Dementialympics

Tea can do many things, Jane, but it can't bring back the dead.

Went to do a mobility assessment on a nursing home patient who happens to also suffer from dementia. When I asked her if I could take her for a walk she looked quite offended and said that she didn't really want to. After much coaxing we set off on our stroll and after about 5 metres she turned to me and said 'I can actually run'. Now.. before I had a chance to really comprehend this or do anything about it she was off... striding out down the corridor. Fortunately this lady is actually relatively young and fit or not so fortunate as I had to catch her up!! She had fantastic running technique.. symmetry, arms pumping, high knees... Needless to say she passed her mobility assessment with flying colours.. she probably would have passed an elite level running assessment..

Capoeira is still proving difficult. Especially the flexibility component. The other night I just about put my hip out doing a kartwheel. The loud popping sound worried both me and one of the instructors. I am still suffering and haven't been able to make it tonight!! I think I should stick to ball sports.

Visited good old Booleroo on the weekend. Dry and dusty as ever. Had a great time catching up with my oldest friends although got slightly out of hand. Although.. admittedly I didn't end up dancing on the bar unlike those who shall not be named. There are a few things that become more apparent to me with time. One of those is there are some things you never learn. Hence why.. despite my raging headache driving back to Adelaide I will no doubt enjoy a glass or a few to many glasses of wine at some point in the future. The other is that with time I just realise more and more that I have a whole lot more to learn.

So..it's been a while..

I mean, can you really trust another human being, Greg?

Yeah, I think so.

No. The answer is you can not.

Back in Oz living the dream... Dreaming I must have been when I thought that I could live with my parents 1 hour away from Adelaide amongst nature and trees and... more nature and trees.

To find meaning in my life I have decided to take Spanish and Capoeira lessons. Bit of a South American theme going on. Capoeira is... interesting... it seems to require a combination of strength, flexibility, coordination and a whole lot of other things that I seemingly don't have. In fact.. to make it even more difficult one is supposed to be able to sing and clap at the same time which I struggle with let alone dodge kicks and reactly swiftly in a chanting hodder. Spanish is coming along in a similar fashion. Although it is difficult to concentrate when there is a group of women practicing samba in their carnivale outfits. Even so, this probably doesn't excuse the following event..

Patty was asking me a series of questions i.e. Do you have family? To which I responded..
"Ci, yo tengo dos enanos".. Now being the intuitive person that I am I noticed that Patty looked completely bewildered and confused. When I asked if what I had said was wrong she asked if I did actually have 2 midgets in my family... No... I don't... but enanos and ermanos do sound similar...

Otherwise my evenings are occupied by my slug and pest control ritual, which involves stealth via torchlight. It astounds me that slugs can actually scale plastic bottles!! I am hoping my Dad doesn't notice that his pale ale supply is rapidly decreasing but if he does I am sure he will be pleased to know that it is proving to be a great slug trap called 'death by beer paddling pool'. Actually.. Dads support of my organic veggie patch has been far from acceptable.. his most recent comment being that if we all tried to farm organically we would all starve. I don't think I would starve. I just think I would have to eat a hell of a lot of tomatos and lettuce over the summer.

What else.. Started some physio work at a couple of practices. Went fishing the other day. Caught a puffer fish and some other minging sea creature. Forgot that when you catch something that you actually have to get it off the hook. Damn those puffer fish.
Other than that just getting back into things. Changing my life plans daily.

Hey, did you lose weight, or a limb?

Happy Easter to all. Spent mine in South Wales camping at Cadarn Bunkhouse with about 80 other people for a combined birthday party. Had a fantastic time. Went horse riding which was interesting. Trotting is much harder than it appears and advice such as 'just feel the rhythm' is nigh on useless when all you can feel is jolting through your spine as the pony (mongrel pony might I add) jolts into action without warning. Thank goodness I didn't have to get back onto the horse the next day as my groin/thighs were definately not up to the challenge. Not to mention that when I was delegated my pony who was deceptively named 'Sugar', I was informed that... "Sugar is by himself because he is a little grumpy and doesn't like the other horses"...great. I was fortunate enough to have the honour of mounting this mongrel pony as I had ridden a horse at the age of 5 and was considered slightly more advanced than the 4 other people. Managed to survive two hours of walking/occassional bursts of trots and get back to the farm in one piece. The most challenging aspect of this ordeal for most people was wrenching the horse to stop it from eating grass otherwise you'd receive an earful from the supervisor at the back. Although Rachel/horse whisperer did have a close call as she recalled that as a child she rode a horse and it broke into a canter therefore that qualified her as an 'advanced rider'. It was evident the stablehand didn't agree as she chased Rachel and her horse out of the arena shouting 'stop.. stop.. maybe you should stay in the beginner group'. After being hauled through some brambles Rachel was taken back to the stables where her horse proceeded to do lap after lap without 'rein' (?!?!) instruction .

Other than that.. I am back in Manchester working at St Mary's. Had my flat mates bike stolen on Friday night (was in organic grocery store for 15 minutes and the little vermin nabbed it). Went for a beautiful walk in the Peak District on Saturday. Played with the lambies in the fields and visited a National Trust home/garden. Sunday went for another walk and had a fabulous Sunday roast.

Going to Katrina (ex colleague/house mate) and Matthew's wedding on Saturday evening.

Hope you are all well. Ciao xoxo



Sophie, Ruth, Me and Becky at Rachels Birthday (Theme 'R' or Latino)

Rachel, Ruth, Sophie and Becky... did someone say pout?!?!


Rachel (the horse whisperer).. setting off for Cadarn Bunkhouse...

Jennie all ready for the sun..

You have really kind eyes, you know that?

Thanks. Umm... your hat has sequins.

Have had a fantastic week with Champs and Hannah in Les Gets snowboarding. We managed to choose a week where they had their best snow fall for the whole season. Was a little cold but conditions for landing were much softer!! Fortunately no major injuries were sustained despite a few bruises, whiplash and possibly mild concussion. The potential for much worse damage was there especially after going out until 4am and then being on the slopes at 9am the next morning. We were extremely unsteady on our boards but needed to take some video footage. Unfortunately we weren't carving up the slopes as usual but did manage to stand on our boards for long enough to get some footage. The rest of the morning was spent making snow angels in the fresh snow.

Spotted some seriously awful jumpsuits out on the slopes. I can't work out if it is European cool or really bad taste. I started to think there was a crazy jumpsuit competition going on that I was unaware of. Wouldn't have stood a chance anyway.

Anywho.. just waiting for my 10hr bus journey to bologna where I am spending a week at Ca del Buca organic farming. Hopefully it will be a little warmer.

Hannah, Champs and I on the slopes of Les Gets

Champs donning the celebrity sunnies...

Hannah donning the celebrity sunnies...

Me donning the celebrity sunnies...

Champs in the ever flattering dungarees...

Petition to kill all snorers

I almost numchucked you, you don't even realize!

I am thinking that the bigger the hostel room I stay in i.e. 14 bed dorm the less likely I am to be found out if I smother a snorer with my pillow? Even if I do get locked up sometimes it takes a martyr to start the revolution of change and I am willing to do this for the sake of the many other hostel dwellers out there.

Have arrived in Lisbon after spending a relaxing 24 hours in the hills of the Serra Valley in Portugal with a friends parents. Lisbon seems gorgeous. Am yet to actually explore but from first impression it seems really lively and beautiful. Staying in another Oasis hostel which provides waffles for breakfast... now who is going to complain at that...

Nothing exciting to report. Head up to Porto, Madrid and then going snowboarding for a week and then organic farming. Heading back to Manchester for a while on March 30th.

Granada to Seville

You know what your problem is?

I only have one?

Spent a couple of nights in Granada with a bunch of nomadic hippies wearing fisherman pants and dreadlocks. De La Alahmbra beautiful muslim palace! Waffles for breakfast!



Caipirinha...mmmmm.... at least Rachel if I write it I don't have to pronounce it!


View.

Arrived in Seville today. Met American Brandon. Went to 2nd largest cathedral in ?Europe? Sat in a plaza drinking cerveza (beer) and got shit on... twice. Either really bad luck or really good luck..? Having gazpacho, paella and sangria tonight! Yumboot.

Plastic bags are another thing that should be banned from hostels.

Tapas

You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you?

You know, for a second there, yeah, I kinda did.

Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids.

Went down to El Kiosco last nite for a few beers and some Tapas with Irish Will. Will hadn't had tapas before and didn't really know what they were and I am certainly no expert. The fact that the menu was in Spanish (go figure) and the waiter didn't speak any English meant that our attempt was destined for disaster from the outset. After long attempts of trying to find out what menu item was ie making fish gestures etc I finally went up to the bar and pointed to 2 fishy looking things. Will then went up and came back and reported that he had ordered another three things!! Hmmmm... this meant a lot of tapas.... and stares from the locals. As it turns out,Will had ordered more fishy stuff and potatoes so really we just had a huge portion of spanish fish and chips. From what I could see they didn't sell mushy peas. Agghhh gotta love the culutre....

Fireworks at the Las Fallas festival.... scary.... especially as all the paramedics were wearing hard hats?

Heading off to Granada today on 8 hour bus. Joy of joys.

Beach in Valencia.. beach is a beach really?

He he.. think this might be the queen of valencia or something with all her terribly dressed princesses. Boy did she love the attention. Jumping up and down, waving her arms, cheering on the locals... oh the fan fare...