The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect

We've been away but now we are back! I'm coming at ya from my new flat. It's all very exciting. It is also the main reason why there has been a lack of updates. Flat hunting is so stressful. Hours pouring over internet ads, the vast majority of them completely inappropriate, and on the phone. Most people never answer or if they do it's only to tell you that the room has already gone. Only about 5% of calls result in actually getting the chance to view and then what is inside is anybodies guess. Some people actually let you get to the flat to tell you that they have rented it already. It's maddening.

The first one I saw was a disaster. I got there ten minutes early and had a look around the area, Bilbao, and it was perfect. I was thinking that it would take a crack den or a bomb site for me not to take it. Even if it was a bit dingy, I could put up with that for such a good area. Not like I'm used to luxurious flats. The man who lived there was called Diego. On the website it said he was between 28-32 but he was in his late fifties or early sixties. It shows how much I liked the area that this didn’t instantly put me off. He showed me the living room which was nice but the real problems began when he showed me to my bedroom. He went to the end of the living room and drew back a curtain. It wasn’t a room; it was the last quarter of the living room cleared out with a curtain separating it from everything else. There wasn’t a bed. There was a ledge that came up to about the knee and stuck out into the room and he had just put a mattress on top. The whole mattress couldn’t fit on the ledge so if you had rolled over on it, it would have tipped off. There was an en suite toilet but the shower was upstairs in the guy’s bedroom! It was a mezzanine which you could also see straight into and to shower I would have to go into his room. But the bathroom there was not an original feature it also had a dividing wall put in, which was made of clear glass. He said I could bring back ‘amigas’. He doesn’t need to worry about me on that front but if he did it wouldn’t be the most suitable location. Imagine, let's go behind the curtain and in the morning you can shower in front of Diego. There were also pictures of naked women everywhere, but they were in black and white so it's art, not porn. Being British I said it was nice and I would call in the morning. That is not quite as pathetic as earlier in the day where I pretended the phone was breaking up when speaking to an overly pushy housing agency.

However it is done now. I found somewhere and its good. I'm living with two lovely American girls though they will be moving out soon, lots of people coming to see the place, and a Venezuelan who I was told is very, very shy. I have barely seen him but when I have he looks at the floor and gives a little wave. The highlight is a parrot called Charlie who can sing the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy. He's so clever.

Apart from flat hunting it has been great catching up with people. Day by day a few more land so its been busy; mainly taking stick for Osasuna's 8-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona. It was much more equal than the score makes it appear. There has also been enough for time for some serious quality time spent with Gears of War 3 with Lukasz. Wave after wave of evil alien hordes to be mowed. It's emotional, I've seen things you can't imagine. We start again tomorrow though class isn't until Monday. I have to say I'm really looking forward to getting back into it, though I'm in three secondry schools this year and they have the potential to change my mind very quickly. Madrid hasn't changed much, which is fine by me. Realised that I had missed it when I landed.

love love love x

The English Riveria

Hello! I apologize if this post is a little strange. It hasn't stopped raining here for two days and I used that time to watch Requiem for a Dream, I think I'm cracking up.

Some guys look amazing in suits (Chris Powell), some guys do not. Some guys look like a teenager that is wearing his Dad's clothes to a job interview at a supermarket. I am in that third category. Last weekend provided the chance to dust down the suit as my cousin got married. As ever we left three days early to ensure we weren't late. We were so early we went to the pub and got some very strange looks, suits and dresses are not the usual attire on a Saturday afternoon in a pub in Enfield. Cheryl looked absoultely beautiful and the whole day went perfectly. The most nervous person was actually the Priest who looked terrified. It turned out it was his first ever wedding servive, he did a sterling job. The reception was a great chance to see the family. We aren't one of those live next door families so any chance to see everyone and catch up is always welcome. It was great to bond with the family over the universal and fierce hatred of the song 'Swagger Jagger' or as my Dad describes it "that noise". Congratulations Cheryl best of luck.

Weddings and talk of weddings seem to be rife at the minute. For the first time in ages, loads of us were in Kent, AT THE SAME TIME. It's the first time in a long time that I can remember Matt and Pat being in the same room. They managed to hide their bitter loathing of each other. They also brought their lovely lady friends. Matt likes his lady friend so much that he asked her to marry him, and the wedding talk has started. There is talk of the day, there was more confusion over the date (which is set) than you would expect, clothes and how one of us will probably do something stupid that will be on You Have Been Framed within weeks. I for one am giddy with excitment. It was fantastic to see friends and I'm happy to say I made two new friends in the process. For some reason two young children, you were bored out of their minds, chose to befriend me. The boy was wearing a plastic police hat and declared I was under arrest. He then rightly decided that Hannah was a far more suitable candidate for some pretty serious jail time. There is a picture on facebook of me rocking the police helmet. It was more Hot Cop Stripper than rough law man, but still I could see crime trembling.

Other than that I have actually done some Spanish, went to Charlton and listened to Dad moan through another England game. Some things will never ever change.

love love love x