I was talking yesterday with two of my good friends about the end of the last year at school and what this means for everyone.
I remember when I first came to Orewa College in a skirt- pants that dont seam in the middle at the crotch, split into two leg holes and zip up at the front? SHOCK AND HORROR (and even to this day, it's one of the only two I own), and when I graduated into the senior population, travelled around the world to Spain on 24 hour return flights and rode a Hummersine to my first Ball in the Auckland Museum as if all of it happened in just one week.
And now, sitting here at the dining table in my house with my back to the deck and the curtain pulled slightly to avoid the glare of the sun as the rain pours down (go figure) nearing the end of term two and the halfway mark for the year, I realise we havent got much time left- it goes so fast, and I feel anxious that I havent been making the most of it- and we only realise our time is running out when we can see the leaving dates on our calendars, or the memos that show up on our phones the fortnight before as a reminder. And even then, it really only hits us when we're waving goodbye to our friends and family from behind the glass on the second story of the airport, looking down on them as they walk through duty free and, all too soon, they are out of sight. But not out of mind.
In my defense, I've tried to get involved in everything that interests me this year at school. I secured my position as Captain of the 1st XI Girl's Hockey team (and I'm proud of my girls, despite the moments of anger and frustration accumulated for some of them), joined the 2011 Ball Committee, tried my luck as a Latin dancer in the 2010 Stage Challenge, competed in the OCR Monetary Policy Challenge (LOL jk, our report was so hackneyed the Reserve Bank probably thought we were taking the mickey out of them), spent the 40 Hour Famine in a makeshift tent in a bush, been involved with the Performaing Arts and Disciplinary (and hopefully soon, the ITC) Committees as Student Rep on the BOT, wandered the streets of Orewa at night on several occasions and indulged in numerous restaurant outings, shopping excursions and movie dates with the girls. Ahead of me there is a flight to Wellington to visit Victoria University for the weekend, a trip to the snow, a cocktail night in my Sister's house, my 18th birthday, a mixed hockey tournament in Napier, and the 8 long weeks of summer.
I feel like this year, I have been pushing myself further than I ever have... but how is that going to stall the oncoming of the last day of school?
This will be a whole new experience for me: leaving The Group.
Starting out as small cliques from different primaries in year 9, and merging and growing over the years to become a group of over 30 personalities (now with girlfriends and boyfriends), all with different positions in the small community- best friends, mutual friends, team mates, class mates and historical connections. The Group is a giant entity now, choc full of brains, braun, talent, diversity, relationships and memories. I can't even begin to imagine what it will be on the last day that I ever get to see this group as a whole. How will I know that that day has come? Will anyone be missing on that day, therefore prompting me to ask: How will I know when it's the last time I will see them?
There's no question about it- I will end up crying. It's inevitable for someone like me, who struggles, and, more often than not, fails to hold it in even if Im watching someone else cry- on television. Im hopeless. But I wont be the only one, thankfully.
So, even just thinking about going my own separate way (looking in context of 'the end' of a chapter and not 'the beginning' of a new one) makes me fidgety and eager to whip out my camera, and start snapping away at everything Ill be missing out on when I leave. Ive already taken several shots of my house, where I sit when I type up my homework and surf the net, where my brother sits all day playing on his laptop, where my cat likes to sit in the sun and taunt the youngest of my two dogs, Shemo, who throws herself into a staring contest with him in the hopes that he will come outside to play. I'm scared to think ahead to when 'seeing everyone the next day at school' is no longer an option. But its unavoidable, and the only thing I can do to prepare myself is to 'make the most' of the company of my family and friends, and preserve the special moments Ill be left with at 'the end'.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
¡España 08! European Drivers
I'm generally not discriminative. But when a complete stranger such as myself, who is used to wide open roads and suburban areas comes into a one-way-avenued town where you literally have to press your backs up against the walls of the street to avoid getting hit, you really notice their approach to road traffic. It's no wonder there are so many Vespas whizzing around Vejer, because not only are the roads just wide enough for one car at a time, there are no arrows on the streets indicating the direction each road actually is. 
This gives you some idea of the leeway the drivers get in most parts of Vejer. Not a hell of a lot!
Imagine the frustration when two cars meet down a windy street and ONE of them has to reverse to the next space wide enough for both of them to fit past each other- a passer by's patio, possibly? No, probably.
I would have liked to have seen that. Maybe the locals have a secret route that everyone who drives is generally aware of, but I wouldn't count on that. I often saw cars going both ways down the same street at different times, on different days.
Notice how in the videos below, cars are parked on the wrong side of the road, in front of other parked cars, and the woman in the black car in video 2 had been there for some time, hence my need to whip out the phone to catch this golden moment on camera. Also, a policeman drives past all of this, ignoring the blatant mess the cars have put themselves and the road in. It was duly noted that not many cars in the heart of the maze-like town have attached and/or functioning side mirrors, and likewise, the corners of the streets are missing chunks of paint and worn clay.
We ended that amusing video abruptly as we saw Pepita coming down the road carrying all these groceries- nawww =)
And in this second one here, its hard to see but a car at the top of the hill actually starts reversing, as I dutifully inform the recording-
I remember noticing how La Plaza de España is a roundabout for about 5 merging streets, all meeting up? And during the day, the cafes were so busy, they had to put their tables and chairs out in the roundabout. And the boys decided to put their feet under the cars as they drove by slowly. Apparently there was a knack or angle to actually putting your foot under over a tonne of metal, and sometimes they didn't quite make that angle in time, making the otherwise painless game not so much fun.
This gives you some idea of the leeway the drivers get in most parts of Vejer. Not a hell of a lot!Imagine the frustration when two cars meet down a windy street and ONE of them has to reverse to the next space wide enough for both of them to fit past each other- a passer by's patio, possibly? No, probably.
I would have liked to have seen that. Maybe the locals have a secret route that everyone who drives is generally aware of, but I wouldn't count on that. I often saw cars going both ways down the same street at different times, on different days.Notice how in the videos below, cars are parked on the wrong side of the road, in front of other parked cars, and the woman in the black car in video 2 had been there for some time, hence my need to whip out the phone to catch this golden moment on camera. Also, a policeman drives past all of this, ignoring the blatant mess the cars have put themselves and the road in. It was duly noted that not many cars in the heart of the maze-like town have attached and/or functioning side mirrors, and likewise, the corners of the streets are missing chunks of paint and worn clay.
We ended that amusing video abruptly as we saw Pepita coming down the road carrying all these groceries- nawww =)
And in this second one here, its hard to see but a car at the top of the hill actually starts reversing, as I dutifully inform the recording-
I remember noticing how La Plaza de España is a roundabout for about 5 merging streets, all meeting up? And during the day, the cafes were so busy, they had to put their tables and chairs out in the roundabout. And the boys decided to put their feet under the cars as they drove by slowly. Apparently there was a knack or angle to actually putting your foot under over a tonne of metal, and sometimes they didn't quite make that angle in time, making the otherwise painless game not so much fun.
Monday, June 7, 2010
¡España 08! Part 5: Culinary Issues
As I previously mentioned, the breakfast in our home was always amazing. The really odd (in the best way possible) toasted bread, coated in the nicest strawberry jam- and I am NOT typically a jam fan- and a cup of warm Colacao to kick start our day. Many of the other people in our herd of 19 Spanish class members, 2 teachers and Principal, said they'd been having the same for their breakfasts too. Jess said she liked the jam so much that she was going to bring a few jars back to New Zealand. I was not quite THAT devoted, but the jam was good. BREAKFAST= GOOD.
The morning tea was also quite similar, typically because we, as a group, would go down to this yummy German bakery during pausa and buy the same thing everyday: Some sort of apple square or a baked berry cheesecake slice. And if we came across a kiosk, we usually stopped in to stock up on Happy Hippos. SNACK TIME= GOOD.
The thing with Lunch, however, was that not only was one serving fit for my whole family, leaving us temporarily incapacitated- but it was some of the nicest/ weirdest/ most grotesque food I've ever come across.
Take for instance, The tuna salad- simply lettuce, onion, tuna and tomato drenched in olive oil. That was so good, and I still wish I could somehow recreate it, but the olive oil here just isn't the same.
Or the crazy chorizo and lentil concoction. Weird, and yet oddly quite nice as well.
The real shock came on this one day, when we went home for lunch to find a whole deep fried fish sitting in front of us, missing one or both eyes. It was about the length of a pen, with minimal meat on it (that I would have deemed edible, anyway). LUNCH= Yeah nah, I'll pass this time thanks.
After our crazy lunch experience, we actually slept during siesta (ish). I'd spent my morning waiting for the skin around my eyes to retreat to it's normal, deflated and pale state, sending my parents another email, buying myself and my mother matching outrageous necklaces and spiral earrings, and gift shopping for others. The group of us also conveniently came across a T-shirt printing store (in Vejer?...Oh yup. I wonder how much business they get) and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get a group shirt as memorabilia. We chose yellow with red writing 'España 08' on the front and our last names on the back. With the exception of Justin, who liked his middle name better and put that on the back instead. Me so excite!
Feeling re-energized from our sleep, we looked out from our balcony and were pleasantly surprised to see that the whole of freaken Andalucia decided to come to Vejer for the night. It's unusual to see a new face in a place as small as Vejer (especially doing as much running around as Jess and I had been), but the streets were packed with people I'd never seen before- nor could I have explained where the mass hoards came from. It was a Friday- everyone was in their best gear. We went for a wander through the groups, and found our Local friends! Plus a couple of other new faces, including a boy named David who could speak good English. It was fun to hang out with them again. We took a picture with them as a group but I have no idea where that picture has gone... It might have been on Ellie's camera, which unfortunately never made it back to New Zealand...
Then after some time we made our way down to the park to meet up with the boys, who had bought a few packs of 'Kaz'- the Spanish version of Fanta. For some reason we thought it would be funny to take 'drunken' photos of each other drinking the Kaz, substituted for beer and pretending to throw up and trip over, etc. Hmmm... how cool are we =)
Dinner that night was sausages, eggs and chips. Sound familiar? I wasn't really getting a feel for the Spanish cuisine in that dish =) or the ham and plastic-y cheese toasted sammies. I love Pepita and all, but, in the nicest way possible, Pepitas culinary skills were a bit of a gamble at times. DINNER= CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
Saturday, June 5, 2010
¡España 08! Part 4: Pigeon House
Breakfast was great, again. This bakery-type toast with crazy-good strawberry jam and a cup of Colacao (Spanish Milo) was a great start to the day, and it sounded as though that's what everyone else was having everyday for breakfast too. Cool.
During la pausa at La Janda, after listening to two of the year 12s, Cara and Hayley have an entertaining discussion with Daniel about the different drinking/ driving ages (and then admitting to him they both had fake IDs), I sent an email to my mum to tell her about how much fun I'd been having so far and all the different adventures we'd been having- in turn, receiving a multimedia from Monique, showing me that Mum had shaved off all her hair on exactly one half of her head. Having me away from home was starting to take it's toll- I'd hate to think about what'll happen when I go to uni...
Our very first official touristy-outing was an afternoon walk to a wind turbine farm, starting from the modern part of Vejer, getting through a fence and walking into what looked like desert-land. I walked with Dylan, collecting lots of pieces of coloured, broken ceramic tile that were embedded into the ground on our track to give to friends at home. It was really fun, and I still have that collection in a dish in my room- I never got round to the handing out bit. But I'm kind of glad I still have them =)it was a long walk! In the blistering heat- which, in light of the daily 25-30 degree temperature, wasn't actually that bad, seeing as though you could wear singlets and shorts without ever having to worry about sunblock (their ozone layer is still fully intact, see).
We didn't stay at the wind turbine farm- you can only look at a spinning white pole for so long. We did, however, make our way to Palomera, a historic birdhouse- of all things.
Well, it was way better than it sounds. The place was amazing. These people worshipped these pigeons, the walls were just several thousand holes for the messenger-birds to stay in between deliveries in the olden days.
I couldn't help but feel a little surprised that it wasn't used anymore, being a town that was suggestively still living in the olden days- what, your church is a castle but you don't use pigeon mail? The wind turbines were just a gift from the government, because they were still using oxes to turn giant wheels for electricity.
Justin was offering ten euro to the first person to touch the top of one of the walls of the Palomera, using only the thin ledges of the pigeon holes to climb up.
This was probably not the best idea, and Jess ran out to distract the teachers while the stunt was attempted, but, unfortunately, not entirely completed. It was too darn high up to rely on ancient clay protrusions for support.
Next to the Palomera was a small cafe-type-pub looking thing, where we all brought ice creams to cool us down. Outside, Dylan and I spotted something interesting while moseying around!
Behind some beautiful pink flowers, clinging upside down to the ceiling of an entrance area, was a cute little gecko. Awesome! I really wish right now that I could've touched it. But we didn't want to scare it, so we just watched it for a while =) it didn't really do much. Why didn't we name it? I only just thought of that.
Our Spanish teacher, Mrs O'Leary, called some cabs to come and pick us up because by then we were pretty tired. I got into the taxi with the girls, and the driver knew a little English, so we spoke to him for a while. Then! Shakira came on the radio (cliche, much?) and we all sang along to it, yelling out the windows and even involving the driver- a man looking to be about in his forties. Nothing like a road trip, belting out a Shakira song doing 80 on a highway to make you feel like a 15 year old... girl... again.
The next day, we got given a packed lunch and sent off to our first Spanish beach! Which made me realize how lucky I was to live so close to a beach- seeing as though the bus trip was about an hour, hour and 20. But we got there! It was beautiful. Our small year 11 group 
wandered over to a huge sand dune, hoping to find someone we could hire a sled or boogie board from- with no luck. The dune was awesome and there was a really cool looking forest behind it, but we were told not to go out of sight- aw =(
So we headed back to the water to cool off, playing games like chicken, the handstand circle of death- a game in which everyone stands in a circle, simultaneously diving into the handstand position under water and then thrashing the legs around above the water, kicking other legs and on some occasions, getting a few shoulders or even faces on the way down... and other light hearted tom foolery. Dylan reckoned he saw a fish, and Sean found a heavy silver necklace- which he still wears- buried in the sand under the water. He took to a jeweller once he was back in New Zealand and got told it was real silver- nice find =)
There was a stand on the bank of the beach selling sarongs, so I bought one for mum, knowing she lives in them in the summer time. We bought another round of ice creams before calling it a day and jumping back on the bus for another hour. Jess fell asleep in an awkward position, looking as though she would slide off the seat =D
Before heading straight home, we visited one of the most southern towns in Spain, Talifa. It was labelled as a 'gypsy' town because of the culture down there, which was a bit cool. Standing on the balcony looking out to the Mediterranean Sea, we saw a big Island in the distance- commonly known as 'Africa'. How cool is that? Standing on the coast of Spain looking out at the clifftop coast of Africa =)
To finish off our wonderful afternoon, we were invited to listen to a local man perform some traditional Spanish flamenco music on his guitar back in Vejer. We were asked to try and clap along with the beat. It was a bit complex, and often didn't sound in time with the music he was playing. But, we did it anyway =) Justin and Sean were interested in learning some flamenco songs on their guitar, but I dont think they were going to learn in a one-off lesson. Like I said, it was a bit complex.
And then dinner at the pizzería again! I would not be surprised to find, at the end of the trip, half of our spending money blown on food. We bought 5 Pizzas to share between the 7 of us- Ellie, Justin, Dylan, Sean, Vinnie, Jess, and myself. Sean insisted on a 'four-cheese' pizza (one of the cheeses being BLUE cheese!), and someone else chose a seafood themed pizza. Why are these the only two I remember out of the five we ordered? Well!
The morning after this particular outing to the pizzería delivered an unexpected surprise. Whether it was the blue cheese, or the foreign seafood, I woke up to fin my eyes puffy and swollen. =( I had had an allergic reaction to something that night, and was reluctant to go to school with a mutant face. It was weird because I'm not typically allergic to anything. So I took a couple of clarintynes and hoped for the best. Justin noticed my puffy eyes, despite my attempts to hide it, and made fun of me =( aw.
During la pausa at La Janda, after listening to two of the year 12s, Cara and Hayley have an entertaining discussion with Daniel about the different drinking/ driving ages (and then admitting to him they both had fake IDs), I sent an email to my mum to tell her about how much fun I'd been having so far and all the different adventures we'd been having- in turn, receiving a multimedia from Monique, showing me that Mum had shaved off all her hair on exactly one half of her head. Having me away from home was starting to take it's toll- I'd hate to think about what'll happen when I go to uni...
Our very first official touristy-outing was an afternoon walk to a wind turbine farm, starting from the modern part of Vejer, getting through a fence and walking into what looked like desert-land. I walked with Dylan, collecting lots of pieces of coloured, broken ceramic tile that were embedded into the ground on our track to give to friends at home. It was really fun, and I still have that collection in a dish in my room- I never got round to the handing out bit. But I'm kind of glad I still have them =)it was a long walk! In the blistering heat- which, in light of the daily 25-30 degree temperature, wasn't actually that bad, seeing as though you could wear singlets and shorts without ever having to worry about sunblock (their ozone layer is still fully intact, see). We didn't stay at the wind turbine farm- you can only look at a spinning white pole for so long. We did, however, make our way to Palomera, a historic birdhouse- of all things.
Well, it was way better than it sounds. The place was amazing. These people worshipped these pigeons, the walls were just several thousand holes for the messenger-birds to stay in between deliveries in the olden days.
I couldn't help but feel a little surprised that it wasn't used anymore, being a town that was suggestively still living in the olden days- what, your church is a castle but you don't use pigeon mail? The wind turbines were just a gift from the government, because they were still using oxes to turn giant wheels for electricity.Justin was offering ten euro to the first person to touch the top of one of the walls of the Palomera, using only the thin ledges of the pigeon holes to climb up.
This was probably not the best idea, and Jess ran out to distract the teachers while the stunt was attempted, but, unfortunately, not entirely completed. It was too darn high up to rely on ancient clay protrusions for support.Next to the Palomera was a small cafe-type-pub looking thing, where we all brought ice creams to cool us down. Outside, Dylan and I spotted something interesting while moseying around!
Behind some beautiful pink flowers, clinging upside down to the ceiling of an entrance area, was a cute little gecko. Awesome! I really wish right now that I could've touched it. But we didn't want to scare it, so we just watched it for a while =) it didn't really do much. Why didn't we name it? I only just thought of that.Our Spanish teacher, Mrs O'Leary, called some cabs to come and pick us up because by then we were pretty tired. I got into the taxi with the girls, and the driver knew a little English, so we spoke to him for a while. Then! Shakira came on the radio (cliche, much?) and we all sang along to it, yelling out the windows and even involving the driver- a man looking to be about in his forties. Nothing like a road trip, belting out a Shakira song doing 80 on a highway to make you feel like a 15 year old... girl... again.
The next day, we got given a packed lunch and sent off to our first Spanish beach! Which made me realize how lucky I was to live so close to a beach- seeing as though the bus trip was about an hour, hour and 20. But we got there! It was beautiful. Our small year 11 group 
wandered over to a huge sand dune, hoping to find someone we could hire a sled or boogie board from- with no luck. The dune was awesome and there was a really cool looking forest behind it, but we were told not to go out of sight- aw =(So we headed back to the water to cool off, playing games like chicken, the handstand circle of death- a game in which everyone stands in a circle, simultaneously diving into the handstand position under water and then thrashing the legs around above the water, kicking other legs and on some occasions, getting a few shoulders or even faces on the way down... and other light hearted tom foolery. Dylan reckoned he saw a fish, and Sean found a heavy silver necklace- which he still wears- buried in the sand under the water. He took to a jeweller once he was back in New Zealand and got told it was real silver- nice find =)
There was a stand on the bank of the beach selling sarongs, so I bought one for mum, knowing she lives in them in the summer time. We bought another round of ice creams before calling it a day and jumping back on the bus for another hour. Jess fell asleep in an awkward position, looking as though she would slide off the seat =D
Before heading straight home, we visited one of the most southern towns in Spain, Talifa. It was labelled as a 'gypsy' town because of the culture down there, which was a bit cool. Standing on the balcony looking out to the Mediterranean Sea, we saw a big Island in the distance- commonly known as 'Africa'. How cool is that? Standing on the coast of Spain looking out at the clifftop coast of Africa =)
To finish off our wonderful afternoon, we were invited to listen to a local man perform some traditional Spanish flamenco music on his guitar back in Vejer. We were asked to try and clap along with the beat. It was a bit complex, and often didn't sound in time with the music he was playing. But, we did it anyway =) Justin and Sean were interested in learning some flamenco songs on their guitar, but I dont think they were going to learn in a one-off lesson. Like I said, it was a bit complex.
And then dinner at the pizzería again! I would not be surprised to find, at the end of the trip, half of our spending money blown on food. We bought 5 Pizzas to share between the 7 of us- Ellie, Justin, Dylan, Sean, Vinnie, Jess, and myself. Sean insisted on a 'four-cheese' pizza (one of the cheeses being BLUE cheese!), and someone else chose a seafood themed pizza. Why are these the only two I remember out of the five we ordered? Well!
The morning after this particular outing to the pizzería delivered an unexpected surprise. Whether it was the blue cheese, or the foreign seafood, I woke up to fin my eyes puffy and swollen. =( I had had an allergic reaction to something that night, and was reluctant to go to school with a mutant face. It was weird because I'm not typically allergic to anything. So I took a couple of clarintynes and hoped for the best. Justin noticed my puffy eyes, despite my attempts to hide it, and made fun of me =( aw.
¡España 08! Part 3: The Locals
Our itinerary told us that we would sometime be playing 'the locals' in a game of basketball. Oh yeah, todo bien, right =) I considered most of the people in our group capable of team sports, however knowing it was not for everyone... What I wasn't aware of was the obvious set-up we were unknowingly involved in, with 5 (yes, it only took 5 of those machine-like Spaniards) local teenagers- Victor, Fran, Salve, José, and someone's name who've I've temporarily forgotten. Maybe there were four of them. I'd love to know which one of our supervisors thought it'd be amusing to chuck us in a game with 4/5 freakishly tall, older Spanish boys. 
I'm putting my money on Nono, our faithful tour guide (seen on the left with a Spanish teacher from Orewa College, Gastón Fernandez). Those locals were built for this game.
Before we started, however, Sean thought we may have had an inkling of a chance in intimidation methods if we performed the haka. He took Dylan, Vinnie and Justin in his flanks and cautioned them- in all seriousness) that the warrior-dance had to be executed perfectly, for if they screwed up, the basketball giants wouldn't take us seriously at all and we would 'lose their respect'. Its funny, because I think everyone but Sean knew that that's exactly what was going to happen. When it did happen, Sean wasn't too happy, swearing his nut off at the boys in his little tribe. I really couldn't help myself, I had to laugh. =D =D Sorry Sean, but it was amusing.
So the game went as expected- a total tragedy for us. After a horrific loss, we tried teaching them how to play touch. They were completely stumped. It took a bit of practise rounds and they weren't quite there yet, but it was all in good fun. We took the games onto the basketball court outside of the rec centre (because we got kicked out so some others could train), somehow still enthused in taking a thrashing from the Spanish boys.
That's when we had a man down in team NZ: Leah dropped straight to the ground halfway through a run to keep up with the ball, screaming of calf cramps. It was strange, and kind of scary. She was crying in pain, but she wouldn't allow anyone to help her. I was worried, but glad she'd dealt with this before and knew how to fix it herself, seeing as though she wouldn't let us near her. She did a couple of laps around the court to stretch her legs out, and would be reassuring when one of us would run over to see how she was going every so often.
So the games came to an end, and we conversed with The Locals for a short amount of time, exchanging a few 'Todo bien tío!'s and, being the polite kiwis that we are, thanking them for sacrificing their afternoon to give us a hiding.
Another tour! This afternoon Nono took us through 'calle de las flores' (I made that up), a long brick pathway, hidden somewhere in Vejer (our geographical knowledge of the place was seriously challenged) in between the apartments, with pretty potted plants and flowers all over the walls and on the ground- it's all because in Spain, patios are a historical (and yet still very popular) custom- and because places like these are typically apartments, the only spaces available for flora are flower boxes or ceramic pots. It was really cool, and I picked a flower that I thought was really pretty, right at the same time as I came across the sign saying 'Please DO NOT pick the flowers'- oops, got it, sorry- I'd put it back if I thought that would fix it, but- hmmm. 
After our second tour we hit up the pizzería again for dinner.
I'm putting my money on Nono, our faithful tour guide (seen on the left with a Spanish teacher from Orewa College, Gastón Fernandez). Those locals were built for this game.Before we started, however, Sean thought we may have had an inkling of a chance in intimidation methods if we performed the haka. He took Dylan, Vinnie and Justin in his flanks and cautioned them- in all seriousness) that the warrior-dance had to be executed perfectly, for if they screwed up, the basketball giants wouldn't take us seriously at all and we would 'lose their respect'. Its funny, because I think everyone but Sean knew that that's exactly what was going to happen. When it did happen, Sean wasn't too happy, swearing his nut off at the boys in his little tribe. I really couldn't help myself, I had to laugh. =D =D Sorry Sean, but it was amusing.
So the game went as expected- a total tragedy for us. After a horrific loss, we tried teaching them how to play touch. They were completely stumped. It took a bit of practise rounds and they weren't quite there yet, but it was all in good fun. We took the games onto the basketball court outside of the rec centre (because we got kicked out so some others could train), somehow still enthused in taking a thrashing from the Spanish boys.
That's when we had a man down in team NZ: Leah dropped straight to the ground halfway through a run to keep up with the ball, screaming of calf cramps. It was strange, and kind of scary. She was crying in pain, but she wouldn't allow anyone to help her. I was worried, but glad she'd dealt with this before and knew how to fix it herself, seeing as though she wouldn't let us near her. She did a couple of laps around the court to stretch her legs out, and would be reassuring when one of us would run over to see how she was going every so often.
So the games came to an end, and we conversed with The Locals for a short amount of time, exchanging a few 'Todo bien tío!'s and, being the polite kiwis that we are, thanking them for sacrificing their afternoon to give us a hiding.
Another tour! This afternoon Nono took us through 'calle de las flores' (I made that up), a long brick pathway, hidden somewhere in Vejer (our geographical knowledge of the place was seriously challenged) in between the apartments, with pretty potted plants and flowers all over the walls and on the ground- it's all because in Spain, patios are a historical (and yet still very popular) custom- and because places like these are typically apartments, the only spaces available for flora are flower boxes or ceramic pots. It was really cool, and I picked a flower that I thought was really pretty, right at the same time as I came across the sign saying 'Please DO NOT pick the flowers'- oops, got it, sorry- I'd put it back if I thought that would fix it, but- hmmm. 
After our second tour we hit up the pizzería again for dinner.
¡España 08! Part 2: La Janda
We were told beforehand that while we were in Vejer, we would be attending a language school called 'La Janda', with a qualified Spanish language teacher, Daniel- he seemed pretty nice. There was also a class of computers that we could use during free time to email family and friends- Monique and I had an intense pen pal conversation, with lots of CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!!! EXCITING! =D Jess and I did not make a good first impression, however, getting totally lost on the first day we were scheduled for class- at 8.30am.
Getting up and ready, downing the best toast and jam I've ever had (to this day) by about 8.15, we thought we'd make a move so we'd have extra time in case we got lost. It's like we knew. I remember predicting we'd have trouble finding it, but I didn't think it'd be this hard. It SHOULD HAVE taken us about 5 minutes max?
We made our way up the street (we, thankfully, were staying on an easily located main road), past a pub (I could've sworn it was 24/7) with some crazy looking people whose faces we'd get to know quite well over the next couple of weeks, and into the big white maze- considered not much larger than the hometown of our school, Orewa- not recognizing anything from our map of the town and the directions to our school. The darn thing didn't prove much help.
It started to rain and we were now late. Texting didn't help, but we EVENTUALLY found our way (at 8.50am). We had a fun class (the 'smart' one out of the two)with our relaxed (for now) teacher Daniel- who thought my name was Justin, and Justin's name was Dustin- extending our vocab and whatnot, and when the time came for a 1/2 hour recess, or 'pausa', we ventured further into the white wash town and down to a small kiosk to buy some pokémon toys and that's where the beautiful fountain, La Plaza De España is, and the massive roundabout (more about that in 'European Drivers'). The myth behind La Plaza de España is that people of the town would put tiny fish, or 'los pescallitos' in the fountain to swim around, and in the evenings, little children would visit the fountains to take un pescallito home as a pet. Cute =)
At the kiosk we also found a DVD of Vejer to remind us of the town when we came home, and also some postcards so we could start writing right away! Not to mention our recently devoted interest in a Spanish sweet, called a 'happy hippo'- it tastes sort of like a Kinder Surprise bueno bar, but in the shape of a hippo with cute sprinkles on it =) yum! 
Class ended at 12.50pm. We had been told to be back around 1.30pm for lunch, and then siesta- so we had a few minutes to look around before venturing home. We came across some neat little bakeries and stores, but when it came time for us to find our way back to the main road, we got lost again. Fun times! Literally! Getting lost meant we could explore the town with a valid excuse. So we did, although we were looking for a familiar street, cause we didn't want to annoy Pepita.
Somehow, we came across a large castle (later we found out it was the most cherished structure in Vejer, and in 'the old part' of the town, as there was also a more modern part, deeper into the white maze of apartments), and an elderly group of around 25-30 on a guided tour. This was a great opportunity for us to learn a bit more about the town as well as hopefully find our way home- although we were horribly out of place. Few good photo moments =)
We found our way home soon enough, just in time for lunch, which was VERY generous. A delicious tuna salad, lentil and rice soup, a nectarine and some bread- sheesh! After lunch and during siesta when all the shops were closed, our group of friends went to a park somewhere in the town to play hackey with a rugby ball, and came across a young, chubby Spanish kid who told us he was 6 years old. He was funny- then he started throwing rocks at Vinnie, which was hilarious, until he chased Jess and spat at her. Umm...? So, after playing in the park until siesta finished, we had managed to find our way home and head back out for the newly opened shops to do some gift-hunting. 
I bought a gorgeous minty coloured scarf, that I still have to this day! It's beautiful =) but that was all I ended up buying. We then got an official evening guided tour by our tour guide, Nono, who taught us that ¡Todo bien, tío! is the Spanish equivalent to 'sweet as, bro!'- We took a couple of cool pictures of pretending to fall off things, fall through things, and went to a special roof top where creepers and vines are grown to create a really pretty venue for perhaps a small wedding or a psalm reading.
Our dinner was at a local Italian restaurant (Vejer was full of franchises that weren't Spanish), called the 'Pizzeria'- wasn't going to be our last visit, either.
That night we also came up with both a code call in case of us getting lost again, similar to the bird call but instead screeching ¡Arriba! (Spanish for 'up') which never actually worked. The valuable code word we did come up with, however, was a way of us girls telling each other that we spotted a good-looking Spanish boy without getting cringes or smart remarks from the boys. The code word was 'Vespa'- typically because all the guys in the town were riding around on them, and we could easily say 'I see a Vespa!' and have faith in the fact that there actually was one, so the boys wouldn't think we were nuts.
The next day, we were the first ones to school! With the help of Alex and Lotta. Today wasn't the best of classes however, as we had to crying class members at different times over different issues. Jíaneca was upset because just before she left New Zealand with us, her boyfriend had proposed to her. She was only 17, and our teacher found that quite odd. Spain is still traditional, with marriage at about 30 and at the same time, the first move from living with the parents to starting a life with their newly wedded partners. Screw odd, he was shocked.
At the kiosk for pausa, Vinnie and Sean lightened the mood by buying them out of one type of lolly. I think they bought about 30 of these red marshmallow lollies? They weren't even that good, but it was funny =D
And then Alexandra got upset over our discussion that the verb 'enfermar' (to be sick) was treated as a temporary feeling, using 'Estar' (in temporary concept, e.g. 'estoy triste'- 'I am sad') rather than 'Ser' (permanent concept e.g. 'soy una chica'-'I am a girl'). Why was this so upsetting? Because Alex debated that some sicknesses are not temporary, using the example of her beloved horse dying of a cancer she could not cure, and for matter of the topic got rather upset when Daniel denied her reasoning. It was a little awkward in class after that.
Over the two weeks, our participation in the schoolwork faded more and more, as we kiwis were not accustomed to sleeping from 2pm-4pm for siesta, but were still staying up quite late- I got about 6 hours sleep a night. Daniel was not happy about that. We would drag ourselves into class and pretty much sleep in our seats for the lesson. Our bad =)
Getting up and ready, downing the best toast and jam I've ever had (to this day) by about 8.15, we thought we'd make a move so we'd have extra time in case we got lost. It's like we knew. I remember predicting we'd have trouble finding it, but I didn't think it'd be this hard. It SHOULD HAVE taken us about 5 minutes max?
We made our way up the street (we, thankfully, were staying on an easily located main road), past a pub (I could've sworn it was 24/7) with some crazy looking people whose faces we'd get to know quite well over the next couple of weeks, and into the big white maze- considered not much larger than the hometown of our school, Orewa- not recognizing anything from our map of the town and the directions to our school. The darn thing didn't prove much help.
It started to rain and we were now late. Texting didn't help, but we EVENTUALLY found our way (at 8.50am). We had a fun class (the 'smart' one out of the two)with our relaxed (for now) teacher Daniel- who thought my name was Justin, and Justin's name was Dustin- extending our vocab and whatnot, and when the time came for a 1/2 hour recess, or 'pausa', we ventured further into the white wash town and down to a small kiosk to buy some pokémon toys and that's where the beautiful fountain, La Plaza De España is, and the massive roundabout (more about that in 'European Drivers'). The myth behind La Plaza de España is that people of the town would put tiny fish, or 'los pescallitos' in the fountain to swim around, and in the evenings, little children would visit the fountains to take un pescallito home as a pet. Cute =)
At the kiosk we also found a DVD of Vejer to remind us of the town when we came home, and also some postcards so we could start writing right away! Not to mention our recently devoted interest in a Spanish sweet, called a 'happy hippo'- it tastes sort of like a Kinder Surprise bueno bar, but in the shape of a hippo with cute sprinkles on it =) yum! 
Class ended at 12.50pm. We had been told to be back around 1.30pm for lunch, and then siesta- so we had a few minutes to look around before venturing home. We came across some neat little bakeries and stores, but when it came time for us to find our way back to the main road, we got lost again. Fun times! Literally! Getting lost meant we could explore the town with a valid excuse. So we did, although we were looking for a familiar street, cause we didn't want to annoy Pepita.
Somehow, we came across a large castle (later we found out it was the most cherished structure in Vejer, and in 'the old part' of the town, as there was also a more modern part, deeper into the white maze of apartments), and an elderly group of around 25-30 on a guided tour. This was a great opportunity for us to learn a bit more about the town as well as hopefully find our way home- although we were horribly out of place. Few good photo moments =)
We found our way home soon enough, just in time for lunch, which was VERY generous. A delicious tuna salad, lentil and rice soup, a nectarine and some bread- sheesh! After lunch and during siesta when all the shops were closed, our group of friends went to a park somewhere in the town to play hackey with a rugby ball, and came across a young, chubby Spanish kid who told us he was 6 years old. He was funny- then he started throwing rocks at Vinnie, which was hilarious, until he chased Jess and spat at her. Umm...? So, after playing in the park until siesta finished, we had managed to find our way home and head back out for the newly opened shops to do some gift-hunting. 
I bought a gorgeous minty coloured scarf, that I still have to this day! It's beautiful =) but that was all I ended up buying. We then got an official evening guided tour by our tour guide, Nono, who taught us that ¡Todo bien, tío! is the Spanish equivalent to 'sweet as, bro!'- We took a couple of cool pictures of pretending to fall off things, fall through things, and went to a special roof top where creepers and vines are grown to create a really pretty venue for perhaps a small wedding or a psalm reading.
Our dinner was at a local Italian restaurant (Vejer was full of franchises that weren't Spanish), called the 'Pizzeria'- wasn't going to be our last visit, either.That night we also came up with both a code call in case of us getting lost again, similar to the bird call but instead screeching ¡Arriba! (Spanish for 'up') which never actually worked. The valuable code word we did come up with, however, was a way of us girls telling each other that we spotted a good-looking Spanish boy without getting cringes or smart remarks from the boys. The code word was 'Vespa'- typically because all the guys in the town were riding around on them, and we could easily say 'I see a Vespa!' and have faith in the fact that there actually was one, so the boys wouldn't think we were nuts.
The next day, we were the first ones to school! With the help of Alex and Lotta. Today wasn't the best of classes however, as we had to crying class members at different times over different issues. Jíaneca was upset because just before she left New Zealand with us, her boyfriend had proposed to her. She was only 17, and our teacher found that quite odd. Spain is still traditional, with marriage at about 30 and at the same time, the first move from living with the parents to starting a life with their newly wedded partners. Screw odd, he was shocked.
At the kiosk for pausa, Vinnie and Sean lightened the mood by buying them out of one type of lolly. I think they bought about 30 of these red marshmallow lollies? They weren't even that good, but it was funny =DAnd then Alexandra got upset over our discussion that the verb 'enfermar' (to be sick) was treated as a temporary feeling, using 'Estar' (in temporary concept, e.g. 'estoy triste'- 'I am sad') rather than 'Ser' (permanent concept e.g. 'soy una chica'-'I am a girl'). Why was this so upsetting? Because Alex debated that some sicknesses are not temporary, using the example of her beloved horse dying of a cancer she could not cure, and for matter of the topic got rather upset when Daniel denied her reasoning. It was a little awkward in class after that.
Over the two weeks, our participation in the schoolwork faded more and more, as we kiwis were not accustomed to sleeping from 2pm-4pm for siesta, but were still staying up quite late- I got about 6 hours sleep a night. Daniel was not happy about that. We would drag ourselves into class and pretty much sleep in our seats for the lesson. Our bad =)
¡España 08! Part 1: Departure
It started as a normal day. I wasn't exactly in a rush to get to the airport; The flight was at 11am, which meant we had to be there at 8.00 to check in, which meant leaving at 7.00, which meant getting up at 6. No biggie for me usually. but today was an exception.
I was leaving for the biggest trip of my young life so far. I had just had my birthday at the start of the month, which coincided with my week-long hockey tournament, before coming home to prepare a totally original Birthday present (a customized set of dresser drawers and a pet axolotl) for a couple of friends who were throwing a joint party- the biggest one I'd been to so far. It was a big month! But I wasn't phased. I had literally left it to the last minute to pack for my overseas experience.
In the airport, we took a couple of group photos and my Mum cried (what a sweetie). This was the first time I'd ever been overseas by myself- not to mention on the other side of the world. Monique (my lovely step-sister) got there from work just in time to see me off she didn't have to come but it was nice of her to say goodbye and keep Mum company, making it a bit of a family affair.
And before we knew it we were off! Embarking on an estimated 12 hour flight to our layover, a 2 hour rest in Bangkok, Thailand- before another 12 hour flight to Spanish soil. Unfortunately, I was ill from falling in the pool at the aforementioned joint party (thanks to the help of a rather intoxicated friend), and my voice was croaky and weird. We had all been seated in alphabetical order with my peers in our Spanish group in a stuffy aeroplane. Lucky them! Even luckier, the flight was only 10 hours thanks to some strong tail winds. Still a pretty long flight however, in which we played games, slept and watched movies.
The layover was great, my friend Dylan and I wandered around the Bangkok airport for those two hours, being the typical tourists and taking photos of ourselves in front of some great structures, interesting people, trying the dodgy food that everyone back home warns you about,
and testing our boundaries with a good old fashioned game of 'I'VE GOT A BOMB'- a game that can only be played in airport, by travellers like us who are often suspected of carrying odd possessions and are usually kept closely monitored. Well, may I comment that the guard was extremly low in this airport, but it made for an interesting layover flight. The objective is to complete the sentence with a slightly louder volume than the last player's attempt, whilst avoiding being spear tackled and arrested by security. I'm stupidly proud to say I won that, hands down. By that time our fellow traveller Sean Airey had joined us, and shouted Dylan and I come sort of chocolate smoothie. But we were too sick to accept, from eating all those dodgy tasters. We tried to tell him, but with no avail. I cant remember if I actually drank it. The two hours whizzed by, and I got to show off my (extremely limited) skills on Sean's guitar while we were sitting at the table drinking those chocolate smoothies, playing 'wonderwall' by Oasis. We engaged in a rather intense game of hackey, and were pretty soon told off for that because we were scaring customers away from nearby stores. Oops.
The time soon came to get back on a plane! This time, I actually tried to sleep on the flight, getting a good few hours of catch-up but it was mostly uncomfortable. We landed, finally, in Madrid and bussed into the city centre, passing a graveyard on the highway covering a 700m distance! Not to mention the width! And we were assigned rooms and room mates at Rex Tryp Hotel. That's when the headband went missing. My headband, of a quite unique leafy design went missing after last being seen on my bed. Odd? The only people in my room were my room mates...
While we were in Madrid, we visited a beautiful Arts museum, El Reina Sofia. It had some beautiful rooms and a crazy contraption (watch the video)
. We also visited a park- it was immaculate, and you could hire a dinghy to take out into a man made lake, which was really cool! Going in packs of 4, I don't know how I ended up with Sean, Justin and Vinnie, who insisted on rowing most of the time, and Dylan ending up with the girls' boat.
They performed a move called the '360 death thrust'- which involved paddling around in a circle as fast as they possibly could (which was fast), effectively going nowhere and attracting attention from locals- they'd obviously never heard of the 360 death thrust. I will never go rowing with these three boys again.
After our stay in Madrid, we caught a bus and the avión (a bullet train that can travel at 500km/h as I remember?)
We only got up to about 294km, but that's still very impressive to get through Sevilla and finally arrive in Vejer- 5 hours later. Tiring! There, we were all paired up with our home stays and brought back to our rooms for the next two weeks. Jess and I met Pepita, a lovely elderly woman who's daughter owned a baby's clothing shop on a main shopping street in Vejer, with absolutely no knowledge of English and an eccentric cooking style.
I was leaving for the biggest trip of my young life so far. I had just had my birthday at the start of the month, which coincided with my week-long hockey tournament, before coming home to prepare a totally original Birthday present (a customized set of dresser drawers and a pet axolotl) for a couple of friends who were throwing a joint party- the biggest one I'd been to so far. It was a big month! But I wasn't phased. I had literally left it to the last minute to pack for my overseas experience.
In the airport, we took a couple of group photos and my Mum cried (what a sweetie). This was the first time I'd ever been overseas by myself- not to mention on the other side of the world. Monique (my lovely step-sister) got there from work just in time to see me off she didn't have to come but it was nice of her to say goodbye and keep Mum company, making it a bit of a family affair.
And before we knew it we were off! Embarking on an estimated 12 hour flight to our layover, a 2 hour rest in Bangkok, Thailand- before another 12 hour flight to Spanish soil. Unfortunately, I was ill from falling in the pool at the aforementioned joint party (thanks to the help of a rather intoxicated friend), and my voice was croaky and weird. We had all been seated in alphabetical order with my peers in our Spanish group in a stuffy aeroplane. Lucky them! Even luckier, the flight was only 10 hours thanks to some strong tail winds. Still a pretty long flight however, in which we played games, slept and watched movies. The layover was great, my friend Dylan and I wandered around the Bangkok airport for those two hours, being the typical tourists and taking photos of ourselves in front of some great structures, interesting people, trying the dodgy food that everyone back home warns you about,
and testing our boundaries with a good old fashioned game of 'I'VE GOT A BOMB'- a game that can only be played in airport, by travellers like us who are often suspected of carrying odd possessions and are usually kept closely monitored. Well, may I comment that the guard was extremly low in this airport, but it made for an interesting layover flight. The objective is to complete the sentence with a slightly louder volume than the last player's attempt, whilst avoiding being spear tackled and arrested by security. I'm stupidly proud to say I won that, hands down. By that time our fellow traveller Sean Airey had joined us, and shouted Dylan and I come sort of chocolate smoothie. But we were too sick to accept, from eating all those dodgy tasters. We tried to tell him, but with no avail. I cant remember if I actually drank it. The two hours whizzed by, and I got to show off my (extremely limited) skills on Sean's guitar while we were sitting at the table drinking those chocolate smoothies, playing 'wonderwall' by Oasis. We engaged in a rather intense game of hackey, and were pretty soon told off for that because we were scaring customers away from nearby stores. Oops. The time soon came to get back on a plane! This time, I actually tried to sleep on the flight, getting a good few hours of catch-up but it was mostly uncomfortable. We landed, finally, in Madrid and bussed into the city centre, passing a graveyard on the highway covering a 700m distance! Not to mention the width! And we were assigned rooms and room mates at Rex Tryp Hotel. That's when the headband went missing. My headband, of a quite unique leafy design went missing after last being seen on my bed. Odd? The only people in my room were my room mates...
While we were in Madrid, we visited a beautiful Arts museum, El Reina Sofia. It had some beautiful rooms and a crazy contraption (watch the video)
. We also visited a park- it was immaculate, and you could hire a dinghy to take out into a man made lake, which was really cool! Going in packs of 4, I don't know how I ended up with Sean, Justin and Vinnie, who insisted on rowing most of the time, and Dylan ending up with the girls' boat.
They performed a move called the '360 death thrust'- which involved paddling around in a circle as fast as they possibly could (which was fast), effectively going nowhere and attracting attention from locals- they'd obviously never heard of the 360 death thrust. I will never go rowing with these three boys again.
After our stay in Madrid, we caught a bus and the avión (a bullet train that can travel at 500km/h as I remember?)
We only got up to about 294km, but that's still very impressive to get through Sevilla and finally arrive in Vejer- 5 hours later. Tiring! There, we were all paired up with our home stays and brought back to our rooms for the next two weeks. Jess and I met Pepita, a lovely elderly woman who's daughter owned a baby's clothing shop on a main shopping street in Vejer, with absolutely no knowledge of English and an eccentric cooking style.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Lions and Gazelles: The new 'Birds and the Bees'?
I was fortunate in avoiding that awkward situation where you turn 'that age', and your parents think you're ready for:
The Sex Talk.
Mine must have thought i was pretty up to date on that sort of thing- or, on the other hand, they may have thought I'd never get to that stage in my teenage years- and, nearing the legal age for clubbing without getting that far, they're probably right.
Anyways. I was told about a discussion some of my friends had earlier on this year about how they view the situation between boys and girls. In this new age view of things, there were no birds. There were no bees. The laws of attraction had evolved in the Animal Kingdom now to Lions and Gazelles. Now I have a pretty crap sense of humour, but this was entertaining to listen to!
The conversation arose from the problem with one of the guys pursuing a girlfriend of mine, and was lectured about how the fun is in the chase. Well, if you were a hunter, would your exhilaration come from the thrill of the pursuit? I thought yeah, I guess. So the Lion, being the stronger, faster, however the lazier of the species, who sleeps approx 22 hours a day- is assigned to the lads. How odd, doesn't sound anything like them?
And the ladies are the Gazelles- sleek, aloof, travel in herds, frolicking around picking daisies and chattering amongst each other.
Now when it comes to deciding which Gazelle the Lion wants, he typically looks for the weakest one in the pack. Perhaps they are slower, younger, older, more toned and meaty, or have
a bit more on the side. Or, if they're very determined, he might target the smart, fast ones that are more of a challenge, harder to catch. Every Lion has slightly different taste.
The next move is to separate this gazelle from the pack. Gazelles, like females, are generally inseparable. Its hard to catch them off guard, on their own. But it can be done with a bit of stalking, keeping a low profile or camouflaging, guessing what the gazelle is going to do next. Now Lions have their packs too, and they may use this to help them, to surround the herd and distract them with on another while the Lion zones in on his prey.
When the opportune moment arises, the Lion will pounce. The Gazelle doesn't know what hit her, the monstrous beast came out of no where. Lions can be a real pain in the ass, destroying families or taking a Gazelle away from her little friendship herd. But good things can happen- like Romeo and Juliet, the two enemies that weren't meant to be in love- they seemed to work around that obstacle =)
By now, Gazelles know that they're physically the minority, even though society is equalizing the two in privileges. Do Gazelles have the right to graze on pride lands? Heck yes! In some cases, Gazelles may even have the confidence to approach the Lions, to find a pride of them somewhere on the Savannah and hang around for the thrill of their chase. Gazelles can be complicated.
So, is the era of the birds and the bees coming to a close? What relation did they have to each other, anyway?
The Sex Talk.
Mine must have thought i was pretty up to date on that sort of thing- or, on the other hand, they may have thought I'd never get to that stage in my teenage years- and, nearing the legal age for clubbing without getting that far, they're probably right.
Anyways. I was told about a discussion some of my friends had earlier on this year about how they view the situation between boys and girls. In this new age view of things, there were no birds. There were no bees. The laws of attraction had evolved in the Animal Kingdom now to Lions and Gazelles. Now I have a pretty crap sense of humour, but this was entertaining to listen to!
The conversation arose from the problem with one of the guys pursuing a girlfriend of mine, and was lectured about how the fun is in the chase. Well, if you were a hunter, would your exhilaration come from the thrill of the pursuit? I thought yeah, I guess. So the Lion, being the stronger, faster, however the lazier of the species, who sleeps approx 22 hours a day- is assigned to the lads. How odd, doesn't sound anything like them?
And the ladies are the Gazelles- sleek, aloof, travel in herds, frolicking around picking daisies and chattering amongst each other.
Now when it comes to deciding which Gazelle the Lion wants, he typically looks for the weakest one in the pack. Perhaps they are slower, younger, older, more toned and meaty, or have
a bit more on the side. Or, if they're very determined, he might target the smart, fast ones that are more of a challenge, harder to catch. Every Lion has slightly different taste.The next move is to separate this gazelle from the pack. Gazelles, like females, are generally inseparable. Its hard to catch them off guard, on their own. But it can be done with a bit of stalking, keeping a low profile or camouflaging, guessing what the gazelle is going to do next. Now Lions have their packs too, and they may use this to help them, to surround the herd and distract them with on another while the Lion zones in on his prey.
When the opportune moment arises, the Lion will pounce. The Gazelle doesn't know what hit her, the monstrous beast came out of no where. Lions can be a real pain in the ass, destroying families or taking a Gazelle away from her little friendship herd. But good things can happen- like Romeo and Juliet, the two enemies that weren't meant to be in love- they seemed to work around that obstacle =)
By now, Gazelles know that they're physically the minority, even though society is equalizing the two in privileges. Do Gazelles have the right to graze on pride lands? Heck yes! In some cases, Gazelles may even have the confidence to approach the Lions, to find a pride of them somewhere on the Savannah and hang around for the thrill of their chase. Gazelles can be complicated.
So, is the era of the birds and the bees coming to a close? What relation did they have to each other, anyway?
Starting a Blog
Well, I never thought I'd see myself starting up my very own blog. It's a long stretch of blank canvas that requires a lot of attention- not that I'm not used to starting things from scratch. But I'm seriously technologically challenged- OK, slight exaggeration. I'm not the most tragic case out there. But I still cant figure out how to put a template from another website onto this site.
Choosing a pen name wasn't easy, I mean, LockedinTranslation? OK yeah, I'd consider myself caught up in a lot of different adventures, stories, just like being 'locked' in it. I think it's pretty safe to admit that I would not want to forget about them, or really even move on from this stage in my life, cause the big adult world is kinda scary. Would I want to be 'locked' in this age? Maybe. Maybe not. Believe it or not, there are things to look forward to.
I want to go to University, and get out as fast as I can to build some sort of career. I want to move overseas and see the world. With or without someone, I'm doing it. I guess because of that brave remark, you could say I'm independent. I mostly am.
Kids are not on my mind right now, nor should they be for a long time. My Mum taught me that, love you Mummy =) in fact one of my goals is to someday bring my parents to my European Villa or my Caribbean Condo (or both, depending on how good my job is- but I wont keep my hopes up)for an all expenses paid holiday (once again, relying on the job a bit there).
But for now, I'm LockedinTranslation. I tend to not give too much information out to complete strangers, so I'll leave it at that for now.
Choosing a pen name wasn't easy, I mean, LockedinTranslation? OK yeah, I'd consider myself caught up in a lot of different adventures, stories, just like being 'locked' in it. I think it's pretty safe to admit that I would not want to forget about them, or really even move on from this stage in my life, cause the big adult world is kinda scary. Would I want to be 'locked' in this age? Maybe. Maybe not. Believe it or not, there are things to look forward to.
I want to go to University, and get out as fast as I can to build some sort of career
Kids are not on my mind right now, nor should they be for a long time. My Mum taught me that, love you Mummy =) in fact one of my goals is to someday bring my parents to my European Villa or my Caribbean Condo (or both, depending on how good my job is- but I wont keep my hopes up)for an all expenses paid holiday (once again, relying on the job a bit there).
But for now, I'm LockedinTranslation. I tend to not give too much information out to complete strangers, so I'll leave it at that for now.
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