83 – A Bad Case of Subjunctivitis

Well, the impossible has happened.  Despite the class managing to delay the arrival of the subjunctive tense for many months, and working against almost impenetrable resistance from the group, last week Juan-Mi came up with a couple of really effective exercises that has drummed the subjunctive into this recalcitrant bunch of reprobates that meets weekly at the Axalingua school in Colmenar

82 – Domingos

Los domingos.  Días de descanso.  Sundays.  Days of rest.

Sundays more than any other day mark the changing of the seasons.  For the last few months Sundays have been marked by early-morning shouting in the street as impossibly-large families cram into too-small cars, ferrying dishes of pre-cooked food, bags of meat for barbecuing, and crates of beer into the groaning boot of the car.  Heading off for “a day in the campo” to relax, chat and laugh with cousins and grandchildren and sisters-in-law and to make full use of the day of rest.

81 – Letting Go

Growing up seems to me to be a process of stretching the elastic then finally letting go of the metaphorical apron strings.  The first time you go out alone on your bike, the first time you go out alone to the disco, the first time you drive your car without your instructor.

80 – Spread-sheets and Strategies

I’m up in the air again.   My English car now has a spread-sheet of its own to manage its complex movements.  This time, as I flew into Gatwick, the car was left in Sussex ready for me to pick up after a night at Jane’s house.  After my brief stay in Dorset I left it at Bristol airport where a friend will pick it up and use it during my absence, leaving it in turn in Bournemouth or wherever the spread-sheet dictates for the next time I need it.  Car-sharing is the convenient and environmentally-sound solution for someone with A Foot in Two Campos.