Miscellany

We’re sat in the flat on the last Saturday listening to the Welsh 6 nations match on the radio before going into town for the remainder of super Saturday so I though I’d jot down all the little things that have happened that haven’t merited a whole blog.

*** Both Iain and I sing in choirs so we enquired at school if they had one, which they did. We had three very happy sessions with their little choir led by Carlos, who came from Columbia and who has the loveliest counter tenor voice. The choir were practicing for a concert of consolidated choirs singing a variety of international songs, so we joined in singing Japanese, Portuguese, and Zulu songs along with Spanish from Spain and Argentina. Carlos was really chuffed to have us there, particularly Iain who has a much more distinguished singing background than I do. We were really touched when he gave us a CD of his music on our last session.

*** Last week the school had a live conference with a Spanish peace-keeping force in Lebanon. Several of the classrooms were involved and the one I was in watched as the students asked the soldiers a variety of questions. During the previous few days the students had been colouring in Ukraine flags and after the conference everyone piled into the playground with Lebanese and Ukraine flags where we then had a minute’s silence for peace. The local TV station came along to film the students and when I was having a one to one chat later with one of the 6th formers doing Advanced Cambridge I found out that it was his father who was the journalist who  organised the press for the event.

***  I set off for school at 7:30 in the morning. It has been really noticeable that the mornings are getting lighter as I started off in the dark when we first came and in the light by the end of the 4 weeks. I always pass the same street cleaner, and in the last week we have started saying good morning. Leon is incredibly clean, the streets are swept and watered down every morning but the graffiti is awful, marring a very beautiful city.

*** Leon is a city with little delightful surprises around every corner – there are storks installed on the top of a Roman column in the square by San Isidoro, down by the river is a beautiful avenue of plane trees, and this last week we have discovered the rooftop bar of the Camarote hotel which must be the coolest place in Leon complete with its own DJ and a stunning view of the cathedral, especially when it gets dark and the cathedral is lit up.

*** Things I’m glad I brought: I have lived in a pair of Sketchers that I bought before coming out. I got a pair of black lace ups that would be OK for school and haven’t had them off. We walk everywhere, to school and back is 3-4 miles then if we go into town as well you can add another 3-4 miles. It’s all flat and not strenuous but I have been averaging 7 miles a day in the last 4 weeks, great for the step count.