Estaba perdido en los pasos de Diego de León

This was written in the summer of 2012

Greetings from a rather sweaty English man who is enjoying/not enjoying the 40c heat. I think it is the hottest I have ever experienced anywhere apart from the Australian desert near Alice Springs and that was 45c, so we are not far off. Luckily I won't hire a bike here like I did in Alice Springs and go cycling at 2pm in the afternoon and almost die of coffee deprivation and dehydration. There are no good coffee shops in Alice Springs!

So I am now in the final stages  of  my stay here, 7 weeks here, 1 week in Granada and one visitor between now and then. I've been lucky to have coped with the heat, the lazy students, the failing banks and the pesky beggars and pickpockets who managed to steal my mp3 player with its collection of very classic pop music and euro hits. Those poor people!

So, the title of this email is because of Diego de León Metro station; Madrid has a great Metro system, one of the best i've ever used but some of the stations are like mazes.  Diego de León is one I use a few times per week to attend my classes. It is one of the bizarre stations that makes you exit via the platforms of another line and through corridors that are really long. I am sure you walk further than the distance between that and the next station. It is puzzling but even in rush hour it is calm though last night it was only thanks the fact every woman in my carriage had a fan that I didn't faint from heat death. They were fanning themselves so hard and combined with the flapping of their bingo-wings, the carriage could have flown to the end of the line.

So my next stop is Granada and Almuñécar in Andalusia. 4 days in Granada and 2 days in Almuñécar in the Costa Tropical. It is popular with the spanish but not as known to the Brits etc so no 18-30/Thomas Cook/Airtours nightmares sharing the beach with me, I hope!?

I am off to teach my beginner class. And I really do mean beginner! She cannot string a sentence together so its like being back in Vietnam teaching toddlers.  But she told the agency she likes her new teacher. My english charm seems to make up for her ability to learn? I know, I can imagine you all laughing at my charm? 

Sean

July 2012