Here, then, are the fruits of that first tree/caterpillar idea and two weeks of animation. It is not perfect, by any respect, the timing is off, for example, and I would have liked to have added some lighting effects and things, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. You have two versions below, the first is in Spanish, the second English, they are more or less the same, but, if you understand Spanish, go for that one, it’s a little bit better.

Enjoy.

Español:

English:

How does this happen:

http://antoniomachado.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/para-diego/

Point 3: Our Holidays

The summer holidays are the ones that I like the most because we are together as a family.

[...]

In the mornings we go to look at the fish, because the water is clear like crystal and there are no people so we can see a lot. Before eating we have another swim in the afternoon, then we go fishing and to catch some crabs behind the rocks.

Today benefits from a rambling post about actual events, not out of any especial sudden inclination, but because I find myself with an hour long metro journey, laptop in bag, and not a jot to read.

Reverse chronological order.

Madrid is full of Liverpudlians, I am scared.

Today The Day of the Burial of the Sardines (I’m afraid I haven’t found any good english-language links to explain this), so the kids painted sardines on my face.

As the english presentation post may have suggested to you we are once again immersed in exam prep, exactly where I was when I first started this job. It has changed the rhythm of my days substantially, to both good and bad effect. This year I have, more or less, sole control of preparation for a single class, unlike last year when I had my finger in the pies of several different classes.

Today I started an art project with my quintos (who I see but once a week). We’re attempting to make an animation, using charcoal on a large piece of paper, and taking photographs. It’s an idea, frankly, stolen wholesale from a friend (but with her blessing) I’ve high hopes, but equal trepidation, that it’ll turn out cool. I wanted to get it done in two days, but in the end I think we’ll run to four.

Yesterday was, I’m sure you noticed, Shrove Tuesday. I’m attempting to improve my repertoire of Spanish cookery so I cooked dinner for a group of friends – lentils with chorizo, which is very traditional, and I think it turned out alright. And of course I made pancakes, all of which tossed without fault, much to my surprise, and I only sustained one serious burn. I was too exhausted though really to fully partake of the occasion. After school I’d started teaching a new private class, which proved, unsurprisingly, to be somewhat gruelling.

On Monday, I met up with the Greeks (who I know from Bath), one of whom lives here too (but I see fearfully little of) and another of whom was visiting, we had mojitos. I like mojitos.

I went, in a group of nine, to Salamanca for the weekend. Coincidentally a bunch of my flatmates happened to be there too and we conjoined from time to time. We booked a Casa Rural (cottage) in a small village nearby which was lovely and included a threshing machine in the centre of the living room. Saturday night, somehow, found itself devoted to that which I’d sworn to stay clear of, namely singstar, and this time, in Spanish. Needless to say, if I’m hopeless in English you can probably extrapolate my performance in Spanish.
We should have dressed up, but didn’t.

On the last day we visited a little Spanish pueblo (village), my first in fact, of just four streets and fifty or so inhabitants, plus an enormous church, far larger than its entitlement, which was a lot of fun. I’ve been wanting to visit one for ages, and a friend, whose pueblo it was, told charming stories of her youth there. It gives me a nice connection to the children who are right now writing about their villages for their english exam (it’s a popular topic).

Friday was two of my best friends’ birthdays and it’s their present that I’ve been working on these past few weeks, and which I’d been posting fragments of from time to time. I finished the cartoon with ten minutes to spare and not without a few mistakes. I’ll upload it soon so you can watch the fruits of my labours, but not until I can provide an English translation.

And before that my memory grows hazy I’m afraid. so here ends this blather backwards.

Point 2: When my sister was born

The hospital gave my father a green gown and I laughed at my dad because he looked funny. My dad took my mum’s hand and she nearly broke it!

They took my little sister out and she had the umbilical cord around her neck and she was very purple. But soon she began to cry. They cut the cord and gave my sister to my father who was very nervous and almost dropped her!.

Right folks, you know who this post is for.
Below is a Maths question that appeared on a test for grade one (age six). The ‘correct’ answer (according to the teacher) is circled. What do you think?

The question states:

“Circle the side which weighs less.”

To me the answer is completely wrong, this is a logic trick akin to “what weighs more, a ton of coal or a ton of feathers?” that I still cringe over being fooled by. It relies on supposing that because something is bigger it weighs more, which is logically incorrect and as each of the scales balances we know it, in these cases, to be untrue. However, maybe I’m missing something fundamental here, the teacher completely disagreed with me and heaven knows I’m rusty. Responses in a comment please, debunk me all you like but I don’t think it’s a fair question for six year olds.

And, for the sake of continuity, here is the gaoler vectorised and in his dungeon (click for bigger):

This photo was take in Aguas Calientes, the town which serves tourists on the way to Machu Pichu, and does little else. In truth it is a fairly horrible place, very built up and nestling in a beautiful setting. Everything is vastly over-priced and there is nothing of note there apart from the hot springs from which the town gets its name. Everybody there is using it just as a way station to the main attraction, and the locals know this and are there to milk as much from you as you can. This photo was taken after coming back from Machu Pichu. I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. But these two kids seemed to want to play as I took a rest by the river.

Here is a bonus gif, eating lunch in Ollantaytambo:

I completely forgot about this photo, taken in Peru right at the top of the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo, which is near Cusco and, for some, on the route to Machu Pichu. You have to arrive early to beat the tourists, which I managed, but by the time I had wandered half my way around it was starting to fill up. I escaped, climbing a good long way up round the back of the ruins to a fantastic spot on the top of the hill that overlooked everything nearby, and there, perched on a rock, was what you see above, I’ve no idea why, but in my imagination it is an offering to the spirits that dwell at the top of these hills.
I was the only one who ventured that high that day and I spent a good long time there just drinking it all in, here I am:

The town is below and to the right of this photo and you can just about see some other ruins on the hill opposite.

Another little snippet of what I’m doing at the mo’:

Every Valentine’s Day I make a little video, expressing my general disgust, here is this year’s:

I actually had a much bigger grander plan, and I started work on it, however, something else, with a deadline, cropped up and I devoted my self to that instead. So, yesterday, I whipped out the graphics tablet and sketched this.

Enjoy today, it may be your last.

This, so far, is the product of the thinkotron sketch from the other day:

This might end up quite nice eventually – if I can find an end to the story (possibly should have thought of that before I started work on it… well, whatever…)