Well, I made it! Here I am again, back in Argentina. My journey was fine and this time, on our way back from the airport, Noly didn’t crash so that’s always a win 🥳

This time around it’s very odd to be back, because it just feels so normal. In the lead-up to leaving England, I was feeling very wobbly and overwhelmed at the prospect of returning, without having anything concrete or certain to come back to. Now I’m here, it feels just like normal, apart from a few changes. I was waiting for it to really hit me that I was leaving my home, again, and coming to Argentina, but that hasn’t really come yet. I think I’m now used to having my life in two places and my heart in two places too, though that’s not to say it doesn’t have it’s challenging moments because it definitely does!

For those of you who pray, please keep me in your prayers in this transitional period as I readjust to being back in Salta. There are a number of things that need to fall into place so that I can be comfortable in my time here, and it’s hard to see how it’s gonna work out. God has always provided my next little step when I’ve needed to know it (normally very last minute) and so I’m trusting he’ll come through again. As someone who plans and thinks in the long-term however, it can be a challenge to just take one day at a time and not immediately skip to worrying about a problem that’s likely to come up in a year or two.

Anyways, just wanted to write a lil post saying I’m fine and well and back with my Nolz 💜

So, as mentioned in my last blog post, I was in Dartmouth with my fam for a coupla days the week before last. Here’s the rundown on that and what I’ve been up to since then.

After a 4 hour drive we finally arrived on Thursday 6th in the eve and started setting up camp. I, very dutifully, made the bed for me and another one for my sister (what a lovely sister I am, especially because I hate making up beds), for which I was very glad as she went the wrong way and didn’t get to us until 11pm.

The following day, Friday 7th, all of us bar Tim (my brother) went for a nice scenic walk in the surroundings near the house where we were staying. We had intended to come back for lunch and then go out again in the afternoon, before my grandparents arrived, but all felt rather tired after our mornings expedition so just settled into the house and started watching a film before nanna and grandad arrived. Then we just chatted and caught up, had dinner and finished our film.

Saturday 8th we headed off to a nearby beach called Slapton sands and then had a cheeky tea/coffee/hot chocolate in a cute lil café overlooking the sea.

Then in the evening we played a game 🙂

Sunday 9th, those braver of us braved storm Dennis and went for a walk on the beach. Goodness me! Hadnt quite realised how soaked I was until I got home and my jeans and leggings were soaked through! Thankfully I had mainly had the foresight to get changed of what I was planning on wearing later (bar the leggings), so upon returning to the house got changed and we all headed to the pub for lunch and to see some family friends. Was most pleased to see a roast on the menu with pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon 😋) and set about munching my way through that. Pudding was also delumpscious, hot brownie. Both presented in a very instagrammable manner!

After a thoroughly enjoyable and delicious lunch, me, Aimz & Tim had a quick look round Dartmouth and headed back to the house. That evening we watched “Hidden Figures” on DVD, which I enjoyed 10x more as my Grandad would notably chuckle along to parts that tickled him! (Shout out to you Grandad!) The other thing that happened that night was the river that runs alongside the house was gently lapping against the side of the house, much to my sisters’ excitement. At high tide there was a flurry of excitement, welly boots and splatters of mud as we all peered out into the darkness to see whether the tide was going to breech the banks etc.

The next morning, Monday, Nanna & Grandad left to go back home and everyone did different things, ranging from chilling out and staying in all day (that was me) to making a three hour all-round trek to Dittisham (a “nearby” town).

The following day it was home time! Was feeling a bit sad to go home to be honest, as it felt like the countdown was on about my time left at home…

Thursday 13th- 14th, went to Southampton with my mum and Auntie to visit my sister’s place, eat copious amounts of food and go for a nice walk in the New Forest.

Saturday 15th- met up with a pal in Guildford for a coupla hours before going back to her place and chilling out.

Monday 17th- Dad’s birthday! Went for a birthday walk & had dinner at Cotes 🙂

Tuesday 18th – a super sociable day for me! Met my newly married cousin at her place for a bit before going into town to a cute lil cafe 🙂 then had a catch up in Pizza Express with some of the ladies that I did my TESOL (English training) course with, before going out for dinner (again!) and cocktails in Las Iguanas with two school pals.

Wednesday 19th- went to Oxford (where my brother studies) to have a formal there which was super yum and fun!

Thursday 20th- had a pamper and jobs day with mum which has been so nice but exhausting! Started with us getting our nails, followed by me having my hair cut, followed by doing various sort-y jobs, then a nandos (not a cheeky one unfortunately) and then a cuppa tea and cake. Wheeewph!

And there we have it, I’m back off to Argentina tomorrow. If I’m honest, I’m feeling very mixed about going back. Partly because it’s rather crept up on me, partly because I’ve been really enjoying all my home comforts and not having all the challenges of living abroad and also because there’s quite a lot of uncertainty in my life over there that I need to return to and do something about. (If you’re someone who supports me in prayer, please be praying for me. Particularly that things will fall into place and I’ll trust God and have peace in the waiting). I am, of course, really looking forward to seeing Noly and seeing people back over there again and I’m sure I’ll get back into the swing of it soon!

Will blog again when I’m back and have some updates! Love to all xx

Well hello, avid readers. Hope this blog post finds you well. It’s been a while so time to catch you up with what I’ve been up to!

On Tuesday 28th mum and I braved the shops to pick up some bits and bobs I needed to get to update my wardrobe. Looking back through my wardrobe I literally still wear clothes I was wearing in sixth form about 7 years ago lol 😂 then after a thoroughly exhausting shopping trip off we went to the cinema to see Frozen 2 😊

Wednesday 29th I had a sorting day, cracking through my to do list that is always miles and miles long and never seems to get any shorter, regardless of where I am in the world. Then Ellie popped over for a walk and a natter and then we baked 😊 baking is something I really miss in Arg so need to make a concerted effort to keep getting my Mary Berry on whilst home.

Thursday 30th I had a physio appointment would you believe it! I’m fine, nothing’s happened and I have not twisted my ankle again (🥳), I’m just going to join mum on her Pilates class a few times before I go back to Arg and had to have a physio session first. Was really interesting and helpful actually! Plus the classes should help to strengthen my ankle which I twisted not once, but twice within the same week in Argentina. Then in the eve I met my Emmbrook school pals in the sedero lounge for dinner. Love sederos!! Was nice to catch up and get another full of sweet potato fries (they’re so much better here haha).

Friday 30th I headed into London to meet my pal Lauren who works in a church and, amazingly, has Fridays off! Which works very well for me. So she met me at the station (managed the tubes all by myself 💪 I think my sense of achievement at doing this is disproportionate to how hard it actually is but nevermind hahaha) and we went back to her place for a cuppa and a chat. Then we headed off out for lunch which was lovely! Made me reassess my vow to never have pizzas out (I always find the thin base disappointing) as it was really nice!

Once we’d rather stuffed our faces, we went off to a park and wandered around. I’d never before actually been to one of them parks in London where there are deer hanging around, but there were in this one! A whole load of them too. So that was cool 😊

Then I pootled off and made my way over to Adam and Emma’s place as they also live in London. We spent the evening catching up and Emma got us all fed and watered and then we headed to bed.

The next morning we slowly got up, some of us more than others (me and Adam), and soon Isabel (Adams sister and another good pal of mine) arrived, just in time for her to have her second breakfast of the day! The day can’t ever go wrong if you start it with a bacon sandwich. Soon it was time for lunch as well! And then once we’d scoffed that, we decided to head out to Alexander palace. We had a wander around, looking at the view of London, chatting nonstop the whole time before going inside and getting some more sustenance to keep us going.

Then headed back, watched some TV as we were all rather flagging at this point, had dinner and then I headed off to get my train back home. Such a lovely weekend! And really nice to catch up with old friends 😊

Sunday 1st I had quite a chilled day to recover! With church and a walk being the only things I actually did that required some minor degree of physical movement! Haha.

Monday 2nd I cracked on with that to do list of mine again, including practising some of the pilates moves (!) before my first class on Wednesday and then went out for dinner with Jade and her boyfriend Michael. After not being able to decide for ages on where to go, I made the executive decision to go to The Giggling Squid in Wokingham since I’d never been and have had a hankering for Thai food ever since Hannah and Ryan’s wedding! Was a really nice evening and I received some more birthday/Christmas presents! So if you fancy getting me anything, keep em coming! It’s rather fun getting presents at different points throughout the year 😂

Tuesday 3rd was a granny day. My favourite quote from this day was from the Grannykins herself. “ooh, you do look good! I’ve never seeeen you looking so good!” 😂 we went off to singing for the brain together where I was approximately the youngest by at least 40 years and got rather stared at, being a newbie and clearly a relative to my granny 😂 and then we went out for lunch before returning home and all watching Mary Poppins returns.

Then on Wednesday had my first pilates session. It was good! It’s surprisingly tiring for how little you move! Couldda done with a nice little nap afterwards! But no rest for me! Instead I headed into woko, had a wander round the shops with Ellie and then, no surprise, we ended up back in brown bag for a hot chocolate and a milk shake 😋

Thursday the 6th I just did some sorting bits and packing as we were heading off to Dartmouth that day. Stay tuned for my next blog post where I’ll cover Dartmouth!

An interesting reflection I’ve had. I realised this when I was at Adam & Emma’s house and I found myself singing a Spanish worship song. I think I was singing it because, subconciously, I want people to realise there’s another huge part of my life that is different from my life in England. Whilst I was in Argentina I was dreaming about my English wardrobe and the clothes that I have back home, but when I actually returned, I would often find myself wearing some bits from Argentina. I think it’s me wanting to show that there’s an other-ness to me, another side of my life. It’s the same when I’m in Argentina. It’s not to say that I’m not fully immersing myself in the culture, I am, but I will subconsciously do things to show my English background and my English world. It’s a funny thing. I think it could also be a response to people’s opinions on cultures. Often I get the impression, which may be wrong, from people that they think their culture is the right culture, and other ways to do things are just wrong. The thing I have really learnt, by living in two different worlds and between cultures, is that there’s not a case of right or wrong, it’s a case of things being different. Well anyways, there endeth my ponderings and my news for now. Ta ra!

Before I crack on with letting you know what I’ve been up to this week, something funny happened last week which I forgot to write about in my last blog post…

So. To set the scene. It was Tuesday 14th January. Early that morning Noly and I had arrived back in the UK (hurrah!) and were finding things very cold (boo). The day progressed nicely, catching up with mum, both having a little sleep mid-morning, little walk up the road etc. Dad was away that night so, naturally, mum and I had hatched the plan that we’d have a takeaway (Dad’s not a fan of takeaways so we tend to have them when he’s away). Takeaway of choice? Chinese. Obviously. We ordered our normals and were very happy and contented. With full tummies and feeling happy to be home, off we went to bed. I was pottering around in my room, getting ready for bed, when I heard this little thump followed by a surprised Noly saying “oh!”. This registered with me and I thought, “He’s probably fine” and continued what I was doing before conceeding that I probably should go and check on him.

Well, you’ll never guess what had happened. Somehow, he’d broken the bed! And not just the slats on the bed frame that are known to sometimes come out, but the actual thick frame of wood itself. (Personally, I blame it on the Chinese). It was quite a funny thing to have happened so we were both in fits of giggles as Noly reinacted what had happened. The fact that it was about 10/10.30 at night and we needed to be quiet as mum was probably asleep also inherently made it ten times funnier! Well anyways, in the end I went to go and get mum to tell her what had happened (she later said the noise had vaguely made it into her consciousness and she was wondering if someone was crying), and over she came to investigate. Noly still had the giggles, which mum then caught, but then later both of them were wracked with guilt as, for Noly he had, in effect, taken out my sister’s childhood bed and shown absolutely no remorse about it because he’d had a rather severe case of the giggles and then mum was also wracked with guilt as that bed had been on it’s last legs for a long time and it’s just unfortunate it was Noly who broke it….

Anyways, on with what I’ve been up to and maybe some of my ponderings as well whilst I’m here.

So I left off on Tuesday 21st with Noly returning home again.

On Wednesday 22nd, to cheer myself up, I did what all people commonly do to cheer themselves up and.. uh.. went to the dentists. The upshot is, all the fizzy drinks that I have in Argentina don’t seem to be doing horrrendous things to my teeth and we’re all good so hurrah!

Thursday 23rd- went to one of the cafes in my home town (whoever knew that my tiny lil village needed so many cafes?!) with ma pal Savs and we had a nice catch up 🙂

Friday 24th- went to the cinema to see Little Women with mum and my Auntie. I’m so used to going to the cinema at about 10pm at night and leaving in the early hours that it felt truly bizarre coming out of the cinema at about 4pm. Weird. Then my Auntie & I had a quick trip into Brackkerz before she dropped me back home and soon my sister arrived home and we all had dinner, hung out together and booked accomodation for whilst my fam are in Arg. Wahooo! My sister and I also got the Christmas tree back in the house (it had been deposited outside for the next year and was back in much earlier than anyone had anticipated) with a surprising lack of resistance from my dad and popped a couple of baubles and lights on it, ready for Christmas 2.0 the following day….

Saturday 25th – this was Christmas 2.0 with my fam. Aimz had let the cat out of the bag the day before that I, infact, had a stocking to open! (When I said this to Noly he was confused and was like… what? Amy now has a cat…?) So the day started with mum and my sis coming into my room and me opening my stocking. Then we all slowly got up and ready, then helped with the cooking, put the Christmas music on and soon it was time for Christmas dinner. A big difference between England and Argentina is often in traditions. In England I would say generally we go in for more traditions than in Argentina. Our Christmas day meal on this day was chicken (usually it’s turkey. Not sure why. We don’t eat turkey the rest of the year bc it’s so dry), roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, mashed parsnips “sausage in blankets” (mini sausages wrapped in bacon), stuffing, bread sauce and cranberry sauce. On the real Christmas day there may be other additions like braised (is this even a word? A fancy way to cook vegetables basically) red cabbage etc. We took the obligatory family selfie and then pulled our crackers! Donned the cracker hats and set about sharing our cracker jokes (which are always awful).

After lunch we had pudding, put the Queen on the TV (can’t miss the Queens speech on Christmas. Even if I did watch it in Argentina) and then went for our usual Christmas day walk. Kinda weird to go on our Christmas day walk without the rest of the world celebrating Christmas! I wondered to myself if anyone, anywhere else in the world, happened to be celebrating Christmas again on this day like we were. Anyways, part of what I love about the actual Christmas day walk is the whole world smelling of turkey, sneaking looks into people’s windows and seeing a snippet of their Christmas day and more than that, feeling a spirit of togetherness. So kinda weird not having this! But it was super nice nonetheless. Then when we got home, the fam opened the presents I had bought them from Argentina (all received very well incase you’re wondering) and then a coupla games ensued, shortly followed by a singsong at the piano with my brother (not particularly a family tradition but tends to happen when you get Tim around with a piano and songbook) and then tea. After tea we watched a film and then all parties headed to bed after a thoroughly nice second Christmas day! Decided I’d quite like to have one every year really!

Sunday 26th – not much to report from Sunday really! Went to church with mum and dad and then just hung out the rest of the day. One thing tho -it’s really nice to be back in an English speaking church again, bcause I just inherently understand everything without having to think about it, the worship, the preach, the notices, it’s just so nice!

Monday 27th- today I finally got a helpful answer back from the Consulate about some visa bits and bobs I need to get done! Perseverence in these matters is key. I also got a whole load of little jobs done this morning and then this afternoon I did a bit of work for my dad. Productive day for me! I then decided to just chill out a bit and catch up on some TV. It’s funny, the moment I decide to rest and not do anything I feel inherently guilty or like what I’m doing is a bit decadent*. I had to have a little chat with myself and remind myself that, 1. It’s good to rest and 2. Part of me being home is for me to rest up! I’ve been reflecting a lot, now I’m home, about my time in Argentina, and it’s been hitting me actually, how far I’ve come over the last 7 months through my time abroad, but also how much of a challenge it is. It’s hard to even begin to explain the amount of things that are hard or take getting used to and all the sacrifices that I’m making to be abroad and with Noly that most people don’t really realise. Therefore! When my brain starts telling me, “but you have bits to do!” I need to firmly tell it that relaxing is also what I need to do!

*Quite funny, when I say about this to Noly he just doesn’t understand it and tells me that Argentina is quite the opposite, with people generally being too lazy to do anything…! (I’m just going off what Noly’s told me, don’t blame me if that’s not accurate (tho I rather suspect it could be…)) And that he noticed when he was in England that people were completely the other way and didn’t seem to be able to have days where they’d do absolutely nothing without experiencing a hefty side portion of guilt. Interesting huh. I can see that!

Anyways, returning back from my tangent, the other thing that’s happened today was going out for dinner with Glodine (friend and old LG leader from church) at Cotes. My my! All you English people reading my blog- did you know that Cotes do a deal where it’s £11.50 for 2 courses or £13.50 for 3?! Lovely. I was tempted to just get a main but that wouldda been more expensive than just going for 2 courses so, dutifully, I paid less and ate more. Definitely the right way to do these things. But yeah, we had a really nice evening catching up!

So there you have it, dear reader, you are now updated with all things Nadz. Until next time!

Well, dear reader, here I go again! I know I said I probably wouldn’t blog during my time at home, but Laura (shout out to you!) made the point that she, and maybe some other people from Argentina, would like to know what I’m up to whilst home! And requested that I please carry on. So if you’re bored of reading about my escapades, why are you reading this post and you may jolly well take it up with her! Haha.

In my last blog post I mentioned how I keep nearly replying to people in Spanish. The other thing I keep nearly doing is kissing people on the cheek to say bye! Went for a walk with Nolz and mum the other day and mum turned back half way through and it felt so weird not giving her a lil kiss on the cheek, like, mum?! I’m not going to see you for 20 mins! I must say goodbye to you properly! Noly kept getting the same thing and often after we’ve said goodbye to someone I would hear him mutter “must remember not to give them a kiss on the cheek.. must remember..” 😂

It is, of course, very nice to be home! For me it’s very cold as I’ve just come from weather in the mid thirties, but apparently it’s very mild for January! People keep apologising to me about the weather here which is kinda funny. Classic British behaviour!

Been having quite a few fairly chilled days since getting back and am stocking up on hot chocolates and cups of tea. Hot chocolates in Arg are a little disappointing as they’re about 95% milk and 2% chocolate. The other 3% is a mystery! And despite taking English tea bags, the tea doesn’t taste the same! I suppose because the milk is different. So I’m cracking on with getting my fill of hot chocolates and tea for the year!

The main thing that’s happened since being back is my cousin’s wedding, but before I get to that a few little bits I’ve done first!

On the Tuesday we arrived and got into London at 2.30 in the morning. We made our way through passport control in our seperate lines and soon we were shivering in the cold of English winter weather in the very early hours. Eventually the train set off and we made our way home. Mum came to pick us up and we chatted away before sleepiness overcame us. In the afternoon we went off to the cafe up the road which was a delight!

The next day we headed into Wokingham in the afternoon to go to brown bag (my favourite coffee shop from my yoof) and met up with Ellie! Which was really nice!

The following day we went off to dad’s gym for a swim before Amy came home in the eve and again we chatted and chilled all together.

Then the Friday before the wedding. us girls went into Wokingham to have a little pamper and so got our nails painted! Rather difficult to choose a colour since wasn’t sure what I’d be wearing for the wedding, which greatly alarmed the lady who was painting my nails who involuntarily pulled an “oh dear” face when I was telling her! And then with great caution of our nails Amy and I headed into town for a dress hunt. I did an exceptionally bad job and couldn’t find diddlysquat. In fact I didn’t even buy any shoes or any layers as I realised what I already had at home would suffice for my back up options! Yet Amy made up for my bad progress and bought not one, but two dresses! After shopping we headed straight to the reception venue and helped with some of the set up for the following day. Me and Nolz busied ourselves with helping Auntie Jacqui in the kitchen before helping to put all the chair covers on the seats. Tried to make this fun with racing Noly and Amy but soon got tired and rather lost the competition!

Once finished we went home for dinner. I had another occasion where my mouth spoke quicker than my brain (this happened before when I wrote Noly a card fairly on to our relationship and looked down and saw that I had signed off as “Nadsaroozle”) and referred to my Granny as “Grannydog” which took a bit of explanation and think she may have been mildly offended by this/ had no idea what I was talking about! (Pals in Argentina – if you add “dog” onto the end of someone’s name it makes it quite gangster and cool. Supposedly.) Soon Tim rocked up and so we had a very full house ready for the wedding the following day…

Well, what a day! Weddings here are a little different from in Argentina so I shall give a little commentary on what happened during the day and point out some of the differences.

Before the entry of the bride, there was, of course, the usual British health and safety announcements and practical matters. Couldn’t possibly start the wedding without telling us where the fire escapes and toilets are, and an announcement to not take photos during the wedding as per the wishes of the bride and groom. I have only been to one wedding in Argentina though from what Noly tells me it’s fairly representative of the main customs of Argentina. Can’t imagine having a health and safety announcement in Arg!

It started at 12 and not too surprisingly for England, the bride (my cousin Hannah), was bang on time. I would say it’s usual to have at least a few bridesmaids for every British wedding (they don’t always have bridesmaids and groomsmen in Argentina) and my cousin didn’t disappoint! The six bridesmaids made their way down the aisle followed, finally, by Hannah. In the past I never used to understand people who cried at weddings, but now I have done a full 180 and had to try very hard to keep it together! Thankfully I managed not to weep during the service on this occasion!

The service followed with songs, as requested by the bride and groom, prayers, a small preach and the signing of the register. (In Arg there’s no songs, nor people who pray for the bride and groom and the signing of the register sometimes happens the day before or later on in the day.) There was also a reading from the Bible, read by yours truly. (Also not something that happens in Arg). It was such an honour to be included in the wedding! And as I stood at the front, reading in front of a church full of people, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little nervous! By the end my hand was shaking mildly and my leg was wobbling about a little too, but only I could tell apparently. I got through the reading without any trip ups (literally – no falling and also from a reading point of view) and didn’t do anything hugely embarassing, which was a big relief!

Whilst the signing of the register happened there were two songs performed, one by the sister and father of the bride. The bridal party then left to go outside and shortly we all followed, our hands laden with confetti which we chucked at them as they made their way through the confetti tunnel. There was then, of course, the group photos outside the church with various different groups of people, the brides close family, the grooms, then extended family, then a big group photo with everyone. Once photo duties were done it was time to head back inside where we found a huge spread of cakes and teas and coffees. This isn’t the norm for an English wedding! There’s usually a cake at the reception and a big deal about the couple cutting the cake together. There’s definitely not tea and cakes in a wedding in Arg! Following this everyone milled around, chatting and eating cake and Hannah & Ryan circulated the room. It was so nice, being able to have a little chat with Hannah as she joined the cousins and granny who were all sitting together. Sometimes at weddings you barely see the bride and groom as they’re so busy with all the things they have to do! I think this was also a testimony to the hard work of their families, bridesmaids and groomsmen who were working hard to make sure everything went like clockwork.

After a quick trip to costa it was time to head off to the reception. The reception was in a village hall in Hurst which we’d helped set up the night before. It was decorated really beautifully! And fairly quickly, it was time to get some food. As the groom, Ryan, has Asian roots, we had Thai food. It was soo good!! Whilst I did attempt using the chopsticks for a while, I soon had to give in and use the knives and forks. I mean, how is it even possible to eat rice with chopsticks?! Pudding soon circulated and we had the choice between brownie and sticky toffee pudding. Bethany, my cousin & sister of the bride, had made all the puddings herself and they were simply gorgeous!!

After pudding had been gobbled up, it was time for the speeches. The custom is usually to have the father of the bride, the best man and the groom make hilarious yet heartfelt speeches, but we also had a speech from the maid of honour, Bethany, and Ryan’s brother. Noly and I also got a shout out in one of the speeches! I always find the speeches emosh!! (Speeches aren’t a tradition in Argentina though apparently sometimes they do happen).

Soon after the speeches were over, the tables were cleared and we found ourselves with a dance floor. Hannah & Ryan had their first dance and were soon whizzing around the dance floor together! Then we all joined too. After being at a few occassions of dancing in Argentina recently, it was nice to instinctively know the rhythm and how to dance to it!! Also a thing about English dancing, at least in my circles, is that you take apart the lyrics and put dance moves to them. I can’t quite do this in Argentina and don’t think people do! But it’s about 10 times more fun dancing in this way haha.

A cool thing that Hannah & Ryan had, (which I have always wanted to have!), was to have polaroid cameras and a guestbook for people to stick in their photos and write their congratulations.

At 9.20 the dancing came to a finish (I know from an Argentinian point of view this is very early but it just depends on the couple! Sometimes it’s later) and we were all instructed to go outside with sparklers and form a tunnel for them to walk through. Magical! And off they went!

Those of us who were left started helping with clearing up the hall and within minutes the tables were down, chairs away and things were looking tidy!

All in all it was such a lovely day! First time at a winter wedding and was so glad to be able to make it, and also have Noly with me as he misses out on most of my big family events and is not often in England so meant a lot to have him with me. Plus he has now met all of my family on my mums side bar a few cousins here and there.

The following day we went off into town to have lunch out. We ended up coming in three different cars as we were all coming from different directions and as me, mum and Nolz were making our way into town, who did we see but my uncle and auntie and cousins across the river! We flagged them down and talked them into coming into pizza express with us and it was really nice to have dinner all together! Meant we had a chance to talk about all things wedding and also a proper catch up, since you don’t really get to chat much with the key people at a wedding.

We soon got back home and it wasn’t long before my pal Chloe came along and whisked us away and out to the Sedero lounge we went! Between us we probably had the weirdest dinner to ever be seen in the Sedero Lounge. I had poached eggs on a muffin (classic brunch!) with sweet potato fries, Noly had one solo tapas and a cocktail and Chloe had a bowl of broccoli and sweet potato fries. Classic combination that really. Anyways, twas a really nice evening and catch up!

The next day we woke up slowly and made our way to the ice rink down the way from me. I haven’t been ice skating for years! But it’s funny how it comes back to you. In fact this is something that probably a lot of people don’t know about me. I used to have ice skating lessons! So was a little taken aback to find myself feeling somewhat wobbly and nervous on the ice rink as I first stepped onto it. But within a coupla mins I could remember and slowly built up my confidence and was soon whizzing around the ice rink. It was really fun being there with Noly as, for once, I was better than him at something!! (Definitely comes with the years of practise I had whilst I had lessons). With most activities we’ve done together he’s been way superior to me and I’ve been the one learning how to do it with varying success. It was quite fun giving him tips and then seeing him improve as he’s a very fast learner. I must confess that it was also quite amusing seeing him wobble a little! This makes me sound like a horrible person but he never actually fell and the concentration on his face was not something I often see! He said afterwards that he’d be skating round perfectly, absolutely smashing it and then he’d hear me coming up behind him and me call out something, “how’s it going?” or “looking good” or something like that and immediately he’d start wobbling all over the place hehe.

After our fill of ice skating we went off to Bracknell and spent what felt like an eternity in “Game” as Noly was trying to pick what switch game to buy with some Christmas money. I now have some sympathy with him when I’m trying to pick between two items of clothes to buy… And then we had a quick hot chocolate in brown bag and back home we went!

Yesterday, Tuesday, was Noly’s final day in England. We headed over to my Granny & Auntie’s house and had a nice chinwag with them both for a bit before going off for food supplies (Greggs sausage rolls of course. Noly also got the pink sprinkley doughnut and was really quite unsure why this was amusing myself and Auntie Ray so much haha) and a nice walk in Sonning. This was such a good shout! Usually on the day when either Noly or I are going back to our respective homes it’s a day of just waiting around and we get quite sad but this day we were nicely distracted until fairly late on in the day.

As I’m just finishing this post off, Noly’s currently in the air. Was quite sad to see him go. I thought I’d be pretty much fine seeing him off since I’ll see him in a month’s time but it’s still hard. Psychologically my brain kicks in with unhelpful comments “He’s going to be across the other side of the world again now!” which isn’t particularly helpful so I have to turn my brain off. But anyhow, we’re trying to remember to be grateful for the big and small blessings we have and personally, I’m enjoying being home with the chance to see all of my family and friends as well as being in my home where I get a chance to rest and don’t have to be on the go all the time looking after myself. I actually really enjoy being back home and getting a bit coodgied!

Well there we are! Shall post again soon. Love to all xxx

Feels kinda strange writing this, my Argentinian adventures blog whilst in my own bed in my own house in England, but thought I should just round off for the moment!

My last week in Argentina was really busy whilst at the same time being quite chill. Was trying to pack my bags and move out my bits all at the same time. This proved to be quite a challenge since I needed to pack for winter weather whilst being in summer and work out where to store all my bits and all!

The few social bits I did in my last week were: going to a bar called Patagonia for Facu (Noly’s cousin)’s birthday, going to the cinema with Nolz, having a pool day and a few other bits and bobs with the Nolzster.

Journey back home was abso fine, no hiccups whatsoever although I literally got no sleep at all! It was nice to do it with Noly since I’ve done it oh so many times on my own, nice to have some company for a bit.

So now I’m home for the next little while! The one thing I’m finding incredibly weird is how everyone can understand me here and I can communicate exactly what I need to without any little misunderstandings. Bizarre. I also keep nearly replying to people in Spanish (in fact I did this twice on the plane when someone spoke to me in English) as I’m used to speaking to the Camelot gals in Spanish and they’d reply in English. At a cafe yesterday they brought over our hot chocolate and “gracias” zipped through my brain before I remembered that is not the right language for here 😂

The other thing that is truly bizarre, is going from the heights of summer into the January cold and rain of England! People keep apologising to me about the weather! Typically, we seem to have arrived back in the midst of a bit of a storm, so it’s especially windy! Which would explain why we went through quite a few turbulence zones on the plane!

Well anyways, I shall probably take a break from this blog for a while since it’s supposed to be about Argentina and I am currently not in said country. I shall be back and blogging in a month and a bit!

Ta ra and happy January/February one and all!

Goodness me, life has been hectic lately which is why I’m only just updating my blog with my shenanigans. Where I left off was talking about Christmas celebrations.

On the 27th December, twas a busy day! In the morning I set out on the hunt for Ale & Vale, my pals from Camelot, since we were going on a shopping trip to find something to wear for later that evening. (This is something I find quite funny about Arg culture. Because it’s so laid back, you literally might be hunting for clothes on the day of a party, and that’s completely not stressful and completely normal here!). After searching for various different components of outfits for each of us (a whole outfit for Vale, trousers for Ale and a top for me) we finally completed our mission 🥳 and so to celebrate, went to mostaza to have a big fat burger. I mean, if you’ve already spent a whole lot of money, why not just spent more? 😂 After luncheon I wandered back home to have a rest.

A little while later, Nolz rocked up and I helped him on a self-imposed quest to find his glasses, meaning driving all over town to see if he’d left them in various different places we’d been (shopping centres, the church, people’s houses etc), before later finding that they were, after all, in his house (classic, lol). During part of our search we had a quick trip to a supermarket where, lowe and behold, we found some Pimm’s! (Pimm’s is a licquer that we have in England, particularly for summer, and you add lemonade and fruit and it’s super yummy. Tastes of summer to me.) I saw Pimm’s there once a few months ago but never since! So, with Pimm’s in hand, we left the supermarket for Noly to drop me back home.

I arrived back at the apartment at 9.45. I was supposed to be at a party at 10, but thankfully, as is the custom, the people I was going with were late, plus I had done my makeup earlier on in the day just incase I ended up getting back later.

Anyways, I shall spare you the details of the journey and move on to the party itself. It was Laura, the owner of Camelot,’s 60th birthday. The Camelot team is quite a big one so we had our own table and it was good to see everyone and catch up after Christmas. After we’d been fed with ample amount of super yummy food, twas time to sing happy birthday to the birthday girl. This is always a nightmare for me, being centre of attention with a big lot of people, so it always makes me laugh when people are the opposite! Laura loved it, dancing around and smiling brightly. Then there was cake and puddings before the dancing started.

The dancing was super fun! Still very hard for me to dance in the Latino rhythm so I tried quite hard to inconspicuously study my pals footwork. Very complicated! But it was fun nonetheless and sometimes there would be English music which is just generally easier for me to dance to. There were also suddenly foam-y light things that were handed out which were fun! As well as flowery headbands for the girls, which just instantly make everything all the more merry.

At about 4am (!) the party wound down and I was back home at 4.30. It’s funny. From an Argentinian perspective, I said to a few people back home “wasn’t too late, got back at 4.30”, because I seriously suspected I’d end up back at about 6.30am and everyone was completely shocked that this wasn’t late in my books! Haha.

The following day was a pool day! It was soo lush and just what I needed after a busy day the day before rushing around. Even with two applications of 50 factored sun cream I still managed to get burnt ! But thankfully only a little. I also brought the Pimm’s and cracked that out for everyone, which they all enjoyed and liked!

The following day we went off to “La casa de chocolate” (the chocolate house) with church for some baptisms. I’ve been once before and still find the name rather surprising since, disappointingly, there’s no chocolate in sight. So we had a mini church service and then headed out to the pool area to watch as about 10 people got baptised. Hurrah!

After the baptism it was time for lunch, so everyone dispersed to find their own areas to sit. We found a good space outside, under the trees as it was very hot, and we had a nice time just eating and chatting and chilling out all together.

The next thing of note, was the new years celebrations on the 31st. In my family, we don’t really do much for new years, it’s usually just a quiet night in, having dinner, setting off some fireworks, playing some games and watching the fireworks on the telly. In the Matus’ family they do a lot more! I really enjoyed experiencing a different new years, although also really enjoyed skyping in to my fam intermittently during the day, for a chat and to watch the fireworks (both theirs and the fireworks on the TV).

Prior to food there was a lot of mingling around and chatting as people slowly started arriving. This was quite satisfying for me because I could actually talk a little to various different people without Noly help. In the past I’ve found big family events quite difficult because of Spanish and feeling frustrated with myself for not being able to chat, so it was so nice to be able to and not feel completely drained and down by the end of it.

For food we had an asado (BBQ) which was, obviously, super yummy, as well as various accompanying bits of salad. I rather let the team down and became full super quickly! But never mind. Soon it was midnight and we all went around clinking our glasses and saying happy new year! Etc. Then, out came the fireworks, lanterns and sparklers that me and Nolz had bought earlier in the day, as well as all the phones, ready to take the obligatory new years photos.

Then, at about 1.30, us of the younger generation went off into town in search of a drink. Absolutely everywhere was closed (!) apart from one street, so we settled down there. I had rather been up for a cocktail but, alas, there were none in sight. So instead settled on sharing a cider with Noly whilst the others shared a big fat jug of beer. At about 4 am the decision was made to go to Sofi’s house for a bit to have pudding. By this time I was feeling decidedly grumpy and was nearly falling asleep at the table! At about 6am we left and I was finally in my bed at 6.30 am, at about the time that my family in England started getting up!

New year’s Day was very chill and a few quite encouraging things happened! One was talking to Luci & Javier and they were saying about how much my Spanish had improved and it was nice bc I could be honest, saying how I always used to feel a bit uncomfortable in group situations and felt that I needed Noly by my side but now I feel comfortable and happy either way 😊 and the other encouraging thing that happened was later, we went to see Luci’s grandfather and at one point the conversation turned to me and everyone was like, go on Nadia! Tell him a bit about yourself! Which, again, used to be my absolute worst nightmare, when the spotlight was turned on me and I had to try and cobble out some vaguely coherent Spanish sentences whilst everyone was watching me panic. Whereas now, I could do it! And wasn’t wishing to fade into the background. So that really is a lot of progress for me and is truly incredibly satisfying.

On Friday the 3rd me and Nolz headed out to do some Christmas shopping…! Haaa. Sounds weird. This year I didn’t contribute to my parents or sibs Christmas presents (I think it’s super fun to get stuff from abroad) so that I’m ready to issue out the presents for my second Christmas which I’m having when I get home!

After a relatively successful shopping trip (half down, half to go) I walked to Vale’s house. Vale (my pal from Camelot) is currently renovating her house so I said I’d go over and help with the painting. Little did I know, she has the cutest dogs ever!!!! But anyways, that’s besides the point. We painted and painted and then painted some more! All the while chatting or sometimes lapsing into comfortable silence and it was a really nice afternoon/evening. After a while Vales sister turned up and had a little chat with her. (Again, super satisfying. Could chat to someone I’d just met without feeling self conscious and overwhelmed). Was quite a good person to chat to actually, since I’m looking for my own place come end of Feb and she potentially knows somewhere! So that was good.

Then at about 11 we headed out to find some grub. It was really nice food and company (Vale’s boyfriend was with us too) and I was really enjoying it, but I confess that I was also absolutely knackered by this point and was basically falling asleep at the table! Well not quite, but no joke, my eyes were feeling all droopy..! So not too long after we finished, they dropped me in a taxi and off I went. I managed to even navigate the taxi man going to the wrong place and explaining to him where he needed to go (💪) and soon I was back and in bed.

The next day, me, Noly, Javier & Facu (Nolys cousin) headed off to Dique Cobra Cobral (I think that’s what it’s called 🤨) for the day. We had lunch en route, the Arg equivalent to fish and chips! And then headed in the direction of the lake. We got there at about 1.30pm and soon we were in the boat with Facu overboard! … Purposefully. Twas time to try and perfect the art of wakeboarding!

Wakeboarding is actually super hard ! I tried it last year and only managed to get up and out of the water properly for about two seconds before plunging back into the water again. With this in mind, and determined this time to succeed, I watched Facu and analysed with Noly what he’d done well and what he could do better. He did manage to get up and stand a fair amount of times and was trying to perfect the art of getting up and the stance that you have to stand in to keep ya balance. After a while he had gotten quite tired so twas Nolys turn.

Nolz is actually a pro. No faffing around with him. He gets in the water and up he gets straight away! Although he did try and do a trick and ended up thwacking his face down headfirst into the water, much to his suprise, bless his socks.

Next up, it was me. I was really not expecting to have much success since last time I’d found it so difficult. Yet, lowe and behold, on my second go I managed to get up! This was much to my surprise and I let out a huge involuntary shriek for a few seconds before going splat back into the water 😂 thankfully Noly didn’t record this one.. anyways, so the next little while in the water I managed to improve a little more each time, with tips yelled to me by Javier and Nolz. I always managed to get up and out of the water but the amount of time I managed to stand up varied. I was just about to throw in the towel for the day when Javier encouraged me to have one more go. I’m so glad I did! I managed to get up and stand and be pulled along for about 40 seconds! Ended on the best one 💪

I really wasn’t expecting that I’d be able to do it since last time I barely could at all. It was so satisfying! And quite frankly a bit of a surprise to suddenly find yourself flying through the water. When I got back into the boat I suddenly realised how tired my body was and my hands and arms were nearly shaking. It’s two days later and my arms are still absolutely knackered! Takes such an effort to use them so much. I’d been in the water for about an hour, so twas a lot of arm power. I wonder if going to the gym this past year helped me with wakeboarding as maybe my arms are a tiny little bit stronger than before!

Yesterday (Sunday) was a fun day too! Church in the morning, empanadas for lunch and then back to Nolys for a pool day. It’s slightly disheartening to see everyone else super tanned and then there’s me with my mini tan but never mind! A few people here have now commented and said that I am a little tanned which is satisfying. Because I’m still super pale people don’t tend to notice whereas I know that I am a little tanned haha. The afternoon was spent just hanging in the pool, chatting as well as a hilarious impromptu photo sessions with the gals and a watermelon 😂 and then it seemed to be storming up so off we went inside.

And there endeth the last little while of activities !

Two prayer requests if you’re a pray-er:

• Typically, I’ve come down with a cold again and I’m feeling very fatigued. This is not good timing as I’m preparing to come back home for a month so need to pack my bits and also try and tidy up my bits from Marta’s as I’m supposedly going to be living somewhere else when I come back.
• As mentioned above, I’m looking for somewhere to live next year. It feels a bit demoralising as most things are out of my budget or not in the location that I need. Please pray that the right thing would come through!

Thanks!

Being abroad for Christmas is a truly bizarre experience. For me, this was the first one that I’ve ever spent abroad. I can’t imagine being abroad without having a safe family unit around me. Whilst Christmas this year for me was different and at times I felt a little sad, I was surrounded by lovely people that I know and love and it was, of course lovely to be with Noly for our second Christmas together, this time in his culture rather than mine.

Before I describe the last couple of days, I’ll just write a little about the differences, so that I don’t keep going on about them for the rest of the post.

Here in Argentina, for me, there’s no real build-up to Christmas like there is at home. In truth, in England I think it’s gotten a little crazy and over-commercialised, but here, Argentina is the complete opposite! Usually at home I’m starting to think about Christmas from mid November and present buying is in full swing by the time December starts. Here, I did the majority of my Christmas shopping on Saturday 21st December which is unheard of in my family (well. Apart from maybe for you Auntie Ray!). There’s also the flurry of activity in the shops from mid November, maybe even earlier at home, though to be honest, I must say I didn’t miss that. Another difference is the houses, you might see the occasional light up here and there but by no means all over! Something I can’t get my head round at all is the lack of Christmas songs! I heard one, once, in a cafe. Similarly, in church in England there’s usually a bustle of Christmas activities going on – carol services and cristingles etc – but none of that here either! And not to mention, one of the main differences – the weather. I’m so used to cold, cosy Christmas’, I can’t get my head around the fact that it’s late twenties, sometimes early thirties and it’s Christmas!

The other main difference is that they celebrate Christmas in the evening before. I was thinking about why this could be and I think maybe it could be a cultural thing. Here, they’re all used to late nights and staying up until the early hours, at home they’re not! And are used to getting up early, cracking on and then going to bed early.

Before I talk about Christmas eve and Christmas, I haven’t mentioned in any of my blog posts, that we did do something that felt truly Christmassy to me! Noly and I instigated a group to sing two carols at church on the 23rd. This was a lot of work and if I’m honest, the first one had an interesting sound that I’m not sure was quite what we were going for, but the second one was cracking! It was a lot of fun and gave me a coupla mins of feeling Christmassy which was nice.

So, onto Christmas eve! In the afternoon, we hung around in the pool as the weather was just really lush. There was 10 of us, including some of Noly’s wider family, and it was a really lovely afternoon together.

Then for the Christmas eve meal itself, we went to Vivi & Billy’s house and all in all there was 16 of us for the meal and various other people popped in and out at different points. We arrived at around 10 and set to helping set everything up. The food was chicken and beef and a fair amount of salad and we all set to helping ourselves and sat at the table, eating and chatting. At 12, everyone went round and greeted each other exclaiming “Feliz navidad!” and sometimes “Dios te bendiga!” (God bless you). Noly had told me that at midnight everyone set off fireworks to celebrate. We could hear them but we could not see them anywhere! So off we went, wandering round the streets in search of the fireworks. We saw a few! But it was just bizarre to hear them all and not see them.

Then, when we got back to the house we exchanged our not so secret secret santa presents. Love a good secret santa! We then had pudding and champagne and again went round clinking glasses and wishing each other happy Christmas. Then Sofi instigated games which was a really lovely idea and something that I really would have enjoyed (as we do this in my family at home) if it wasn’t for the language. I went and sat inside for a bit with Noly and it was really sweet, his cousins kids (aged 9 and 12) came along and were trying to cheer me up, patting me on the shoulder and telling me stories about when they’d tried to use English and found it very difficult. Before we knew it, it was about 4am and so then everyone slowly started making their way back home. I got to bed at about 5.30 am – only a little while before my family started getting up to begin with Christmas!

Unfortunately it took me a while to get to sleep and then I woke up wide awake at 9 o’clock. Typical! At about 11 I went to go and have breakfast and exchanged presents with Noly, Monica and Javier. Then slowly got up, watched the Queen on youtube and then soon people were over for lunch! Most of the same crew as the night before, though a few less who joined us later on. After lunch, pudding and cider (a Christmassy drink here apparently!) I skyped my family and opened the few bits and bobs they’d given me to open before I came and then went to join the others in the pool. We didn’t last long! It started to rain/hail/thunderstorm and soon we were back inside. Since I’d had so little sleep I went to have a siesta (which, apparently is spelt with an S not a C! It’s only taken Noly 6 months to tell me this as I’ve been spelling it with a C all the time I’ve been here!) and a bit of time to try and recharge my batteries.

When I eventually immerged, I joined the others who were having interesting chats on Christianity etc, which I didn’t really contribute to but I could follow the conversation and it was interesting to talk about. We had some pizza and then Noly instigated us going for a (nearly) midnight walk, which was fun! Albeit a little chaotic with three dogs getting tangled up all the time! Twas nice, going for a walk in the eve with friends. For me, going for a walk on Christmas day is a classic thing to do, which Noly knows and is why he suggested it. I think it was quite a bemusing idea for them but they seemed to enjoy it which was nice.

So yeah, there we are! My first Christmas abroad. Very different from England and what I’m used to. We’re going to have a second Christmas in England with my family when I’m home, which I’m very looking forward to!

Anyways, merry Christmas to you all, whether in England or Argentina (or wherever else you’re reading from) and I hope you had a lovely Christmas this year.

Having been together for over 4 years, Noly and I are quite used to each other’s cultural differences and cultural norms. That being said, it is quite funny looking back on things in the past, before we had a fuller understanding of each others cultures, to see how our cultures clashed. I shall list some of these things now!

1. Present giving. I can’t speak for everyone, but in my circles at home, present giving is quite personal. Maybe my sister would look at me and think, “Well, Nadia loves creative things so I’ll give her ….” or, “this one time back in 2002 she said she really likes …… so I’ll get her …..” and ergo, presents are very thought through and personal. This isn’t quite the case here (I think I may have mentioned this in one of my feeling like a gringa posts) as people don’t think through it as much. In fact the other day, someone very unceremoniously told me what they were giving me for Christmas. A definite no go in my culture! Anyways, this made me think of the early days with me and Noly, when I would sometimes be a bit underwhelmed by my birthday present or Christmas present as it wasn’t massively personal and thought through (lol, this makes me seem very ungrateful but it’s just a cultural norm thing as it’s what I’m used to). Thankfully Noly now knows that this is important to me and puts more thought into it. But it’s funny looking back and being like OHHH that’s why that happened!
2. Along a similar kinda line, people don’t wrap presents here! Their equivalent is that when you buy something in a shop and say it’s a present they’ll put it in a brown bag and put a ribbon on it. From my point of view, 90% of the joy of getting a present is ripping the paper off! It does seem to me though that universally, boys seem to be physically incapable of wrapping presents haha. I’m still working on Noly on this one though..! Think I’ve had one present wrapped in the entirety of our four years haha.
3. Another thing they don’t do here is cards! Neither birthday cards nor Christmas cards. I’m not sure why they don’t. I find it a little sad! There’s nothing more satisfying than hearing the soft thump of post hitting the mat when it’s coming up to your birthday! And putting Christmas cards up all around the house. I’ve had a scattering of cards from Noly in our time together. One of which was an interesting choice! In fact, I remember finding it the following year, seeing the front (with a very cartoony horrible picture of a pig and far too much glitter) and thinking to myself “What a horrible card. I bet I’m not still friends with this person any more” and then turned it over and found that it was from Noly! Hahaha.
4. As mentioned many’a times before, in this culture they don’t really plan. I remember times when me and Noly have been in England and Noly’s been like “shall we go out for dinner tonight?” and I’d be like… but Noly?! Mum’s planned the weekly shop and there’s food for tonight! Why didn’t you formally put in this request a week ago?! Whereas here, it’s pretty chill and you could do that much easier as they don’t plan in the same way.
5. I always feel a bit of cabin fever if I’m inside all day, especially if the weather is nice outside, whereas it’s Noly’s dream to be inside all day (weird huh?). I genuinely think this is because at home, if the sun comes out for five mins it’s like, quick!! Can’t miss this! And so if I don’t go outside when it’s sunny I feel like I’m missing my only chance. Whereas it’s much warmer here and sunnier a lot of the time so people don’t get that so much.
6. Similarly, if we go out to a cafe most of the time I will prefer to sit outside in the fresh air, whereas Noly favours the (freezing cold) air conditioned inside bit.
7. Because this culture is more of a late-night culture, people don’t tend to go out and do things until much later. I actually can’t stand waiting until 3/4pm to go out as at home I’ll probably be starting to wind back home around then (lol, how wild am I?). Well maybe a little later, 5/6 ish. So here I find that super difficult! And prefer getting up and cracking on with my day! This one is an ongoing thing where both me and Nolz have to compromise on this, otherwise we have a constantly grumpy Nadz or a constantly grumpy Nolz.
8. In my culture, depending on the context, it’s pretty rude to be late. I actually always used to be late, maybe by 5/10 mins but not more than that, which I could get away with. In recent years I’d perfected the way to be on time (you have to give yourself 5 mins to faff around to actually leave the house! Grab ya bag, find ya keys, assess the weather etc. And also factor in another 5 mins for something to take longer than you expected. #LifetipsfromNadia) and so would sometimes get super frustrated with Noly who, was incapable of arriving on time. Again, this comes down to culture. Here, if you say to meet at 7, people will start rocking up from around 7.30. And, people factor this in! So they’ll say to arrive at 7, knowing people will arrive at 7.30. (Bizzare. Why not just say to arrive at 7.30 in the first place and everyone arrive on time? Weird). Anyways, I’ve now learned to do the same with Noly and tell him half an hour earlier than what I really mean!

I’m sure there are more things than this about our two cultures clashing, but these are all the things that come to me right now! Over and out.

Well, the life of Nadz has been pretty busy lately! The culture here is very much one where late nights are a norm. For about the last 10 days I haven’t got to bed before about 1 or 2 and then woken up early and only had like. 6 hours sleep, so I’ve been flagging a little for the last little while. (Last night I finally got 9 hours of sleep. Finally! 🥳) I can really tell that the culture here has gotten through to me as I was telling someone at home that I had to get up really early the next day. They asked me when and I was like …. 9am. In England that’s very late to get up to go to work! But here because ya don’t go to bed till late it kinda evens out and is late. But yeah, early in England is like. 5/6am so I think she was a little like 🤨

Anyways, what have you been up to I hear you cry? Well dear reader, I shall tell you.

Last week at Camelot was all end of year speaking tests, so I was at Camelot every day Monday-Thursday for a coupla hours, ontop of my 1:1s. On the Friday I had the whole day off which was lush! That’s usually my long day at Camelot with classes back to back.

On the Wednesday after the tests I had a bit of time to kill, so was just hanging with Ale for a bit whilst she did some marking, and then went to have a little chat with Laura. The little chat turned into a little cry as we talked about all the differences and things that are difficult for me, leaving a first world country to come into a very different country that’s not particularly very stable. It just made me cry because I didn’t even have to explain the things that are hard for me, she just inherently knew which made me bawl hahaha. And then started saying a whole load of truths over me which also made me tear up! Good thing I don’t mind too much crying in front of people any more 😂

Anyways, in the evening we had a send off for a few of the advanced II classes who have now finished at Camelot! Was very pleased that ample pizzas were ordered. Can’t be dealing with people who only order one pizza between like. 20 people 😂 nadz likes her food haha.

After a while Nolz arrived to pick me up and off we went bowling to celebrate the end of his exams 🥳 such a clever lil sausage, passed all his exams 😊 anyways, bowling here is a bit bizarre. It’s v old school and there’s only three lanes! And approximately every five mins the pins get stuck and the bowling man has to fix it. Sadly Noly won but let’s not dwell on that!

Friday ended up being very different than Nolz and I had planned. We were planning on doing something all day but something came up so alas we couldn’t! I did however, have a nice long chat with my brother and bought a notebook (to do some Spanish in) and a bullet journal as I have decided I want to start bullet journaling again 😊

In the eve, we did some carol singing! Well. One sing in particular. And only between the two of us. … Let me explain! Nolz and I had the idea that on Sunday we could maybe sing some carol songs. We’ve assembled a group from the youth of people who were interested, so Noly and I spent three hours trying to work out the harmonies and different parts !

Saturday I had a super chilled day! Lunch with Noly and then did some bullet journaling whilst Nolz was at a smash tournament. In the evening went back to Nolys and we watched a film 😊

On Monday I did a braves! Went to another English institute to give in my CV. I practised the phrase that I needed to say to the receptionist all the way there and, quite frankly, nailed it 💪 after that went off to Camelot for a meeting.

Once the meeting was over we all went out for dinner. Was a really lovely evening! From an English point of view there were some very unconventional conversations (related to shaving….) which made me chuckle but I’m quite used to this kind of thing now! Twas a really nice eve 😊 was nice to celebrate the end of the school year.

Tuesday was pretty chill! Nolz and I met to go over some carols prep stuff and then the carol group turned up and we went thru the first carol (silent night, holy night) and went thru the different parts. For the first practise it went pretty well! We’ve sent everyone their parts so I think it should hopefully come together. Made me feel so nice and Christmassy hearing it 😊 Tomorrow we’re gonna meet for practise number 2, so Noly and I really need to sort out the parts for the other carol we’re gonna sing, but typical Argentinian style, we’re leaving it a bit last minute!

Today [Wednesday] we finally went back to the gym 💪 and in the afternoon I finally, after about four years, met up with two of the missionaries that I met when I was here five years ago! Literally, it’s been about 4 years in the making! But it was so nice 😊 so nice to catch up and chat about life here, what they’re up to, culture bits etc. Plus we had merienda so that’s always a winner 😋

So there you have it! You’re all updated on the life of me. Stay tuned 😝