Wow what a week…. 40,000 words of translation in the last 9 days…. in all this heat – result? Podcast no. 8 is running a couple of days late, but stay (i)tuned, it’s coming soon!

Muy bien! itunes latest version, 4.9, now supports podcasting, and includes a directory full of exciting offerings. Download the new version now, and find the notes from Spain podcast in the Travel section. Maybe in 6 months time the world will finally know what a podcast is…

I’ve just been watching Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boreman’s ‘Long Way Round‘ in which they drive east from London to New York, and I’m wondering, how far is it around the coastal outline of the Iberian Peninsular? How long would it take? When I am getiing my BMW 650 GS???

Watch this space…

Well, it may be too hot too often here, but it could be worse. I could have spent 100 pounds on a brand new tent and who knows how much on a ticket for Glastonbury festival in South West England – and ended up under water. The world is going crazy. No flash floods here though. A pretty decent thunderstorm last night, and a load of rain, but nothing more than ’4 gotas’, four drops, as the locals say.

Meanwhile the papers say that Andalusia, Murcia and Valencia may turn into deserts in the new future if drastic action isn’t taken…. Could it happen? Parts of Valencia and Andalusia are unbelievably green – but then Almeria is already part desert, and large parts of Murcia look like the face of the moon… I blame the golf courses…

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Show notes:

• The Best of Spain
• The beaches…
• 1. Bolonia, Costa de la Luz – read about it here
• 2. Andrin Beach in Asturias – photos in this article
• 3. La Concha – San Sebastian – another article of mine here!
• The Fiestas…
• 1. The Feria de Malaga – the summer’s best fiesta
• 2. Semana Grande in San Sebastian
• 3. La Tomatina
• The competition – see comments link below
• My podcasting kit

I use an iRiver 799 to record, a great little thing, records straight into mp3 format, and you can fiddle around with mic levels etc.

Since podcast 12 I have been using this binaural stereo mic, the high sensitivity version – sound seeing tours are MUCH better in stereo (Before that I used a similar mono lapel mic.) You need an extra adaptor lead though as the jack is too fat to plug straight into this i-river – I believe they solved this with the iRiver 899 by putting the mic input on the side.

For a more ordinary looking mic, without the stealth of the lapel mic, this Sony is meant to be great – but not as good for picking up ambient sounds – more of an interview mic. If you don’t mind doing all your podcasting from home, a cheap headset that you can plug straight into your computer will record just fine.

For editing I use Adobe Audition, and all my podcasts are hosted for just 5 US dollars a month at Libsyn. For more information check out podcastalley, where you’ll find lots of information on podcasting equipment and software, and really useful user forums.

Give it a go!

Oh yes, not even July yet and the temperatures are rising nicely… a bit more global warming and this city will become uninhabitable.

Seven years a go I got on a train from Waterloo, London, to Paris. I was on my way to Madrid, to start a teacher training course – teaching, I thought, was the best way for me to earn money when I got to Spain. On the train out of Waterloo the woman sitting next to me noticed to teaching theory book on my lap and guessed what I wsa heading off to do. She had been teaching in Grenoble for years, and now occupied a fairly high position in a language school. “If you are just doing it for the money, if you don’t think it’s your true vocation, then whatever you do, get out of teaching after a year,” she told me, as we headed for the channel tunnel.

Those words have reverberated around inside my head ever since. “Get out after a year…” I never did, and although most of my work is now translation, I still ‘teach’ four mornings a week. Well, I sit in front of underpaid, exhausted media professionals who are all fed up with their jobs. And we chat, or do the occasional exercise. Still, I think the end of my teaching career is nigh. Perhaps another 6 months at most. I will miss going to the company in the mornings and chatting to the friendlier ones, I can’t ditch the teaching until something comes along to replace that aspect of ‘work’ – being a full time lonesome translator would be hell.

But the point was, to teach or not to teach. If you move to Spain you will invariable end up teaching if you can’t think of anything else you are qualified to do – and even then you will probably ebd up teaching for a while anyway. It’s a fine job, incredibly satisfying when you entertain, and maybe even educate, a big group for an hour. But if you’re not convinced, don’t worry, there are ways out. English teachers in Spain become IT professionals, tour guides, entrpreneurs, local newspaper editors, professional chefs, cameramen… translators… Once your Spanish is good enough, and if you’re determined enough, you can get almost the same job as any Spaniard.

Try the delicious home cooking at the Hostal Cantabrico:

“Every day we prepared a homemade menu, of traditional kitchen, to a very economic price, trying about not defrauding to Carolus our close doll that shows with pride the menu that our guests will taste soon…”

“The pig is toasted it, we stewed with vegetables and potatoes, fillets to the La Riojan so that our head does not get upset. The pork loin is good-good.”

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A sound seeing, podcasting, photo walking tour in Madrid… inspired by the book…

Show notes:

• Click here to get hold of the frequently mentioned book
• See all the photos here as a slideshow, or click on the titles below to see in order as you listen.
• The Plaza Mayor
• First flat
• Sevillanas busker
• Cervezeria San Miguel
• Hostal Pinariega
• The sandwich Mixto!
• Bulls on TV
• Taberna Albardero
• Nice leg of Ham
• Plaza Oriente
• The Grand Palace