Spain out of lockdown

We had a fair old storm earlier this week - the lightning was so bright it woke me up and we were treated to one of the biggest and longest claps of thunder I think I've ever heard!!  Mind you, I do love a good storm and the ones in Mallorca are storms on steroids 😂  I took this photo when I took the dogs out first thing on 'the morning after the night before' when it had gone very, very still and the water was like glass and reflected the amazing sky:

This week at last I returned to teaching (and earning money!) for the first time in 24 weeks!  What a great felling it was to be back at work and I feel very lucky 💕  The school has made every effort with safety measures - we have hand sanitiser everywhere, separate waiting areas for the two classrooms, mats which are sprayed as each student enters and cleans their feet, individual pens/crayons etc, masks all round, distancing - the list is endless!  Each student also uses a wipe to clean their books, table and chair area at the end of every lesson.  But we've all settled into things quite well and the youngest students have taken it all in their stride, the older ones are fine but more reflective about the new 'normal'.  And it's wonderful that the parents have confidence in us to provide a safe environment in which their children can learn English.

Unsurprisingly it's the adults who are the ones who find it more of a challenge which I guess is to be expected.  In any event, the adults (both beginners and high level) expressed the view that learning a language and not being able to see the teacher's mouth was definitely a drawback so I am now the proud owner/user of a visor for my adult classes and they are all going to get them too.  Now I don't know if anyone has used a visor outside of a hospital but it takes some getting used to!  It's like wearing a wide brimmed or tall and fancy hat for a wedding for example, and trying to get into a car - or is it just me that finds myself ducking and diving as I do so?  How the Royals do it I have no idea!  Anyhow, with a visor the boundaries of your face area are suddenly much larger with the added 'bonus' of the fact that your eyes can't see the new boundary as it's clear for obvious reasons.  And I'm the classic 'talks with her hands' kinda gal - I like to think of it as expressive thank you very much - but this meant that I had swiped the visor nearly off within the first couple of minutes of wearing it.  And kept doing it.  This added an entertainment value to the adult students that was hitherto absent in classes and I'm beginning to wonder if their enthusiasm for me to wear a visor is less about their ambitions for great pronunciation and rather more about a class sweepstake as to how long it will be before I dislodge it! 🤔

On Friday we had another wonderful menu del dia at El Posito - my goodness, their 'huevos con tumbet' (egg with tumbet) is my idea of total food heaven and their tumbet has to be the best in Mallorca!  There are still lots of places that are open and if you are still able to travel here in the next few weeks there will still be plenty to choose from.  However the following have all closed in the last week or so: Tolos, Angelos, Ca'n Panxo, Neptuno, Tiberi and Iru.  It is now extremely quiet here and quite unlike a normal September BUT it is still gloriously beautiful 😍 and the sun is shining 🌞

Today we took the dogs for a lovely walk in the woods at Cala san Vicente.  Luckily we didn't come across any goats as our two dogs' lifetime ambition is to meet one at close quarters 😳quite what they would do once they achieved this I'm none too sure and suspect the goat would have a very great deal to say about the matter too.  But there wasn't a sniff of a goat to be had, so after about eleventy billion wees (and other more substantial toilet offerings) - perhaps I should emphasise I refer to the dogs, not us! 😂 - we had a coffee at Cafe Mallorca opposite Cala Molins before making our way back to the car through a different path in the lovely woods.  A perfect Sunday activity 😎

Next week it's back to a normal routine of sorts with me back at work.  The weather is predicted to be stormy again for several days so I guess we'll be experiencing some more wonderful thunder/lightning displays.  In the meantime.....stay safe and hasta el próximo domingo!