Unexpected relief

In the bumbling way that I have with these things, I have just discovered that Monday and Tuesday of next week are days off.  I think at the back of my mind I realized that May Day was going to be a holiday but I don’t think I fully realized that there would be an extra day.  So, with the weekend this makes four clear days with no school.

I don’t know whether it is better to look forward to such a break or have it sneak up on one, but that is what has happened with the result that I am already beginning to resent the fact that I have to go into school tomorrow to do the day to get the “holiday” started!

I do have a vast amount of marking to cope with which may well have to be left to this holiday and then, almost as soon as we come back the next examination season starts with the consequent marking just before the next slew of meetings to talk about that marking.  All of this marking at least is leading towards the end of term.  We are going in the right direction!

There was little talk of the reduction in wages which speaks volumes for the attitude of colleagues in Spain at the moment.  I find it very depressing, but not really surprising.  The details are still shockingly unclear and there doesn’t seem to be the urgency to find out what exactly is going to happen!

I have started to read the little cache of books which I managed to acquire during our Sant Jordi celebrations from the bookseller.

The first volume that I read today was Kaimira: The Sky Village by Monk and Nigel Ashland.  This is a dystopian future in which there has been a disastrous war which has resulted in a constant battle between men, beasts and mecks (intelligent machines which had turned against their human masters) – so far so ordinary.  The USP of this book for teenagers is the construction of a Sky Village above China which comprises a collection of hot air balloons strung together linked by tightropes to form a moving living area.  The story is given a twist by some of the characters having biological and genetic alterations which give them a link with the beasts and machines.

The narrative is fast moving and uses the idea of science gone mad to inform some of the action.  It is basically an adventure story with augmented teenagers saving the day.  There is a forbidden interactive computer with a trapped evil spirit in the form of a computer which provides the link into the next volume in this series.  A good, but not great read.

David has also promised to loan me a book over the holidays.