On Monday I had my whole erasmus crap and timetable validated so 6 weeks later, I am officially here! I met Sarah on campus and we went for a burger for lunch. There's this one place on campus that does the most beautiful burgers and they only cost €1.65 and I've probably had ten since we started uni. On the receipt they write your name (like Starbucks) and the lady now recognises me and tries to remember my name. This week I was 'Marina', not too bad. I only had Spanish to English translation 3-5 and that class is always great because no matter how much of the Spanish I don't understand, I can't cock up the English because I'm never going to turn something in that doesn't work (she says).
On Tuesday I started at 9am with my erasmus Spanish language course and I like that class because everyone is friendly and erasmus and in the same boat. It's the closest to my classes at UEA as well because pretty much all we do is grammar. You don't realise how much you miss learning grammar until they make you apply it. Then I had Spanish Rules and Uses (aka the death class) with Torrie and Sarah. Thank God my chicas are in that class or I might have given up and gone home by now. Then I had a gap until my English-Spanish Translation lecture, otherwise known as the most pointless class. However I missed it last week and didn't sign the register the week before so I thought I'd better go before they kick me out. That register asks for your passport number! It's so weird. Anyway once I signed the register I decided to leave since the woman hadn't spoken for twenty minutes and we weren't doing anything. Spain is weird.
On Wednesday my class started at 8am which is the worst ever but I'm slowly getting used to it. It's Literature and Cinema in English Speaking Countries, which is taught in English, which helps my brain a lot. We were discussing 'Strangers on a Train' and its film adaptation, both of which I didn't really like but whatever. For that class we have to write an essay and I've dibsed(?) 'Much Ado About Nothing' (the text and the Branagh adaptation) and I'm so happy I don't have to do one of the other dodgy films like Birth of a Nation. I finished at 9:30 and decided to skip my 2pm class because I'm a total reb. I was at home by half past ten and I just sat and did nothing and it was great. I watched L'Auberge Espagnole and had a wonderful time. Francesca went to do food shopping in the afternoon but since looking at my bank balance, which has greatly depleted thanks to my many visits to skyscanner, I decided not to go so I wouldn't spend any money. But then I was left alone in the house and bored so I decided to go for a 'lang waak' (try to decipher the Geordie) along the beach and then around the port. I was gone for about an hour and didn't take money or headphones or anything, just me and my own company, and it was fab. Look at my pretty photos.
Such a pro photographer aren't I? I don't even know if the Spanish on that snapchat is right but I don't care I wanted to be jammy and annoy people at home with the view. The fifth photo is the bridge that looks like a waterslide that I've been meaning to get a photo of for so long. The last one is the sky looking beaut just before sunset, it's so pretty.
Also on Wednesday I discovered this gem of a photo from last year's t-shirt party LCR/Cameron's 21st of Beth, Chelsea and I and I miss my pals but it's okay because I'll see them in January. Bluddy losers, not doing a languages degree. Look how cute we are though.
Today (I'm writing this on Thursday) we had the day off uni because it is the national day of Valencia or something like that. Cheers, Valencia. I had a nice relaxed morning of working and tidying my room and stuff and then Francesca's dad arrived for the weekend. We were going to go out for dinner but Francesca has class at 8am tomorrow so we decided to go out for lunch (except that is dinner in my head) with Francesca's friend's parents at a little restaurant down our street. I wish I'd taken photos, we had so much food. I always expect lunchtime meals to be something small so I thought we'd have a sandwich or something but it's the total opposite here in España. There was toasted bread with either tomao or ali-oli so obviously I covered mine in ali-oli, olives and stuff (which I didn't have), this smoked tuna thing served on a slice of tomato which is probably the first time I've eaten raw tomato in 15 years, cheese and potato stuffed peppers (which were amaaaazing, could have just eaten them), this fish that wasn't salmon but was named salmon-something served with loads and loads of garlic, prawn/shrimpy type deal things which I didn't eat because naaaah, and those were just the starters! Then we had gazpacho which I thought was just cold soup but this stuff was brown and had fish and pasta in and was actually really nice. By this point I was full and the paella hadn't even been served! We got paella senyoret which had prawns and squid (I think) and mussel things (which I avoided) and maybe some meat but I couldn't identify it. Anyway, it was really nice! Then we had a little selection of puddings and I nearly died. The conversation was what I've coined Spanitalian - it was so odd, when there was Italian being spoken I could understand what was going on. Maybe Francesca is teaching me while I sleep or something. We were in the restaurant for maybe 3 and a half hours? Definitely not a lunchtime I was expecting but thoroughly enjoyed just the same!
I'm now just chilling at home, very excited knowing this time tomorrow (maybe even by the time this is published) I'll be back at home with my family in the north (of England) having just eaten the best chinese food ever ready to watch mindless English TV hopefully with Christmas adverts and then to sleep in my big lovely comfy double bed with 478949 pillows and blankets and my duvet. I get to have Wetherspoons breakfast and then see my beautiful babies and then my other beautiful babies when I go see the One Direction movie. THEN SUNDAY I GET A ROAST DINNER. I can't even explain. It's not that I can't have gravy here because I bought bisto granules but it's not the same. It's not that they don't sell vegetables here but it's so much effort to find them and prepare and cook them and I'm always knackered. I just want someone to do it for me and now someone will. AND THERE WILL BE YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS. I'm going to request good apple sauce and maybe stuffing balls too. Push the boat out and that.
I can't cope with the excitement, so until next time.
Hasta luego.
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