Busy again

Sorry for not writing for a while. I've been terribly busy since my dad arrived but nothing to write home about, really.
I've been showing my dad how the house works, where everything is in and around the flat. He's a darling, but age is taking its toll and everything need to be explained/demonstrated at least twice as he has a tendency to forget it all.
My dad also desperately wants to be useful and he tries to help with the chores around the flat with mixed results. For instance, he's been here for a week and yesterday we needed to go and buy new glasses because he broke them all, not in one go, of course, but every time he wash the dishes or set the table... you get the idea. Now we don't dare walk with bare feet around the kitchen anymore in case he broke yet another glass.
The devil finds work for idle hands, or so they say. So, after a bit of debate with "the husband" I asked my dad to plan and make me a garden in my balcony. I want flowers and foliage plus some vegetables. That will keep him busy and entertained and give us something beautiful that we really miss from the Horfield house.
Well... the guy is 82 years old and I feel lucky to have him!

Work wise things are going well. I've more teaching hours than ever and I'm finally started to get the hang out of it. I'm currently using a couple of books and loads of material that I find on the net. I couldn't live without Internet connexion or without my MP3 player, as I use them every single day, both for work and relax.
I've also bought the books that my friend recommend me on this blog for my absolute beginner and they should be here by the end of the month. (Thanks, Anja!!). In the meantime I'm doing what I can with teaching him the basics. He's more work than all my other students put together, as we have 4 hours a week and we're starting from 0, there's loads of preparation for each class and I always finish them with a ringing headache.
There's a long road ahead for us but now he's really motivated and he's even starting revising some lessons at home with his wife, which helps a lot. Learning a language is all about motivation and practice, so I've got high hopes for him as he's determined to learn.

Last Sunday was a lovely day and we took my dad to the beach in Casteldelfells, just south of Barcelona. It was a sunny day but not too hot, P was the only one brave enough to go swimming on the sea, but he stayed there for 3 hours. We had lunch by the sea, my dad and "the husband" had octopus, P's grilled sardines and I had pinchos, grilled marinated pork in a skewer. Delicious.

It's been raining in almost all of Spain, but here we just had a few showers and the weather is just perfect, not too cold and not too hot. The only downside of Spring is that since last week I'm having terrible hay fever due to all the pollen in the air. I keep on sneezing. There's loads of people with the same problem and no weather report on tv is complete without an "allergy forecast" at the end. They say this is expected to last until mid June. One of my students gave me some of his hay fever medicine and it worked really well so I'm going to ask my doctor for a prescription.
Here people share medicines as if they're sweets. As soon as I sneezed in class my students started a debate about what should I take and they immediately produced some pills for me to try. That happened not just in one class but in all the classes where I did sneeze.
There's a big culture of self medication and despite a big advertise campaign against it from the Heath Ministry, there's no sign of this stopping anytime soon. People often go for advice directly to the chemist instead of a doctor. Even when medication with a prescription is far cheaper than the one you buy without one, people still buy them off the counter if they can. There seems to be more chemists here in Sabadell that wine shops in Bristol!

Well... I'm of to work.
Enjoy Spring!