Nochevieja

Haven't figured out your New Year's Eve plans yet? Why not bring it in like the Spanish? Here are some interest facts I have learned about how the night is celebrated in Spain:

Men and women alike wear red underwear which is supposed to bring good luck.

Rather than starting early and bringing in the New Year with a strong buzz the Spanish don't go out to bars until 12:30am.

Instead of smooching your date at the stroke of midnight you devour 12 grapes to ensure a year of prosperity

FELIZ NAVIDAD

Tomorrow I will travel back to the US for the first time in three months. Therefore, I will be taking a short hiatus from my life in Spain ( and this blog) to celebrate the holidays with friends and family at home. It is unbelievable how fast it went by! ¡Feliz Navidad!

Plaza Mayor

I thought Plaza Mayor was only in Madrid, but a few days ago I discovered and visited the one in Málaga. Unlike the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, this one is a huge mall located near the airport. It was FABULOUS. They have every store you could possibly dream of going to in Spain along with dozens of restaurants, bars and a huge movie theater. In typical Spanish tradition, there are many outdoor areas and plazas. Right now they have an ice skating rink set up in one of the main plazas. Come to think of it, it actually looks like a little village of stores. The whole complex was beautifully decorated for the holidays and I am looking forward to going back there in January when Spain has its famous sale on absolutely everything.

Lost in translation

I was walking around Corte Ingles the other day when I came across this t-shirt. I'm sorry but SERIOUSLY? I cannot believe in this day and age a company cannot hire or consult a bilingual person when designing graphic t-shirts. Also, even if this was gramatically correct what are they trying to say to begin with: "I'm such a golden girl?" or "Girl, I'm gold" or "I'm so golden" ?!?!?! Something has been very lost in translation..."I'm such gold girl company", can you please hire me to do translation work? It will put an end to your ignorance and embarrassment and I could really use the extra dinero.

GRACIAS.

To go along with this theme, I remember in middle school the Abercrombie graphic Ts with Chinese writing were all the rage, not that any of us spoke or understood Chinese. I definitely had one or two and bought them because I thought the writing looked cool. For all I knew it could have said something really perverted or innappropriate, but I along with my friends still bought them and wore them with pleasure. Emily took the picture on the left while she was in Cambodia working in an orphanage. When Emily asked him why he bought this t-shirt, he said it was because he likes the color green. My first thought was my middle school Abercrombie t-shirts and how I could have been innocently walking around at age 12 with something easily just as embarrassing. Well at least it makes sense grammatically...

Pen Pals

As part of the bilingual program in my school, the fourth grade has "pen-pals" in an elementary school in England. So far they have written one letter back and forth to each other in English introducing themselves. Most of the letters looked the same. Here is a typical example of one of the British letters:

Hello Maria,

My name is Charlotte. I am from England. I have one sister and two annoying brothers. I love pets. I play cricket at school. I have six fish, 2 cows and 5 chickens.

Are you a boy or a girl? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Do you like sport?

Anyway the letters were all so cute, and now they are working on a Christmas card in both English and Spanish to send to their pen pals. After Christmas our school will send a letter in Spanish to the British pen pals. It's such a fun way to learn another language and hopefully they can eventually visit each other.

"Españoles en el mundo"

This is a TV show that some of the teachers in school have been talking to me about. I have yet to watch it, but I think the premise for each season is a group of Spaniards move to a different city in the world- so maybe it´s like the "Real World"? Anyway, this season they are living in NEW YORK, so everyone has been watching and telling me I need to do the same. It´s on Tuesday nights on Channel 1 here, but considering I have never watched TV in my flat before I think I will be watching it online at the website above.

You know there is something seriously wrong when...

• You are wearing gloves, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, a scarf and socks to sleep

• You find yourself turning on the toaster not to make food, but to keep the feeling in your hands

• You are petrified of getting out of the shower

• You think there is a chance it is warmer outside

• You want to go to bed at 9pm just so you don't have to be awake anymore

• You squat every time you pee because the mere thought of not doing so sends shivers down your spine

• You think about which item of furniture could be sacrificed for a fire and not be noticed during the end of year inventory check

Alternate title for this post: You know it's winter in Málaga when...

Christmas in the classroom

It´s Christmas time in the classroom this week! Each class will learn the same Christmas vocabulary in English and then have different activities and worksheets to complete...Christmas bingo, Christmas multiple choice, Christmas connect the dots, Christmas coloring...
Here is the list of vocabulary:

Merry Christmas: Feliz Navidad
Santa: Papa Noel
present: regalo
candle: vela
cracker: petardo
stocking: calcetín
star: estrella
reindeer: reno
Christmas eve: noche buena
Christmas tree: árbol de Navidad
Christmas card: carta de navidad
snowflake: copo de nieve
holly: acebo

In every class we will be singing,"Santa Claus is coming to town:"
("Santa Claus se viene a la ciudad")

Estate atento
y no llores mas
no hagas pucheros
te digo por que
Santa Claus se viene a la ciudad

El hace una lista
y la vuelve a hacer
Apunta a los buenos y a los malos
también
Sant Claus se viene a la ciudad
El ve cuando tu duermes
Y también tu despertar
El sabe si vas bien o mal
Te tienes que compartar

Welling Market

Today "C" took me to a mercado in "Welling," an area of Málaga. We walked around for almost two hours trying on different scarves, jewelry, boots and sweaters. Every five seconds you would hear a man or woman shout out, "VENGA GUAPA," trying to catch your attention and lure you into their stand. There were great deals (2euro scarves) and so much to choose from! Aside from apparel there were also fruit and vegetable stands. I can't wait to go back!

Rays of Light

Another magical view seen from the bus on the way to work...oh the joys of commuting in the Costa del Sol.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Málaga (aside from the fact that some people are still going to the beach). Every street is decorated with the most elaborate lights that are bright and beautifully lit at night. In the plazas, such as Plaza Constitución there are Christmas trees and other festive additions which give the city such a romantic and joyous feel! ¡Que guay es!

Above: Calle Larios at night

Above: Enlarged Christmas decorations in Plaza de la Constitución

Above: Christmas tree in Plaza de la Constitución

Above: Christmas tree made of Heineken bottles inside a restaurant.

Aminatou Haidar in Spain

Today there was a peace protest on calle Larios concerning the Western Sahara activist, Aminatou Haidar, who campaigns for the independence of the Western Sahara from Morocco.

If you want more information please check out this article.

Here are some highlights:

Spain said Moroccan authorities Saturday again refused to allow Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar to return home, a decision it said it "deeply regrets."

The decision risked worsening the already tense diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco over the award-winning activist, who has been on a hunger strike for almost three weeks.

Spain had offered to give Haidar refugee status or Spanish citizenship so she could be allowed to return home but she rejected both options on the grounds that she did not want to become "a foreigner in her own home."

Haidar responded by saying her only wish is to "go home to my children and my mother, in Laayoune."

And she again hit out at Spanish authorities, whom she has accused of collaborating with Morocco by accepting her after she was expelled from the Western Sahara.

"Spain is unable to resolve the situation," she said in a statement read by her lawyer, Ines Miranda.

"I say once again that Spain is Morocco's accomplice, and both governments want to push me to death. Spain is directly responsible for the consequences of the hunger strike that I have been keeping for 20 days."

Haidar won the Robert Kennedy human rights prize in 2008 as well as several other awards for her activism on behalf of Western Sahara.

British Pancakes

This may appear to be a pizza, but it's not... IT'S A PANCAKE! When I ordered a "tomato, cheese, chicken and mushroom pancake" (why I thought this would make for a good pancake is another story) I imagined it would resemble a standard pancake. You can imagine my surprise when this giant plate of deliciousness was placed in front of me. The guy next to us ordered the "chocolate, ice cream pancake." It had the same pizza formation, but with 2 huge scoops of ice cream on top. YUM.

Fantasy Fog

As I have said before the 45 minute commute to work does not bother because I always get to watch a beautiful sunrise (unless there is the unlikely event that it is rainy). This morning however the sunrise and the sky had the most mysterious formation. The clouds were SO low it appeared as if they were connected to the surface of the water. Not only did they seem to be connected to the water, but they looked like tidal waves themselves frozen in time. I sat completely alert on the bus snapping pictures on my blackberry hoping to capture how cool this looked. After I got off the bus I proceeded immediately to the beach to take some more pictures. Obviously it was just some thick fog along with low clouds surrounding my town and the nearby area, but it was magical!

I see London...

Above: Emily and me in front of Buckingham Palace
Above: Me and Emily in front of the Tower of London Bridge
Above: Reunion! Chrissy, Emily and me
Above: Emily in front of Hamley's (FAO Schwartz equivalent)
Above: Emily and me in front of the London Eye
Above: Me in front of Big Ben

Holiday

December 6 is the Día de la Constitución and December 8 is the Inmaculada Concepción in Spain. All you need to know is that there was no work yesterday or today. Somehow I was able to go grocery shopping yesterday, but today literally reminded me of Memorial Day weekend in New York City. There was no one around and everything was closed. So pretty much your standard Spanish Sunday. I did for some reason think that I would still have to give private English lessons. After I walked 45minutes to my student's flat only to be told over the intercom that we were in fact NOT meeting today I felt sort of defeated and that I am not as immersed as I thought. How could I think someone would want tutoring on a holiday?!

EasilytheworstJet

I managed to avoid the "cheap" airlines when I lived in Madrid. When I say "cheap" I am not only talking about price, but cheap in pretty much every other aspect of a flight- thinking you get a really good deal but then being charged a ton to check a bag, waiting in a long line to board, horrible seats, turbulence etc. It worked out that whenever I needed to fly somewhere I was able to find a great deal on Spanair or Lufthansa. Therefore my first experience on a "cheap" airline was my trip to London this past weekend on EasyJet. Although Emily and I got the flight for a great price I had heard horror stories from friends who had flown EasyJet and RyanAir so I knew not to get too excited. Greg recently flew to London on EasyJet and said that when the plane finally landed he opened his eyes and everyone was crying and practically hugging each other because they couldn't believe they weren't submerged in water.

I am happy to report that there was no turbulence on the flight, but on the way to London our plane lacked reclining chairs. I sat upright in the middle seat staring at the back of the chair in front of me praying that the flight would go by faster. I refused to let myself pay for a beverage of food item so I became extremely hungered. Uncomfortable is an understatement. Luckily on the way back I was able to score a window seat and a reclining chair. The wait to get on the plane though was ridiculous. There was one person checking the tickets for all of the passengers. However, there were two crew men sitting nearby to her just talking and laughing with each other! Why couldn't they help her speed things along? These are aspects of European culture that will continue to frustrate and confuse me.

THE LIST

For me there are several crucial, yet standard components to making a weekend abroad noteworthy. Roughly speaking: good restaurants, good weather, good sightseeing, good people, good fun.

Here is my London List:

Stay with a best friend
Gatwick Express
The Phoenix
Chelsea
Sloane Square
Eat french fries
Chelsea Brasserie
The Botanist
Hamleys
Walk around Picadilly Circus
Rack up free holiday souvenirs
The Valmont
Very attractive people
Victoria and Albert Museum (free)
Shop at French Connection
Big Ben
Tower of London Bridge
Spacious taxis
Flavored coffee
Open markets
Brick Lane vintage shops
My Old Dutch Pancake House
Find out from bbm and facebook that you actually know 10 people living in London

You say tomato...

Many people are familiar with the saying, "you say tomato, I say tomato (with British accent). You say potato I saw potato (with British accent)." This phrase signifies that while British and Americans pronounce words differently, no pasa nada...they mean the same thing . Since British English, rather than American English is what is taught in the Spanish Education System, I have learned that it is not only pronunciation that differentiates us from our Mother country. There are actually many words and phrases that my American mind can simply not comprehend/accept. Take one of my first days in 4th grade for example. The lesson was on the classroom and objects in the classroom. The vocabulary consisted of: sharpener, pencil, pen, pencil case etc. One of the activities was for me to hold up pictures of classroom objects and for the students to name all of the items.

Me: What do you see in the picture?
Student: Ruler, book, pencil, rubber.
Me: (my eyes pop out of their sockets) I'm sorry? rubber?
Head Teacher: (whispers) Alex, rubber means eraser.
Me: (what the *****?!?!?) Oh right of course...you know that rubber means something different in America right?
Head Teacher: (giggly) I know, but that's what we say here!

So for the rest of the class I listened to 11yr-olds talk about rubbers and pencils. I'm sorry but I think in the raaaare case they want to eventually study or work in the United States they should also be taught the word "eraser."

There are some other funny words that I have learned and started to get used to hearing on a regular basis in my English classes, but the real kicker has to be the grammatical phrase they use to describe someone or some thing. Here are some typical phrases I would use to describe someone:

She has brown eyes
He has blonde hair
She has a sick body
He doesn't have the best attitude
She has the best clothes

Since we teach British English, instead of saying, "She has..." we have to teach "She's got..."

She's got brown eyes
He's got blonde hair
She's got a sick body
He hasn't got the best attitude
She's got the best clothes

Even though in some cases I could definitely substitute "got" for "has," other times it just sounds flat out wrong. "She hasn't got a rubber..." did that sentence just come out of my mouth!?

La Tetería

One of my favorite places to go to in Málaga for a bite to eat, a cup of tea or just some time to relax outside is La Tetería. It is located just opposite of the iglesia de San Agustín and close to the Picasso museum on a very quaint pedestrian street. The menu is six pages of heaven. They have a wide selection of crepes, sandwiches and pastries. Milkshakes, smoothies and coffee can also be found there and are absolutely delicious. Obviously they offer tea as well: green tea, black tea, red tea, white tea, morning tea etc . My absolute favorite category though are the preventive and curative teas. They have one for diabetes, a cold, a cough, depression, energy, insomnia...you name it they have it. Whenever I diagnosis myself with having a cough or headache I run over to La Tetería and order the corresponding curative tea and I always feel better afterward! I hope it's legal to bring boxes of tea in my luggage because I definitely plan on using them as Christmas stocking stuffers!

Turkey success

The turkey dinner was a great success. Most of us arrived at Rachael´s before 9pm hoping to eat around 10pm. The turkey however took slightly longer than expected so we had extra time to catch up with each other and enjoy all of the bubbly beverages we had brought over to celebrate. We ended up eating in true Spanish style around midnight. There were just under 20 people in attendance. It was such a treat to have everyone there, especially Rachael´s roommates who were celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time. Rachael prepared a delicious turkey with gravy, sweet potatoes, rice, green beans and salad.

Above: Bill cutting the turkey
Above: the whole crew eating dinner.

I spy Madrid

Above: By a fountain in Retiro Park. I LOVE fountains!
Above: On gran via
Above: In front of the Palacio Real

Teatro Cervantes in a different light

Last night "C" took me to Teatro Cervantes to watch her boyfriend play with one of his bands. Obviously I was excited to go see live music again and I dont think I will ever pass up the chance to see a performance at the Teatro Cervantes. They were playing there to benefit an organization that researches schizophrenia. It was really fun and very informal. After his band finished another band went on and the lead singer spoke to the audience in the balcony and encouraged them to come downstairs and fill up the empty seats. No one hesitated. In fact practically everyone except for "C" and I made a b-line for the stairs to get closer seats. I could not believe it. It was a very nice gesture on the artists part, but sadly for the eager audience members, they were turned away by the theater staff and had to come back up to their original spots. There was tons of dancing in the aisle ways and it felt more like a concert in a park than a fancy indoor theater. Very refreshing!

XMAS Lottery

There has been a lot of talk around school recently about the upcoming "Christmas Lottery." It is a huge event here and not cheap to participate. At 20euro a pop you can purchase your ticket and hope to be one of the lucky winners. Why it is 20euro instead of just $1 like in New York I am not sure...but if I win you´ll definitely tbe able to tell-most likely by the termination of my blog and my move to the Caribbean.

Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Malaga crew! The 4 of us are lucky to have several visitors from the United States meet us on Thursday in Madrid for a big celebration at Rachaels flat. It goes without saying that ham is the meat of choice in Spain, so I am extremely excited and interested to see how our turkey dinner will work out. Miss you all at home and see you so so soon!

Side Hustle...CHECK

I hustled and bustled and I finally got a side hustle! The first month I was here I browsed through Loquo and saw an ad that struck my fancy. A woman was looking for experienced English teachers to become tutors. I sent her an email and since my schedule was pretty hectic for a few weeks we had not been able to get a timetable worked out until last week. She acts as my "agent" and finds people for me to tutor through the English academy she works for. So far I have two clients and one on the way.

The TEFL course that I took over the summer has really come in handy. I went over most of the modules and used several of them to help plan my lessons. The women that I tutor have different levels of English. One has a lot of trouble with grammar and pronunciation especially with words ending in "-ed." I found this blog called esl-tutor which has been a life saver. The other woman I tutor reads and writes very well, but wishes to improve her conversational skills. This website is excellent for conversation topics. I highly reccomend both of them for esl teaching and tutoring!

Happy __________

I created my own Thanksgiving story book for my lessons this week. I printed out tons of pictures (turkeys, pilgrims, indians, feasts, and the Thankgiving Day parade) and wrote out a story about where Thanksgiving comes from and how we celebrate it today. My roommates gave me weird looks all weekend as I sat in the common room coloring the feathers of turkeys and Mayflower ships meticulously. After reading the story to my third grade students and quizzing them on some important Thanksgiving facts, I had one last question and it was to evoke the response, "Happy Thanksgiving." I said, "okay so for this holiday, what would you say to wish someone a happy one...kind of like 'feliz navidad...' or 'feliz pasuca...' " Then they all gave me the, "ohhhh I know what you mean" face, and in unison started singing, "happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." It was hilarious. The other teacher and I completely cracked up and I almost didn't care that they completely forgot the TITLE of the lesson written in huge letters on the blackboard: THANKSGIVING.

Live from Malaga

I didn't realize my great appreciation and love for live music until I went to school in Nashville for four years and then moved to a city where it does not exist. Well at least up until last night it didn't. Last night Emily and I met up with "C," a girl I have intercambios with. She took us to ZZ Pub where her boyfriend plays every Thursday night with his band "El Trío del Saco." They play rock and blues and it was exactly what I have been craving since I've been here. A few Lenny Kravitz and Rolling Stones songs later and I knew I needed to become a regular. The bar has a different band every night of the week, except Saturday and Sunday. It's unfortunate there is only one bar with live music in Málaga, but at least I found it!

It's official

I'm a resident! I went to the Comisario today to pick up my residency card for "extranjeros." The picture is awful as is my signature, but I am so excited to finally have it! On the back it says:

ASPECTOS LABORALES O MOTIVO DE CONCESION

ESTUDIOS O/E INVESTIGACION

OBSERVACIONES

AUXILIAR DE CONVERSACION

CEIP BLAS INFANTE

I am loving the fact that I am legally here to "investigate."

This is creepy...

This past Wednesday I accompanied the students on a field trip to the Teatro del Carmen in Vélez-Málaga. Vélez-Málaga is a 5-10 minute bus ride away from Torre del Mar and where Clay and Emily work. We saw a concert with the students which included music from Indiana Jones and several Disney movies. After the concert, a teacher said she would give me a little tour of Vélez. We walked to the school that she attends at night (Clay is her teacher) and to a few churches nearby. On our walk I saw this statue pictured at the left. I was extremely freaked out to say the least. The teacher explained to me that while yes this is in fact identical to what the "KKK" wears in the US, in Spain these are the processional costumes worn during Semana Santa. Whatever, it's creepy.

"If you're healthy and you know it..."

Gripe A has arrived at CEIP Blas Infante and is showing little to no mercy. In my third grade class of 25 students, only 10 strong souls made it to class Thursday. Although I do not wish further illness upon any of my students, the intimate feeling with less students in the room was refreshing, kind of like private school...juuuust kidding.

We went over the "5 senses" and I threw in some reminders about staying healthy: washing your hands before eating, drinking lots of water and sleeping for at least 8 hours. In music class this week the teacher forgot the new song we were supposed to learn so I changed the words to "If you're happy and you know it..." to "if you're healthy and you know it..." Here are my SUPER creative lyrics:

If you're healthy and you know it wash your hands.... (with washing hands motion)

If you're healthy and you know it wash your hands....

If you're healthy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're healthy and you know it wash your hands.

If you're healthy and you know it brush your teeth... (with brushing teeth motion)

If you're healthy and you know it brush your teeth...

If you're healthy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're healthy and you know it brush your teeth...

If you're healthy and you know it sleep 8 hours...(with sleeping motion)

If you're healthy and you know it sleep 8 hours...

If you're healthy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're healthy and you know it sleep 8 hours...

If you're healthy and you know it eat good food...(with eating food motion)

If you're healthy and you know it eat good food...

If you're healthy and you know it and you really want to show it if you're healthy and you know it eat good food...

If you're healthy and you know it do all four...

(washing hands motion)

(brushing teeth motion)

(sleeping motion)

(eating food motion)

Marbella

Here are some overdue pictures from my trip to Marbella with my mom and Emily three weeks ago.

I no speak English

Recently I figured out the reason why learning a second language can be so difficult. You forget how to use your first. My American friends and I can barely communicate anymore in English. Our Spanish is not perfect which is acceptable because it's our second language, but our English has just become outright embarassing. We make horrible grammatical mistakes and it seems we all have that learning disability when you say a word or phrase that is totally NOT what you meant, but it has a similar meaning or sound to it so it somehow came out by accident...? I feel like there is a little man in my brain with a giant green GO sign and a giant red STOP sign controlling the traffic of languages into and out of my brain. Currently he is "greening" all of the Spanish vocabulary and grammar. He is not only holding up the "STOP" sign to my English vocabulary and grammar, but he is sometimes deporting them entirely!

On time

Spain is technically on CET (Central European Time), but I think it is worthy of having its own time zone. In Spain, when someone tells you to meet them at a cafe at 4pm, they really mean they plan on showing up closer to 4:45pm. I was warned about "Spain time" in a culture class during orientation, but nothing compares to first hand experience. Take today for instance, a teacher showed up to class not "on time." Meanwhile, I had arrived at exactly 11am and felt awkward just sitting there while the class turned into a zoo so I rallied everyone together to sing, "If you´re happy and you know it clap your hands" until there was NO WAY I was happy anymore. For an extremely anal New Yorker this has been... a challenge. It is my natural inclination to be "on time" because...well that is what I have done my entire life and I, as well as the person I am meeting most likely has overbooked their day and cannot afford to spare an extra minute. Given all of this, it is definitely a refreshing experience to have a lifestyle where I don´t feel the pressure to squeeze 36hrs of studying, errands, meetings and sleep into 24. Due to this I believe people here are significantly happier and healthier than they are in the United States, (or definitely at least in New York.) The long lunches, siestas, and lack of pressure to be out for the night before 10pm is something I would love to bring back to New York, but sometimes I wonder how things actually get done around here!

Thank you Facebook

I had not been out in Málaga for a while until this past weekend. Last weekend I was in Madrid and the two weekends before I was with my mom in the hotel or traveling. Here is a brief sequence of events from Saturday night after I came home:

2am: I call it a night and think I am totally not "aprovechar"-ing the nightlife here (this is generally the time people in Spain leave their flats to go out for the night, not the other way around.) Oh well.

5am: I would have to be half dead not to hear my French roomie and his friend who was visiting for the weekend return to our flat. They immediately head to the kitchen. Normally you'd think I would be lucky to have my room situated next to the kitchen, but in this case no. I can hear absolutely everything that goes on in there from the turning on of the gas to the running of the water to him opening a box of Pringles.

5:05am: I realize falling back asleep is not an option and am seriously cursing myself for not having already learned French. At least in that case I could eaves drop and see how their night was.

5:15am: Someone is banging on the front door incessantly.

5:16am: French roomie opens the door. Italian roomie has forgotten his keys. Italian roomie has THE deepest Italian voice ever, and I realize that when he's drunk it sounds like I am listening to a really bad opera.

5:17am: Italian roomie joins French roomie and friend in kitchen for some late night grub.

5:19am: I realize there are now 4 voices. Italian roomie has also brought home a friend with him.

5:22am: There is the most peculiar noise coming from the hallway. It sounds like they have spread newspapers all over the floor and are skating around on it. I think it will probably stop very soon

5:26am: The noise is just getting louder and I am starting to wonder if I should pull myself out of bed to make sure that my apartment will not be a graffiti covered, newspaper flooded alleyway.

5:27am: I decide to stay in bed. Since I can't decipher the foreign tongues coming from outside my room I am getting paranoid that they are discussing a strategy to make enough noise that it would be impossible for me not to wake up and open my door... or worse, barge into my room and pour cold water on me.

5:30am: Everyone must be too drunk and tired to continue the late night antics because the voices and sounds stop.

10:30am: I open my door. The newspaper covered floors were not there. There is no graffiti. The furniture is all in the same place.

10:31am: I notice the following new additions to our flat:

No one else is awake so I text Emily, laugh and forget about it.

5pm: I get a notification on my blackberry that the Italian roomie's friend has tagged me in a photo on facebook. I think it's probably an accident...

5:01pm: I check the picture...

My room is the door at the right. Until I can comprehend French and Italian I will have to rely on Facebook and its photographic evidence to help me piece together what goes on in my multi-cultural flat while I am sleeping.