Bake it off.

My last blog post didn’t end on the happiest of notes as I was having a bit of a downer day and needed some time alone to just chill and reflect. So after updating my blog and making a Halloween presentation for my classes I did just that, I watched About Time which makes me both weepy and fills my heart with joy, and then watched Strictly with a few Tom Collins. Leyre had told us about some Galician gin which she said was expensive but so good so I decided to buy a bottle and she was not wrong.

It’s good, really good, and I’ll definitely be sending a few bottles home with my parents when they come to visit in a few weeks. Good news is that by the time I woke up on Sunday I was feeling a lot better. Never underestimate alone time as an emotional healer. On Sunday Katie and I decided to bake; Katie made a cheesecake and I made Oreo brownies, which I found a little sickly as I think I’d put a little too much butter in after having to guesstimate 100g, but they seemed to go down well with everybody who tried them.

This week at school I have been mostly doing a Halloween presentation – I hope you read that in Jesse from The Fast Show’s voice Dad, Mam, Auntie Fi – which is basically just a history of Halloween and then they watch the trailer for Hocus Pocus and I ask them questions. Essentially I just wanted them all to get excited about Hocus Pocus but 99% of them had never heard of it. Bummer. On Wednesday there was a strike against an education law so I was advised that most of 3^rd and 4^th ESO would probably not be at school. As I don’t teach either class on Wednesdays I got up and went to school as normal but as the teacher I drive with pulled into school we realised that a lot more students had taken the day off. My first hour is free so I stood and waited for the kids to walk into school and counted them as they entered. 9 children. That was primary and secondary, 6 from primary, 3 from secondary, ironically from 4^th ESO so students I expected to stay at home. I spent the hour I normally teach 1^st ESO planning lessons for next week with my co-ordinator before being told I could leave early. As I walked round the corner to the bus stop I realised it wouldn’t be the quiet bus ride I’m used as I was greeted by 7 or 8 students. The bus arrived later than usual and my thoughts were confirmed as I managed to get the last seat on the bus and was surrounded by students on their way to Vigo. I ended up having to get off the bus a stop early due to a demonstration by a load of students outside a school at Plaza America. As I began the walk up Gran Via I began to hear chanting and turned around to find the students had begun marching up Gran Via, led by 6 police vans. Mental.

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Wednesday was also the final of Great British Bake Off and also the final episode before it makes its move to Channel 4 (still not over that) so a few of the girls spent the evening at our flat where I had made my first cake that wasn’t aided by a box mix – a marble cake that wasn’t very marbled. Unfortunately there was a little too much mixture for the tin resulting in me having to cook it a little longer than I would have hoped which meant it dried out a little which was less than ideal. If you a regular reader of my blog (hi, Dad) you’ll also know that Wednesday is now Crepe-nesday. In the past we’ve been to Creperie Bretonne, where the crepe itself is excellent but the way they plate it up makes it difficult to eat the way most of us would like to eat a crepe and it’s expensive, or La Terraza, where they neatly fold the filling into the crepe, it’s half the price but the crepe itself has an overwhelming orange flavour which isn’t that pleasant. This week however I decided to make them instead so after getting the recipe we use at home from my Dad, and trying to convert it into grams and ml instead of ounces and pints, I made my first pancakes in years. Very much trial and error for the first half of the batch but I think I managed to get into the swing of it by the end, and Sofia, Cinthia and Sienna all seemed to enjoy them.

I ultimately didn’t eat them which happens quite a lot after I make something, I never feel like actually eating it myself. After Bake Off was finished – no, I was not happy with the winner but I’ll start a rant about it – we ended up just drinking 1 euro wine while listening to songs from our childhood so a pretty standard Wednesday evening.

Thursday was my last day at school before 5 days off for the weekend and All Saints Day and after finishing my final class I felt exhausted.

People never realise how mentally tiring it is to teach and I only work 13 hours a week. So this is a shout out to all those full time teachers – you’re incredible people doing amazing things! I spent Thursday evening with Sofia and Cinthia, as they’re heading to Italy for the weekend, and we met up with a few other auxiliares for 1 euro sangria at a place that is covered in flamingos and were sat next to a cabinet full of old Barbie dolls, weird but I’ll definitely be going back. I then went back to Sofia’s flat where we drank a bottle of wine and chatted on their balcony until half 2 when I power walked home – standard Erin and Sofia evening.

Unsurprisingly on Friday, after having drunk too much wine and stayed up way past my bedtime, I spent most of the day watching TV – iZombie for anyone who is wondering; girl becomes zombie, works in morgue where she eats their brains and solves their murders, also has Clay from One Tree Hill in which is a good enough reason to give it a go honestly – and lounging about the flat. Katie’s boyfriend, Alex, has been staying for a few days before they travel to Madrid for the long weekend so I chatted with them a little before retreating to my cave where  watched the celebrity special of Gogglebox for Stand Up to Cancer. I wept. The piece on the man who lost his wife to cancer then 2 years later his son died after getting a brain tumour had me in bits. It also made me appreciate just how lucky I am to have never lost anyone close to me to cancer but it also makes you realise just how quickly it can happen, and it can literally happen to anyone. Fuck you cancer. I then watched Pixar’s greatest moments on Sky which probably wasn’t the best idea. Just about every Pixar film can make me cry; the furnace scene in Toy Story 3, Bing Bong’s final scene in Inside Out, the first 10 minutes of Up. Having all those sad moments together in an hour long show was a recipe for tears. I also skyped Briony on Friday eve just for a catch up and to see each other’s faces, always makes me realise how much I miss my Clan. Love you ladies – New Year can’t come quickly enough for Clan reunion!

Which brings us to today; Saturday, Strictly Day, Cava/Gin Day. My Mam has also just sent me the download code for Me Before You and after a little call to my Dad so he could redeem the code in the UK, its downloaded and ready to watch but I may have to save it for tomorrow as I am positive I am going to be in bits watching it. Now where did I put that gin..?