Folks,
It was back to school this week with full classes up and running. It was great to meet the students again, but a tiring week because I attended the National Conference for Teachers of English in Costa Rica, in my new head teacher role. So it was getting up at 6.30am and home after school at 9.15 at night.
Hello, El Salvador, can we have your votes?
-----------------------------------------------------
The NCTE conference is held in San Pedro in San José. It was opened by the American, Canadian and British ambassadors. The American ambassador’s speech was very political, and mainly boiled down to the patronising ‘the least we can do is teach these poor Ticos English in the hope that it will give them some chance in life’. The Canadian ambassador talked about the fact that a second language can enrich those who learn it, rather than in any way threatening their culture. And the British ambassador told everyone to speak the Queen’s English and not to be listening to those nasty Americans ruining it.
There were many interesting seminars, particularly for an inexperienced teacher like me. The most boring session was a presentation from an American grammarian who has published loads of books. Her address was broadcast by videolink to El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama. After an hour of the presentation, we then had an hour (a full hour!) of questions from the three countries. It was like Eurovision. And now we go to Guatemala. Hello Guatemala. Can we have your first question please?
Intercultura
--------------
I’ve really enjoyed my first week in school. It’s good seeing the students and catching up with them after so long. The new teachers have really integrated well into the team. Having lost about a third of the English department staff in December it’s amazing how quickly we are up and running with the new crew.
Two truths and a lie
------------------------
With new classes we have a range of icebreaker activities, to help everyone to get to know each other. One game is 2 truths and a lie. Where you reveal two true and one false fact about yourself. Mine were;
· I broke my leg ice-skating in New York
· I once played a school teacher in a TV programme
· I played Gaelic football for the Dublin team
The students felt that they couldn’t imagine me ice-skating and went for number one.
Teaching ‘Scottish’
----------------------
My boss Barbara called me in the other day, to give me a new private student. This guy specifically requested a teacher with a Scottish accent, because his company deals with people in Scotland a lot. As I’m the only non-North American on the staff now, she persuaded him that Irish was close enough. So I start with him tomorrow. I’ve been practising ‘There’s a moose loose about this hoose’ all weekend.
-----
So that’s a big week over. The start of the new semester. I missed updating you yesterday because we had a pool party in one of the new teachers’ houses, so I was home late. The pool in question was a kids’ blow up paddling pool. Which still ended up with people in it! Jack arrives back on Friday after 5 months Brown Thomas-ing in Dublin. So we’re really looking forward to getting back together after five months!
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Chilean court frees Pinochet’s daughter on bail
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
Back to School
Folks,
Rita finished her holiday this week, and headed back to Ireland on Friday. This week it was also back to school, with teacher training ahead of classes starting again tomorrow.
Rita’s departure
-------------------
Rita’s was here for over three weeks, but it seemed to fly by all the same. She enjoyed it, with the highlight being the volcano and the hot springs. I think she found Heredia difficult to get used to at first. There is absolutely nothing attractive about it as a town. It’s shabby and dirty and very Tico! But in the end I think she’d even become a little fonder of it, having adapted to the rhythm. She mentioned several times about the laid-back, unhurried nature of life in Costa Rica, which I guess I’ve become used to.
Back to school
-----------------
There were four days training this week. Two days for the seven new teachers, and two days for everyone together. It was great catching up with everyone. I was in great form, and I have to say I really love working in that school. I was involved on the training side(!) of the new teachers. They are all from the US and Canada, so I’m now the only teacher not from those two countries, following Tom from London’s departure. Taylor, one of the American guys, was offered a big trading job on Wall Street while he was home. He handed in his resignation to us, and took the job. It’s very well-paid, with the expectation that he’d be a millionaire by the time he’s 30 (he’s 24 now). After meeting his fellow workers, but before starting actual work, he realised that he’d made the wrong decision. So he phoned the school, got his job back, and quit Wall St. He’s now back earning buttons in the school.
Fugitives from justice
--------------------------
I regularly see notices in the paper that fugitives from justice in the US are found here in Costa Rica. It’s easy for them to get to, and the lack of addresses means that it’s more difficult to track them down. You can practically make up your own address. For example, I’m 300m west of the Post Office and 10m North / or 210m North of the Video store / or 200m east and 10m north of the Sports Complex. A recent Oprah Winfrey show highlighted ‘America’s most wanted fugitives’. One guy, a paedophile with over 120 convictions, was one of the guys highlighted. A viewer recognised him as a teacher in a neighbouring school here in Heredia, and he’s now been extradited back to the States. It’s really shocked people. He worked at Interamericana, the school where my friend Shane worked before returning to Ireland in July. It turns out he shared an apartment with Shane for 10 months.
Palmares
-------------
There is a big festival held every year in January in Palmares, about 45 minutes north of Heredia. It’s held in a huge tented city with many bars, amusements and fast food restaurants, along with dancing, live music and karaoke. We organised a trip out to it. It was a great way of getting the old and new teachers to mix and get to know each other. We hired a bus to and from the school, and spent the day there yesterday. I feel that I’m still recovering!
-----
So that’s it for this week. Classes start again tomorrow. It’s been a long holiday (since December 15th) and I’ve enjoyed the break. But I do feel I’m ready to get back to work. I could do with a bit of structure put back on my life!
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Youths pose questions for election candidates
Rita finished her holiday this week, and headed back to Ireland on Friday. This week it was also back to school, with teacher training ahead of classes starting again tomorrow.
Rita’s departure
-------------------
Rita’s was here for over three weeks, but it seemed to fly by all the same. She enjoyed it, with the highlight being the volcano and the hot springs. I think she found Heredia difficult to get used to at first. There is absolutely nothing attractive about it as a town. It’s shabby and dirty and very Tico! But in the end I think she’d even become a little fonder of it, having adapted to the rhythm. She mentioned several times about the laid-back, unhurried nature of life in Costa Rica, which I guess I’ve become used to.
Back to school
-----------------
There were four days training this week. Two days for the seven new teachers, and two days for everyone together. It was great catching up with everyone. I was in great form, and I have to say I really love working in that school. I was involved on the training side(!) of the new teachers. They are all from the US and Canada, so I’m now the only teacher not from those two countries, following Tom from London’s departure. Taylor, one of the American guys, was offered a big trading job on Wall Street while he was home. He handed in his resignation to us, and took the job. It’s very well-paid, with the expectation that he’d be a millionaire by the time he’s 30 (he’s 24 now). After meeting his fellow workers, but before starting actual work, he realised that he’d made the wrong decision. So he phoned the school, got his job back, and quit Wall St. He’s now back earning buttons in the school.
Fugitives from justice
--------------------------
I regularly see notices in the paper that fugitives from justice in the US are found here in Costa Rica. It’s easy for them to get to, and the lack of addresses means that it’s more difficult to track them down. You can practically make up your own address. For example, I’m 300m west of the Post Office and 10m North / or 210m North of the Video store / or 200m east and 10m north of the Sports Complex. A recent Oprah Winfrey show highlighted ‘America’s most wanted fugitives’. One guy, a paedophile with over 120 convictions, was one of the guys highlighted. A viewer recognised him as a teacher in a neighbouring school here in Heredia, and he’s now been extradited back to the States. It’s really shocked people. He worked at Interamericana, the school where my friend Shane worked before returning to Ireland in July. It turns out he shared an apartment with Shane for 10 months.
Palmares
-------------
There is a big festival held every year in January in Palmares, about 45 minutes north of Heredia. It’s held in a huge tented city with many bars, amusements and fast food restaurants, along with dancing, live music and karaoke. We organised a trip out to it. It was a great way of getting the old and new teachers to mix and get to know each other. We hired a bus to and from the school, and spent the day there yesterday. I feel that I’m still recovering!
-----
So that’s it for this week. Classes start again tomorrow. It’s been a long holiday (since December 15th) and I’ve enjoyed the break. But I do feel I’m ready to get back to work. I could do with a bit of structure put back on my life!
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Youths pose questions for election candidates
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Monkey Business
I was back to Manuel Antonio with Rita this week (I’m becoming quite a regular!). She’s still down there. Can you believe that I’m still on my holidays? I don’t start back in work until Tuesday!
La Playa!
-----------
Whenever I ask students what they like to do for the weekend, or on a holiday, the answer is always the same ‘Go to the beach’. So having frozen Rita on the trip to Monteverde I brought her to Manuel Antonio to thaw her out. I guess I’ve begun to take it for granted, this being my third trip. But Rita’s reaction reminded me how beautiful it really is. The beach is completely lined by trees, the area being surrounded by rain forest. So any hotels, buildings, and even the town itself, are completely hidden behind the trees, so it continues to look completely unspoilt.
Monkey news
-----------------
We went into the national park on Wednesday. There are 5 beaches inside the park in Manuel Antonio, and two outside. On the beach where we stayed for several hours in the morning the monkeys staged several raids on unsuspecting tourists. They know exactly what they are doing. They come in groups through the trees, and then make a lightning strike on the bags. They always get a bag with fruit, presumably by smell. They drag the plastic bag with the fruits up the tree with them, and eat them up there. They did it 3 times with different people while we were there.
Rita
-----
I came back on Thursday, but Rita’s staying down in Manuel Antonio for the weekend. She wants time to totally chill out before heading back next weekend and starting work the following week.
The Elections
-----------------
As I travelled back across the country it impossible to miss the posters for the elections, which take place on 5th Feb. The votes for president, parliament and local government take place in three separate ballots on the one day.
There are about 8 candidates for president. But the hot favourite is a guy called Oscar Arias. He was president before, when they could only serve one term. He’s also won the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s now running about 45% in the opinion polls. If he gets over 40% he’ll win it outright. If he polls less than 40% he’ll contest a run-off with the highest other candidate on April 2nd.
Election rally in my apartment
-------------------------------------
I woke up this morning to really loud music. Rock concert loud. And it sounded like it was inside the apartment. It turned out that there was a major political rally just outside and they were testing the sound equipment. It turned into a type of fiesta. There was a large crowd. Latin music. Dancing. Not exactly Fianna Fáil at the hustings. It was a campaign rally for the same Oscar Arias, and they were selling hats, t-shirts and souvenirs, all in his campaign green and white colours. It was like a football match. There was even a hamburger vendor beneath my balcony.
No drink
-----------
When I went to the supermarket I saw that all the areas of the shop selling alcohol were sealed with black plastic, and little signs that said – Closed temporarily. Municipality of Heredia. The sale of alcohol is forbidden under the electoral act. It turns out that when there is a political rally there can be no alcohol sales throughout the day within a 1km radius of the rally! And all bars and off-licences will be closed throughout the country, not only on the day of the election, but for three days! The election is on Sunday, and all bars will be closed Saturday to Monday!
-----
So that’s the last week of my holidays over. I’m back in school for training this week. And we’re back in classes the following week.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
La Playa!
-----------
Whenever I ask students what they like to do for the weekend, or on a holiday, the answer is always the same ‘Go to the beach’. So having frozen Rita on the trip to Monteverde I brought her to Manuel Antonio to thaw her out. I guess I’ve begun to take it for granted, this being my third trip. But Rita’s reaction reminded me how beautiful it really is. The beach is completely lined by trees, the area being surrounded by rain forest. So any hotels, buildings, and even the town itself, are completely hidden behind the trees, so it continues to look completely unspoilt.
Monkey news
-----------------
We went into the national park on Wednesday. There are 5 beaches inside the park in Manuel Antonio, and two outside. On the beach where we stayed for several hours in the morning the monkeys staged several raids on unsuspecting tourists. They know exactly what they are doing. They come in groups through the trees, and then make a lightning strike on the bags. They always get a bag with fruit, presumably by smell. They drag the plastic bag with the fruits up the tree with them, and eat them up there. They did it 3 times with different people while we were there.
Rita
-----
I came back on Thursday, but Rita’s staying down in Manuel Antonio for the weekend. She wants time to totally chill out before heading back next weekend and starting work the following week.
The Elections
-----------------
As I travelled back across the country it impossible to miss the posters for the elections, which take place on 5th Feb. The votes for president, parliament and local government take place in three separate ballots on the one day.
There are about 8 candidates for president. But the hot favourite is a guy called Oscar Arias. He was president before, when they could only serve one term. He’s also won the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s now running about 45% in the opinion polls. If he gets over 40% he’ll win it outright. If he polls less than 40% he’ll contest a run-off with the highest other candidate on April 2nd.
Election rally in my apartment
-------------------------------------
I woke up this morning to really loud music. Rock concert loud. And it sounded like it was inside the apartment. It turned out that there was a major political rally just outside and they were testing the sound equipment. It turned into a type of fiesta. There was a large crowd. Latin music. Dancing. Not exactly Fianna Fáil at the hustings. It was a campaign rally for the same Oscar Arias, and they were selling hats, t-shirts and souvenirs, all in his campaign green and white colours. It was like a football match. There was even a hamburger vendor beneath my balcony.
No drink
-----------
When I went to the supermarket I saw that all the areas of the shop selling alcohol were sealed with black plastic, and little signs that said – Closed temporarily. Municipality of Heredia. The sale of alcohol is forbidden under the electoral act. It turns out that when there is a political rally there can be no alcohol sales throughout the day within a 1km radius of the rally! And all bars and off-licences will be closed throughout the country, not only on the day of the election, but for three days! The election is on Sunday, and all bars will be closed Saturday to Monday!
-----
So that’s the last week of my holidays over. I’m back in school for training this week. And we’re back in classes the following week.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Monday, January 09, 2006
A whole lot of shaking
It’s been a week when we’ve travelled up country to the mountains north of here, and have run into some very Irish weather.
Earthquake!
-------------
Pressure of space didn’t permit me to mention that we had an earthquake the very morning after Rita’s arrival. It was just coming up to 9.30 in the morning. I was in my bed with the laptop reading the morning’s Irish Times when there was a very pleasant gentle rocking motion. It was quite clearly an earthquake, it just lasted a few seconds, but I could see the bedroom curtains swaying gently back and forth.
It turned out to have been a mild earthquake, 5.2 on the Richter with an epicentre in Quepos (beside Manuel Antonio, where I’d been the previous week). They have two words for earthquake in Spanish, temblor for the mild kind, and sismo for the shake it all about kind. This was definitely just a temblor.
La Fortuna / Monteverde
--------------------------
We headed off on Tuesday for a few days in the mountains up north. I had been to Arenal and the Tabacón Hot Springs before, but wanted to show them to Rita. I think she was quite impressed with them too.
Afterwards, we took the ‘jeep-boat-jeep’ transport to Monteverde. Although physically close, the presence of the Arenal lake and bad roads means that a road journey would take over 8 hours. The ‘jeep-boat-jeep’ transport turned out to be a minibus to a boat for the lake crossing, and a minibus to complete the journey on the other side. It still took 3½ hours because of the unpaved roads.
Irish Weather
--------------
Monteverde is higher than Arenal, and is therefore colder. It’s a tourist destination because of the cloud forests high on the mountain where the Pacific and Atlantic winds meet, causing cloudy fronts and rain. These give rise to cloud forests that are abundant with life. There are more trees in this region of Costa Rica than there are in the United States and Europe put together, according to our guide. This cooler weather has a very Irish quality. Read cold, windy, wet and damp. We were unprepared and cold. For the cloud forest hike, Rita had to put a black sarong over her shoulders, and looked for all the world like Madam Zara here to tell our fortunes.
The highlight of our tour was the spotting of a very rare ‘quetzal’. This bird is sacred in the indigenous historical Mayan traditions, and there is a Mayan king who is always depicted with a quetzal flying overhead. It’s the national bird, and the name of the currency, in Guatemala. It’s very rare, and can’t survive in captivity. Our guide was really impressed and excited when he saw it. He set up the tripod telescope and we could see it quite clearly. I was so impressed when he said, with great enthusiasm, that it was the first one he’d seen this year. Impressed, that is, until I realised that it was only 6th January.
Alguinaldo
-----------
One other very pleasing point of Tico life I meant to mention in December is the “alguinaldo” everyone is paid in December. It’s essentially a 13th monthly payment, which by law all employers in the country must pay their employees. Not only that, but you are paid the entire gross amount. There is no tax or social welfare deduction from this payment. It think it’s one of the best ideas I’ve seen, and I would strongly recommend that you all lobby for its introduction before the next election!
-----
So that’s it for this week. We’re back off travelling again in the morning, this time heading for the Pacific coast.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Candidates intensify election campaigns
Earthquake!
-------------
Pressure of space didn’t permit me to mention that we had an earthquake the very morning after Rita’s arrival. It was just coming up to 9.30 in the morning. I was in my bed with the laptop reading the morning’s Irish Times when there was a very pleasant gentle rocking motion. It was quite clearly an earthquake, it just lasted a few seconds, but I could see the bedroom curtains swaying gently back and forth.
It turned out to have been a mild earthquake, 5.2 on the Richter with an epicentre in Quepos (beside Manuel Antonio, where I’d been the previous week). They have two words for earthquake in Spanish, temblor for the mild kind, and sismo for the shake it all about kind. This was definitely just a temblor.
La Fortuna / Monteverde
--------------------------
We headed off on Tuesday for a few days in the mountains up north. I had been to Arenal and the Tabacón Hot Springs before, but wanted to show them to Rita. I think she was quite impressed with them too.
Afterwards, we took the ‘jeep-boat-jeep’ transport to Monteverde. Although physically close, the presence of the Arenal lake and bad roads means that a road journey would take over 8 hours. The ‘jeep-boat-jeep’ transport turned out to be a minibus to a boat for the lake crossing, and a minibus to complete the journey on the other side. It still took 3½ hours because of the unpaved roads.
Irish Weather
--------------
Monteverde is higher than Arenal, and is therefore colder. It’s a tourist destination because of the cloud forests high on the mountain where the Pacific and Atlantic winds meet, causing cloudy fronts and rain. These give rise to cloud forests that are abundant with life. There are more trees in this region of Costa Rica than there are in the United States and Europe put together, according to our guide. This cooler weather has a very Irish quality. Read cold, windy, wet and damp. We were unprepared and cold. For the cloud forest hike, Rita had to put a black sarong over her shoulders, and looked for all the world like Madam Zara here to tell our fortunes.
The highlight of our tour was the spotting of a very rare ‘quetzal’. This bird is sacred in the indigenous historical Mayan traditions, and there is a Mayan king who is always depicted with a quetzal flying overhead. It’s the national bird, and the name of the currency, in Guatemala. It’s very rare, and can’t survive in captivity. Our guide was really impressed and excited when he saw it. He set up the tripod telescope and we could see it quite clearly. I was so impressed when he said, with great enthusiasm, that it was the first one he’d seen this year. Impressed, that is, until I realised that it was only 6th January.
Alguinaldo
-----------
One other very pleasing point of Tico life I meant to mention in December is the “alguinaldo” everyone is paid in December. It’s essentially a 13th monthly payment, which by law all employers in the country must pay their employees. Not only that, but you are paid the entire gross amount. There is no tax or social welfare deduction from this payment. It think it’s one of the best ideas I’ve seen, and I would strongly recommend that you all lobby for its introduction before the next election!
-----
So that’s it for this week. We’re back off travelling again in the morning, this time heading for the Pacific coast.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Candidates intensify election campaigns
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Feliz Año Nuevo
A very happy new year to you all and I hope that you have a brilliant 2006. After all my promises about the mails over the Christmas, I fell by the wayside. And having skipped a week, I’m even late with this one. The problem was that I spilt a little wine on the PC on Christmas day, and it was out of action for a few days (the mouse is still a little iffy). Then my mother arrived for her trip. In the heels of the hunt when all was back up and running it was nearly the weekend, so I thought it was better to skip the week.
Manuel Antonio
-------------------
I had a good few days in Manuel Antonio, just before Christmas. Quite by co-incidence I met one of my friends from the school, Tom from London, on the bus. So I had a bit of company for the few days. We would do our own thing during the day, and meet up in the evening for a bite to eat and a few beers.
On the way down, I was wondering why I’d come back to someplace I’d already been, and wondered if it wasn’t better to go somewhere new. But, as soon as I was down on the beach at the first sunset, it brought me right back to our previous trip. That was in April when we had just arrived. We didn’t know what lay ahead; would we get work, where would we live, would we get an apartment, would the money dry up?
There was a great sense of achievement being back there, while on holidays from my job, with my apartment back in Heredia feeling like home.
Christmas / Hanukah
--------------------------
Christmas Eve is the big celebration over here. People go to mass, and meet with their families for dinner. They have a relaxing day on Christmas day, and afterwards all head for the beaches.
So we celebrated on Christmas Eve as well. We went up to my friend Laura’s house up the mountain from here. There was myself and Laura, along with my friend Leah, and her friend, visiting from the US, Liz. Leah and Liz are Jewish, and this year, unusually, the first day of Hanukah took place on Christmas Day. So we had a combination style Christian and Jewish meal. I took a great liking to motzoh ball soup in particular.
Rita’s arrival
----------------
Rita arrived on Tuesday. I went to the airport to collect her. There was a map on the Continental Airlines web site, so I would watch her plane on its progress. I left the house when she passed over Cuba, but was still way too early. Her plane touched down at 9.03, and she was through baggage collection, customs, immigration, met me, taxied home and having a G&T on the balcony by 10 o’clock. She’s spent the last few days acclimatising, and we are going to La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano tomorrow for a trip of a few days.
Dos mil seis
---------------
The preparation for New Year’s here was a bit like Dublin. Were place open, would they be charging in, would it be mad busy, and would we get taxis home. Anyway, in the heels of the hunt it’s very quiet. Much more, again, of a family occasion. We decided to go to a bar up the road called La Choza, where we could get a high balcony looking over the Central Valley, and where we could see the fireworks.
When Rita and I got there they were closing up, at 8.30. They seemed amazed that we expected a bar to stay open for New Year’s Eve! We then went looking for somewhere to eat, and the restaurants were closed also. So it ended up being back in the apartment for a take-away pizza. The others phoned to say they were in a different bar. But it was a loud, noisy music bar. Rita decided that she wouldn’t come along. She was happy enough staying in, having phoned Ireland at 6pm for the celebrations there. It was a good night, but we left right after the midnight celebration to see the fireworks. I came straight home, to find Rita celebrating on the balcony with my neighbours, having wine and champagne!
-----
So that’s it for this week. We’re off travelling in the morning, and should be back by the weekend.
So until next week,
Feliz Año Nuevo,
Éamon
Manuel Antonio
-------------------
I had a good few days in Manuel Antonio, just before Christmas. Quite by co-incidence I met one of my friends from the school, Tom from London, on the bus. So I had a bit of company for the few days. We would do our own thing during the day, and meet up in the evening for a bite to eat and a few beers.
On the way down, I was wondering why I’d come back to someplace I’d already been, and wondered if it wasn’t better to go somewhere new. But, as soon as I was down on the beach at the first sunset, it brought me right back to our previous trip. That was in April when we had just arrived. We didn’t know what lay ahead; would we get work, where would we live, would we get an apartment, would the money dry up?
There was a great sense of achievement being back there, while on holidays from my job, with my apartment back in Heredia feeling like home.
Christmas / Hanukah
--------------------------
Christmas Eve is the big celebration over here. People go to mass, and meet with their families for dinner. They have a relaxing day on Christmas day, and afterwards all head for the beaches.
So we celebrated on Christmas Eve as well. We went up to my friend Laura’s house up the mountain from here. There was myself and Laura, along with my friend Leah, and her friend, visiting from the US, Liz. Leah and Liz are Jewish, and this year, unusually, the first day of Hanukah took place on Christmas Day. So we had a combination style Christian and Jewish meal. I took a great liking to motzoh ball soup in particular.
Rita’s arrival
----------------
Rita arrived on Tuesday. I went to the airport to collect her. There was a map on the Continental Airlines web site, so I would watch her plane on its progress. I left the house when she passed over Cuba, but was still way too early. Her plane touched down at 9.03, and she was through baggage collection, customs, immigration, met me, taxied home and having a G&T on the balcony by 10 o’clock. She’s spent the last few days acclimatising, and we are going to La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano tomorrow for a trip of a few days.
Dos mil seis
---------------
The preparation for New Year’s here was a bit like Dublin. Were place open, would they be charging in, would it be mad busy, and would we get taxis home. Anyway, in the heels of the hunt it’s very quiet. Much more, again, of a family occasion. We decided to go to a bar up the road called La Choza, where we could get a high balcony looking over the Central Valley, and where we could see the fireworks.
When Rita and I got there they were closing up, at 8.30. They seemed amazed that we expected a bar to stay open for New Year’s Eve! We then went looking for somewhere to eat, and the restaurants were closed also. So it ended up being back in the apartment for a take-away pizza. The others phoned to say they were in a different bar. But it was a loud, noisy music bar. Rita decided that she wouldn’t come along. She was happy enough staying in, having phoned Ireland at 6pm for the celebrations there. It was a good night, but we left right after the midnight celebration to see the fireworks. I came straight home, to find Rita celebrating on the balcony with my neighbours, having wine and champagne!
-----
So that’s it for this week. We’re off travelling in the morning, and should be back by the weekend.
So until next week,
Feliz Año Nuevo,
Éamon
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