Ah I'm tired. Yesterday got hideously hot again, 35 degrees, so I hid from the weather in my room. It was too hot to open the window. Now that's heat for you! Today it's rained, which was quite nice actually, makes me feel a bit more at home.
I went to uni a little more successfully this week at least, and timetable is sorted and the classes are ok, though there's going to be a heck of a lot of work going on (novel idea for a student). I also did some washing, which is always fun, as to get to the washing line I have to climb out of my window. Health and Safety hasn't reached Spain yet - evidently.
However, even the health and safety police can't save me from my own stupidity, and I fell down the stairs today. Clever me. I was on my way to a salsa class with the girls, and leaving my piso happened to be the most dangerous bit! On the up, nothing much hurt but my pride which is lucky really, given it's a marble floor!
Anyway, catch you later blogueros. I'm going to salsa to bed I think xx
Friday, 16 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Well at least I've managed to timetable a rant into my day...
Blimey O'Reilley's Trousers. I don't even know if I'm supposed to be stressed right now, I'm so confused I can't remember.
So the timetabling thing here is a sham. The technical way things are done here is that you search through the uni website and pick courses before you get here, write them on your learning agreement which is then approved by the international office, then you get here, go to your faculty, find out you're not in a very good faculty for what you want to do after all, read the timetables that are on the walls, and discover that 1) nothing interests you, 2) the ones that look passable have lecturers that mumble, or 3) that the times of class clash with everything else.
And woe betide anyone who wants to take something out of their own faculty.
So I wrote some classes on my learning agreement. I get here, can't find half of them on the wall, assume they've been pulled, pick others, try some out, etc etc. I find one that I really enjoy. Then I discover that I can't take some other modules that I'd picked because they're actually fourth year courses (and therefore very hard apparently), and so I need to find 7 credits from somewhere. Well guess what? EVERYTHING clashes with EVERYTHING. Oh, the other stupid thing here is that I'm trying to count ECTS credits, but Deusto have their own credit system which means they list everything as one credit higher than it is in ECTS. So, things that I thought were 6 credits are actually only 5. Which just meant I was even shorter than I thought (as, of course, no one pointed the credit system out to us... everything just says 'creditos' so I've no idea how we're supposed to know which kind of credits they put on the walls!). To add to the mix, because we were assigned the faculty of Modern Languages, lots of the courses are in English, or in Basque. Neither of which are much flipping good!
The solution to this great big mess? To just take free electives, which are aimed more towards Erasmus students. Literature, Galician, History... very general stuff, but which all fit into a timetable. So, I waved adiós to my favourite theology module (sob) and have just chosen free electives. But even within those, the most interesting ones clashed with my Spanish course, which I can't change. Flipping marvellous.
I went to see the academic coordinator (who practically knows me by name, I've been so much) and she said this was acceptable. But it only added up to 26.5 ECTS. Deusto insist on us registering for 30 ECTS (which is daft, as Lancaster are only going to take my best 22.5 ECTS anyway!) La solución, amigos, is to just write down any old course and to never go. That way, you're registered for 30 but you're doing less.
So, now I've explained the intricacies of the university system here, I bet you're all going to rush to book a year abroad, aren't you? Thought so. Well I now get to write down my courses five times (twice for the uni secretaty, 3 times for the international office - that should give you some clue as to the level of efficiency here). I think I shall take a siesta and hopefully wake up mañana, when of course everything will be just peachy in terms of a timetable. I've got so many pieces of paper scattered about my room that I could paper my wall with crossed-out timetables.
Time to take a chill pill. Hasta luego blogueros (and may I mention that actually speaking Spanish is pretty cool) xxx
So the timetabling thing here is a sham. The technical way things are done here is that you search through the uni website and pick courses before you get here, write them on your learning agreement which is then approved by the international office, then you get here, go to your faculty, find out you're not in a very good faculty for what you want to do after all, read the timetables that are on the walls, and discover that 1) nothing interests you, 2) the ones that look passable have lecturers that mumble, or 3) that the times of class clash with everything else.
And woe betide anyone who wants to take something out of their own faculty.
So I wrote some classes on my learning agreement. I get here, can't find half of them on the wall, assume they've been pulled, pick others, try some out, etc etc. I find one that I really enjoy. Then I discover that I can't take some other modules that I'd picked because they're actually fourth year courses (and therefore very hard apparently), and so I need to find 7 credits from somewhere. Well guess what? EVERYTHING clashes with EVERYTHING. Oh, the other stupid thing here is that I'm trying to count ECTS credits, but Deusto have their own credit system which means they list everything as one credit higher than it is in ECTS. So, things that I thought were 6 credits are actually only 5. Which just meant I was even shorter than I thought (as, of course, no one pointed the credit system out to us... everything just says 'creditos' so I've no idea how we're supposed to know which kind of credits they put on the walls!). To add to the mix, because we were assigned the faculty of Modern Languages, lots of the courses are in English, or in Basque. Neither of which are much flipping good!
The solution to this great big mess? To just take free electives, which are aimed more towards Erasmus students. Literature, Galician, History... very general stuff, but which all fit into a timetable. So, I waved adiós to my favourite theology module (sob) and have just chosen free electives. But even within those, the most interesting ones clashed with my Spanish course, which I can't change. Flipping marvellous.
I went to see the academic coordinator (who practically knows me by name, I've been so much) and she said this was acceptable. But it only added up to 26.5 ECTS. Deusto insist on us registering for 30 ECTS (which is daft, as Lancaster are only going to take my best 22.5 ECTS anyway!) La solución, amigos, is to just write down any old course and to never go. That way, you're registered for 30 but you're doing less.
So, now I've explained the intricacies of the university system here, I bet you're all going to rush to book a year abroad, aren't you? Thought so. Well I now get to write down my courses five times (twice for the uni secretaty, 3 times for the international office - that should give you some clue as to the level of efficiency here). I think I shall take a siesta and hopefully wake up mañana, when of course everything will be just peachy in terms of a timetable. I've got so many pieces of paper scattered about my room that I could paper my wall with crossed-out timetables.
Time to take a chill pill. Hasta luego blogueros (and may I mention that actually speaking Spanish is pretty cool) xxx
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Going to all the places you learn in GCSE classes
Apologies, blogueros, for the lack of blog over the past few days. The ridiculous weather is utterly exhausting (and ghhhhaaaaastly - just for Beth). On Friday it was 39 degrees and we had to go on the walking tour of Bilbao. Luckily, I had the forethought to bring a fan from Inglaterra, which makes me look half Spanish - everyone round here has one (which is pretty cool actually. Wonder if I can re-introduce it to England...) Anyway, Casco Viejo (the centre of Bilbao) is very pretty with tall buildings and quaint little streets, a bit like York but everything's taller and there are less tourists (wouldn't be hard).
Yesterday, fuimos a la playa! (We went to the beach, in good old GCSE fashion.) It wasn't very hot, luckily, as it was a heck of a walk from the metro to the actual beach. That is something I've noticed - the metro here gets you places, but not to where you actually WANT to be. Like, it dumps you in housing estates that are half-built, but it doesn't drop you at the beach, or at the university. It's always at least a 10min walk to anywhere sensible. Anyhow, when we got to the beach, it was very nice. Far too many naked bodies (people will do anything for an even tan round here...) but still, it was the beach. I had the distinction of being the whitest person on said beach and consequently getting the odd look. But I think that was just because the sun was bouncing off my white legs and blinding people. Ooops.
And today, fui a la iglesia (I went to Church). The service was 3 hours long. No joke. And this was in a Baptist church! That'll teach me to try and go to a protestant church in a Catholic country. Lucy Fisher, going against the flow since 1991... But Graham Kendrick's music has made it over here, as has Hillsong. It is a bit strange trying to sing a song you know in English, in Spanish, as some of the translations mean that I personally don't think the words fit.
Anyhow, long-term tea deprivation is setting in slightly. I know because I've had a headache today (thanks to the 3 hours of Spanish I listened to) but I made a pot of tea about an hour ago and instantly felt better. So I brewed up again, but the economic crisis (aka Year Abroad) means that I can only really have one tea bag a day (till Mumsie arrives). By the time the second brew was strong enough to drink it was practically cold, but having a microwave is a marvellous thing.
The other slight paso falso (faux pas) I made was when fui a la supermarcado (I went to the supermarket) yesterday. I got some milk that had a red top. But over here, the milk colours are backwards, so I'd picked up whole milk instead of fully skimmed (it's UHT so anything other than fully skimmed tastes a bit manky). I tell you, I can't wait for the shops to open again tomorrow so I can get some proper milk!
I'm going to attempt to go to uni tomorrow. Good grief. Better gurd my loins and all that. It's going to be stressful! Hasta luego, blogueros! x
Yesterday, fuimos a la playa! (We went to the beach, in good old GCSE fashion.) It wasn't very hot, luckily, as it was a heck of a walk from the metro to the actual beach. That is something I've noticed - the metro here gets you places, but not to where you actually WANT to be. Like, it dumps you in housing estates that are half-built, but it doesn't drop you at the beach, or at the university. It's always at least a 10min walk to anywhere sensible. Anyhow, when we got to the beach, it was very nice. Far too many naked bodies (people will do anything for an even tan round here...) but still, it was the beach. I had the distinction of being the whitest person on said beach and consequently getting the odd look. But I think that was just because the sun was bouncing off my white legs and blinding people. Ooops.
And today, fui a la iglesia (I went to Church). The service was 3 hours long. No joke. And this was in a Baptist church! That'll teach me to try and go to a protestant church in a Catholic country. Lucy Fisher, going against the flow since 1991... But Graham Kendrick's music has made it over here, as has Hillsong. It is a bit strange trying to sing a song you know in English, in Spanish, as some of the translations mean that I personally don't think the words fit.
Anyhow, long-term tea deprivation is setting in slightly. I know because I've had a headache today (thanks to the 3 hours of Spanish I listened to) but I made a pot of tea about an hour ago and instantly felt better. So I brewed up again, but the economic crisis (aka Year Abroad) means that I can only really have one tea bag a day (till Mumsie arrives). By the time the second brew was strong enough to drink it was practically cold, but having a microwave is a marvellous thing.
The other slight paso falso (faux pas) I made was when fui a la supermarcado (I went to the supermarket) yesterday. I got some milk that had a red top. But over here, the milk colours are backwards, so I'd picked up whole milk instead of fully skimmed (it's UHT so anything other than fully skimmed tastes a bit manky). I tell you, I can't wait for the shops to open again tomorrow so I can get some proper milk!
I'm going to attempt to go to uni tomorrow. Good grief. Better gurd my loins and all that. It's going to be stressful! Hasta luego, blogueros! x
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Was Annie Spanish?
If I hear/see the word 'mañana' once more I will flip out. We went to see which group we'd be in for the Spanish course today. When will they be up? Mañana. So we went to the Guggenheim instead, which is an art gallery full of modern art that looks like nothing. There was quite a moving room which had old TV sets and an old chair in front of each one, and each one had a video playing. They were all interviews with people from a village in the Middle East (can't remember exactly where) and they were going on about all the hardships they'd endured.
After that, I went to eat at the cafeteria again. You can get a 3-course meal for 6,50. I think I'll be a regular there as at least it means I eat properly once a day! Weird thing is, cooking is making me feel pretty homesick, but eating out isn't, so I think for now I'll be sticking to the cafeteria. But I will NOT be trying squid in ink, not for any money I won't! Luckily, there's always pizza available. I wonder what will be available mañana...
I went to Anila's piso too, and they were trying to sort out their internet (I'm so lucky to have it already in my flat!). Well, the long and short of that is that it won't be sorted out till mañana. Wonderful. I wonder whether Annie was Spanish. She's always banging on about tomorrow. I bet a Spanish version of Annie would go down a treat here - people would be singing 'mañana, mañana, te quiero, mañana, estas todavía un día aparté'... I should have translated Annie for my dissertation. Oh well. It's a thought if I ever feel the need to do a PhD.
After that, I went to eat at the cafeteria again. You can get a 3-course meal for 6,50. I think I'll be a regular there as at least it means I eat properly once a day! Weird thing is, cooking is making me feel pretty homesick, but eating out isn't, so I think for now I'll be sticking to the cafeteria. But I will NOT be trying squid in ink, not for any money I won't! Luckily, there's always pizza available. I wonder what will be available mañana...
I went to Anila's piso too, and they were trying to sort out their internet (I'm so lucky to have it already in my flat!). Well, the long and short of that is that it won't be sorted out till mañana. Wonderful. I wonder whether Annie was Spanish. She's always banging on about tomorrow. I bet a Spanish version of Annie would go down a treat here - people would be singing 'mañana, mañana, te quiero, mañana, estas todavía un día aparté'... I should have translated Annie for my dissertation. Oh well. It's a thought if I ever feel the need to do a PhD.
Monday, 5 September 2011
Hola España y gracias Emilia!
Sorry for the lack of blogging. You'd have thought I'd have been on here every night since I arrived but sadly I've been so tired it's just not happened!
Emily and I have spent a lovely few days exploring the area in the simplest way possible. Saturday we left the piso and turned left, Sunday we turned right instead! Methodical, eh? We came across a million parks (randomly in the middle of the avenida), more benches than I care to count, and many many closed shops. Everything here closes at midday on Saturday and all day Sunday, but in fairness things aren't all that cheap here, given it's practically one euro to the pound. It's almost depressing that you don't have to do mental conversions in your head.
Anyway, Emily, in her marvellous style, found me Ben and Jerrys. I've no idea how she did it. But she did. What would I have done without her this weekend??? It was sad saying bye to her and putting her in a taxi with 'pervy McJuan' (actually, when he turned up, he seemed quite nice!), and let's just say I was literally crippled with a bout of 'why the blooming heck did I choose this degree, I'm going to email Olga (Spanish teacher) and tell her I can't cope, am moving back to England pronto and changing my degree to something that probably won't get me a job'. But then I had to pull myself together to go and sign on at the uni, so that was the end of that really. For the first time since getting here, some plonker said 'ayyyy guapa!' at me (oi, fitty! is a rough translation). I'm not sure whether to be offended that it's taken three days, or disgusted that it's happened at all. Hmm. Answers at the end of this blog post please!
I met some English people today (yes I know, the Spanish speaking starts next week, give me a break!) and we had a good old British moan about how we were finding things. I had my first coffee of the semester (un cafe con leche) which tastes like English coffee. But as all of us import coffee, it's hardly surprising. And after that I felt much better. Onward-ho I suppose. I'm eating more than I have done recently. Stupid culture shock. Everything's just a little bit weird, and I've had a lot of trouble eating anything. Obviously I forced stuff down, knowing that this was exactly how I felt the first time I went to France and that I'd get over it eventually. Well it looks as if I am. I was contemplating buying Heinz baked beans (yes you can get them here) just to see if something familiar would go down better, but actually I got a pasta thing that has cheddar in. You can't get cheddar over here (or at least I haven't found it yet) and, as my dad would attest to, there is ALWAYS mature cheddar in our fridge at home. So this is a tricky situation, as you can imagine. But anyway, ate this pasta business and am about to go help myself to some Lays (the equvalent of Walker's crisps, but better). Tomorrow I may also make my way to Lidl, as the supermarket here is OK, just a bit on the expensive side for some things. Though chicken was cheap (and HUGE portions).
Tomorrow I get to go to an official welcome and a trip to the town hall (el ayuntamiento. I remember using that in my AS level role-play... strange what you remember!). So, hasta luego bloggeros (clearly the Spanish term for a blogger. Clearly.) xxxxx
Emily and I have spent a lovely few days exploring the area in the simplest way possible. Saturday we left the piso and turned left, Sunday we turned right instead! Methodical, eh? We came across a million parks (randomly in the middle of the avenida), more benches than I care to count, and many many closed shops. Everything here closes at midday on Saturday and all day Sunday, but in fairness things aren't all that cheap here, given it's practically one euro to the pound. It's almost depressing that you don't have to do mental conversions in your head.
Anyway, Emily, in her marvellous style, found me Ben and Jerrys. I've no idea how she did it. But she did. What would I have done without her this weekend??? It was sad saying bye to her and putting her in a taxi with 'pervy McJuan' (actually, when he turned up, he seemed quite nice!), and let's just say I was literally crippled with a bout of 'why the blooming heck did I choose this degree, I'm going to email Olga (Spanish teacher) and tell her I can't cope, am moving back to England pronto and changing my degree to something that probably won't get me a job'. But then I had to pull myself together to go and sign on at the uni, so that was the end of that really. For the first time since getting here, some plonker said 'ayyyy guapa!' at me (oi, fitty! is a rough translation). I'm not sure whether to be offended that it's taken three days, or disgusted that it's happened at all. Hmm. Answers at the end of this blog post please!
I met some English people today (yes I know, the Spanish speaking starts next week, give me a break!) and we had a good old British moan about how we were finding things. I had my first coffee of the semester (un cafe con leche) which tastes like English coffee. But as all of us import coffee, it's hardly surprising. And after that I felt much better. Onward-ho I suppose. I'm eating more than I have done recently. Stupid culture shock. Everything's just a little bit weird, and I've had a lot of trouble eating anything. Obviously I forced stuff down, knowing that this was exactly how I felt the first time I went to France and that I'd get over it eventually. Well it looks as if I am. I was contemplating buying Heinz baked beans (yes you can get them here) just to see if something familiar would go down better, but actually I got a pasta thing that has cheddar in. You can't get cheddar over here (or at least I haven't found it yet) and, as my dad would attest to, there is ALWAYS mature cheddar in our fridge at home. So this is a tricky situation, as you can imagine. But anyway, ate this pasta business and am about to go help myself to some Lays (the equvalent of Walker's crisps, but better). Tomorrow I may also make my way to Lidl, as the supermarket here is OK, just a bit on the expensive side for some things. Though chicken was cheap (and HUGE portions).
Tomorrow I get to go to an official welcome and a trip to the town hall (el ayuntamiento. I remember using that in my AS level role-play... strange what you remember!). So, hasta luego bloggeros (clearly the Spanish term for a blogger. Clearly.) xxxxx
Friday, 2 September 2011
Reasons to (temporarily) go off your year abroad
I kicked off the day by watching Jeremy Kyle, so I could get suitably annoyed with England and would then want to go to Spain! I was seriously considering just staying in my bed this morning and refusing to move, but then thought better of it.
The journey went far too smoothly, this much is certain! My first time on an aeroplane was fun fun fun, I even giggled at take off! We all got a taxi (which was easier said than done as the taxi driver didn't appear to speak Spanish or English or Basque, rather just made grunting noises) and got kicked out on Suzy's street (which is one street away from mine! WIN!)
So, I found my appartment with Emily and rang the buzzer. No answer. I call the landlord. He tells me he's at least an hour away from Bilbao. Blooming marvellous. So, we headed to the nearest cafe, had a sandwich which made my very delicate stomach literally turn over (and it was cheese and ham, not like it was squid or anything!). The lucky thing is that the cola here is actually coca-cola, the real mccoy!
The landlord called me to ask me where I was, and that he was coming (or something. His English is bad and my Spanish isn't great). So we went to stand outside the appartment again, rang the buzzer again, eventually we got let into the entrance. I met a lot of my neighbours, that's for sure! Everyone walked past us, sat on the steps, saying 'hola' and such like. One really nice lady even asked whether we had keys and who we were waiting for.
EVENTUALLY, after a thousand years (at least), the landlord shows up. "I hhhhhave a gran problem" he says in his best Spanglish. Ooooh great, think I. He'd lost his keys. So I went with him to one of the other appartments he owns, which had but one girl in (who was completely lovely), and we decided that me and Emily should stay the night there. So we go get Emily and my stuff, go to this appartment, skype the parents, settle down to watch something. And I get a phone call from the landlord, saying that the keys were in my appartment all along but the girl already in it was too scared to answer the door.
So. We go back to my appartment, meet Olga (who is lovely, from Maldova, and speaks literally no Spanish at ALL. Brave brave girl, no wonder she was scared to answer the door!) and settle down (again).
And now I'm pooped. I've lost an hour of my life coming over here! Hmph! Hope I get it back at the end. The other little connundrum is that the pillow on my bed is substantially longer than my pillowcase. Which begs the question, why aren't all pillows as wide as the bed? Makes sense!
Anyway, we're off to the supermarket tomorrow (so out comes the GCSE words. Anything but calemares! (squid to you or I!). What an exciting life we lead!
Buenas noches a todos! xxxxx
The journey went far too smoothly, this much is certain! My first time on an aeroplane was fun fun fun, I even giggled at take off! We all got a taxi (which was easier said than done as the taxi driver didn't appear to speak Spanish or English or Basque, rather just made grunting noises) and got kicked out on Suzy's street (which is one street away from mine! WIN!)
So, I found my appartment with Emily and rang the buzzer. No answer. I call the landlord. He tells me he's at least an hour away from Bilbao. Blooming marvellous. So, we headed to the nearest cafe, had a sandwich which made my very delicate stomach literally turn over (and it was cheese and ham, not like it was squid or anything!). The lucky thing is that the cola here is actually coca-cola, the real mccoy!
The landlord called me to ask me where I was, and that he was coming (or something. His English is bad and my Spanish isn't great). So we went to stand outside the appartment again, rang the buzzer again, eventually we got let into the entrance. I met a lot of my neighbours, that's for sure! Everyone walked past us, sat on the steps, saying 'hola' and such like. One really nice lady even asked whether we had keys and who we were waiting for.
EVENTUALLY, after a thousand years (at least), the landlord shows up. "I hhhhhave a gran problem" he says in his best Spanglish. Ooooh great, think I. He'd lost his keys. So I went with him to one of the other appartments he owns, which had but one girl in (who was completely lovely), and we decided that me and Emily should stay the night there. So we go get Emily and my stuff, go to this appartment, skype the parents, settle down to watch something. And I get a phone call from the landlord, saying that the keys were in my appartment all along but the girl already in it was too scared to answer the door.
So. We go back to my appartment, meet Olga (who is lovely, from Maldova, and speaks literally no Spanish at ALL. Brave brave girl, no wonder she was scared to answer the door!) and settle down (again).
And now I'm pooped. I've lost an hour of my life coming over here! Hmph! Hope I get it back at the end. The other little connundrum is that the pillow on my bed is substantially longer than my pillowcase. Which begs the question, why aren't all pillows as wide as the bed? Makes sense!
Anyway, we're off to the supermarket tomorrow (so out comes the GCSE words. Anything but calemares! (squid to you or I!). What an exciting life we lead!
Buenas noches a todos! xxxxx
Thursday, 1 September 2011
The last post from this side of the pond!
Well I've packed. Spiffing. And the case only weighs 17kg so win there!
It's all just a little wee bit too real now, but I have tea bags in my case so life will be fine (as soon as I've bought a mug to brew up in!) I even have an element for heating water so I don't have to faff about with pans of hot water (thank goodness for the days before health and safety! And my parent's hording!)
Just a short bloggio today, maybe more tomorrow if I can get the internet to work in the piso, or otherwise I'll be in touch in a few days! People with contract phones, don't text me till you've checked your terms and conditions, otherwise both you and I could be charged! If I text you I won't be offended if you don't reply, it's facebook and skype from here on in!
Lots of Lucy love! xxx
It's all just a little wee bit too real now, but I have tea bags in my case so life will be fine (as soon as I've bought a mug to brew up in!) I even have an element for heating water so I don't have to faff about with pans of hot water (thank goodness for the days before health and safety! And my parent's hording!)
Just a short bloggio today, maybe more tomorrow if I can get the internet to work in the piso, or otherwise I'll be in touch in a few days! People with contract phones, don't text me till you've checked your terms and conditions, otherwise both you and I could be charged! If I text you I won't be offended if you don't reply, it's facebook and skype from here on in!
Lots of Lucy love! xxx
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