Another workshop in Marcos Juarez........ 2nd June

So they proved to be gluttons for punishment and once again I was back in Marcos Juarez. I arrived late as we'd had to face two lots of pickets near Rosario, burning tyres in a line across the main roads the flames burning bright in the night sky. But all the GIRLS were there waiting for me and we went straight off for dinner.

The hotel was lovely and friendly just as it had been last year and they make the best pot of tea in the whole of South America. The workshop was full and we did lots of active work on Stand and Deliver.

Oh for Oracy! in the City of the One Eyed Deer

In Spanish, the name is Venado Tuerto and it's a good 6 hour trip from Buenos Aires. Ana and her colleague, Federico of Irish origin, met me at the bus station and promptly took me for a wonderful, much needed beer, followed by big lumps of juicy steak and malbec wine. Hotel fine and up early for breaky to get to the venue early in case of tech probs. But e.thing fine. Lovely old Sarmiento School, now the Teacher Training College. Somehow there were 75 ppts and they ranged from TT Tutors ro trainees, not yet qualified. They all wanted to participate so we had a busy, fruitful 6 hours, working on the oral skills and finding lots of games to promote speaking exercises in the classroom, for all the different age groups and levels.Nellie, from Bookie, who was the main instigator ( and a Man Utd fan, unfortunately! ) was her usual lively self and a good time was enjoyed by all. I think we all learned something too!

In Talca, Chile

The IATEFL conference, the first in the provinces of Chile was a truly lovely affair.Andrew had pushed for a good while and finally he got his way.Over 150 teachers attended the 1st Regional Conference,in Talca, Chile,2007. I was honoured to present the plenary on Strategic Interaction with all 150 who joined in and worked very hard. Then I jumped in and out of all the workshops and did the closing, followed by the raffles and wine in the patio.
Thanks to IATEFL, Chile and the British Council, Chile, for inviting me.

MY sort of surprise visit to Sausalito to see Alan

As my usual January visit had been put off due to the Hornby School job in Brazil, I did not go to Sausalito to run the trails with my brother, a tradition we had sort of established over the years since we met on 4th May 1995 after 22 years WITHOUT CONTACT! So.......I had decided I'd go in Feb.....then I went to UK for the funeral. So we are already almost in March so we didn't really know what to do.

Alan was ill, maybe with an uncured Lyme disease. I was frantic and not sleeping due to too much catching up and NO BREAK from work since Jan 2006 so we said" Go for it"

I realized I could make a space to be there for his 63rd birthday and that would be the first time I'd spent a b.day with him for 40 years! So he sent the ticket, I jumped on the plane and there I was for 3 weeks of running in the Springtime in gorgeous Sausalito!

Starting the Academic Year in South America

Returning to a Buenos Aires summer after snow in the UK was really weird. I always say I love the sun and the heat but the snow had been so much fun and that snuggling down in front of the telly and the fire is such a pleasure in the UK.

It was super to get back to big slabs of tender meat and full-blooded Malbec wine but we all missed the Indian curries which are such a feature of Leicester and considered, now, to be the national dish of England! At least Chicken Masala has become the most favoured dish in the UK, way, way beyond fish and chips!

So much for learning about English culture and imagining it might be stable!

So work cranked in..... thousands of unanswered emails, lots of arrangements to be made for conferences, on line courses, consultancies, writing for various publishers, BBJ concerts, footy matches and all those things we do which have to be scheduled outside the usual routines.

So.....me back to freelance work; Mick back to school and BBJ; Sarah back to college, school and BBJ and Jamie back to selling full time, translating, inserting subtitles in English for DVDs and winning all his matches in the new footy league.

A new hobby for James

James had become interested in photography over the years and decided to buy a pro camera. This is one of his first photos against the beautiful backdrop of the first snow of 2007 in Leicester.

Jamie's first experience of falling snow

Imagine arriving at Heathrow, London , in mid-winter from Buenos Aires, Argentina, in mid- summer.

100ª F to 40ªF in 24 hours.

They said it would snow.....so Jamie put his alarm clock on 4 times in the night to check. I awoke at 5.30 am to the sound of silence, with the snowdrops falling and the roofs covered in white. What an amazing experience, and one even more appreciated after years in th East, Middle east and the Mediterranean.
Pic of J and I having our first snowball fight !
Me at 56 and him at 27 !!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!