"soulsound"

last night was the debut performance of david and jessica's band which has now been officially named soulsound - a little misleading as they are a heavy rock band!! not really my music as such but they played really well and were really tight so i was impressed in that sense. was also impressed with little liam's breakdancing skills - see pic! got drunk (again, oh dear!) and got back about half 3, dreading the thought of my alarm going off!! met a great girl called carmen who works in costume for feature films and she said if she gets work with english production companies in the future she will give me a call - i didn't even have to ask, it was her suggestion! then when my spanish is up to scratch i can work for spanish companies too. she said she wants someone who understands the industry and the hours rather than someone who knows wardrobe work because that can be taught on the job. we got on really well so i was gutted to learn she was only up for the weekend from madrid - could do with a proper girlfriend here. oh well, brilliant contact made! hooray!

truckasaurus!

it does go by another, slightly less user friendly name which i won't mention here, but this little baby is danae's mode of transport/habitation when on the road, and it's fab! fully equipped with hundreds of cupboards, a sink and stove, a double bed and a nifty sound system i was frankly honoured to take a ride in it and thought she deserved a post of her own. ps. the beauty draped on her is lena mid-hangover!! x

the aftermath

i think the pictures say it all - we weren't feeling our best on saturday morning. headed to the beach and crashed out for a while, then had some food at tito's. it was a longlasting hangover, i didn't perk up until about 7pm!

who invented alcohol?

i wouldn't know whether to shake them by the hand or throttle them! have had a good couple of nights since my last updated, so lots to say! had a fab visit on friday from lena and her sister danae (for those who don't know, lena is a brainteaser buddy from bristol and danae is her sister who happens to live down the coast from me!). so they came up friday afternoon and we went to the beach for a while then after work we all hit the town! needless to say, muchos alcohol was consumed! danae was on a dancefloor mission so lena and i headed back to the flat around 4am and proceeded to raid the fridge and cupboard for anything instantly edible! it was a true feeding frenzy, and i am sorry to report that devoted vegetarian lena lapsed in a BIG way as she cained the vacuum packed frankfurters!! i managed to create a lake of ketchup on my plate for dunking purposes then decided to cook a tortilla (again vacuum packed) but as the instructions were in spanish i had to follow the pictures. it went in the microwave for a few minutes, we skipped the oven section, then into a pan for literally seconds before we decided we couldn't wait any longer and tucked into that too!! at the time it was a veritable feast but the carnage the next morning was less appealing!!

it's official...

... i am now a resident of mojacar!! well kind of i think - have had my passport verified and the copy stamped so i can now apply for my social security number so i can work legally! felt quite proud to have official documentation of my residence in spain, silly but true!! x

happy birthday daddy!

another day, another birthday! dad has a problem with the internet so he won't see this until my mum gets back from france and prints it off for him (!) but i'll say it anyway - have a wonderful birthday daddy - here's to a slightly less eventful summer this year!! i'm chuffed as well because, as usual, i left things to the last minute when sending dad's pressies and when i went to the post office i didn't know the spanish for special delivery (i.e. needs to get the there quick!) so i only got charged 58 cents (about 40p) and was told it would take 6 days - for that price i would've been lucky if it turned up this year! 6 days would've taken it to this weekend but lo and behold, it turned up this morning! couldn't have timed it better if i'd tried!! so everyone have a drink today for my dad, i'm sure he'll be having a few! love you daddy xxx

coming to a commercial break near you!

forgot to mention this before, but i was gutted when i realised that my good friend rich's big tv ad appearance would be happening while i was without english tv, but i found his pot noodle ad on the internet (www.youtube.com) and its great!! very funny - set in a welsh "noodle mine", brilliant! its showing now so look out for him. there are more to follow as well, should be another good campaign for them xxx

last but not least...

... socks! craig's staffy dog - she's very sweet, and LOVES being out and about, she was tearing around all over the place today. no other news to report - first day at my new job tomorrow which should be cool, then i start properly in a couple of weeks, just before the moors and christians festival here in mojacar - it's their big annual event, so the town will be packed!

introducing...

...some people in my mojacar life - liam and lucia, who i babysit for, and jess (liam's mum) and craig. liam's dad oscar is the one with his gut out making paella in the last pictures!! oscar and jess are all set to get married this autumn!

hola chicos!!

how is everybody? i seem to be slacking on the blog front and i apologise - at least i'm not boring you every day! went out for a few bevvies last night and then today a big group of us headed up into the mountains for a bbq. it was great up there - a big picnic spot right in the middle of nowhere up miles of dirt track, i have no idea how they found the place originally! we got settled in for the day and the boys made some amazing paella and we had the best tortilla i've tasted so far, plus chorizo, sausages, salads etc etc. YUM. check out the piccies...

so...

...thats it from my lovely city trip. you were lucky to get away with so few photos - i could have bored you with twice as many, but they take so bloody long to upload!! my other good news is that it looks like i've finally landed a dayjob, at a cute little place called cafe lala, and what's more i'll be working for two gayers!! hooray, my quota is back up!! bring on the innuendo and gossip - they're take that fans to boot, it's almost like i shipped them out especially from endemol!! ha ha! speak soon my sweets xxx

palacio episcopal

hung out with the nuns here - well, said buenos dias at least - and then felt a little slutty in my itsy pink vest top so put my cardy on!

a load of bull...

...and a bride about to get married! x

museo taurino

ok, now for a gruesome side to spanish culture - turn away now animal lovers!! i went to the bullfighting museum, run by the bullfighting club of murcia - they're pretty serious about their toros out here! it looked just like a cafe from outside but a friendly waiter called jose (more on him later) assured me the museum was inside and gave me a quick tour before leaving me to look around. there are heads of famous kills lining the walls, plus videos of famous matadors - they're like celebrities out here, second only to footballers apparently. anyway, i watched a bit of the video and wasn't overly impressed - the bull is at a disadvantage from the beginning as it has flags stuck into its back to slow it down and stop it from being able to raise its head into a dangerous position for charging. then it is taunted by the chief matador which can be very skillful, but essentially cruel and a bit dull - the bull is obviously struggling which somehow takes away from the machismo of the matador. plus, it would be nice for the bull to just go for the man rather than the red cloth - its frustrating really. then when the matador turns his back and struts for the crowd, you kind of wish the bull would have a pop at him when he's least expecting it!! anyway, i was initially unimpressed and went back out the front to the cafe/bar and ordered a beer. only to panic when i realised i didn't have any money left!! luckily, i chose to ask jose how much i owed him for the beer, and he said it was on him!! hooray for being a girl! we had a chat and exchanged emails, he said he'll get us tickets for los toros in september through the club so we can go and watch together - until then we are emailing each other. all helps the spanish after all!! back at the bus station at the end of the day, i watched the big toros in madrid which was being televised and watched by a number of old boys in the bar there. there was a matador called sebastian castella and he was fascinating to watch. he has a lot more flair than the others i've seen and i was drawn in. call it morbid fascination i guess, but i'm hooked. slightly guilt-ridden, but hooked!!

paseo del malecon

decided to have a siesta whilst waiting for the museums to reopen at 5pm, so headed for a big public garden that lies along the river, just outside the old town. lay under a little blossom tree in the shade and actually fell asleep - waking only to see groups of school children pointing at the tramp girl!! am paying for it now as well - have welts all over my legs from some bug or other that decided i was lunch. little bastard!!

plaza catalina

headed to plaza catalina for a mooch and to see the ramon gaya museum - he's a famous murcian painter and the museum is in a gorgeous town house there - not a big fan of his work, but the house was beautiful!

traperia and cathedral

so, went off armed with info and map, took in a couple of the main old streets on the way to the cathedral which is stunning. its quite a hustle bustle place, and there are some amazing clothes shops and nice little cafes...it's quite parisian really. there was a guy playing an accordian, and i ended up sat outside an italian cafe - very cosmopolitan! the waiter came and i asked for the menu - he said "you like cake?" hell yeh (spanish equivalent used) but then thought - shit, i look like a girl who likes cake...it was good cake though!!

piccies part 1

close call

first off, i nearly missed the bus!! i was sitting at the wrong bus stop on the wrong side of the road (doh!) as i wasn't sure which way out of mojacar it would be going. the bus was ten minutes late and i started panicking that i was in totally the wrong place when i saw it come round the corner up ahead and stop at the bus stop across the road. i literally jumped in front of it as it came towards me and then ran round the wrong side of the bus to get on, much to the bemusement of the driver. i then thought i'd better check he was going to murcia - it was like a comedy sketch! "murcia?", "que?", "murcia?" "como?", then he turns round and asks the spanish couple sitting behind him...they shrugged and shook their heads. then a guy a few seats back piped up "where you wanna go miss?" and i said "murcia". so he says to the driver "blah blah blah murcia" and he goes "aaaahh, murcia". i was like, yeh thats what i said?? it was like deliberate not understanding of the foreigner!! i said it exactly the same as everyone else...i give up!! anyway, i was on the bus and off to murcia so it was all good, especially when i looked around and saw a total honey sat a couple of seats back. as i turned back round i pulled a "phwoar" face to myself, only to be caught in the act by another hottie getting on the bus in front of me...very embarassing!! finally got to murcia, a little bleary-eyed, and spent about half an hour scaling the perimeter of the bus station hoping to figure out the way towards the centre of town (and hopefully a tourist office with a map!). was elated to finally find it, albeit after a very pleasant wander round some nice areas, and be able to plan a course of action to include all the major sites. sat outside the teatro romea to have a drink and get my bearings, and a guy came up and said hello. assuming he was the waiter i ordered an orange juice, only to realise that he was actually begging for money. again, rather embarassing!!

so much to say!

hi guys, sorry for not updating sooner but i was becoming aware that i didn't have much to say for myself! not so anymore, lots to report. first off, thank you to leece, cam and (and mum of course) for getting me through a rubbish day or two. feeling much better now you'll be pleased to hear! so, i met the newspaper guy (i should start referring to him by name from now, it's lenox!) lenox was great and we had a nice chat. there's no regular work there unfortunately but i will be writing a few pieces for him now and again in the hope of getting them published. i had sent him some extracts from this blog and he has a sneaky programme that finds them on the net for you, so he took a look - not the best way of meeting a potential employer when they've seen you naked online...or is it?! not something i had planned anyway!! yes eddie, i know you tell me this is the way forward, but its not my style!!

then i was given a long weekend off work (paid as well!) as it's stuart and sharon's wedding anniversary, so i thought i'd take a trip to murcia, a relatively nearby city, and the next posts will be about that with LOTS of piccies! it was a fab day, although tiring - i had to get up at 5am to get my coach, and then didn't get back til after midnight - its about 2 and a half hours away. but it was definitely worth it and i recommend it as a place to visit - lots of beautiful old buildings, nice atmosphere, everyone i met was really friendly AND there are some great shops including two big el corte ingles stores, which is the major department store out here. very cool. read on through the posts for more murcia.... x

happy birthday grace!

may 9th - last night/this morning was a weird night. a mojacar lady called rosie, who my dad knows well along with the rest of mojacar, was telling me how she met her late husband les on 9th may 1973. 9th may is a significant day for her, and the same for me. may 9th was when i first met my beautiful godaughter grace - a day i'll never forget. speaking to rosie made me realise the circular nature of time - it continues to move and provide meaning for everybody - i felt quite moved by the whole thing if i'm honest! could've been the vodka i guess! the main reason for sending this post is to wish my darling grace the best happy birthday ever all the way from spain. i hope you're having a wonderful first birthday baby girl - i'm sorry i couldn't be there to celebrate with you, but i found some of your friends here in mojacar and they all wish you a very happy birthday. lots of love pudding xxx

day off

hi all! not much to report right now - have had a lazy day on the beach today and going out for some food in a bit. babysat friday night - you know it's gonna be a long night when the kid bursts into tears as soon as he sees you! managed to calm him down but in the process the big labrador Mambo had got himself a bit excited and tried to hump my leg....disturbing to say the least. that's the most action i've seen in months, sad but true! x

feeling homesick :o(

having a down moment - missing everyone from bristol and marlow. thought i'd post some pictures of home....things are fine by the way, so don't worry! just having a moment x

rainy days

it's chucking it down!! can you believe it? yesterday was hot and sunny and then last night we had loads of thunder and lightening and then the heavens opened and look set to stay open for the next few days. great! had a lovely lunch on the beach yesterday and mooched about the shops. sharon has told me where to get every magazine from england that you can think of! oh dear, there goes all my money! will be seeking out grazia v soon. went to join the video shop yesterday, armed with a hashed together phrase about wanting to become a member (could've gone horribly wrong!) but when i got there, it was just a hole in the wall - one of these cash machine type dvd dispensers!! and the only shop it backed on to was an estate agents?? i was confused. i have since found out that it is indeed part of the estate agents (?) and provides a little sideline income for them. bizarre. once the rain stops i shall head down there. took a couple of piccies yesterday of the hills surrounding mojacar, and the beach but as usual the photos don't do it justice! here they are anyway... x