viajar para aprender lenguas

it would be simply impossible for me to put into words of any language how incredible it has been to continuing practicing my linguistic skills over the past year. as we reach the end of my first year at sixth form, i'm no closer to knowing where i will end up later in life, but i hope it won't be dissimilar to the places i've had the privilege of visiting in the past few weeks. if i can be a culture vulture, camera in hand, in as many cities of the world as physically possible, i will be happy.

valencia, spain

living for a week with a spanish family who speak no english past 'hello' was unsurprisingly very difficult, but the people i met whilst there with my friends, and the memories i have will last me forever, not forgetting, of course, the rate at which my language skills improved whilst i was there.

puerto d'addaía, menorca

visiting my house in the mediterranean island of menorca during the easter months was a very interesting experience. take away the hustle and bustle of peak tourism periods, and the island almost felt like home again. despite getting painted crimson by the deceivingly hot midday sun, i had an incredible week of sampling the local alcohol and meeting spanish citizens whilst preparing for my exams. i can't wait to visit again in just under 2 months time with my friends.

arrivals hall in valencia, after losing our baggage

la primera cerveza de valencia (the first beer of valencia)

las fallas, which caused a fire in the town centre

the port of addaía

vista

the sun setting in fornells

Año Nuevo

new year, new beginnings. i bought a minolta weathermatic, and thanks to my good friend casey at boots, i've even managed to sort out developing. here's some from my first (of many) roll of film.

toby after our moped journey


benny beating me up with a joint of ham


ellen, izi, and the ring of fire




cigarette break during ring of fire


toby and izi


a sangria and spanish omelette evening

kingfisher caravan park

what a busy couple of months. since my last post i've started college, met some amazing people, taken some not enough photos, but now i'm back! and no plans to take another leave of absence again any time soon.

this weekend began on the last day of term 2011; we got the long train down to fareham to stay with our friend abby in her caravan while her house was renovated. as predicted, it was a crazy weekend, once which i'm glad i had my camera for.

between being kicked out of a cathedral, getting lost in portsmouth, walking 3 miles to and from the ferry, a tiny dispute with abby's mother, and the arrival of hannah, we mainly just chilled out, drank good wine (well, some of us), and celebrated a few weeks of freedom. don't get me wrong, the freedom at college is brilliant, but it was nice to not have to worry about early mornings.

living with my friends was far more fun than i imagined, and now that we've just booked our holiday to my parent's place in spain this summer, i can't wait to do it all over again.

abbie and emma on the train down

running wild in caravan park after scares of a cat fight

abby at her temporary place of residence

seagull siege

abbie and emma on the gosport ferry

abby on the ferry

emma in the sunset

and abby's mum's letter of disapproval.

reading festival

apologies for the delay of this post, i genuinely feel like i've been hungover for that long!!

i went to my first music festival in august. it was the single most incredible 5 days of my life. it would be impossible to rate who was the best act there, but i think that two door cinema club, foster the people, and the naked and famous were definitely up there. i didn't take my d40, and i certainly didn't take my d200 (declan) , and i'm very glad i didn't; these photos are a selection from a vast collection of photos from various disposable cameras. the weekend all just blurs into one, but a beautiful, tasty, and incredible blur; the kind that a f1.2 lens gives you, photographers will know what i mean.

i wish i could write more, but there are not even enough words in the english vocabulary to describe how incredible the experience was. i'm hoping to stay at 3 festivals next year, along with several holidays. now someone book me for photos!!

here they are, the blurred memories of reading festival 2011

here is abby in the sun light. it's been debated that she looks like kate moss - make of that what you will.

rory, myself, and iain, one evening before the silent disco.



beth and the mud

i don't know who any of these people are but i feel they nicely sum up the atmosphere.

img="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-glrgHIfpgHqejX8VvqTnrSdRb7xImC3thi8aCkqlENZhpR5b6rKTgsY9r9rSA8O4V3OEwE7AinAqK4OCFu52EmobkWgSsjoiGs0HuKlUh_9UtWy5t7VxaeQKeDAVkNHEjc9hyYlxCWMi/s1600/CNV00009.JPG" width="800">

img="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-glrgHIfpgHqejX8VvqTnrSdRb7xImC3thi8aCkqlENZhpR5b6rKTgsY9r9rSA8O4V3OEwE7AinAqK4OCFu52EmobkWgSsjoiGs0HuKlUh_9UtWy5t7VxaeQKeDAVkNHEjc9hyYlxCWMi/s1600/CNV00009.JPG" width="800">i will start shooting more again soon, i just began at college and it's so much work! thanks for reading, b x

back from holiday

so here i am, writing this, GLOWING brown from my gorgeous holiday with my gorgeous mate will. i've not really got much to say other than that it was the best two weeks of 2011, i learnt so much about myself, and i certainly will never forget trying to remember it. i didn't take very many photos during the day, and the camera was more of an aid to remember the night, but here are some photos from the holiday i'd like to share with you all.

i hope you're all having excellent summers and that you've managed to get away if you've wanted to!! -b x

will and the girls we met by the harbour late one evening

me, having pre-drinks and lucky strikes on the beach

a small selection of the people we met whilst out at night.

jack and fucking amazing t-shirt

will on one of the many alcohol-enthused 3km walks home at 3am.

re-kindling

it is the people around me i have to thank for rekindling my love of my camera. the way they are, act, and live; it would be just stupid not to take photos of them.

as we grow up quicker and quicker, i suddenly realised that before long, my life becomes entirely mine. i don't want to ever lose track of the person i am right now, and taking photos daily is a great way of documenting my teenage years (or at least i think so).

i leave you with some snapshots of some of my favourite people; i think it's fairly self-explanatory how amazing they are.

dealing freedom in small doses

having finished school, the month or so have been very free. i haven't taken many photos, which is surprising; perhaps if i'd taken less during the term time, i'd be taking more now and i'd be getting better results. we won't dwell on the r word.

i've been keeping a diary which maybe one day i will share, but i think that's really the reason i've been blogging far less. when my thoughts are all contained privately, there seems no real motivation to publish them!

here are a few snapshots from the last week or so, of friends living young and doing as we please. i keep waiting for the great feeling freedom brings me to run out, but it doesn't seem to.

hope you're all well.