The dangers of working with teens and other young people!

Really, you wouldn't think it, but this is a dangerous task.

My working day has been bracketed by Justin Bieber's 'Love yourself' first we played the song, and kinda sang along, then at the end, they were singing it themselves.

In the middle, I sang the same four bars over and over and over and o.v.e.r. in my head.

Honestly.

I have been playing the song on repeat in headphones for the last hour so that I learn the lyrics and I can sing more than 4 bars to myself if it is going to stay stuck there.

Fortunately, it is the one and only Bieber song I like.

The risks I take.

Whatsapp

Whatsapp is, as you might guess, an app, which is HUGE in Catalunya, it's a free download and lets you message, send videos, create groups and leave voice messages, all for free and uses practically no data at all. 

Huge.

The odd thing is that it means that everyone has everyone's phone number.  Your phone number used to be kind of a big deal, you didn't give it out to every kid in your class, nor everyone you know, but now?  No big deal.  Weird, no?

I saw it the other day when I had kids working with their phones to do a writing assignment, they blithely passed their phone numbers around to all and sundry.  Felt weird to me, but to them, as normal as anything.

Much more connected now.  Much.

Another great thing

You know, how the French have that pain au chocolat stuff?  Well, pain au chocolat really means, bread with chocolate.  The Catalans do that too, but kinda classic style, none of that fancy pastry making and butter.......and man is it ever good.

You take a really nice baguette, then insert a slab of dark chocolate then eat it. 

Really, that's it.

Insanely good.  (not for every day by a long shot, but my oh my.)

So tired

We are all so tired this evening.  Even the dog.

Youngest is still in recovery mode, has a terrible cough and is losing her voice.  It doesn't help that her work load has doubled (or tripled) at work, cause the guy she works with has hurt his knee, so she's doing all her classes alone, and all of his as well.  She is wiped.  She will also not be going on the Mountain bike excursion that the school has tomorrow.  She needs to rest.

The man is wiped too, he's been complaining about that for a couple of weeks, and just seems worn down. 

I've been hauling myself around today too - while worrying that I am coming down with Youngest's flu - but I don't seem to be, just weary.

Even the dog was not very excited on his walk. 

Hopefully tomorrow, we'll all feel a little perkier.

Quiet weekend, and a relief

The man and I had planned to go away this weekend, his rowing team is up in the Basque region at a big regatta.  Then youngest got sick.  So, the man is up with the rowing team and I am at home nursing a flu victim, who is very much on the mend now thankfully.

In fact the race got cancelled due to remarkably high winds and rain and a river that is swollen to ridiculous proportions.  The valiant rowers continued on anyway, knowing that there would be a good party, if not a race. 

I have had a very quiet day at home, which has occasionally rankled, and occasionally been great.  I remind myself of the number of times I wish I could just stay home.  I just didn't want to stay home THIS weekend.  Anywho....not a big deal.


On another note, the Master's has started up again, I am only doing one course this term, which will rather drastically lengthen the time it takes me to finish (gnashing of teeth) but last term was an unmitigated hell, and I do not want to repeat that.  I was working too hard, and too many hours, and had the full two courses at the masters and the Man was away almost all day.

Fortunately all is getting better, I have actually managed to back off some hours of teaching (which is making me fuss about money, but I think that is habit) and have only one course to take.  Plus the man has passed all his driving test nightmares, which makes his hours more sane as well.


The real relief though - well, the real relief is that youngest is getting better so fast - but the relief at the top of the paper is that I am finally feeling some enthusiasm for the Masters rather than a dragging sense of obligation and disinterest.  Only hit this evening, but I am studying the damned thing cause I want to learn, not just pass the courses, but last term, that wasn't what was happening, nor so far this term, but this evening, a spark, a wee spark of gleeful interest shot up. 

I am glad.

Still more structures from the mountains,

Some are quite sophisticated.....

Then there are structures that have been here rather longer, like these old concrete sofas.....

And this old font to source water from a spring....I'll bring a light and go in further another day, and someone with me.....

Never ever dull......

The hills are alive

With little boys building forts!!!!

Is this not the best!?"?!?!???

Everyone is complaining that kids spend all their lives in front of video games, that they cannot leave the house....

and there are packs of them, of varying ages building all over the hills near town....

see:

Fantastic, no?

Dunking cookies

One of the things I have learned to love living here in Catalunya is dunking cookies in my tea.

My understanding of the etiquette on this topic is that it is really something of a no-no, at least in my family, and it was not something I ever really did.  In fact even after many years here I didn't do it ever.  Then a couple of my students were talking about how delicious it is, and I started dunking.

O my goodness.  Love it.

Everyone here does it, especially at breakfast, it is polite and accepted.  You can dunk into coffee, tea or hot chocolate, and you can dunk just about anything sweet and bread-like from cookies, to croissants to special finger like cakes made specifically for dunking, and then there are xurros!!!

I may have trouble when I go back to Canada this summer resisting the temptation!!!!

Mmmmmmmm

weird, no just plain rude and astonishingly oblivious

In the village where I live (not that village-y, but still) we have been lucky this year that an amazing ensemble has been coming to play, there have been four classical music concerts so far, and there is one more to go.  Love it. 

We are a village, so we are a little uncouth, in that there is a tendency for people to applaud when they aren't supposed to, but we make up for it with vast enthusiasm!

There is one thing about it though that is so weird.  There is a group of old ladies who come, and they chat (a bit) during the concert, and this is NOT a big hall, 500 people, but the worst of all is that they eat candies.  They share them.  They bring the candies in a plastic bag that they pass around.  A noisy crinkly plastic bag. The candies themselves are wrapped in crinkly paper, so they pass them back and forth, open them, then they have to crinkle the papers up into a little ball, and frequently THROW THEM ON THE FLOOR!

Please remember, small hall.  They are very close to the musicians.  

It is astonishing.

Today was better than the other times, it was only two of the old biddies, and they only did it once.  They also got fiercely shushed at one point when they started to chat.

But honestly, even if you did grow up under Franco, how, how how, can you think that this behaviour is OK?

Who would make that much noise in the middle of a quiet stretch of a Mozart piano concerto, when you are only about 15 feet from the pianist and then throw the wrapper on the floor after crinkling it into a ball?

Mind-numbing.

Look at this fish!

I went on a gorgeous walk today with a gigantic group of people.  It was great fun, but you have got to see this fish...

There's a big tuna that lives in one of the ports and it is pretty amazing to see.  A very strong muscular animal.  It moves very very fast and looks quite predatory.

Unbeknownst to me my camera lens was filthy, so the other photos came out pretty terrible.  My phone took better photos which is kinda sad.

And while good blog posts are supposed to be about only one topic, meh, I don't care.  So here are some more photos from the day!

I love sea anemones and I love the sea. 

Goodness but I am a lucky person.