Scary Kids Scaring Kids

Home! Hurrah! It's been really good so far. Not that I have done very much but then that has been what is so nice.

The last few weeks of school are normally quiet, followed by a mad rush in the last few days to mark exams, write reports and complete all the fucking paperwork. After exams students basically stop coming for the last two weeks which means you spend a lot of time sitting in an empty room or even worse if just one comes and you have an awkward conversation for twenty minutes before they make an excuse and leave. Then comes the form. At the start of the year we get giving all the textbooks we need and an mp3 player and speakers to do listening exercises in business classes and other delights. At the end of the year you have to give them back and get each item signed off before you get paid. Oh. I straggle around looking for myself I am able to give back my advanced text book minus its back cover, the speakers without mentioning that the left one doesn't work and CDs so scratched Molly from Dublin from exercise 2 sounds like a mouse. Then comes the lying on the register, putting those lies into the computer for the last month so it looks like its done for the entire year and when asked answering yes of course I have cleaned out my locker. Add 200 teachers doing the same and its a headache. You have to get it signed (some are much more willing to sign than others) so you can pick up your last pay cheque. You have to do it in person and take to the bank. My bank and I have a hate hate relationship. I managed to catch them in one of their five minute windows of actually being open. I took my cheque and my card, filled in their slip and strutted over beaming with pride to pay in my cheque. She took the cheque, pressed some buttons and then the computer said no. I don't have my official NIE document. I had it one ten other official government documents and three from the banks themselves, she can see it matches on her screen but no. She phoned a mysterious man known only as Jose Luis who apparently said yes, but I needed my passport. I had to run home to collect it, home was 15 minutes away and the bank closed in 35 minutes to it was going to be tight but we managed, she even gave me a sweet to celebrate. I need that money to, you know, live this summer so it was stressful.

All this was a few hours before my flight and the flight got a little exciting. A man was forcibly removed from the flight. He didn't want to get off but a camp steward known as 'Mike' (if that is in fact his real name) threw him off. People were a little shaken. He was in the row behind me and three rows in each direction were security searched. They wanted to know where my luggage was, they pulled up my seat, they apologized constantly, it wasn't very Die Hard. It turns out the guys passport got wet and the picture was unclear. As I said, not very Die Hard.

The biggest part of the last few weeks however is saying goodbye. I have been lucky to meet some truly wonderful people and at the end of the year we spread and scatter. I don't think anyone in Madrid reads this, mind you I'm not sure if anyone reads this, but I would like to wish them all the luck in the world and I look forward to seeing them again, somewhere, sometime.

Home has been good. Had a nice birthday with my family, even managed to see my sister, anything longer than 2o minutes is asking a lot. A group of us have dedicated this summer as "The Summer of Spanish". I've got the time and damn it I'm going to study. I'm typing and learning verb conjugations with the aid of pretty colours on the computer. I'm listening to a really patronising podcast and I'm looking up all those words I have meant to but never did. So far mixed results. Because I was thinking about it I said gracias to the guy in the newsagent who looked at me as if I was the most pretentious twat he had ever come across. The other thing is rejoining battle with my old nemesis, the verb llevar. Llevar depending on the context can mean:

- to carry
- to have something on one's person
- to take
- to move something somewhere
- to cope with or tolerate something
- to transport
- to wear
- to include an ingredient
- to lead to
- to drive
- to direct/run/lead a business or organisation
- to bear a name
- to keep account
- to last a certain amount of time
- to charge (money)
- to take away (food)
- to get along with someone
- to win or recieve something

Fuck.

Plans are being made which is great I even got rained on today which after the weeks of 40 degrees was incredible. Dad and my sisters boyfriend are passive aggressive with each other, my Mum is appalled by my choice of footwear and the tabloids are being unspeakable cunts. It's like I've never been away.

I hope to see you soon!

love love love x