Ginger Beer

Its been lovely being home. It's been lovely to see everyone. I've started back at the gym. Its still an inheritinely degrading experience. We've had some excursions to the seaside, walks in the countryside, its all been very famous five.

The highlight was todays trips. Aren't animals amazing? After months of increasingly less obvious suggestions a hardy group of us made the epic trawl across the great plains of the South to Longleat. It was a proper little day trip. At six in the morning the car was not the cheeriest of places, especially when caravans rear their ugly heads. Why do people do it to themselves? But after a filthy roadside breakfast, you're ready to go.

At the start I'm usually not bothered about animals but by the end I end up chooing and clucking like an idiot, speaking in a stupid voice. Meerkats normally bring this unpleasant side out of me the most and they did again.

Though the my favourite animal today may have been a gorrilla. He is 47 which apparently for a gorilla is like being 100 for a human. He sits on an island by himself and apparently if you try to introduce other animals to the island he will throw whatever he has to hand at them until they are taken away. He has a TV on which he likes to watch Sponge Bob. He is my hero, when I'm old thats what I hope I'm going to be like. Its worrying when the ranger described the gorilla as liking bright colours, moving pictures and sleep, but thats what I like.

An animal I swear I'm never going to be like is the fucking Pelican. We were driving around minding our own business when a pelican stepped into the middle of the road and refused to move. John edged forward sure he would just pop out of the way, but he was not to be moved. He then took out his beef on the front of John's car and a ranger had to move the miserable bastard on. Lions? Tigers? Wolves? No, we were rescued from a pelican, but it was a pelican with a bad attitude and a point to prove.

Other activitites of day included John and myself demonstarting just how bad a pair of losers we can be when beaten to the centre of hedge maze, feeding some deer and fighting over ipods.

Hope you are all well, I'd let you on my island to watch Sponge Bob

love love love x

Well Quite

A bit delayed but here a few pictures from San Fermin. I didn't take many as I don't want to be one of those people who can't remember actually being there as they were too busy taking photographs. But these photos do demonstrate the main theme of San Fermin, people everywhere! Everywhere!

Pamplona's population is around 200,000 but for 9 days it becomes 1,200,000. Tent villages are put up around the city but its not enough and you find people asleep everywhere. Parks, bus stops, benches, anything surronding a tree. The streets are full everywhere and the bars are rammed. The biggest foreign groups were the Americans and the Australians and it was strange to walk around Pamplona and hear English everywhere.

What I really liked about it was that there was little organised entertainment. With the exception of fireworks, a few processions and some local bands people were left to entertain themselves. This means people mingle together and can enjoy the company of friends. Some people invent more creative ways of keeping themselves busy, my favourite example being jumping of a 15ft statue and relying on the crowd to catch you. From what I saw they always did. It is probably the greatest credit to the whole event that everyone is just there to have fun with everyone. I didn't see any trouble or hassle, everyone was so relaxed. There was room for the hard drinkers and there was room for families to stroll with young children.

Due to the circumstances I couldn't get to close to the bull run. You need to be pretty dedicated! Normally there are nine occasions but unfortunately I had to fly, so next time. I was pretty disappointed but you realise that actually its only quite a small part of the entire festival. Next time.

My highlight was the opening when people cram into the square outside the town hall and lift the red neckerchief into the air, screaming and shouting to fire the fireworks to signify the start of the festival. The balconies above were crammed and they threw buckets of water down onto the crowd. Wine is flying everywhere through the air and within five minutes of the start the white everyone is wearing is filthy. Wearing a neckerchief legitimately has to be an obvious highlight. Then your left to get on with your drinking which can be as messy or civilized as you like.

Hopefully when I collect some more photos I can put up some more interesting ones!

love love love x

Octopus's Garden

They did it! All the depressive mood swings, paranoia and conspiracy theories have been replaced for jumping and cheering with painted faces. Living the dream. They deserved it over a horribly disappointing and cynical Dutch side. I'm genuinely pleased for them.

I've always liked the Dutch team. Every tournament I want them to win but they never do. Usually they play beautifully only to lose to the first decent, organsied side. This year they played ugly and got all the way to the final and usually I would be supporting them without question (obviously the prospect of playing England in a final is exactly zero) but they were playing an adopted country. Despite this my support for Spain was slightly underwhelming until kick off and then realising that actually I really really wanted them to win. Lots of foreign guys at CLEN support whoever is playing against Spain but I wanted them to win and for once the team I wanted to win, did!

Spain were much better. They are a fantastic side. Anyone who thinks they are boring are footballing philistines. They are victims of their own success. If Usain Bolt 'only' wins a race without smashing a world record then it goes down as a disappointing performance. Spain win a World Cup without being at their incredible best. That probably tells you just how good they are. People who think Spain are rubbish will have a difficult job in explaining away how they are currently European and World Champions. People scoff at their passing but that says more about England's outdated ideas on how to play football than it does Spain. It wasn't a classic match, but I didn't think it was terrible, but I'm sure Spain don't give a single, solitary shit. They are an era defining team

I hope you noticed Javi Martinez wearing his San Fermin neck wear. I also wonder about players like him. He has a World Cup winners medal but didn't play a game. Hows does he feel? Is he happy?

I was disappointed in Holland who were poor and very very cynical. There was a real lack of dignity in the face of defeat. Howard Webb will come into criticism for the amount of cards but most of them were completely indisputible. If anything De Jong, at least, should have been sent off for a karate kick to Xabi Alonso's chest.

It wasn't the best World Cup but I think it was better than a lot of people are giving it credit for. What I'm most pleased about is all those obituaries of European football that were written after the group stages need to be withdrawn after a European 1,2,3.

The octopus was right.

Four years to the next one, come on England! Four weeks to the domestic season, come on Charlton!

Non-football fans despair.

love love love x

Get Home, Get Down

Greetings everyone from what will probably be the very last post from Pamplona, it's been emotional. The city is very strange at the moment. A big stage has been put up in the main square (it plays Dire Straits Money for Nothing fairly regularly and loudly which is infuriating), food stalls and portacabins have appeared everywhere and the saftey barriers are up in the streets. San Fermin starts on Tuesday and its already inescapable. Everything has a red and white colour theme and with the exception of the Spanish football team its the talk of the town. I'm only here for a day and a bit but it will be good for the damn thing to actually start rather than just listen to everyone speaking about it and doing that strange facial expression they do. It's half shrug, half wink. Pamplona is a small and inherintly conservative city but it goes crazy for a few days every summer, its going to be bizarre.

The kids camp ended in the week. My word, kids are tiring. But it has led me to revaulate my opinion of children from they are all bad, bad at a spiritual core level like Bon Jovi, to that some of them are cool. It was a lot of fun. I didn't really have any ideas on how to entertain children but I have a much better idea now and have learnt a few simple rules. The words 'maybe later' can only hold them off for so long, they are always more interested in the contents of your bag and they are persistent, oh dear God they are persistent. The big difference between the UK and Spain is that here you are encouraged to make physical contact with the kids. They expect hugs and if they don't get one they will hug you. It was nice that I could give one of them a hug when she was crying (and crying and crying) without being scared of being called a sick pervert. The down side is that they have no qualms grabbing and pulling you and even at one point a full slap to the arse and a goosing from an eight year old boy. They keep you on your toes, like asking you to hold a prosthetic arm, one girl liked to take her t-shirt off at random intervals, something the Spanish state is less tolerant about, and had to be convinced to put it back on. Dan described her as "that awkward age between 10 and 15 years in prison". The sports day bordered on farce but my team did very well and may have even won depending on which set of scores you looked at. So all in all it was an eventful week.

It was also the last act of my CLEN contract. All the classes are done, the paper work is signed and the good byes said. Over the last few days our numbers are dwlinding and dwindling. It's sad but they all have their next set of plans which is exciting to. I've been very relaxed about getting ready to leave so tomorrow I have a big day ahead to get organised, when will I learn? Its been a good few days since finishing work. The football is working out well (as long as Uruguay don't win I'm happy!), I've undergone a sandal revolution and the weather has finally picked up. I feel a lot more positive now about the future and about the we've spent here in Pamplona. I think I'm just a sucker for good weather. Saying all that I'm looking forward to moving on.

See you in Summer

love love love x