An evangelical Mexican mathematician on the metro

Sunset at Debod, the Egyptian temple at Parque Ouest. The nights are drawing in ..

A delay since my last post due to the need to relentlessly pursue paid employment. Realisation hit that the promised contract was not coming my way - at least not this side of 1 October. So last week was a frenzy of sending out my CV again and advertising for conversation classes and I am pleased to say"what a difference a week makes!" Another interview, some real classes in the pipeline and new students who want English conversation and I can pay the rent without resorting to the credit card.

I learnt a valuable lesson this month. There is no such thing as a job until the contract is signed, sealed and in my hand. Anything less is a promise and we know what happens to those. Teaching is a strange game because unless you have a full time contract with one company, you have to put together a melange of teaching contracts and private lessons and there is a skill to making this work. The great teacher in the sky was looking out for me last week as all my opportunities are in easy reach of where I live and the timings have worked out. Let's hope it continues ..

So what about the Mexican? Well, I was on the metro coming home from teaching and trying to time how long it would take me to get from Canillas metro to Alameda de Osuna (via Diego de Leon with a long changeover). Clock in one hand and notebook and pen in the other, I was totally absorbed in the task when a smiley man gave me his seat at El Carmen. Then proceeded to chat. He is a Mexican living in Madrid studying Mathematics. However in the course of our conversation it transpires he is also evangelical. He was concerned about whether I am a Christian (hey, I live in Peckham so this is familiar territory even in Spanish!) Anyway trying to convert the English teacher - with poco espanol from me and poco inglese from him - on the metro before he got off at Torre Arias was clearly too much for my Mexican friend! He left me smiling and counting the minutes to the end of the line as I realised I had "clocked" a mas o menos moment in our conversation.

We also talked about the best way to get around Madrid. He said I should fly like Superman (complete with mime and sound effects). Flying is the super power that would be most helpful for me right now or maybe a magic carpet. In fact to be able to fly like Mary Poppins across the skies of Madrid, popping into one house after another to teach English, sing a song or two and generally have a nose around would be perfect - and get paid for it of course!

A walk up my street . . .

Calle de Ricardo-Ortiz, Madrid - the street where I live

If I leave my apartment block and turn right, the first shop I encounter is the Tabac next door. This place is indespensible for buying stamps, getting photocopies, batteries, recharging my mobile phone and a host of other small things I need to do. I love the very cheerful and efficient girl here who always understands my meagre Spanish and random pointing. Phew!

There follows a small bar, a lottery shop, a butchers, a fruit and veg shop, a travel agent with tempting offers, a butchers, a pasteleria and a clothes shop. I cross a side street and peer down into the Chinese-run clothing store with shoes and bags in the window and then I reach my favourite store. We all need a corner shop that sells everything and this is no exception. It is run by a Spanish matriarch and the staff are all Spanish-Chinese. Some of the things I buy here include ice cubes, Nestea, beer, olives, eggs, bread, candles, soap powder, plastic clothes pegs, onions, crisps, chocolate, icecream, chick peas, rice and Casera. There are some dodgy looking Christmas decorations lurking on a shelf and the biscuits coated with chocolate have probably melted so best avoided and I saw some frozen seafood in the freezer that might be useful some day.

Clothes pegs are an obsession of mine as I live in a third floor flat with clothes lines outside my window and I love washing my clothes and putting them out to dry. However the plastic pegs often break and plummet to the ground so I am now trialling the wooden ones - more eco friendly too!

Leaving the corner shop, I pass by the bus stop where I get off the night buses at the weekend. Night buses are brilliant here now that I know which one comes my way and where it stops. The number 7 from Cibeles is my late night mantra! There is a crossing here so I wait until I hear the friendly chirping that says I can go. I glance in the window of the cafe and pasteleria that I should go to more often as it serves great coffee and cakes. Turning the corner I walk past the money exchange place, the dry cleaners, a shop that sells only beds and then cross over to the other side and go by a hair dresser, a pharmacy and a posh frozen food shop where I can buy falafels in times of need! At the end of the street, I come to the main road Calle de Alcala and here I can find every bank I will ever need and a whole host of shops and supermarkets. I like the old fashioned shoe shops here that have a huge shoe display in the window and then all the shoes in boxes on shelves inside - just like the one I worked in back in the 1980s!

My hairdresser is in this street - the place where I got a cut, wash, condition and a curly blow dry all for 10 euros this summer. There are pizza places, an icecream parlour, a shop that sells only pies, a shop that sells everything that you can imagine for your home that comes in plastic and bright colours and so much more! A wander around El Carmen is always rewarding!

I must mention the sign outside the pharmacy that is my benchmark for the day as it tells me the time, the date and most importantly the temperature. There is something consoling about a red flashing sign telling me that it is very hot and I am not imagining it because it says 36 degrees. So hot, that a trip on the metro is a blessing. El Carmen is on the green line which is number 5. It runs to the Casa de Campo and calls at some of my favourite stops; Opera, Chuecca, Callao and Gran Via.

A recent discovery is the commercial market of Ventas which is housed in a huge grey warehouse of a building and is two floors of fish, meat, greengrocers and dry fruit stores. I love it here as every stall is like a mini shop and they are all different. There is a lot of my favourite chrome and the stall owners all compete to show off their wares with elaborate and colourful displays. I love the fish stalls where the fresh produce is literally jumping at me or in the case of the fat snails, crawling! I love the butchers where there are parts of animal I would never choose to eat. I love the fruit stalls where the aroma of melon and soft fruits makes me linger. Shopping for food here is how it used to be in my market town in England where I grew up and I love it!

Just need a tartan shopping trolley and I will be sorted.