was surely the first and last time I would drink a beer that size.
We left there and were promptly dragged into another club – there are people employed to approach people and escort them to the club. It wasn´t a bad place, but it must be said that Spanish rock music is terrible!!
Yesterday, I started looking for a flat, which brought on my first bout of homesickness. It was quite depressing staring at the newspaper and internet not knowing what on earth it said. I decided to give up, crashed out for siesta and then got up and headed to this English speaking café and bookstore, J&J´s. It´s a great little place hosting intercambio nights as well as having an excellent range of books and teaching resources. I stayed there for a while and then met the Irish for dinner at 10.30.
We headed to this Mexican place on a Calle de la Quinones or thereabouts. It was full so we headed around the corner to some restaurant. Not knowing what we´d ordered, we received some of the worst food I have ever tasted. It was racionés, which is basically tapas, but one was capsicum and cod and the other, morcella (i think – it´s a kind of meat>) with what I think was ICECREAM!! No good. Don´t try it. Absolutely not. Anyway, we thought we were doing something wrong because the locals were laughing at us, we thought. But I checked with one of the guys at J´s and he said we were eating it right.
Last night was La Noche en Blanco, a huge all night long arts festival. The Irish and I met Eduardo and Nieves (a Spanish woman who wanted to practise her English with me). We met them at just after midnight in Plaza Descalzes, which is just near Puerta de la Sol, the central point of Madrid. Then we proceeded to walk around for the next 4 hours. This was all well and good because everything is still new, but I did learn a few things.
The main thing is that Spaniards do not know how to hurry. Nieves turned to us and said ¨we must hurry now as we have a long way to go and it stops at 3am.¨ It was 1am at this point in time. A very long way to go was about 20 mins walk, but an hour later we got there. Every ten minutes we´d stop to talk to someone or look at something, and we got to where we needed with plenty of time to spare. That´s one thing about Spain, they don´t like to rush.
Nor do they really drink alot. Sure, cerveza and vino are prolific but on a huge public occasion like la Noche en Blanco, you´d expect a fair display of public drinking. Nope! There was barely a drink to be seen. Well, the kids were but they always do, sitting on the steps drinking their bottelos.
I also saw my first protest and yes, it was anarquistas. I assume. They were protesting the rising prices of goods. It was peaceful, but it was also 2am.
Having had only a horrible dinner earlier, we decided to leave Nieves and Eduardo and headed to this cafe called ViPS. So at 4am we finally sat down to a dinner of hamburguesa – yep thats a burger, alright.
Still haven´t got around to loading pics off my camera yet. Will do soon.
Job offers and such September 5, 2007
Posted by Luke in Canterbury TEFL, Spain, Teaching English.1 comment so far
A few months ago, I worried that I’d started worrying too early about whether or not I’d get a job in Spain. As it turns out, I was right. In the last few weeks, I’ve received a couple of quite decent offers, even with limited experience in a classroom.
I had a phone interview a few nights ago. They’re quite a strange experience. It was very general and very conversational, but there were some odd questions. Well, one odd question.
”Can you spell?”
I was taken aback by that. I had no idea how to answer it. Maybe I could have said ‘do you want to test me?’ and then fired off correct spelling to supercalifragilistexpialadocious (i think that’s right). Or, if I was a bad speller, I could have lied. ‘yeah, i’m a fantastic speller, real tops, y’know!’ kinda thing. I didn’t do either of those. Just stated that it was an odd question and that I thought spelling would be fairly integral to an English teaching job. Apparently, the new ‘yoof’ can’t spell ‘reel good’. We use too many spell checks and mobile shorthands. It’s a worrying thought.
Anyway, I can’t have said anything too wrong as I got offered the job. I haven’t definitely accepted, and I don’t need to until I arrive in Spain, but I think I will. It means though that I’ll have to cancel Canterbury. It’s kind of relieving, though, because I wasn’t looking forward to a month without incoming pay. I’ll miss not having the camaraderie of other people in the same situation though. (Note: to the guys that commented who are heading to Canterbury for September course on a previous post, I’d still be well keen to meet up, have some drinks etc.) But I’m sure there’ll be quite a few new teachers at the school I’m heading to.
On a side note, I’ve also been offered an apartment in an awesome location (just near the El Retiro Parque) – only catch is it’s a young family with two kids – one and two years old. I’m a little worried I’ll end up babysitting. It would be an awesome way to learn Spanish though.
Two days left of bureaucracy! What a relief!
Lavapies August 7, 2007
Posted by Luke in Music, Spain, Travel.add a comment
In two months, I’d like to live here, I think. Lavapies. I stumbled across it some days ago now. I’d never heard of it, but the description of it really grabbed me. Then I read someone else describingit as ‘dangerous’. And it grabbed me even more.
Wikipedia provide this article:
Lavapiés is a barrio of the city of Madrid, centred on Plaza de Lavapiés.It was the Jewish quarter of the city until the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, the church of San Lorenzo being built on the former site of the synagogue. The name literally means “wash feet”, and seems to refer to the ritual washing of one’s feet before entering the temple, possibly in the fountain in Plaza de Lavapiés.
It has long been a neglected area of the city. An inscription on a fountain in Plaza de Cabestreros is the only monument to the Spanish Republic in Madrid, such mentions having been systematically removed elsewhere during the Franco regime. The ruins of Escuelas Pías, a religious school, were left to stand for many years after it was burned down by supporters of the Popular Front in 1936, only being demolished in 2002.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Lavapiés had acquired a reputation as a “vertical slum”, with its tenement blocks either empty or occupied by older people paying low rents. As a result, it became the most important location for okupación, or squatting, in Madrid.
More recently, it has become the focal point for immigrant populations, particularly Chinese, Arabs and people from the Indian subcontinent. It has been estimated that around 50% of the population is of foreign origin.
I’m keen to live here. Extremely keen. If anyone who stumbles across this page has any knowledge of Lavapies, a room for rent, or any other useful/less tidbits of factoids, please get in touch.
On another note:
To read… Espana August 6, 2007
Posted by Luke in Literature, Opinion, Spain.add a comment
So – I want a list of Spanish texts worth reading. Fiction – non-fiction, graphic novels, poetry. I’ve read a few books on Spain. Writing a thesis on Spanish anarchism helped in that regard, but there’s much I haven’t read. So if anyone cares to add to this list of interesting books relating to Spain, then please do.
Gerald Brenan – the Spanish Labyrinth – it’s a while since I read this, not owning a copy myself. If I recall, I found it to be one of the better socio-political histories of twentieth century and earlier Spain. He seemed to realise that you couldn’t separate the political development of Spain from the social development of its society. But I’m not going to delve into an analysis of this – it’s too long since I read it.
George Orwell – Homage to Catalonia – perfect Orwell. Inspiring images of the Civil War, even if he perhaps give to much credence to the POUM.
Antony Beevor - the Spanish Civil War – it’s just been re-released, 25 years after first publication. Once again, a long time since I read it but a fascinating ‘big picture’ history of the Civil War.
Driving over Lemons – by the first drummer in Genesis – a really entertaining story of a man who moves to Andalucia to take over an old farm. It’s an enjoyable read. And hey, he used to be in Genesis. In high school.
** how could I forget?! Franz Borkenau – The Spanish Cockpit – a fantastic foray into the Spanish Civil War. On par, if not better, than Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. This is a fascinating read. Apologies to one certain library, which allowed a copy to fall into my possession, possibly against their will.
But I know there’s a heap of stuff I haven’t read that I want to, nay, need to read at some point in the near future. So to start the list of must read Spanish authors/subjects (that I am yet to read/should have read)…
Hemingway – For Whom the Bell Tolls
Lorca – anything (I can’t think of titles of his works)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez – okay, not really Spanish but close enough.
I can’t think of anything else right now. I apologise for the shittiness of these posts. Writing online isn’t as easy as it sounds – it may even require some sort of planning. Please add to this list, and jog my memory.
Jumping the Gun July 10, 2007
Posted by Luke in Music, Spain, Teaching English, Travel, Work.1 comment so far
I have a feeling I may have jumped the gun somewhat in deciding to do another TEFL course. Two months ago, I kept getting knocked back in my applications. I didn’t want to purchase a ticket until I had a definite job, so I went with the training… hey, they guaranteed a job.
But in the last week, I’ve had two schools tell me they’re interested in interviewing me, and a third give me their number to call as soon as I arrive. Maybe if I’d waited, I could have had jobs falling all over for me.
The problem is the car accident left a nasty dent in my finances. And the course will also do that. If I can work without more training, then that solves some finance issues. I mean, I’ll work sixty hours if I have to. I’ll work more. I’ll work less.
What to do? What to do? I think the best option is apply for everything. I can always say no. At least I’ll get practice that way.
Two months today left in this job!
Meanwhile – listen to Daedelus – exquisite corpse. I know I am.
** July 11 – I received an email today that further confirms I jumped the gun. I was offered an interview over the phone by a Polish school in a small town in Central Poland. I must admit I was surprised. I’ve declined their offer – my heart’s set on Espana – but maybe I really should have held off on the Canterbury offer.
Sometimes I think this is why I’m leaving this country… May 23, 2007
Posted by Luke in History, Opinion, Politics, Spain.2 comments
@ndy at slackbastard quotes this news from the SMH today.
“Demonstrators and anyone under suspicion can be arrested and held without bail under unprecedented police powers being brought in for the APEC summit in Sydney… Tough APEC security legislation being drawn up by NSW cabinet this week will include the suspension of normal bail provisions, new powers to do random searches and ban “prohibited” people from restricted zones. [NSW Police Minister David] Campbell said if police arrested anyone who did not obey orders to disperse or leave an area, they could be held in jail until APEC was over. Demonstrators will be kept well away from the world leaders during the summit from September 7 to 9 in order to avoid any “embarrassment” to VIPs. Known troublemakers will be refused entry to the city restricted zone. ~ Crackdown on ‘nasty’ summit protesters, Sydney Morning Herald, May 20, 2007
My initial reaction to this is pretty null. It is utter lack of surprise, albeit with some degree of disbelief that the illusion of democracy is now going so far as to restrict the movements of its populace, to extinguish the capacity for people to dissent. There are so many issues with this attempt at state control – so many that Australians should be violently angry. Who determines who these “known troublemakers” are? Are these ‘trouble makers’ anyone with a dissenting opinion? Is it the “Arterial Bloc” (and yes, newspapers of the world, it’s bloc with a ‘c’ not with a ‘ck’ ! Do your research!)? Is it the Democratic Socialist Party? Is it the peace loving hippies or the uninformed high school students who are just along for a ride? Is it the Chaser? Is it those ‘nasty’ anarchists in their masks, preaching ideas that most people won’t even listen to – let alone consider?
My very own, righteously elected, Acting Premier K.Fol, kicked his feet into our very own ‘terrorist’ David Hicks this week, throwing him into a maximum security prison, where he’ll be in basically 24/7 isolation for the duration of his farcical 9 month sentence. (Note to the PM: when is the election gonna be?) I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I don’t really understand what Hicks has done wrong. What, he fought against our country? So what? Isn’t that his own ethical decision? When we live in a world of private militaries, should it matter if someone decides they want to fight for their religion? If afghanistan had been a christian paradise and the US (and Australia for that matter) an islamic society, how many Australian christians would want to fight against their country then? Should we not encourage children to stand for their beliefs?
In 1936, 40,000 foreigners went to Spain and fought for a Republic they did not live in, did not speak the language of to fight a war their countries did not support. Germans, French, Italians, Australians, Americans, Brits etc all joined forces under the International Brigades and fought…. illegally – Some could never return to their countries, some died. But they fought for freedom and lost. Do we remember them as terrorists?
What was the point of this post? A rant. Maybe I want to see if I get some crazy comments. I doubt it.
My $2 worth: I don’t like the way this country is heading. I think it’s time to get out – like rats from a ship – so I can assess the situation from a distance. I’m hoping many more of ‘mi amigos’ decide to do the same. Then maybe we can return to wrestle control of the supposed ‘lucky’ country from bigots, liars, corporations and conservative news services.
Out.
ADL ———-> ESP ? YES May 9, 2007
Posted by Luke in Adelaide, Canterbury TEFL, Spain, Travel.add a comment
It’s 3.36am. I woke with a sense of urgency, rolled over to check my email on my mobile and then realised I had no credit. Staggered downstairs, switched on my sister’s computer, logged in, email loaded, I’m going to Spain. I’m going to Spain. I’m going to Spain. I. AM. GOING. TO. SPAIN.
September 24th is the date. That gives me four more months in a job that bores me silly. Four more months in a city that I need some time from. Four more months with people that I’ve grown close to. Four more months with English speakers. I AM GOING TO SPAIN!!!!
I will be living in Madrid for at least two months, but have a guaranteed job there until June next year. If I wasn’t so tired, I would not be able to contain my excitement. Where’s someone to kiss and celebrate with? Wake up, world!!
ADL ———-> ESP??? May 4, 2007
Posted by Luke in Spain.add a comment
Sometime, in the next five days, I find out if I’m going to Madrid.
Meanwhile, why don’t you go outside, play with a ball, stare at the ceiling, listen to something different, smash a window, smash a State?
Ignore the previous posts… May 1, 2007
Posted by Luke in Adelaide, Anarchism, Canterbury TEFL, History, Politics, Spain, Teaching English.add a comment
First post… what to write? Hmm… if anyone reads this, what would they want to know? okay… i lie… this is the seventh post. I just backdated it. It’s now the first. The details I talk about after this post I did not know at the time of writing those posts but at the time of writing this post I did. Comprehend? I don’t.
Okay…. I don’t read blogs a lot. I mean, I read some regularly, some occasionally, but I wouldn’t say I’m a blog fiend or anything. I like the idea though.
So.
Hmmm…
Me? You ask. Well, I’m 24. I’m male. Currently, my town/city of residence is, as we like to call it in the locale, A-Town or Radelaide. But not for much longer. On the 19th of September, I’m moving to Madrid. That’s right, Madrid, Spain. It’s a little nervewracking. I speak minimal Spanish. Kinda like the Buenas dias…..ummm errr… Como estas? ummm errrr Hablas inglese? type of Spanish. Although I’m trying to learn – fast.
So why Spain? Good question. I’m fascinated with the country for reasons that are now 70 years old. The Spanish Civil War. It’s been in my bones for nigh on five years now. And I can’t shake it. You’d think writing a 15,000 word thesis could kill the interest, but no. It heightened it.
Why? One word – anarchism. The only country in the world where anarchism nearly prevailed. And that could have been amazing. I don’t want to get into a politics lecture here. Not yet anyway. But if there is an ‘ideology’ more misunderstood, I’ve yet to find it. I’d like to call myself an anarchist, indeed I have at times, but I’ve always done so with that sinking feeling that one is lying somewhat. In my mind, to be an anarchist requires passion; it requires dedication; it requires immediacy – and I am lazy. It’s taken me five years to get to Spain. How long will it take me to get politically active?
Plus, as some of my friends succinctly point out, how can you be an anarchist and work in government? Well, that, my dear, is a very good question. It’s difficult. And you hate yourself, your job and your decisions more every moment.
But hence Spain. Hence resignation. Hence, I don’t know, everything. I’m getting out of the G to the T, and I’m not coming back to it.
So, I land in Spain on the 20th September. I start a TEFL course at Canterbury TEFL on the 24th. I know no one there. I barely speak the language. I have an EU Passport (dual citizenship is equivalent to a golden ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, methinks). I’m leaving some person/s here that I’ve grown to love very dearly, who don’t realise quite how much, nor how much I fear that I’ll lose them whilst I’m gone. I have to do this. I have no idea how long I’m going for.
And I have this.
