Things that make me smile

Here is a list of some of the things that make me smile...

Old people
Aren't they just so adorable? The way that they strain to hear what you're saying, the way they make self-defacing comments at checkouts, and the way old people often take the stairs when everyone else takes the lift.

Ducks which stand under a bridge when it rains
When I walk to and from work every day, I cross over the puente de Malecon (which happens to wobble, and I've also noticed that if there are lots of people on the bridge, they start walking in time to the wobbles and thus make it worse). Generally there are lots of ducks in this part of the river because there's a little island in the middle. Most of the time, thus far anyway, it's sunny here in Murcia, but when it rains, all the ducks stand in line under the bridge following its curve across the river. And I just think that's sweet.

People who wear inappropriate clothing to church
It just makes me smile.

My family
Who always make me laugh because all of them are mad in their own way.

What makes you smile?

Hola!

Hello, again, the few people who read this.

I'm sorry for not updating, but my excuse is that I've had better things to do. Oh, wait, that's not really an excuse, is it? Well, to be honest, I have been settling in a new country, starting a new job, making new friends, learning Spanish and Arabic (yes, I've started Arabic lessons, because I decided Spanish was already hard enough, I'd throw in another language!), etc.


So, where do I start? Oh, I'll tell you about the most terrifying experience I've possibly ever had, perhaps save nearly drowning in the deep blue sea. The said experience was... wait for it... going to a church. Which was Spanish speaking. It was well scary, I tell ya! First of all, people started to speak to me as I walked in, so I just told them "No hablo mucho espanol". But the pastor, who I spoke to briefly, introduced me to the entire congregation and got me to stand up. In front of everyone. I pretended at first not to understand what he was saying, but the lady kept on waving her arms until I stood up. So there I was, standing at the back of the church with everyone looking at me and the pastor saying "No habla mucho espanol pero esta aprendendo."

After that initial embarrassment, the songs generally went fine since a) I could read the words on the screen and b) the songs were often translations of English ones and thus had similar lyrics. The sermon, I have to confess, bored the pants off of me because I had to strain to understand it so I just gave up. But no-one seemed to notice, so cue next embarrassing moment: communion. As they were bringing all the bread around, I duly took my piece, but not having noticed that no-one had as yet eaten their bread, I put my piece in my mouth. The lady next to me (she had the patience of a saint!) waved frantically at me and I took the piece of bread out of my mouth and held it on my tongue until the prayers were said. With the wine, I had learnt the protocol...

At the end several people tried to talk to me but with my limited Spanish and the fact that by this point I was very tired, I could hardly say anything, and made a quick departure. I am planning to go back though...

Anyway, that'll do for now, even though I have lots to say, because I suppose it's better to get one blog entry out there then have a super-long one which never gets finished (I've been writing bits to this entry for over a week!).

So, adios, mis amigos!