Clouds and Embarrassments

I guess I'd have to say I'm still not used to the time change. It doesn't matter that we in Europe turned our clocks back the week before others. I confess my kitchen clock has yet to show the new time, but that's not its fault the same as it isn't its fault what happened to me on Wednesday evening. Wednesday is the day that I have 4 classes one after the other. Believe me, it helps that 3 of them are in the same house. What I wasn't expecting was for one of the kids to be ill, so after giving class to their mother, who has incorporated into my list of students, I went home.

Since one of our regulars hasn't been able to join us for our weekly dinners at the Chinese, Chris asked if we couldn't change it to Wednesday night instead. I don't finish until almost 9 pm, but she works in the centre and arrives at about 9.30 pm. I don't have a problem getting to the Chinese on time because it's near my house. I'm usually the first one to arrive anywhere anyway as I believe in being punctual. On Wednesday night I was so punctual that I arrived an hour early! When I went in I thought it was unusual that the family and the chef were still having dinner. I went in and sat down at our usual table. I looked at my phone to see if Chris had sent a WhatsApp (she usually does to say she's about to arrive). The penny dropped when I saw the time: 20.35 (8.35 pm). How lucky I am to live nearby so I didn't have to sit there or walk around for an hour!

Obviously I need to blame someone for this week's embarrassing events. One student I told I'd see her on Friday when I only have class with her on Tuesday. As a teacher, I'm always reminding students to read the instructions carefully. Reading the wrong questions for a text on my part didn't demonstrate I could follow instructions correctly. So I'm going to place the blame on whoever decided we have to change the time (it gets dark too early) and the weather. This weekend has been quite sunny, but this past week was mostly cloudy and foggy.

Madrid is at present suffering a street cleaners strike. I hope and pray that my area doesn't get as bad as some areas where pickets have burnt containers, even catching cars parked near the containers on fire, and scattered rubbish everywhere making walking difficult and doing little for the image it gives to tourists of Madrid. There are minimum services, and those working are protected by a police escort. I haven't seen anyone cleaning the streets like this in my area. However, in other areas sometimes the businesses and schools have taken care of cleaning the streets. Striking is everyone's right and those of us who aren't on strike are the ones who pay for this right.

Nothing much left to say except I'm glad my week is over, hope this new week brings better experiences and is a good one for everyone.