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I studied in Madrid from 2009-2010 for my first year of undergrad. Going back to Spain for my Master's, I was hoping my new university would place me to work in a school in Madrid so that I could live there again. As it turns out, I was a placed in a school a bit far from Madrid.
CHINA
If anyone cares I'm going to be posting about China here: http://mollyronan.studentsgoneglobal.com/ I already posted my first post...23 days now until I leave!
So obviously I have not kept up with this blog...I now have a week left in Nashville. Do not loose hope though. I am going to try to blog on this new site. I think it might be a little more motivating since I know other people will be reading it. I'm also planning on making videos while I'm away. But you can go check it out here! http://mollyronan.studentsgoneglobal.com/
True Life: I don't know how to work/edit a blog that's not tumblr.
Sunday is diary day!
What a busy week it has been. I get the feeling that I'm going to be saying that an awful lot while I'm here in Vic. The amount of homework we are being set is big by Cardiff's standards, and HUGE by Caen standards. It's no wonder I found so much time to watch TV and go on day-trips while I was in France.
So, what have I been up to this week?
Saturday: I went to explore Vic market for the first time. Compared to Caen, I have to admit I'm a little bit disappointed. The fruit and veg doesn't look as fresh, and instead of having about fifty stalls to choose from, there are five. Also, compared to the supermarkets here, the prices are a lot more expensive. It was a nice morning, wandering around, and I did decide to buy some leeks, an onion and some garlic from the market. I met my tandem partner, Piti for the first time on Saturday afternoon. We had sent each other a few emails, and after a quick description of what we were going to be wearing by email, we met "under the bell tower, on the main square" I wasn't really sure what to expect from this, but it was just great. You can read more about how I feel about tandem partners here: http://heathersadler.tumblr.com/post/76714767821/tandem-partners After a lovely coffee and chat, we went our separate ways.
I decided to do my first big Carrefour shop, which was just great. I always feel a bit weird when I don't have a well stocked food cupboard, so it was good to be able to finally get stuff in. I left it so long since moving in, because I wanted to get settled first, knowing what was in the kitchen, how much space I had etc etc.
That afternoon I went to one of the local bars to watch the rugby. I can't say I really enjoyed the Scotland v England match - I think the less said about it, the better!
Sunday: Sadly, I don't have much to report about Sunday. I spent the entire day in the flat, in my room, doing homework. I'd let quite a bit build up, which is of course a very bad technique. I felt pretty rubbish, for most of the day. Since pretty much the beginning of November, I haven't had any homework to do, so I am definitely out of practice at the whole idea of sitting down and concentrating on it!
A few Skype calls in the evening soon sorted me out, and I was feeling much happier by the time I got to bed :)
Monday: There was quite a lot of stuff playing on my mind on Sunday evening, so getting to sleep was a bit interesting… Monday was therefore a pretty tired day! My lectures were all fine though - with the exception of being set a lot of homework (I can see a pattern forming here!). One of my friends, Hannah came around for a cup of tea in the afternoon (the perfect excuse to put off the homework 'til another day!) which was just great. As a bilingual person who doesn't speak Spanish it was really interesting to see how her experience in Vic is in some ways very similar, and in others completely different to the one I'm having. We've only known each other for two and a half weeks, but already we're planning on meeting up when we're both back in the UK for our final year of uni :D
In the evening, I was invited out to the cinema by my Mentor, Pol and some of his friends. I was quite scared about going: the film we were going to see was "el Lobo de Wall Street" - the Wolf of Wall Street, dubbed entirely into Spanish. Considering it took me until my final week in Caen before having the confidence to see a French-only film, I think I was being incredibly brave going to the cinema, during week three of Spanish life. In honesty, I didn't understand everything, and I will need to try and watch it again in English, but I was able to get a lot more of the film than I was expecting. Also, at 5.90€ for the ticket, including a massive box of pop-corn (i asked for "pequeño, I swear!) it's definitely not a wasted experience.
Tuesday: For this week, I had a complete morning free, so I got up-to-date with some of the homework I had been ignoring last night. I also went to the local supermarket to pick up some mince for a bolognese sauce. Having spent the previous semester in France with my pathetic excuse for a kitchen, I have really got out of practice with cooking. I'm "refinding" myself again, which is great! Wednesday: Was a crazy day. What is meant to be just one two hour lecture in the morning and then a completely free day actually turned into me teaching for three hours… read about it here! http://heathersadler.tumblr.com/post/76733855009/teaching I was exhausted by the time I finished! Thursday: I'm not sure I've ever been more grateful for having a morning off lectures! I definitely have a really cool timetable this semester :) It was pretty good just taking my time to do things, catch up with housework, homework and filing. I did a bit of shopping in Carrefour (somehow I forget something, every time I go in!) and was just able to relax a bit. I met another tandem partner, Carme in the afternoon, which was a good experience. Together, we were really working hard on my Spanish accent - trying to get me to sound more authentic. Apparently she knows Piti (from Saturday) so there is a chance that we could end up doing something with all three of us. That evening in the Spanish language class, we were learning about the Subjunctive. Our adorable Spanish teacher realises how difficult it is to learn, so brought in some motivational chocolate to help us through! All Spanish teachers take note: It's bribery but it works!!
Friday: straight after language class, Laura and I jumped on a train for an afternoon in Barcelona :) I still can't quite get over how good it is just to be able to pop there for an afternoon.
We saw the Sagrada Familia, and the Arc de Triomf, as well as having a nice meal out in an all-you-can-eat buffet bar. We might not be making THE BEST USE out of Barcelona ever - but when it's only an hour away on the train, you can't really blame us - we have the whole semester to spend time there!!
I survived my first week of lectures!
What an amazing week I have had! I am actually so impressed by everything I have done, experienced, seen, everyone I have met, and the things we have done together.
On Sunday last week, I moved into my new apartment. It was really nice of Fran, Jade and Stacey to let me stay in their spare room until my room here became available, but moving into my own space just felt amazing on Sunday evening. One interesting point though - everything shuts on Sundays. Now, this was the same in France, but of course we had the Caen Market, so I didn't really notice the fact that normal shops weren't open. You could still buy fresh fruit and veg, clothes, crêpes, water, cider… anything you wanted really. Vic has two markets… on Tuesday and Saturday. Guess who didn't have any food in the house. Yup! My entire food consumption on Sunday was half a tiny pack of left-over Pringles (the pack lunchbox sized ones), a Kit-Kat, and one packet of Belvita biscuits. To add to this excitement/misery, I had organised with Mum and Dad that they would send a box of things out to me via the shipping company Send My Bag. I thought this was going to be great, as I wouldn't have to take things like bedding, spare clothes, and extra toiletries with me. All very well, but the box didn't arrive on time- apparently the arrival times they quote for standard shipping are not guaranteed. Thanks to the lovely French strikes going on, my luggage did not arrive until Tuesday. So, my first two nights in Vic were spent under a scarf, in a big wooly jumper… at least we had the heating on :)
My first day of real lectures was on Monday… starting at 8:30. Considering that in Caen, I used to have to start teaching at 8, this shouldn't have been a problem, but after a nice two months of being 'on holiday' it was a little bit tricky! What made it even more rubbish was the fact that the lecturer was late. I guess that in Spain I shouldn't really have expected any less, but it was still a bit of a shock! Mañana, mañana… When she eventually arrived, the lecture was actually really quite interesting - the course is entitled: "The History of the World, after WWII" and in what was simply an introduction lecture we will be covering WWII, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Iraq/Iran and the conflicts out there, the Twin Towers, and apparently learning all about history up until 2012. Oh yeah, and this is all in Spanish - all coursework and exams will be in Spanish too! The next class was Translation which also sounds like it'll be pretty fun :) We'll be looking at advertising mostly, which is something that interests me a lot. My homework for after the weekend is to make a car advert that will work in Spain - it's not just the language which is different, but also the style of advertising and the images which are used. I also had an interview to try to sort out a teaching placement in a secondary school while I am here in Vic. (Good news so far, but I'll keep you posted when i learn more!) Monday afternoon and evening was spent trying to catch up on a few emails and talking to some friends via Skype. Showing them my room and giving them a tour of the house was pretty cool.
Tuesday: The Spanish language class is very intense, but I am really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into the challenge that it will present to me. The native speakers who are in the class with me are also finding it hard, so I'm quite glad at how (comparatively) well I was keeping up. I have got some books out of the library, and hopefully this afternoon I can get my head around some of the things we were studying. I got back from classes to find that my box had come!! I spent all of Tuesday afternoon and evening just unpacking things and finding homes for everything. As I had packed this box up back in December, it was like re-discovering everything again! It was an early night in bed for me, but not to sleep, as we had been set homework of a chapter of reading about the Second World War, for Wednesday's lecture.
Wednesday: I had to get up pretty early, as I had about half of the chapter still to read, but this was quite easy. At least I find the course interesting, even if it is very sad. The afternoon I spent organising my module choices with my Academic Coordinator, and enrolling in the language school. I skyped a friend back in Caen, which was great :) I love how easy it is to keep in touch with people these days! I felt a lot happier in the afternoon, knowing that my timetable was well under way to being completed. I spent some more time getting to know my own room - putting things away where they needed to be, and working out more practical ways of using the space available. In the evening my flatmate Martina and I watched the final episode of Sherlock. I can't believe how long it has taken me to catch up with the series, and I am so unbelievably impressed by how well the internet didn't spoil everything for us. Well done!
Thursday: was a great morning, then a pretty strange afternoon. I was really productive with homework and reading extra documents all morning - I went to the library, and found some very helpful books for the grammar course, did some reading, and generally felt amazing. I had a Skype call with my Grandparents to wish them luck for everything that is going on this week. Just after that, I Skyped another friend back in Cardiff, which was brief but nice. I then went out for coffee with one of my friends from Cardiff who is also studying here in Vic. It was really nice to see a friendly face, and to get to know her a bit better. One of the things I've learnt here, is that just because you study the same degree at the same uni as someone doesn't mean you'll necessarily know each other! We had a good chat. I then had to run home, to pick up some stuff for my only class on Thursday (life isn't bad when lectures don't start until 5pm!) I also signed my rental contract for the apartment on Thursday, which feels like a big step in the right direction for being settled here for life in Vic. In the evening, I went out to the Erasmus welcome dinner, which had been organised for us by the International Welcome team here at UVic. The introduction we have been given has been truly amazing. I feel very happy here.
Friday was another early start, as I had not quite finished my reading and homework for my one and only class - Spanish language. Getting up at 7am to read about genders in Spanish can only be dedication (or stupidity?). I managed to read my timetable incorrectly, and turned up over half an hour early for my lecture… thankfully I live close enough that I could pop to the library for another couple of books (weekend loan only) and then take them home, have a snack and then get back to uni still before the lecturer arrived (late lecturers seem to be a thing here!). Straight after the lecture, I had to run to the train station to catch a train to Barcelona! Yup.. I live close enough that it is worth going for just an afternoon :) It was really nice in the sunshine, walking through the Parque de la Ciutadella, and then stopping for a coca-cola on a terrace café. I think I'm pretty lucky to have all the benefits of living in a small place like Vic, whilst only being just over an hour away from such a huge and cultural city like Barcelona! Having friends there as well is just even better :)
Tuesday in Madrid
After a slowish start and a bit of debating, we decided to buy a 3 day metro pass. This gave us unlimited use of the metro, which meant we had no excuse NOT to do things. The idea of buying say ten tickets at a time works well, but not when you don’t know the city and only have a short amount of time in which to explore. By having the unlimited passes, if we wanted to take the metro just one stop down the line, we could.
We started off by going to the Puerta del Sol, then the Plaza Mayor, to find a tourist information office. We found loads of maps there, and a really helpful employee who annotated our map with all the main and best things to do. After collecting loads of leaflets we decided to get some churros y chocolate in one of the cafés on the main square. We had to pay a surcharge to be served on the terrace, but it was so nice being in the sunshine watching all the living statues and buskers that it was worth it. One of the characters there was a pot-bellied spiderman, who was doing a roaring trade from posing for photos with the tourists. It was so funny to listen to his patter. While we were eating, we looked at our new maps and tried to work out a basic plan of action.
We walked down to the Palacio Real, which was really pretty. We saw the cathedral as well, which was also good for a few photographs. Even though it hadn’t been too long, we then went to lunch, as we had seen a nice looking restaurant with a menu del día. We got a large starter, main, and then pudding as well, all for just 10€.
After having a look around the San Miguel Mercado and all the fresh produce (and buying some olives), we decided to head back to our apartment to try and find some online tickets for a flamenco show. Our helpful tourist office employee had told us that it was going to be cheaper for us to find the tickets than for us to book them with him directly. What we hadn’t really bargained for was that there was so much choice and so many different varieties of flamenco and ticket. We were also (optimistically) looking for tickets for “El Rey Léon” (the Lion King) musical, but sadly all the cheap seats had sold out.
We went out to the local Carrefour, and had a great time going up and down all the aisles. We were just looking for some salad pieces, but had a fun time walking around the whole shop. Although I have got perfectly used to French Carrefour supermarkets, I wasn’t really prepared for the difference to Spanish ones. Not only was everything in Spanish, but also the brands were different. There was a much greater range of ham and chorizo, and there were a lot more “UK” brands that I recognised. I wonder if this is because of the large number of Brits living in Spain.
We were still very full from our lunch, but eventually we shared a salad with fresh olives, jamón iberic and a bottle of Spanish cava.
To Madrid!!
Monday was a very very early morning - 5:45, my alarm went off. Considering that I had done my usual thing of not being able to sleep the night before a big journey, I was a bit tired. I had to take the TGV train back to Paris, and then an RER train across Paris to get to the airport. I wasn’t overly concerned about the journey - I know Paris fairly well, but there were a lot of things bothering me, particularly the idea that I was having to leave France and start “all over again” in Spain. It took me a while to calm myself down again, after I got through the security checks in the airport and realised that I wouldn’t be going back to France for at least a month or two. (My Spanish town is very near to the French border, so I’m bound to hop across every now and then!).
It took quite a bit of courage not to break down again while going onto the plane, (thankfully I timed my last waterworks well, in the ladies’ loos!) but somehow as soon as we took off, I realised that it WAS okay - France wasn’t going to disappear, just because I don’t live there any more.
Arriving in Madrid was fine - and my luggage arrived safely. It was lovely to see Holly again, waiting for me in the arrivals gate. We managed to navigate our way through the metro system to our new apartment (‘home’ for the next five nights) and spent ages just chatting. We put a Spanish news programme on, just to try and get used to the accents and this language, rather than French.
In the apartment there were lots of guidebooks and information about what to do, so we looked for restaurants for our first Spanish meal. After a while, we decided on what looked like a nice area, with plenty of choice, and that’s where we went.
My first meal in Spain was tapas (of course)! but as a set menu, with two hot tapas, two cold tapas and two croquettes each. I was able to try quails eggs (on top of one of my tapas) which were lovely.
We tried to get into the Spanish way of life, by not going out to dinner until about 10:30, but this means that late nights are in order. With no siesta in the middle of the day (didn’t even sleep on the plane, remarkably!) I was pretty tired when we finally got to bed, around 2am.
