December Monthly Report

Sorry for the delay guys, but you all know that closing the financial year always takes time. :D

So December had some extra house Investment (hummm so going to Ikea with Sara had the same result... ahahah) and some visits of friends which we deeply apreciated. And also Sara's salary is only came on January.

Expenses - Budget 1600 Pounds - Reality - 2100 Pounds
Income - Budget 2200 Pounds - Reality 1700 Pounds
Result - Budget +600 Pounds - Reality -400 Pounds

Status = -2350 Pounds

January is as today positive. Let's see how it ends.

Meeting traveling enthusiasts!!!!

Yesterday we went for a drink and a jam session with a British couple (he is half new zelander) which I met on another event. They are very nice and very exciting about traveling. It is not difficult to understand, they are about our age and they had already traveled for 4 years, in Asia, Africa and South America.
They have exactly the same approach that we want to have, to travel light with no strict plans and to stay in places as long as you want. This means that despite traveling for so long they don't know so many countries. They spent 4 months in Tokyo, 2 in Mocambique, several in some parts of Asia like India, almost a year in Australia so it is a even more layed back approach.
It was a great evening and we will learn a lot with them!!!
The thing is, they traveled for 4 years... and are still so eager to continue.... imagine that!!!!!

Finally some English Football!!!

Desperate to play some football last week I found that in our Clapham Common Park 200 mts from our house has not one... not two... but 12 football fields (11 a side) in the South part which we did not see before. (and also 10 tennis courts) So I asked around and there are two ways of playing.
One is creating a team and join the Amateur London League http://www.londonfootball.co.uk/ which is an amazing organization with professional referees, mid week matches and even a cup draw. For me this was difficult because I don't know enough people to assemble a team so the second option was perfect for me, it's called Flexifootball http://www.flexifootball.com/index.html . In this case we just login pay 7 pounds and we are included in a 11aside match every weekend. We can even play Saturday and Sunday matches.
So this weekend I played in a full English team (I was the foreign very expensive acquisition) against a team of Ecuadorian guys. It was a typical match between anglosaxonic and latin football. A very tight 4-4-2 tactic for us, and a loose 3-5-1 tactic where most of them were lost in a tactical perspective. 1-1 at half time but we won at the end 4-1 thanks to very good counter attacks.

I played left midfield which is a new position for me, and I definitely have to buy some leg pads because I was kicked several times. Like typical south Americans they have a very bad loosing attitude...

The Italian job

Well, for those who didn't know, I have an Italian Job... No, I,m not playing the Godfather... :) Since December that I'm working in an Italian restaurant in Clapham. My team mates are all men so I fell like a princess: they carry for me the heavier stuff, they let me go home earlier, take me to the bus stop... Well, all the privileges a girl wishes!

The Italian restaurant is a cozy place where you can eat pasta till you can't! I work there as a Barrista, meaning I am at the counter, preparing the drinks and supporting the waiters at the tables. Because we don't have a washing machine I was converted into one. In some nights, I believe I have washed over 100 glasses (and broke a few in the operation...).

Here are some photos of the restaurant, where you can also see our dear friends Goncalo and Teresa (commonly known as "Gonzolinos") that came to visit us before Xmas. Goncalo loved the cocktail I prepared :) Hope to see you soon!

Visits from Portugal...

In December , we had the visit of our dearest friends Marisa and Linda to our new "life address". Although the time was scarce, it was enough to ear news from Portugal and to give them a warm hugh. We hope to see them again, next time for a longer time.

We are receiving lots of request from our friends and family to visit us. Lucky us!... January will be fulfilled with Portuguese visits!

So good... I want mooore!!!!

Football rules anyone???

Today finally I got my football debut. I managed to play with some guys from Hospital who play 3 in 3 weeks (better than nothing) and we went on a 7 a side match. I was really excited because is one of the things I miss most from my older life in Portugal. It was a good match, the played well even though being English, but the rules were just amazing for grown ups. First the goals were 1 meter high, second there were no lines, just walls which means that the game never stopped, no corners no throw ins, just rebounds like in ice hockey, and third nobody (neither defenders or attackers) could go inside the goalkeeper area. I was shocked!!!!
Every time I entered in the goalkeeper area it was a fault. For god sake!!!!!!!

Next after the match we had another typical English behavior. Instead of going to eat a great beef in a restaurant because we were supposed starving, we went for some paints to the pub. So the energy drink was substituted by a nice paint of Carlsberg chatting all around football. Ohh this lads from London !!!

Happy New Year Folks

I had to run from my Pub to Sara's, but I made it 8 minutes before 12!!! But I made it and so for some minutes she stopped working for the moment. Happy New Year !!!