Jorge Luis Borges was blind and old when he traveled to Egypt. He crouched down and ran his fingers through the African sand for a while, after which he remarked that, by doing that, he had altered the face of the desert. Poetic, hyperbolic and yet accurate. By the same token one could easily argue that he had also changed not only a part of the desert but also the universe… My mind wanders to that anecdote every time someone I know dies…

María is gone. She passed last week. I believe she was only 32 years old… and no matter how odd we may consider the statement. The universe is slightly different today. Our classes will certainly not be the same every Monday and Wednesday at 16:00.

Those of you who were in the classroom last Wednesday may remember how I mentioned that some Americans don’t seem to be aware of the word “chickpea”. Instead they use the rather contradictory term “garbanzo bean”. Likewise, I said, they wouldn’t probably know what to call a “bota de vino”. María objected that she had seen “botas de vino” in a U.S. store which were not labeled “wineskins” (the actual word in English) but “bota bags”. She then produced her cellphone and proceeded to show us a photo that proved her claim. I asked her to email me that picture so I could upload it here. Well, María did send me the photograph (which you can see below these lines). May she rest in peace.

Okay, what can I say? I’m busy. I know it may sound like a rather poor excuse but the truth is… researching all my jokes takes up most of my time I got. So, now you know my secret: I can't really improvise a joke. I use jokes I find on the internet and I rehearse them so I can slip them into my classes and pass them off as material of my own.

Ok.. seriously, I am busy. Honestly. The exams are round the corner and, as you probably know, it's my duty to take care of the technical side of things (checking computers, editing and burning CDs and DVDs and that kind of stuff). It's time-consuming and not as fun as teaching you guys but someone's gotta do it, right?

Anyhow, I decided you may get a kick out this on-line English test. Regardless of your EOI level it will certainly boost your self-esteem quite a bit. Trust me on this.

Of course I also have news. C1 students! Do not forget that being an EOI student this year does not automatically guarantee you will have a place in October (should you choose to come back). The official registration process should start sometime in July.

More stuff, for those of you intermediate students that didn't come to class the day we discussed the Scottish accent you may want to check out this classic (and hilarious) clip which comes to show how complicated pronunciation is even among native speakers!