A series of unfortunate events

Last weekend, a family that I know invited me to go skiing. As I´d never been before, I was very excited but also a bit nervous. James had warned me about how difficult it was, so I went expecting to fall over...a lot!

The town of Tredos.

The town I stayed in, near Baqueira, was beautiful. In England, there aren´t any mountains like the Pyrenees, so it was a stunning landscape for me to see. It was also the first time I´d seen snow this year, having been in warm Cabrera for most of the winter.

Then on the Saturday, I went skiing. I struggled into the ski boots and started to practice. After finally getting to grips with the technique, I attempted to ski down a large slope. Predictably, I went flying and landed in a pile of snow. But by the end of the day, I´d improved and wasn´t doing too badly.

Expert skiier. 

Then on Sunday, I wasn´t going skiing again, so decided to visit a nearby town of Vialha. I took the bus there and saw some of the sights. Then when I tried to get the bus back, I encountered a problem - I´d completely forgotten the name of the town where I was staying! So I jumped on the bus and hoped for the best. After about a 30 minute journey I got off the bus, in an area I´d never seen before. There were a lot of French people there, and     I´m not sure whether or not I was still in Spain. There were no buses going back for several hours and I didn´t have my mobile with me, so I started to walk back. After a 3 and a half hour journey, I arrived back in Vialha, exhausted and worried.

I think I´ve taken the wrong bus...

Even though it was an unfortunate day, I still had a great time skiing.

From now on, I´ll make sure I remember where I´m going. But I did get to briefly go to France!

Brendon

Copa del Rey basketball

Last Saturday we went to watch Barcelona play in the basketball Copa del Rey play-off semi-finals at Palau Sant Jordi. The stadium was very impressive, located behind the beautiful Montjuic Castle and next to the Olympic Stadium. Outside there were some interesting statues and fountains, complementing stunning panoramic views of the entire city from the top of the hill. There was a real carnival atmosphere (it was carnival after all!) and because it was a play-off day featuring four different teams there were fans from all over Spain dressed up in fancy-dress costumes, singing and dancing. As Real Madrid were playing we expected some hostility in the air, but the rivalry was friendly and the fans mixed freely - it was nothing like the 'el clasico' football matches! Barcelona won in a close first game, while Real Madrid went on to defeat their semi-final opponents easily to set up a mouth-watering final for the following day.

 We both really enjoyed our day out. The basketball was exciting and played to a frentic pace, while the fans and the amazing atmosphere helped us to continue the carnival party we had started at school the day before! If you ever get the chance to watch a basketball game at Palau Sant Jordi you should definitely go!

Word of the week

Smug - presumido
Definition: To be excessively self-satisfied    
A synonym:    arrogant - arrogante           

 

e.g. In 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo said in an interview "I am the first, second and third best player in the world". This is a very smug opinion of his own ability.

Phrase of the week

To see red - estar enfadado 
Definition: To lose one´s temper and self-control completely. 

e.g. The man saw red and hit him.

Pancake Day!

Like Pancakes? Well today is your lucky day...if you can get to Britain!

Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake day, is celebrated every year in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The festival is linked to Easter, and marks the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. We´re not sure why, but for some reason we eat as many pancakes as we can. In James´ house they have a competition to see who can eat the most! Usually the winner is James! Another fun activity is flipping the pancakes when cooking. In Brendon´s house this usually results in pancakes on the ceiling!

As the day is devoted to pancakes, many weird and wonderful new fillings have been tried. Have a look at this website link to see some of the different fillings: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_2817000/2817277.stm

Here´s our Princess flipping pancakes. 

But traditionally the most popular are lemon juice, maple syrup and jam. What do you like in your pancakes? Do you have any strange ideas of what you would like to try?

Carnival Clowns

The traditional Catholic celebration of Carnival, marking the beginning of Lent, prompted parties and festive activities throughout Spain this weekend. Here in Cabrera, the school held performances in the local sports centre in the afternoon. People wore fancy dress costumes, (including the teachers!) and the students prepared dances for a competition. Coming from Protestant England, where we celebrate Shrove Tuesday instead, we were unsure of what to expect.

Last week, we went to Barcelona in search of our costumes. After a days brainstorming and shopping, we eventually decided on clowns. However, these weren't just any old clowns. We were to be sad clowns! Payasos tristes! Despite the lure of some wonderful tartan suits, we settled on top hats, bowties and face paints. We managed to keep the idea a secret until the day of the festival. After an hour or so of struggling to use the paints, we finally emerged looking slightly scary (especially to Brendon´s host family!). 

The festival itself was really enjoyable, and we must give special mention to the presenters Pep and Jemma. We were both impressed with the standard of dancing: the students performed some excellently choreographed and inventive routines. There was even a Beatles song! 

In conclusion, although we both love the pancake feast of Shrove Tuesday in England, the carnival was a more exciting and entertaining festival overall. 

Roll on March and, hopefully, some sunshine!

Los dos payasos!

Former Barça manager to Leeds?

Radomir Antic, the former Barcelona and Real Madrid manager has been bizarrely linked to the manager vacancy at Leeds United. He is one of only two people to have managed both Real and Barca, and previously won a Spanish league and cup double at Athletico Madrid. He was also in charge of Serbia at the 2010 World Cup.

Since Simon Grayson´s departure from the Leeds hot seat 2 weeks ago, many names have been linked with the job but surely this is the strangest. If he does become the Leeds boss, he will join Scottish superstar Robert Snodgrass and Argentinian Luciano Becchio, who both previously played for Barcelona´s B and C teams.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7484166/Antic-keen-on-Leeds-post

I think he´d be a great choice as manager!

Brendon