Yes. Here you can buy Barca crisps. Or even Real Madrid crisps if thats more your thing.

There's a new giant sweety shop thats opened up here over the xmas break. Still not sure i'm down with sweet shops selling pickles, onions and olives. Doesn't seem quite right.

Urk. Talking over last nights events and wondering why I stink so much of smoke, I realise that I drank a hefty amount of wine last night.

Not bad for someone who hates it normally.

Its 1am, me and welshy have just performed "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" on a table in front of a baying audience.

The town is full of fire. I can see at least 7 from where I am. We have returned from our invited party where we ate chops, TDR risked Pig Cheek. (horrible looking, greeny and reminded me of a cross between bacon and intestine).
My glasses got smashed by a misplaced football pass.
A man kept leaping through the BIGGEST fire shouting "Viva San Anton! Viva San Adrian!"

(Apparently he is the patron saint of animals)

Anyway, we left that about midnight. Walking by Ogipan Welshy gets hailed by a student. We join his party Welshy is told that "You speak English well. Not very Well, but well."

The man who's party this is, is trying to ride a fold up bike on one of those giant cotton reel type things, the kinda that you get in factories with cable on.
He earlier was trying to walk along it and nearly got run over. His girlfriend tried it and fell, hitting her head with a crack. She seems ok. 
Me and Welshy are curious as to whether we are the responsible adults in this party. 
Its fun shit like this that makes me love Spain and love this crazy ass town we live in. Surely nothing this fun can happen in a city like Madrid or Barca?
Its time to do some dancing I think.....

I am probably the only retarded person who is capable of walking into a fucking huge fuck off sign on a motorway. We were walking along the Road of Death to Calahorra, and I was looking down at my shoes, wondering if I should stop now to take a stone out, or should I wait a little longer till I was across the roundabout.

Looked up a little too late.... BANG..

Fucking OUCH!

TDR was full of concern. Welshy has seen too many stupid accidents of mine to be concerned and merely fell over laughing. I had a lump, a small cut and my nose hurt like shit.
I got across the road, laughing at my stupidity and then shot a lot of shit out of my nose. Certainly cleared me out!

Anyway, we had a little potter and dinner and then a walk amongst the old town in Calahorra.

Today I was cordially invited to "Fire Day". by one of the locals on Sunday. He announced that there will be much drink and much food.

I fear the fire I saw the other day was a prelude to this and I shall be burnt at the stake and eaten while the locals let their tails out of their trousers and dance about with pitchforks.

"Come to Spain Charby, its hot here."

Today its a whopping 2 degrees. In England its currently a heady 5....

After a day chilling out, I took TDR on a tour of the town today while Welshy got on with my Stats thats due in tomorrow.

We wandered about the town, took all of 5 minutes. I took him to see the school, I took him about the fields and we met Grey Pony.

Now, bored I decided to go to Ogipan and get a barra for our tea.
Walk down the street and there are men building a fuck off giant fire in the street and preparing some kinda barbeque. Its so dry here, I'm not sure fires are a good sign. If you hear of a town burning down in the news, that'll be San Adrian.

Either that or they're planning a ritual sacrifice of the infidel outsiders....

This is Spanish Christmas. Well they have recently started celebrating the 25th December as well (the kids tell me that they can have up to three presents depending on how their families choose to celebrate, Xmas eve, Xmas Day and Dia de reyes. [day of the kings]). This is to signify the day that the kings arrived at the manager to meet Baby Jesus.
It also happened to be the day me, Welshy and TDR (who is here to help while my bosses are collecting their baby in Vietnam) arrived back in Spain.
We didn't have any food in our cupboards, so went to Eroski to collect food. Bad times. Eroski was shut. So onwards to Ogipan, now even on fiesta days Ogipan bakery is open as it also doubles as a bar. Not today however.
So we went home and made a makeshift meal out of sweetcorn and mint matchmakers.

So. Traditional New Year round up.

High points of this year? Promotion at the Museum, Getting Olympic tickets (208 days to go!) my holidays to the Lake district and Vegas, leaving the Museum at last and moving to Spain.

I remember at the start of the year somehow knowing that this year would be different, that I wouldn't end it how it started and this has proved to be correct.

My Bucket list to achieve before I am 30, is reaching another target ticked with my slow, unsteady progress in Spanish. Welshy is more fluent than me, but I have been lazy practising. We're hoping to take the equivalent of a GCSE in May.

Our contract in Spain ends in June. I'm not sure what to do next. I kinda like the idea of staying in Spain for another year. Maybe not where we are now, I love the eccentricities of our town but 14 hours to get home is a bit much and its impossible for visitors to come.

If I am to progress onto year 2 of my course I need to try and get a new job, either in England or in Spain. To have at least that first k saved for the fees. I need to get CELTA qualified in order to help my job prospects if I go to Spain. There goes another grand.

But June is a long time away so there is plenty of time to decide whats best then.

Bad points to 2011? I'm not sure really. Nothing that affects me personally too much, of course The Crisis as those in Spain refers to the Economy. The Riots certainly weren't pleasant but nothing to bother me really.

No. I think 2011 is the first time in a long time where I can't think of any real bad point to the year.

So I won't tell it to Fuck Off. I'll wish it a pleasant farewell and now look eagerly forward to 2012.