Cath's attempt at a World Tour.

Not much to say about today. Nice long lie in and leisurely shower. Made a picnic and Bianca and I walked down to river via the footpaths and then mooched by the river side, reading and sleeping. The water was too cold for a swim and too many rocks to paddle for a long time. Walked down to the bridge and back on ourselves up the main road, through Casas Del Rio and up to Campus Moragete. Feel a slow paced weekend is needed considering camp days start at 8.30am and end at 11pm. Nice sunny day Over the bridge, over the river Even some cactus around here, not the scenery I was expecting Creepy ghost town until summer Town square with church in background. 

Sadly there was a mis-communication and the kids aren't coming today but are actually due some time in April. Had a relaxed day, was lovely and sunny. Went for a walk to give the new resident a tour and then we all went to the pub in Casas Del Rio. Lie in tomorrow then probably go for a walk. Tested the light show and found out an interesting fact. Street in Casas Del Rio  The pub!  Probably the only current residents  Our staple booze Scorpions glow under UV light! 

Now all the powerpoints are dusted off for next week I recorded my experiments for handover note purposes and boss wants them to put on a website. Some were a bit lame but I did enjoy the density experiment with water and making crazy putty using borax etc. We have a group of students coming tomorrow and the science staff (including me) will be teaching 4 separate classes of 10 my "Crazy Lab" lesson. Fingers crossed! After pretending to be Spiderman and launching goo around the place I went for a walk just to relax after a hectic day. Took a new path that went down into the valley which had some nice new vistas to see. I had to turn back as it was getting dark but I did find a boggy stream and lots of boar tracks so hopefully I will see one soon. I think I would have more luck without the hounds following me but they are too cute to leave behind. Lab entrance, guarded by a shady looking dude Classroom 1 of 6 Lab

Today's plan was to record all my experiments. It became finish my remaining powerpoint, add touches to the other and then make a list of all remaining experiments and then box everything off tomorrow. Also, after lunch I went out with Bianca and Laura to look for insects for Bianca's ecosystem lessons. Reminded me of being a kid turning over rocks and logs but with added bonus of possible snakes and scorpions. Last few days have been dry but cold and windy. The sky was very impressive tonight with a mixture of grey clouds, white clouds and blue skies. The sunsets in the valley are quite special too. Allowed me to take some arty shots that usually I wouldn't attempt but thought no harm in trying. Hope you enjoy! You can even see the moon in the top left The Dome Purple Sunset Dusky flames 1 of 2 scorpions I found, couldn't make this post all about the art.

Another day of office preparation for the students next week. Almost through my powerpoints and am going up to the lab to record some experiments tomorrow. Thank goodness I brought a tri-pod or I would have melted my camera or face by now. Getting into a nice routine of meals, walk straight after work and then evening of relaxing. The dogs follow me now in constant hope of me venturing off into the wilderness and worrying I am going to leave them behind. It's nice to have the company and they are so energetic and cute. Vito - the quiet one who can sneak up like a ninja when he wants food. Always bouncing off the beaten path and the one who I loose for the longest, 15 minutes is the record so far. Leo - Apparently he looked like a lion when he was a puppy and grew bigger than they expected. He is a massive puppy and gets sad he can't be picked up like the rest or that you

Spent the day perfecting and recording my chemistry experiments for next weeks lesson. Happy to say I got all the ones I wanted to do done. In the evening, a few of us walked round the valley before dark. However, this means no glorious scenery shots so thought I would put some more pictures of around campus. There was an earthquake (5.0) about 170 km away, the guys in the office felt a tremor but I didn't, up in the labs. Please note the snappy name of the post and exclamation mark in my attempt to make this seem more interesting. Adventure park and obstacle course under construction The Kitchen VIP room, where we spend most of the day at the moment and do planning Dining room and serving area# Dining room and activity hall

Enjoying the calm before the storm as its going to be 100's of kids starting next Monday. Late start and then walk down to the river trying to avoid the main roads as Chiheatas has a death wish chasing cars. Walked along the edge of the river which the kids do rafting on with Campus Moragete in summer. As a side note. the campus is in a valley so the mainland is actually above us, even though there are lots of pictures of mountains, they are not mountains in the traditional sense. More so, I am in a U-shaped valley with the river at the centre. All the hiking I am doing is up the side of the valley which zig-zags at each side. While I realise this may seem irrelevant, I personally feel better as I don't wish to deceive anyone and I am trying to paint a better picture, :P . Anyway .... walked down the river as far as the path would take us (Kashif came too, another science teacher). Some people enjoying fishing in the 3rd cleanest river in Europe but the area was mostly quiet.

Had a nice long lie in today as no pressing reason to get up. Enjoyed a hot shower as it was cold for the first few days, working out the bugs in the solar panels but beats a bucket shower any day. Decided to walk in the same direction as last night but thought I would check out random path to the left and ended up coming back 4 hours later. It's a bit scary as it's not structured footpaths like in the UK so it could just end or appear to carry on for a bit then you realise you're just stomping through the wilderness (good thing the snakes and boars are sleeping). Also a good thing I have a decent sense of direction as I just kept picking paths and going with it. It paid off in the end as I made it out of the valley into the vineyards and olive trees. It was a very alien but beautiful scene. The land stretched out in every direction and as it's spring there is no one else about, as close to the sound of silence as I could get. The camps dogs Leo, Vito and Chiheatas ins

Well as the title said, it's Friday! Working on powerpoints and experiments for our first classes today. The first group have been pushed back a week so another planning week next week to get all the i's and t's sorted. Sat by the pool in the sun for lunch break, reading. After work at 6pm, I went for a walk with Leo (dog) out the right side of the camp and around the mountainside into a small valley. Trying to explore a decent amount of the local area after work everyday but before it gets dark about 7pm. If I get stranded out here no one will hear me! Came back and went for tapas in the only pub in Casas del Rio. Lovely selection of food including calamari and pigs tails. My roommate is away for the weekend for her anniversary so I have the room to myself. Lie in and long walk are my only plans tomorrow.  Pretty tree, that's about it. View from the path The path    Big drop First tapas! 

Day trip to Valencia to sort some paperwork. Up at 6.45am, detour via Requena and arrived in Valencia about 9am. Drove around the science musuem and past a large sculpture of Gulliver from Gulliver's travel in a park. He is lying down and has been made into a play area e.g. his legs are slides. Valencia had a river running through the centre but after it flooded and caused many fatalities, they diverted the river around the city and the dried river bed is a series of long parks. I plan to walk through them all and do the museums at some point. Went for breakfast in a mall and in between signing more paperwork we walked to the Valencia market from the North train station. It is a very clean, green (loads of species of trees like orange and fig trees) and interesting city to explore. Got to see the various types of food that are common to the area. Lots of fish, shellfish, cheese, wine (£1.50 for a decent bottle), dried meats, baked goods, large fruit and vegetables. All very cheapl