Fifteen weeks more or less

A tapas night with Louise and Emma

I have been living here for fifteen weeks and today is my birthday so it's time for one of those "status update" posts. I spent my last birthday in Malaga with three great friends and we drank cava and toasted my future. I knew I would be in Spain for this birthday but at that stage I didn't know when, where and how I was going to do it. I knew that I wanted to try the training programme to become a Vaughan teacher and I knew that I wanted to take a sabbatical from RNIB and spend a winter in the sunshine. I went back to London with a determination that never waned but the task of sorting out when to come and what to do about my flat and all my belongings proved to be a big one and not one that was going to be easy during the winter months. In fact it was not until May 2009 that I finally started my sabbatical and by then I found the perfect person to live in my flat, had my training week booked and I was ready to go.

I came here on 13 June and started training on the Monday and within a few hours I knew that it was not going to work out. I was so glad I had my TEFL under my belt and some money in the bank as I was going to need it. I was lucky that I had somewhere to live with people that I liked - thanks, guys! By the end of the week of training, I was so relieved that I had tried it and that I was able to go my own way. I knew that my style of teaching was not the Vaughan way and I while I was scared, I was also excited at the prospect of seeing what else was out there.

A week of CV crafting and advert posting and I was soon teaching some teenage girls and loving it. It was the end of the school year and there was little work around but I was happy to have enough to cover my living costs while I settled in and adjusted to the heat. Summer in Madrid is an amazing experience as it really does get very hot and everything closes down little by little. I was glad not to be working though anxious about my swindling funds. Two weeks in London at the end of August was a great way to prepare for the start of the new teaching year and I came back to Madrid optimistic and more than a little homesick. It was no bad thing to realise how much I love and miss my city of London and friends and family. I now know that London will always be my "home" wherever else I might be in the world.

September has been a time of stress and anxiety as I realised that the promised teaching hours were not coming my way - or at least not straight away. The weather turned nasty here for a few days and I was cold, miserable and seriously thinking of going home. This was not how it was meant to be. Then I got active and started contacting everyone I could find who might give me teaching work. More interviews and more promises. If everyone I have registered with gave me work I would have a nice problem! Within a week I had students who wanted conversation classes and I had company classes coming my way. I had also done some proof reading and was feeling optimistic of finding more of that work.

I gave myself until the end of September to make a decision about my future. Should I stay or should I go? I am pleased to say that I am staying and the sun is shining on my birthday.

So as it is my birthday, I am going to say thank you to a few folk who I owe a lot.

To Emma for being there whenever I have needed you and for being such a great mate, to Francis for taking on my flat and for giving it some much needed TLC, to Louise for telling it how it is right from the first day I met you and for being such a generous friend with time and belongings, to Jane for being so supportive and excited about all that I do, to Yolanda for coming to spend a week with me in this hot and expensive city, to Raul for showing me a Madrid I would never have known and for being a true friend, to Pedro for the room in the strangest flat I have ever lived in, to Pilar for teaching me Spanish when I am meant to be teaching you English.

sabbatical monday

It's the first day of my sabbatical and my first day of no office and no tea rounds and no commuting! Felt a bit lost first thing and weary after the last few weeks of saying goodbye to people and starting the letting go of London process. I gave myself one task to do today and was determined to do it whatever! So at 330 I was in Dulwich hospital having some blood taken. Nice to be able to go at a time that suits me and not have the hassle of having to make up the time or try and do it when everyone else is there too! So that is one big tick for today! Task done! I thne went shopping in Somerfield and had to laugh when a blind man asked my help with finding the bread. He must have thought it was his birthday and christmas all rolled in one when I offered to help him with his shopping. There followed a crazy game of me running off to find milk, cheese and baps for him! Yes, baps! A northern word for bread rolls. He was so grateful and wanted to buy me something for my time. I felt even more lost as I realised that helping blind people is what I do but not any more.

Now that I am on sabbatical (OS) I will be writing more regularly as I will have so much more to talk about - especially when I get to Madrid. I meant to write about the poetry performance which was amazing. However the best way to find out about it is to go to the website at cryptwriters.info and see the photos and words of David Canning. I had such a special time as so many friends came to support me and to hear me speak my words. They were all genuine in their praise and affection and just as good was their pleasure at attending a poetry event and realising what fun they can be. I have plenty of time to do lots of writing over the next few weeks and I am looking forward to finishing off some work and doing some new pieces. I have been exposed to so much creative work recently that has triggered lots of ideas. I have also been taking a lot of photos which I will start to add to this blog.

A funny thing happened today. I found my old blog that I lost! I don't know what to do with it now I have found it. Poor neglected old thing with only four posts. Hardly had a chance to live did it.

Art is on my mind because I spent yesterday at the open studios of my artist friend Tescoman. It was a really good experience and I learnt more about his art simply by being in his work space and asking lots of questions. I love the way that he works with bright colour and I really like the optimism of his work. He deserves to have more success as he is creating pieces that are marketable if he can reach the right audience ie music people. We went for mezze and he couldnt stop talking and I understood why. I was just the same after my performance. The adrenalin of performance or exhibition is good. We had a really interesting discussion about music and how when I hear music, I definitely hear it in a circular form - as in a needle in a record's groove, a CD spinning or a tape looping. I wonder if an mp3 track loops? When he paints circles of colour that spin like discs, it makes sense. Hypnotic glorious colour that bounces and shines and gives energy.