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
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