SAYING GOODBYE

Hi guys, this is my last blog. I've been living in Ireland since October and now it's time to come back to Spain. I hope that you have enjoyed reading my stories as I enjoyed to do them. Thank you very much to everyone who spent his/her time reading it. I appreciate it. I did it for you.
The next time I hope to see you in Spain or in another place of the world.
All my best.

PS:As Antonie de Saint-exupery said: "It's the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important". My rose has been the FCE.

I got my treasure

ZOO'S DAY

We decided to get together the next day but in this case the plan was to go to Dublin and go to the zoo. I’m not a person who likes to visit zoos. It’s not my cup of tea but it was a perfect excuse to go to Dublin with friendly people. As I expected the zoo wasn’t big. It’s a small one but it was ok. The mayority of animal were lying down. I think that it was because of the weather. They were lazy so we couldn’t see anything interesting. It was a write off. At midafternoon we went to the city center. We went to Temple Bar. As it is usual there were a lot of people there. Great atmosphere as you can imagine.

We were exhausted therefore we took a rest. We went to Fistsamon pub and we rested until 6.00 pm. At that time the bus departed to Naas. The girls went back to Naas but I decided to stay a little more time in Dublin. It was probably my last time in the capital of Ireland and I wanted to go shopping. Two hours later I took the bus but it happened to me something strange.

I was waiting in the queue to get on the bus when I heard the bus driver saying to everyone that he doesn’t have change or at least I thought that but the people went on getting on the bus. When it was my turn I told him “one ticket to Naas, please” and he asked “single or return”. I took my time (because I wasn’t sure if my ticket was single or return) and after 3 seconds he yelled at me again “SINGLE OR RETURN”. He was very rude to me as a result I answered him “single” and in that moment I gave him 10 euros. The cost of the ticket was 6.90 euros and he gave the ticket to me but he didn’t give the money back to me. He wrote down on the ticket 3.10 euros. I asked him what it meant? But he answered something that I couldn’t understand. Anyway, I sat down in my seat and I was thinking about how I can recover my money.

Fortunately, I had 2 € more in my pocket so when we arrived at Naas I gave him 2 euros and he gave me back 5 € althought there were more people waiting for the money back. I don’t think the people can recover their money but one thing I’m sure and it is that the bus driver was very unpleasant. He pissed on my beautiful day.

ENJOYING THE DAYS

Last Thursday I couldn’t go to school because I was a little bit sad about the match that I watched on Wednesday. There’s nothing worse than losing against Real Madrid in a final. My favorite team, Barcelona CF, played horribly. I can’t remember the last time that I watched them to play so badly.

Anyway, on Thrusday was the beginning of the Easter holidays and in the evening we went to Mc. Cormack’s. It’s a place located in the main street. I’ve only been twice but I think it’s a good pub, at least, there were a great atmosphere inside.

There were plenty of students. I met new students from the evening classes. Nice people. That night we decided to arrange for the next day. On Friday, the weather was spectacular. It was probably one of the best days since I’ve been here. In fact, it was so warn that I burnt my forehead. Yeah, I know it sounds weird. How can I burn my face in Ireland? Is it possible? It could be false but it’s true. The sun shone and I didn’t put any suncream on and I think the first sunshine is the worst for my skin. Consequently, I have a peeled forehead.

We went up at the Canal at 12:30 and we went for a walk. We walked along the Canal until Sallins. Later we went to the big Tesco and we bought something to eat. Afterwards we had lunch in Monread Park. Natty carried a board game called Scrabble. It consists of creating any word with 7 letters. It was funny and very different because we had to think of the words in English but I believe it’s good for improving our English. After finishing the game we went back to the main street. The day had been hard but very amusing. The next day we went to the zoo.

Playing Scrabble

Monread Park

FCE QUALIFICATIONS

I have English lessons from Monday to Thrusday. It means that Friday is my day off. What do I do on Friday? There’s nothing I like more than staying in bed for more time. I usually get up at 8.15 am but on Friday it is the exception because I get up a little bit later and I usually read in bed for 30 minutes. Later I go to the library because that day is the only day it’s open in the mornings. I’m there until 1 pm and later I go home.

Last Friday I was in the library as I usually do but I finished earlier because I had an appoinment with Angela after her break time in the school. Therefore, I went to the canteen to meet up with her. Angela is preparing for the FCE as I did and I have been her with it. The idea was to practise the speaking part but when I arrived there she told me that Shane, the manager, wanted to talk with me. What did I do? What happened? I asked her but she didn’t want to say anything to me. “Go to talk with Shane”, she said again.

Congratulations!! Shane told me. Congratulations, for what?? I answered him. You have passed the FCE exam. In that moment, I didn’t know what to do or what to say. I didn’t expect the result until, at least, next week. Thanks, I answered, and Daiana? I asked him. She failed, he told me but she made a great effort. We are proud of her.

It was a pity, I thought. She deserved to pass the exam but I’m sure that the next time she’ll pass it. I’m not in any doubt about that. Shane and Shiori, immediately gave the result paper to me. My score was 63 but it wasn’t important. The really important thing was that I had passed the exam.

In that moment, I was thinking about other important exams that I did in the past and how it was for me to pass them. I thought, the practicum of driver license or the subject politics in the bachelor’s degree in public administration and management. I remember doing it seven times until finally I passed it.

Anyway, getting back to the point, I went to the canteen I gave a hug to Angela. I couldn’t believe it!! At least, I had passed the FCE. Afterwards, Olibhe, my teacher and the rest of my classmates congratulated me. I felt the happiest person in the world. I was over the moon. January and February were very hard. I had studied a lot. I made a great effort. I deserved it.

My best part of the exam as I had imaged it was writing. Consequently, I can say that doing this blog helped me to pass the exam.

THE LAST GOODBYE

I can't tell you how much I appreciate
everything  she had done for me

It has been 10 days since I said goodbye to Daiana and Claudia. The 28 th of March was the last day that they were in Naas. On Friday morning, Shane, who is the manager of the academy gave the English’s certificate to Daiana and Claudia and everyone had the opportunity to say goodbye to them. Although I didn’t do it until the night where we met up at Grace’s pub.

In the afternoon, I gave a letter to Daiana and I also made a video for her with some photos. I put all the pictures that we’re in together and I put music in. It was pretty cool. She liked it. I think it was a nice present. I have to say that she’s very special to me. We spent a lot of time together. We both made a great effort with the FCE exam. Whatever the find result is, she deserves to pass the exam. Her progress and effort was great and admirable. We shared great and wonderful moments together. It’s a pity she isn’t here. I wish she was here. Although, wherever she is and whatever she does I wish her all my best.

What about Claudia? Claudia is a good egg as well. She’s jolly and an open minded girl. I’m sure that she’ll find a job soon and she’ll be happy. Good luck, Claudia.

The vast majority of the school were in Grace´s pub that night. It was the last goodbye. We were sharing secrets and anecdotes. A great night. Daiana’s flight was at 6.30 am so she was the first girl to say goodbye to everyone. It was an emotional moment. She had been living in Ireland for over 1 year. So many friends and experiences.

I decided to go along with her to her house. I was terribly sad. My best friend is gone. I´ll never her see again. At least, I had the opportunity to know her but it wasn’t enough. That’s the life. People in and out of your life even though some of them should enter forever not jus for a few short time. It’s not fair!! Even so, who knows? Someday we can see each other again. I hope and wish it.

DAIANA AND CLAUDIA'S FAREWELL

On the 22 nd. of March, we celebrated Claudia and Daiana’s leaving party in my house. Two weeks before I asked my hostmum if I could have a party in the house. At the beginning she didn’t like the idea too much because I said to her that there will be around 15 people. My idea was to have a barbacue party in the garden. They have an enormeous and beautiful garden with a barbacue included. I thought that it’ll be a great idea.

Eventually she agreed to it. From the moment I started to organise the party. I said to everyone that I was organising a barbacue party for Daiana’s and Claudia’s leaving in my house and they were invited.

As I previously mentioned, the first idea was to have a barbacue party if the weather was good, in other words, if it wasn’t raining. During that week I was watching the weather on the Internet and it was getting worse so finally we had to have the party inside. Everybody brought something to eat or drink. For instance, Nora made a Spanish omelette, Claudia made a chocolate cake, Natty made sushi. Others students brought drinks. In conclusion, everybody brought something.

In addition, we put a pot of money together to buy something more. With that money I bought chicken, pizzas, chips and more beers just in case. I made fajitas, nachos and also I made a Spanish omelette.

For that special moment I decorated the place as well. The dining room is spacious and comfortable for everyone but it needed to be decorated. I bought a yellow sheet of cardboard which I wrote a message on for them, I also cut their names out from the card and I put them on the wall. I also bought balloons and shamrock decorations. In short, the dining room looked more funny and colourful.

The party started at 5 pm and everyone was punctual. We put all the food on the table and we began to eat it. Everything was delicious and tasty. My hostmum made a Pavola cake it was tasty. After we finished the dinner, we started to drink and dance. The party was successful. Everyone enjoyed it a lot. We took some pictures with Daiana and Claudia. It was a special moment. Two of my best friends were going back to their countries.

We finished the party at 10.30 pm, however, the party went on in the Court Hotel. All of us went there. We were dancing and drinking until 2.00 pm. At that time my body said “stop”. The day had been long and I was tired. Even so, I felt satisfied because everything had been fantastic. The leaving party had been a success, however, I was dissapointed just because in one week I’m never going to see Daiana again. I’ll never forget her.

 

It was time to have dinner

At the Court Hotel

Enjoying the party

APRIL FOOLS' DAY

The blog that I wrote the latest it isn't true. It was a joke. On Tuesday was the April fools' day that it means is the innocent's day. In Spain we celebrate this day on the 28 th. of December. So, happy April fool's day to everyone!!! hahaha

HELP ME

I don’t know what I do. I have a big, personal problem and I don’t know how I can solve it. I’ll tell you the story. If you were me, what would you do??

Last Sunday morning I was training with the children as I do every Sunday. Everything was going perfectly until the last exercise. Damn it!!

I’d prepared an exercise which it consists of maintaing the football without losting it. It’s a possession drill. I explained it and I showed the demostration with three players and I. We were playing the drill when suddenly the football was between one player and I. I, firstly, hit the ball but the boy put his leg at the same time. Unfortunately, I hit the leg’s boy as well. It wasn’t hard but the boy started to cry.

He, immediately, brought their hands to his leg. He didn’t stop crying and yelling. Everybody was alarmed. I tried to calm him down but it wasn’t possible. It was getting worse. I didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly, I could see his leg. It wasn’t normal. His right shin was injured. Oh, my God!! It had broken. I didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident. Poor little boy.

The rest of the coaches were calling to his parents. They appeared in 30 minutes and a few minutes later an ambulance came. The boy went straight to the hospital. The head coach said to me: don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault. But I was anxious. You know. Different country, different language. Nothing that the coach said to me was enough to alleviate my sorrow.

In the afternoon, I was thinking over and over again what I did. Why am I? What did I do wrong? What could I do? A lot of questions, no answers. Actually, it was an accident. It was bad luck. This kind of things happen sometimes.

However, the worst part was coming yesterday. I received an email from the parent’s boy. They told me that his child has broken his leg and he has to be operated on. The cost of the operation is over 3000 euros and they aren’t going to pay anything. They told me that it was my fault and they want me to pay for all the operation. They told with their lawyers and if I don’ pay it, they call to the police. They are threatening me.

Really, I don’t know what to do but I’m in big trouble.

IRISH DANCE

Last week I was in Hayden’s pub. We went there because we wanted to learn how to Irish dance. Anyway, the place is typical in Irish, with people chatting and drinking beer. To tell the truth I went there just to drink and see how people dance because I don’t like dancing too much. Apparently, it isn’t difficult.

There was an Irish guy who taught us a few steps. At the beginning I tried it but quite honestly it was boring. I prefer another kind of music. No doubt, I have hot blood. Haha. At least, I tried it. To be honest, it was easy. I thought that it will be difficult but you only have to move your feet forward and back. So to speak, it’s like doing aerobics but with different music.

The night started at 9.00 pm. For me, obviously, it was early because I usually have dinner at 9.30 pm. So basically, I had dinner before. We went with the school. It was a social programme and there were a lot of us. They stood us a beer.

As I was saying, I danced only for the first 20 minutes. Afterwards, I was chatting with the Spanish girls in the smoking area. We talked about Claudia and Daiana’s leaving party. The idea is to have a barbacue party. I mean, with hamburgers, sausages, bacon, french fries.. but the only and main problem is the weather. Quite honestly, we’ll have to change the idea. We’ll see it.

Anyway, getting back to what I was saying about the night in Hayden’s. I’d like to say that some of us we enjoying it, specially the japanese girls. However, others, like me, went on chatting. Moreover, the pub offered us a portion of pizza. There were very nice to us. I’m grateful. It was a good idea. Natty, took pictures and I recorded a video although the images aren’t good because thre wasn’t enough light. Therefore, I had to delete the video. It was rubbish. Finally, I said goodbye to everybody and I went home.

So, in conclusion the night was really good. I learned some Irish steps and I spent a few hours in good company.

Ñan, ñan.. tasty pizza

Sandra dancing

Chatting and drinking in the smoking area

ST PATRICK´S DAY (PART II)

Special green lager

The parade finished at 1.30 pm. The group was split into 2 groups. People over 18 years old and under 18. Our group went to Temple bar. We were looking for a place to drink a beer but all pubs were crowded. Therefore, it was impossible to enter. Finally we decided to go to a different area so we went to Dublin 2. At last, we found one. There weren’t a lot of people so we decided go in. Some of us drank Guiness but I prefered to drink a green lager. The taste was similar to normal lager with green colouring. Not too bad. We met Italian guys. They were there spending their days for St Patrick’s. We were talking a little bit with them. Nice people.

One hour later we went to St Stephen Green. It was time to have lunch. The park was crowded as well. The weather was cloudy, but at least, it wasn’t raining. After having lunch we went to another pub. This time, the pub was bigger than the other one and in addition there was live music. We were drinking but I could see the faces of the people and I felt that everybody was exhausted. The day had been hard.

We came back close to Ha Penny bridge. The bus was waiting for us. It was 6 pm. Shane’s group arrived 10 minutes later. In the end, we came back to Naas. Cristina and Katha wanted to continue the party in Grace’s pub. They asked me if I wanted to join them. It wasn’t late so I didn’t mind. It was curious because there wasn’t anybody inside. Everybody had been in Dublin. We had a beer and talked about how we had enjoyed the day.

In conclusion, we had an incredibly, amazing day. The experience was unbelievable. I hope to repeat it some year.

Watching the parade

The group at St. Stephen green

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

St. Stephen's green

I felt extremely tired last week because on 17 of March was a hard day. What did I do? I was experiencing St Patrick’s day in Dublin. I’ve been in St. Patrick’s before with Pichaldo. But this time was different and it was incredible. There could have been over half a million people in the streets. It’s a manner of speaking but plenty of people. The day started early. I went to the school. There were 24 of us. Most of them from Japan. Everybody had to put something green on therefore I wore my green sweater. On the bus, Daiana painted my face with the Irish’s flag although she painted it wrong. She painted the flag in different order: orange, white and green. I didn’t notice it until I saw the pictures. Nevertheless I saw Claudia’s face and she painted the flag with horizontal lines instead of vertical lines.

As I was saying I went to the school to Dublin by bus. After one hour we arrived at O’Connell street. Everybody was very excited because it was a different day for everyone. When we got off the bus, we went to the souvenir shop. I needed to buy something extravagant such as a bow tie, hat, shamrock pins.... finally I bought a big, colourful hat. We took some pictures and we went to the coffee shop. We needed stamina for the day. While I was drinking my coffe I burnt my tongue. I’ve never drink anything so hot. OMG!!, I had to drink water for alleviating my tongue.

We were walking up and down until we found a place to watch the parade. The mexican girls were in the first row and they saw the parade perfectely nonetheless the rest of us had to watch it in the pavement. Consequently, we didnt’t watch anything. The parade lasted roughly one hour although we couldn’t watch see anything I didn’t mind because the atmosphere was amazing. Everybody was dressed up and people were very cheerful.... To be continued.

Avanti Academy

Some of the students with the manager

FIRST CERTIFICATE EXAM (PART II)

Daiana and myself

The day of the exam I got up early. It was roughly 6.30 am and I didn’t sleep well. You know. I was thinking of doing the exam properly. Fortunately, Daiana’s host mum gave us a lift to the university. The exam took place at UCD university in Dublin. As I told you in the previous blog the FCE lasted 4 hours. We started at 9.00 am and we finished around 3 pm. There were 2 shorts breaks between each part and a big break to have lunch. The vast majority of people were from Spain. It looked like Madrid. Everybody talked Spanish and most surprising was that they were very young people, in their twenties. Even I saw a tiny percentage of them under 18. Unbelievable!!!

When we finished doing the exam, we went to Dublin. Daiana had an arrangement with Manon. She’s a girl from France who had studied in the summer. They went shopping but I prefered to go back to Naas. I was tired and I needed to rest.

I arrived at Naas at 5.30 pm and I took a nap. I was so exhausted. Later I arranged to meet the girls at Eddie Rockets. Eddie Rocket’s is a fast food restaurant similar to Foster Hollywood in Spain. There were Daiana, Cristina, Manon and I.

Afterwards we went to Grace’s. We were there only one hour and after we went to the Court Hotel. We were drinking and dancing. I heard the song “Macarena”. I couldn’t believe it. It was 15 years ago the last time I heard that song. People were dancing to it. It was so funny!!! In the end, Daiana and I went home early because we both were tired. The day had been long and hard.

Daiana, Manon and Cristina

FIRST CERTIFICATE EXAM

I’m going to talk about everything what I’ve done in the previous months. My live could be summed up in only one word: study. Consequently, I couldn’t write in the blog, but now I’m back!!!

Daiana and I were preparing for the FCE (first certificate exam) for  the previous 2 months. It had been a hard times but I don’t regret it and now I’m happy for having done the exam with her. She had been a supportive person to me. Thanks Daiana for your help and your advice.

Two weeks before I did the speaking part. This is the part of the exam that everybody is anxious about. Nevertheless, it could be the easiest part. I understand why people are nervous is because I also was. The situation isn’t easy because you’re in front of the examiner and he/she is asking you some questions and you have to answer him/her. It’s important to keep calm and try to say something. It doesn’t matter what you say. It only lasts 15 minutes. I felt confident although I had a little bit bad luck.

Normally the exam is in pairs but in my case there were three. One of the students before me didn’t appear and I had to do the speaking part in a group of three. Actually it’s the same structure but you never know if the score is the same or it could be less because you speak less than the rest of the people. I reckon that it’s a disadvantage. Any way, I did the best I could and for me that’s the most important thing.

Last week was the main part: reading, writing, grammar and listening. In this case the exam lasts four hours. I know it’s a long time. I’ve heard that next year the exam will be different. The same parts but with less content, therefore, it will be shorter. I believe that it’s better. 4 hours is too much.

The first part was reading. It lasted 1 hour. It was my worst part. I thought that it’ll be my best but in fact it was my worst. There are 3 readings and you must read each part in roughly 20 minutes. I spent almost 25-30 minutes in the first part. The articles were with a lot of phrasal verbs and the vocabulary was very hard and tricky. In conclusion it wasn’t easy. Everybody shared the shame opinion as me.

The next part was writing. There are 2 parts in the writing. The first part is a letter. It’s compulsary. In our exam it was an email and the second part is a report, article or essay. You have to choose what you prefer to do. I chose an essay about the difference between living in a very cold city and living in a very hot city. I think I did very good compositions although this part it’s very subjetive. Consequently, it’ll depend on the examiner.

The third part was “use of English”. I mean, grammar. It used to be my worst part but I think I’ve improved a lot and I did it well.

Afterwards we did the last part: listening. I’m glad about how I did it but sometimes you think that people are talking about something and they say something that it’s completely different but you don’t understand. As a result of that you put one answer and it’s another completely different. I have to trust in my listening and I think that the first impression was right.

To sump up, except for the reading the rest of the exam I did well. I did my best. Could it be enough? I don’t know. Only time will say. I’ll know the results more or less in four weeks. Meanwhile it’s high time I relaxed. I prefer not to think any more about the FCE. It’s done and nobody is going to change it.

TAKING A BREAK

Hi guys, I’m going to take a rest until finishing my exam. I need to prepare my FCE exam and for that reason I don’t have enough time to write you. By 10^th. of March I’ll have finished my exam and I´ll be writting you again. Anyway, if there is something interesting in these days, I’ll write you a message. On the other hand I hope that everybody is fine.

Best regards,

MY LAST WEEKEND

Last weekend I was in Eddie Rockets on Friday night. We went to have dinner. There were 4 of us. Silvia, Cristina and two morer girls. I don’t remember their names. I’m very bad at remembering names. One girl is from Avila. She lives close to Caceres and she studies in the academy. She works as an Au-pair in Newbridge. The other girl is from Spaina too. She’s from Malaga. I like her accent (Andalusian accent) and she works as an au-pair as well but she doesn’t come to the school. She arrived in Naas 2 weeks ago. After finishing our dinner we went to Grace’s. We were drinking and listening to the live music. It was fantastic. The band was really good. Probably the best group that I’ve listened to in Naas at the moment. Good songs and sound. I feel a bit jealous of other people when I see them playing the electric guitar. I wish I had played the electric guitar when I was a teenager. Probably some day I’ll play it. It´s never too late. I know that it isn’t easy but I’d like to do it.

In the pub we saw more people from the academy. It’s nice when you see people who you know because you can talk to them.

On Saturday morning. I arranged to meet with Daiana in the academy. She is going to do the FCE as I’m going to. Two brave people. The rest of the class will do the exam in June. We were preparing the speaking and listening. We spent all morning there. At the moment I think that she’s a little bit nervous. It will be her first time and I know that it isn’t easy when you don’t know exactly how the exam is. She needs to feel more confident.

Finally, on Sunday morning I got up at 8.15 am because I was training with the children in Kildare football academy. We’ve switched the facilities. From now on, we’ll work out in Kilcullen. There are 2 astro pitches there and in winter it’s better than working out on the natural pitches.

At Grace's pub

MICHAEL JORDAN

One of the most important people in my life is Michael Jordan. When I was a child I was a supporter of the Los Angeles Lakers in the nineties. Magic Johnson was my idol but I have to recognize that Michael Jordan had a special talent. There is no doubt that Jordan has been one of the best sportmen in the world. Recently I’ve read one quote about him. He talks about how important it is to never give up. He won a lot of Championships and MVP (most valuable player, not confuse with Messi-Villa-Pedro) in his life. However, he failed in a lot of matches. During the games he always tried to shoot the last ball. Sometimes he scored the shoot and sometimes he failed it.

I’ve tried to compare my life with his life. Yeah, I know, the only thing that I have in common with Michael Jordan is the name. Nevertheless the comparison is between his games (titles) and my exams (degrees).

I have 3 degrees. My first degree was in Administration in 1998. It took me over 4 years. After that I did a sports degree in 2003. Finishing my degree only took me 3 years and the last one was in 2010. It was education and I did it in 1 year.

What I want to tell you is that I’ve done more than 640 exams in my life. I’ve failed almost 110 exams. 3 times, I’ve done the FCE and failed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

What happens if I don’t pass the exam. Nothing. It’s just an exam. One more in my life.  I’ll try again in May or June. Here, in Spain or Mozambique but the most important thing is never stop. Always keep going. As Rafa Nadal says: Vamos!!!

FCE

Last week I've decided to do the FCE (first certificate in English – B2). It’s my fourth time that I’ll do it. I think that every time is different and this time will be different too. At the begining I thought to do the CAE because if you fail the exam (but your score is between 45-59), you would have the FCE. And I don’t believe that there is a big difference between one and the other.

Eventually I changed my mind and I’ve decided to do the FCE because preparing for the CAE could take me more time and I don’t have enough time, I want to have an English certificate before May or June.

So I’m going to do the exam on the 8^th of March. Even though it looks like far away, it isn’t because times goes quickly here. I can’t believe it but in March I’ll have been living in Naas for 5 months. 

MEALS

Meatballs

Everyone asks me what I’m eating in Ireland and who cooks the meals. Everybody wants to know what time I´m having lunch or dinner. Well, I’m going to tell you everything about the meals. I’m the cook. Nobody prepares the meals for me. I don’t think that I’m a bad cook what I mean is that my level isn’t as Chicote or Locote but I’m trying to do my best. I enjoy cooking but I don’t like washing the plates up after preparing the meals. I live with an Irish family. They rent me a room and I can use whatever I want in the kitchen. I have my own room in the fridge and my own shelf where I put anything like milk, vegetables, meat, fresh products, fruit and so on. I’ll usually have lunch at 13.30 pm and I’ll make pasta, rice, meat, beans, carrots... I’ve never made lentils and chickpeas so I decided to made them one day. It was curious because I only put a few bunches of lentils into the pot but later it grew up too much. So, I was eating lentils for three days running. My Irish family has a big ice box but it is full of food consequently it’s impossible to put anything inside so I have to eat all the food before it expires.

I remember one of my first day in Ireland. I went to Tesco and I bought salt but I had bought a light salt by mistake so the next day when I prepared the meal I used it. Consequently, when I ate it the meal was so mild that I had to use all the salt.

I like having dinner at 9.30 as I have in Spain but in my house I have one problem and it’s that my family hates the smell of oil. They have a different schedule than me and they’ll have dinner at 6.30 pm so at 9.00 pm the kitchen is tidy.

The next day after my first day I cooked my dinner but they asked me if I didn’t mind cooking in a different cooker. They have 2 cookers. The biggest is in the kitchen and the other one is in the laundry room. The problem is that in the laundry room is a very cold place. It doesn’t have radiator as a result it’s impossible to cook at night. The only solution for me is to make something in the oven, so everyday I eat pizza or paninis for dinner. I know that it isn’t healthy but I prefer pizza to feeling cold doing something different.

Best wishes,

Chickpeas with chorizo

Spaghettis carbonara

BADMINTON

Last week I played badminton in Naas. Badminton is a sport that I like playing because it's very easy to play and you don’t need to be fit. In addition it's a sport that there isn't contact with your opponent so it's more difficult to be injured. Someone told me that in Naas there's a badminton club and they play at Naas GAA sport centre so I checked on the internet and I saw that they'll play every Monday from 8 to 10 and Thursday from 9 to 11pm. Monday is a bad day for me because I have football training from 6 to 8 and I don't have a car so it is impossible to be on time but yesterday I didn't have work out so I decided to go there. The naas GAA sport centre is a little bit far from my house although I went by foot. It wasn't raining so I didn't mind going. The sport centre has only 3 badminton courts. The ceiling is high and the floor is made of wood so it's perfect for playing badminton although the walls are close to the lines. Not everything could be perfect. I didn't have a racket so I asked for one. Some guy had spare racket and he gave it to me. There were 19 people so what does it mean? It's very simple there were more people than there were courts. In every court only 4 people can play so 7 people had to rest. The rule is: you play one game with any mate and when you finish the game you have to rest. You play around 10-15 minutes and you take a break for 5-7 minutes. I have to tell you that I didn’t like it. I like to play continuously. Another thing that I didn’t like it was that you have to play with any mate. It means that you play with people who are a different level than you are. My level is OK, it isn’t high and it isn’t low. Yesterday I had to play with people who have a very low level. It was very boring. I’m very competitive and I like to win but when I play with people who haven’t enough skill I can’t focus on the game and I can’t stand it. To sum up, the expierence was good. I had the opportunity to look how people play badminton in Naas but I’d change a lot of things about it.

Regards,

NEW YEAR EVE

Made in Spain

I came back to Ireland on 27 of December so I was at New Year Eve in Naas. It was my first time that I spent my New Year Eve in another country. I’ve always been in Spain at that time. At the beginning I didn’t know what I was doing at New Year Eve but I spoke with Daiana and we decided to do something special. We though of the idea to have dinner in some restaurant before going to the party. Daiana knew one restaurant in Naas called “Tenours” because she had been there before. She told me that the restaurant was good and the prices of the meal weren’t too expensive so we finally decided to go there. We talked with Cristina and her polish friend, Jolie and Natty. There were six of us. We met at 8 pm there and we ate salad and prawns for sharing as a starter and everybody ordered different things for the main course. We drank wine and red wine. We talked about our Christmas traditions in Spain and Natty told us what the japanese christmas traditions are. Also we talked about our Christmas holidays. After we finished our meal we went to the Court Hotel. The pub opened at 10.00 pm and we paid 15 euros for enter. We put our coats in the cloakroom and we went inside the pub. We were drinking and dancing until it was 11.55 pm. In that moment we went to the smoking area (also called rulas area) and Cristina tuned the spanish TV on her mobile phone and she shared the grapes with us. Everyone had twelve grapes. When the clock was 12.00 pm it stroke each second and we ate each grape until the last strike. Afterwards we proposed a toast for the New Year. I hope that this year will be better than the last one. We took pictures for memories and we went inside again.I drank some glasses but not to much because I didn’t want to be drunk. People in Ireland drink a lot. I saw a lot of people very drunk and when they drink, they are very agressive and crazy. We danced and laughed until 2.00 am. Then the pub closed and everybody went home. Daiana lives close to me so I went with her and we talked a little bit and we said goodbye each other. New Year, new life.

Having dinner with some of my friends

Proposing a toast for New Year 

Daiana with her mask and I with my bow tie

DAILY ROUTINE

I'll usually get up at 8.10 am immediately I'll have breakfast. My breakfast consists on milk with chocolate and cornflakes although I'll sometimes have some chocolote muffins. I don't like taking breakfast with coffee. After I have breakfast I´ll upstairs to my room and I'll put my clothes on. At 8.50 am I'll go to the English academy. I'll go to the academy everyday except Friday. It takes only me only 10 minutes to go there. The class runs for 4 hours with a break of 20 minutes. We'll do different activities during the morning. When the class is finished I'll go back home.
I arrive at 13.15 pm I'll usually check my accounts in like facebook and hotmail and I surf the net as well. Thirty minutes later I'll make the meal from 2.30-3.00 pm I try to modify the meals every week although when I'll prepare something I make it for two days so the next day I don't need to make anything. Afterwards I'll usually take a rest I don't like the nap as all spanish people love to do because I spend a lot of time. Only during the weekend I'll take one because I have more free time. At 3.00 pm I'll often go to the library. I prefer to study in the library than my room for two reasons: the first that I don't have a table in my room so for me it's impossible to write properly on the bed and second the library is warmer than my room. I'll study until 6.00 pm because I have my training with the football team until 8.00 pm. It's only Monday and Wednesday. The rest of the week I'm in the library until 7.00-7.30pm. 
After I finish my study or my work out I'll go to Tesco to buy something. At the end of the day the price of some products is discounted and you can buy bargain things. At 8.00-8.30 I'll go running or watch TV until I'll have my dinner at 9.00 pm. At 10.00 pm I'll often watch TV in the dining room or I'll watch some serie on the net or I'll do whatever thing until midnight. At that moment I'll go bed.

Studying room in the library