Phew, what a week!

MALLORCA has been a’moving and a’shaking this week. What with the running, cycling, dancing, debating, drawing, singing and footballing (is that a word? Oh, anyway you get my drift). It’s been the Intercultural Week organised by Calvia council, plus we’ve had the Silhouette Marathon Girls pounding the streets of Palma, the Pickles ‘Not So Strictly’ finalists’ competition, and Ben Miles has been upping his training miles in preparation for his epic journey across Europe.

I’ve been very lucky to have been involved in quite a few of these events, and it’s left me with a strong feeling of pride of where I live, and the people who I know.

Kids and teachers from King Richard III, Bellver, Balearic International College, The Academy, Viva Schüle, Queens and Agora Schools, and the Pauline Quirke Academy shone in the various Intercultural events. (If you’re wondering why it’s only private schools that participated, well I asked that question too, and all of the public schools in Calvia were invited and none of them responded, which is a shame).

I saw real commitment from the young people who were in the schools’ debating competitions, and amazing improvements in their ability to deliver and express their thoughts under great pressure from their first round of debates to the final which was last Wednesday night.

The art of debating is very hard to judge, and the ‘esteemed judges’ (of which I was one of them, not sure about the ‘esteemed’ bit) had a tough task to make their final decisions about who won. It was a close battle between The Academy, Bellver International College, and Queens College for the top spot, but the all girl team from Queens won the motion. (I wouldn’t want to go up against them in an argument, that’s for sure!).

Then there was the concert on Saturday night at the Sala Palmanova (sponsored by Mood Beach Bar and Restaurant). What an amazing achievement: can you imagine the amount of organisation and patience it took from Dolina Reynolds at the Calvia Foreign Residents’ Department to co-ordinate six different singing groups and get them all to the joint rehearsals?

Not to mention the amazing dedication of the teachers from the various schools and groups, and Anita Baggaley and Conway Jones who masterminded the whole thing. My friend Mel and I were in charge of backstage crowd control, (it’s a bit like trying to herd cats). Next time we shall remember our megaphones: 100 children can make a heck of a lot of noise when they’re trying to be quiet. But the concert went off without any major hiccups, and all of the kids enjoyed themselves.

Add to that the art competition which many all of the schools participated in, and the football tournament (sponsored by RCD Mallorca), and you can see why it was a pretty full week! This was the third year we’d done this event, but we don’t know if it will ever happen again. It depends on the new council which will be elected in May, and it depends on the schools and groups as well. It’s entirely possible that they could do it without the support and encouragement of the council, I certainly hope they will; if only to recognise the massive contribution that Kate Mentink and the Foreign Resident’s Department have made to Mallorca over the past years.

There have even been not so secret rumours about several people I know booking flights to Madrid for next week to have tea with Prince Charles, I am honour bound not to reveal names. I guess my invite got lost in the post.  That’s okay I don’t even like cucumber sandwiches.

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