One of the Loudest Nights Ever

And no it was not fireworks. Spring has not yet sprung in Valencia, unless you consider Valencia as the new Green Coast thanks to all the rain and the blossoms being out on all the trees more than usual. But what spring usually means in Valencia is sunny weather, gradually rising temperatures and most of all pavement cafes for the ealry morning, mid morning and mid afternoon coffees. Usually everyone looks for the shady cafes under trees, in the shadow of buildings etc... This year inside is the new black as the outside seats are generally wet and cool.

So what happened last night I hear you ask? A thunderstorm, and a big one at that, accompanied by pebble sized hailstones. I have not been out yet but wouldn't be surprised to see damaged cars today as well as plastic garden furniture and the like. And it is also loud even now at 9 in the morning as I am given the smell of England, our gardener is going round the garden cutting wet grass with the loudest lawnmower in the world.

Image taken from the blog here which has some beautiful photos

Latest Cameroon News

For a few years now I have been working with a charity to help bring some parts of the modern World into Cameroon, more specifically the Malima School Project in Northern Cameroon.

Tomorrow is a big day in the project. Thanks to a friend who is a lecturer at the Esic University here in Valencia, we have a presentation of the project for the staff and students and they have adopted out charity to try out their marketing and promotion methods. As the University is a business school we think that their input will be more than useful so that we can take the project forward with confidence over the next few years.

Big thanks to Jose Luis for arranging the talk and hopefully my Spanish will be on its best behaviour to do the simultaneous translation needed.

Quiet Week To Come

Not much going on this week so I won't be too busy to answer questions. Easter week starts this week and all the kids are off school from Wednesday onwards for a week and a half. Hopefully I will get some time to spend with the little ones and Maria while they are off.

First Video Carcast - Mortgage Availability in Spain

Bit of a different blog entry today. I thought I would do a carcast video about mortgages in Spain. If you are going to be buying houses for sale in Spain then you need to have some finance in place usually. If you choose a property from the CAM they are financing between 80-100% of the cost on discounted properties so they could be for you. Have a look at the video and comment. Then check out the website at Valencia Property to look through some properties.

The Tax Office

Hacienda has promised to return people's taxes for 2008 before the end of July in 85% of cases, if you are due a tax return. As they usually keep it in their clammy hands until the 31st of December the last possible day for repayment without paying interest payments on it, this is good news for everyone who benefits. The idea of the government is to help out with the "Crisis".

Good news or just a publicity stunt?