mute.

It just seems that I can't get anything going here. It's one thing after another. After finally solving the problems with the furniture, the washer, the plumbing and finally (finally!) the phone and internet, one might think that things are looking up for me. Despite the fact that I have my schedule set with school and classes and am settling into my routine (which I so desperately needed) I am faced with a problem that I have never had to deal with before. I am mute. Laryngitis. Ok, well the illness I have dealt with before, and while it sucks, it is kind of fun during that period of "sexy voice" when you are initially losing your voice. At ACHS having laryngitis meant a day of not having to talk to the kids, or taking a day for lots of fun alone time. Now, seeing that my job is to talk, losing my voice means I can't work. Period. The bad news about that....if I don't work, I don't make any money. In the school I may have to make up the hours and my private classes are a complete wash. Que putada!!!! (I am not going to translate that for reasons you can assume.)

Conclusion: I do not like working for hourly wages.

On a lighter note, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of people in Spain that I encounter wearing clothing with English phrases. I'm not talking about "Levi's Brand Jeans" pasted across the chest of a t-shirt or anything like that, I am referring to the current trend of wearing tshirts with quirky phrases on them. The thing is, I don't see many in Spanish, but I always notice the English ones. (Perhaps a language bias, but I don't really think so. I even see English phrase clothing in Spanish stores, but not any Spanish phrase clothing.) You might think that, well these people must be English language nerds, similar to how Julie is a Spanish language dork, but for some reason you can just tell that the majority don't have a clue what is advertised on their chest. At least it makes me chuckle.

So, I have decided to keep track of some of my favorites-I wish I had thought of it earlier because I have seen some really good ones- and every now and again for your entertainment and reading pleasure post some of the better ones.

This week: Picture a scruffy, middle aged, (50+) man not exactly in his best shape walking toward you with a bright blue t-shirt that reads: Warning: Hot Zone. Hmmmm....I am not sure, does that mean I should walk the other way? What exactly is the message there? Or how about the otherwise normal looking middle aged woman in a white long sleeve t-shirt that has sexy bedazzled across her boobs. At least she has good self-esteem.

It makes me want to start selling cute t-shirts with things like "I am an @ss" or "Tell me how stupid I look" on them. I bet I could make a killing in the metro....hey, maybe that could make up for the money lost due to my laryngitis.