The Madrileno Baby Massage Choral Society By Kate

Massage is supposed to be relaxing, restorative, healing and at times, positively invigorating. In general, a pleasant and uplifting experience.

Perhaps someone should have told the fourteen or so babies in a room in Cuidad Lineal that. Gentle music was playing in the background while assorted parents armed with J&J baby oil earnestly followed the instructions from Maite the Matrona on how to give their offspring an enjoyable, sensuous experience and aid their sleep, digestion and co-ordination.Only a few minutes of the session had passed when the first baby decided they had had enough and began to vocalise their displeasure. Then the next chimed in, then the next. Pretty soon, all but three of the infants were red faced and crying in perfect disharmony - Rosie, I'm pleased to say, was still calm at this stage. Gradually the clamour began to die down as various mothers applied a breast, bottle or pacifier to their babies' howling mouths. Calm was restored and after some time, the various parents tentatively put down their little ones and started again with the J&J.
For a short while, all was tranquil again. Then Maite instructed us to turn our babies onto their tummies to start on some back massage. That was too much for most of the tiny participants and the crying chorus began to reach a new crescendo, this time with Rosie adding her own distinct sound to the dischord. Breasts (including mine), bottles and dummies were once more brought into play and we had a new diminuendo. We tried a little more massage with Rosie, but it was clear her tolerance for being rubbed with oil, however gently, had reached its limit. We took her home.

But two weeks later, we went back for more. This time Rosie, after a little initial protesting as she got used to the situation, seemed more willing to submit to the massaging. This also seemed true of most of the others, as the infant crying chorus was a little more muted than on our previous visit and mainly featured a few soloists rather than the great mass of baby wailing. And even with a bit of annoyance on Rosie's part, she noticeably sleeps well after a baby massage session. Whether this is because she's worn out with all the howling or because the massage eased her body tension is a moot point.

our new flat

Our new flat is awesome! It was the last one we looked at - we saw five in total - and though it immediately became our first choice, we'd kind of forgotten how good it was until we actually moved in.

It's pretty large and very well equipped; for a flat to be 'furnished' here in Spain clearly means it comes with plates, pots and pans in the kitchen, meaning that much of the stuff we dug out of our parents attic is largely redundant. The spacious bathroom - many of those we saw were little more than corridors with a shower at the end - comes with both bath and bidet, while our sofa could easily accommodate any guests that don't fit in the spare room. We've got air conditioning, central heating and ceiling fans (none a given in Madrid, despite the massive range of seasonal temperatures) and a view out of our bedroom's covered terrace that looks like it came straight off the set of West Side Story. Even the decoration is good - prints of Dali's and van Gough's and a nicely toned down wooden floor - and at the least to obligatory sideboard is painted the same as the wall so doesn't dominate too much.

Almost better than the flat is the barrio, the surrounding neighbourhood. Mendez Alvaro, where we were living before, was great for public transport links and parks, but not much else - there was no atmosphere to the area. Here in Cuidad Lineal our quiet little street (free parking) is just round the corner from shady avenues lined with useful shops and atmospheric bars. We're a mere 5 minutes walk through pretty streets to the bustling Calle Acala, with it's miles of shops and metro stops. While we may technically be further away from the centre here, we definitely feel closer to the heart of Madrid.

new beginnings

This weekend heralds something of a fresh start for Kate and I in Spain. After nearly two weeks of job-less, home-less limbo enjoy the wonderful hospitality of our friends Kirsty and Juanmi in Vaciamadrid, we are about to move into a new flat and start new jobs.

We exchanged contracts on a lovely 2 bedroom apartment in Cuidad Lineal earlier this morning. Our new landlord and landlady are an elderly couple who live on the floor below, the flat used to be their son´s and their duaghter lives directly below us. Very much a family affair! It´s got everything we need, is reasonably close to the Metro and the surrounding area seems to be quite quiet while still hosting several lively looking bars and lots of amenities. Ironically enough it´s very close to the academy I was teaching at last term though, while I was very happy there, I´m glad we´ve moved.

The advantages of switching academies were immediately apparent when we recieved our timetables. Knocking off at 9pm rather than 10pm makes a huge difference and the kids classes last 50 minutes instead of 1 hour 20, which is going to be a hell of a lots more bearable. As the students will be drawn from the poshest barrio in town (Salamanca) they should also, theoretically, be better behaved than the monsters I was marshalling last term. In addition much of the lesson planning is done for us in advance; we just have to fine tune the plans provided to suit our own styles. However, the biggest benefit of our new posts is the 3 day weekends we get every other, we share two staurday classes with another teacher and never work fridays. We´re already thinking about some weekends away in Delilah...