A good pub quiz

Here are some pictures of the pub quiz we celebrated on December 17th in Nuba.

It was great fun.

The questions were challenging, the wine was good and the quizmaster, Melanie, did an excellent job with no microphone to help her.

Her strong voice comes from her experience at closing time in O’ Hare’s bar in Newcastle, where she worked as a student, telling the reluctant customers when it was time to go home.

The winning team scored 9 in the sports section thanks mostly to José Manuel and they also knew the first name of the jazz composer Thelonius Monk. They took home the English breakfast hamper.

The second prize, the box of shortbread went to Belly Dance Power and they answered some very tricky questions too.

Oliver was in good company as you can see!

So was Luis in the team that came third.More girls than guys at this pub quiz.They won a nice bottle of Gordon’s gin.

For a first time it went really well but I know people will be asking for quiz books for Christmas to be ready for the next one. Hopefully Food Hall will field a team too and come to enjoy a relaxing evening after a hard day’s work.

Nuba is a beautiful bar with friendly staff and the owners are charming.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and prosperous new year.

P.S.

A team can be from 2 to 5 people.

Christmas Pub Quiz

CHRISTMAS PUB QUIZ

GREAT PRIZES from FOOD HALL!!!!

Date: 17th December

Place: Bar Nuba (Plaza del Voluntariado, esquina C/ Manuel de Falla)

Our thanks to Nieves, Jorge and Silvia for letting us use their bar.

Time: Try to be there around 21.30h. The quiz starts at 22.00h sharp!

What do you have to do?
Come with your friends, form a team, find a table, get an answering sheet,have a drink while you wait for the quiz to begin and write down as many correct answers as you can.

What do you have to bring?
A pen.

This is going to be fun so don’t miss it!

Mientras tanto

As we wait for news of the pub quiz I will entertain you with another story. It's my favourite.
Our Eileen (this time my dear sister) was living with me here in Spain for a while. Eileen is a very sociable person and it's not easy finding someone to talk to in English here so she was happy to accompany my friend Pilar and walk her dog together. Pilar was learning English at the time. Anyway one day Pilar didn't turn up and told Eileen the next day that it was because her doctor was ill. 'Oh,' Eileen said, a bit puzzled, 'you and your doctor must be good friends.' 'Oh yes, yes she is my friend but she is my doctor' answered Pilar. Eileen said, 'Oh your doctor is a woman. ' 'Yes yes of course but she is very young.' Eileen nodded, still very puzzled specially when she learnt that Pilar's doctor was only nineteen. The conversation continued in this strange fashion until at last they realised that while Eileen was talking about her doctor Pilar was talking about her daughter.
All those consonants we use and don't pronounce!!
As a little boy in Patricia's class used to say,
'Los ingleses escriben una cosa y luego dicen lo que les da la gana,'

Un bonito día de campo

El domingo 22 se realizó la segunda actividad de la Asociación, que consistió en un par de sendas por el Valle de la Fuenfría (Cercedilla).
El día fué magnífico: soleado, temperatura muy agradable y sin lluvia ni nieve. ¿Que más se puede pedir?. Por otra parte, a pesar de lo avanzado del otoño, todavía los árboles conservan muchas hojas y el bosque resulta todo un espectáculo con sus tonos amarillos, ocres......

En total asistimos diez personas con muy variado nivel de inglés, de manera que se pudo hablar en los dos idiomas, en mi opinión de una manera natural, que era en cierto modo lo que se pretendía.

Con respecto a las sendas, creo que fueron acertadas. Desde la estación cogimos el Camino Puricelli hasta el Centro de Educación Ambiental, donde paramos a comer y disfrutar um poco del día y despues, bajamos por el Camino del Agua hasta Cercedilla pueblo.

A word of warning

Our Melanie ('Our' indicates I'm writing about a member of my family, in this case my lovely daughter, born and bred in Spain. In Northern Ireland, in our speech, even total strangers soon become acquainted with all the family) went to study in Newry and lived with my family in Castlewellan. In the evenings she worked in a bar in Newcastle.
Now in Spanish you use the word 'molestar' all the time but in English 'molest' has other connotations. Poor dear late Michael Jackson was accused of child molesting. Melanie had been complaining about somebody molesting her and only realised her error when she was told that she was making a grave accusation.
So what word do you use in English.? Well, I was suggesting annoys, bothers ... but Marcos, who had lived in London had a better suggestion... he pisses me off.
Anyway I saved Melanie the bother of writing this story herself. It's not easy facing a blank page is it?

JUST IN CASE ------ POR SI ACASO

CLARIFICATION

As this is a bi lingual Spanish/English initiative the contributions don't all have to be in English, you know. If you have a traveller's tale about our mutual communication difficulties you'd like to share and you'd prefer to tell it in Spanish, go ahead.

Everybody has a story

Those stories are better told of course and it would be nice to meet up and hear them. For example when my friend Mary was coming through airport controls guiltily smuggling some cheese from her holiday in Spain and a bloke approached her and asked her, 'Where's the chicken?' Oh panic stations as she vigorously denied any such contraband but he insisted in his demand and just as she was about pull it out and explain that she wasn't smuggling chicken, only cheese, her daughter came to the rescue 'Mum, what's wrong with you? ' and kindly explained to the gentleman, 'The check in's over there'

Or my husband's ability to deduce when I told him my key had fallen down a cliff-acantilado-(there are none in San Sebastián de los Reyes). that I meant drain- alcantarilla

Another friend from Spain,on her visit to Ireland, had no idea why her landlady asked her every day when she came back to the house if she had seen the shower or if she had been caught in the shower until she saw the weather forecast on TV and learned about showers of rain.