Hettie Year Abroad

A picture a day keeps the questions at bay

[hettieyearabroad]

HOLIDAY TIME! Flew to Dominican Republic and was greeted at Punta Cana airport by a very jolly band. I was sat waiting there for my mum, wondering where on earth she was, when someone approached me asking my name. Turns out the airport had two terminals and I was in a different one to everyone else, so all the people in my shuttle had been waiting for me. Woops! It was great to see her after 4 months away though and we had a good catch up over dinner. Was thoroughly enjoying hotel food!

[hettieyearabroad]

Got sent these lovely photos of my brother’s very tame night out by Sabrina, so that made me chuckle. I was so so hungover today, which is unlike me so I dealt with it very badly. To make matters worse, Thomas got a recording of me shouting in my sleep! At least it was in English AND Spanish, so at least I am becoming bilingual. Finally made it out of bed in the evening to drag myself to crepes and waffles with Daniel. I couldn’t face the thought of a bar after, so we managed to find a cafe that was still open and did loose leaf earl grey tea, which was the actual dream.

[hettieyearabroad]

Late lunch with Juani and manicures - got a nice hot pink for my upcoming holiday! Randomly received the first photo from Mariana as we were getting ready, so thought I would reciprocate. Pre drinks at Saida’s, who got a new kitten today called Jazz. Now I don’t particularly like cats, but this one was so little and fluffy and cute! I brought Juani pisco from Peru, which we drunk, and then we had some aguardiente on the way to the club, so by the time we (Juani, Mariana, Cristina and I) arrived at Fabuloso, we were all pretty steaming (see bottom photo for reference). Great night - made friends as I always do!

[hettieyearabroad]

Had to return Alex’s backpack to him - I borrowed it 6 weeks ago for Peru - so I looked so weird walking to work with a large empty backpack. The residence had a rooftop 90s party. I had a pretty mediocre outfit compared to most people as I had to wear mine to work that day (minus the choker). The instruction for the above photo was “model pose”. I feel Audrey and I interpreted it more dramatically than Alex and Sammy!

[hettieyearabroad]

Flights to Medellín booked for the bank holiday! Also, currently reading Wuthering Heights and (spoiler alert) Catherine, the main character, has dies halfway through the book - now what?

[hettieyearabroad]

My housemate was put on a diet by her doctor today because she was TOO THIN. Very unimpressed. I went to Gringo Tuesdays to meet Rachel. Her dad is buds with my mum in England, so they set us up on a playdate. She is an English teacher, so had brought her class to Gringo Tuesdays to practise, so I met all of them too! Saw Creepy Cristian (the one Alex said I would never see again and then I did in the residencia) when I was in the queue, but luckily managed to avoid eye contact and scuttle inside. 

[hettieyearabroad]

Cristina (Mariana’s friend) and I have an agreement that I will check all her work in English and she checks my Spanish. Went out to lunch at a nice Peruvian restaurant because it was Adriana’s birthday (she is my boss). Ended up being in the gym for ages in the evening because the class just did not stop and I was too polite to leave.

[hettieyearabroad]

More fun and games on Sunday. The girls won volleyball, the boys jumped off the balcony. Santi and I smashed the grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Although we left at 6pm, we did not get back until 10pm as the traffic was so bad. Luckily, the girls were introducing me to their favourite Spanish tunes. Think the weekend got a bit much for some people though!!!

[hettieyearabroad]

Skipped lunch break at work so I could leave at 3pm for a late lunch with the Speyside crew. Alex’s birthday - I bought him a Nutella cupcake so that I could eat some of it. Pres at the residence and then we were meant to go to Baum (some edgy electronic club I would have hated) but it never happened. Also, I met 3 Colombians who had lived in Bournemouth for 9 months!

[hettieyearabroad]

Santi made me hot chocolate in the morning. I Skyped Bryony at lunch for nearly an hour. Zumba was busy and fun. Today was not a blog-worthy day.

[hettieyearabroad]

As I am leaving work an hour later, I arrived an hour later. When I got there, some of the ladies asked “Are you ok? We were getting worried!” Woops! Mariana and Alex finally got to meet (she has been convinced he isn’t real because he has cancelled on every previous event). We went for a coffee in Parque 93 and didn’t leave until 9pm! I forgot to take a photo, so asked them both to send me a selfie. These were the results. I have no explanation...

[hettieyearabroad]

Weather worse than usual today - the sky got so dark, it felt like the apocalypse (sorry about the rubbish picture). Also, got a reply about my proposal for my year abroad essay (which I sent a mere 4 months late), asking me to have written the plan for 10 days time. Ahh! 

[hettieyearabroad]

Climbing made me so sore that I could not go to the gym - sad times. NOT. Housemate hang. Santi made me supper and we watched the movie Chef. Thomas also enlightened me about how unfaithful all his Colombian friends are. So that was nice. 

[hettieyearabroad]

Fantastic breakfast at the hostel cafe to prepare us for rock climbing (which is what Suesca is famous for due to the massive rock face). I was a bit crap on my first attempt, although did get the hang of it more, despite using my knees a few times to hoist me up. Going to have some bruises tomorrow! Really enjoyed climbing though. Gave ourselves the nickname ‘Los Tres Monos’ because mono means monkey, but also blond (in Colombia) - punny!. Amazing salad and lemonade for lunch before afternoon bus back to Bogotá.

[hettieyearabroad]

Off to Suesca for the weekend. Cristabel had to get a later bus because she was out the night before so missed her alarm. Our hostel had the best café attached, so we had crepes and coffee while we waited. Just spent the day walking around the town (a lots of people staring at the three tall blondes) and the surrounding countryside. Cristabel teaching us lots of countryside Spanish words, such as ‘dairy’ and ‘to milk’. Tried the common Colombian combination of hot chocolate and cheese - surprisingly enjoyable. So cold in the evening, so our restaurant choice was dictated by the one that had the open fire. Alex beat me at Scrabble (but he did have better letters).

[hettieyearabroad]

All day my colleagues kept mishearing me and thinking I said rude things. In the evening, post-gym, we had housemate chill and chats.

[hettieyearabroad]

Went with a few colleagues to the bookshop at lunch. When I decided not the buy anything, the owner says to me “We have books in German too!” Hard life being ‘tall and blonde’ (in a Colombian’s mind). Juani and I went to a fancy pizza restaurant - the type with prosciutto and parmesan instead of ham and cheese - and the to the cinema to watch Batman vs Superman, equipped with the obligatory South American caramel popcorn. The film wasn’t mind-blowing, but I love a good superhero movie and the men were pretty easy on the old eyes...