Helloooo world. Yes I have been a slight recluse recently, but luckily my sanity has decided to join me once more (better late than never).
This week has passed in a flurry of everyone being absolutely pooped. On Tuesday the teacher of our 9am was like 'it's only Tuesday. And we're all tired. What are we going to be like by Friday?' Sadly, she never found out, as I slept straight through my alarm and didn't make it to Friday's lecture, which I NEVER normally do. But here I have very little motivation to get up for lectures I don't enjoy and should never have had to take in the first place. But I did have a lovely phone call from the Superwoman of Lancaster, who is Olga, on Friday. I answered the phone with 'hola' and she replied with her wonderful 'hola hola'! When she'd told me who she was I was like 'ohhh hi!' and then I got 'hello hello!'. I've never been more grateful for a phone call!
Anyhow, we had a great chat, and it feels good to know that someone in the department still cares whether we're all alive or dead. I don't even say that in a melodramatic sense, because once the department are done with our year they'll need to go for a lie down in a darkened room with a couple of asprin. In fact, they should probably bulk-buy the stuff for our final year, because all the 333 courses (these are new courses they're trying to introduce that will be compulsory in our final year) are going to be met with a certain degree of confusion. Watch this space. It doesn't help that we're all pretty confused people to start with, and when something's never been done before there's no one to tell us we'll be ok!
Yesterday I went to San Sebastian, all aloney on my owney, which was a wee bit scary but ultimately very much worth it. It was a lovely day, although every time a Spanish person said anything to me I suddenly didn't understand. It was incredible. And it just proves that foreign languages are not supposed to be spoken on a Saturday. I took 176 pictures or something crazy - 165 of which have made it onto facebook. I've no clue where the missing 11 are, but seriously guys, if 165 aren't enough for you, you need help (or something to do). The annoying thing was that the bay faces the wrong way to see a decent sunset in San Seb... Ironically my father got better sunset pics over Clifton (that part of York with the highest crime rate - I found PROOF so now everyone can stop telling me it's lovely) than I did in San Seb. Still, I got lots of lovely pics nonetheless.
And tomorrow commences the healthy eating and manic exercise regime with Suzy. I've completely given up on eating proper food it seems, so tomorrow all shall change! We're also going to go for some nice power walks by the river and hopefully get them to coincide with the sunset, to spur us on! The one thing I can say about Bilbao, is it's gorgeous in the evening and night. It's quite nice in the day if you wander round with your eyes closed, or only look at the Guggenheim (that thing on most of my pics that looks like a Blue Peter ship).
So, hasta luego blogueros! Much love, and thank you for reading my bloggio - I do appreciate it :) xxxx
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
Today's a new day... and Erin's in town!
Hola blogueros.
So yesterday was a bad day. Crazy Grammar Woman (CGW) handed us our tests back, which about 6 of us had passed. Then she spent the rest of the lesson yelling at the ones of us that HAD passed, because we were apparently useless and we know nothing, and we never study. So she had a tizz-attack, which would normally have just been hilarious, but we weren't in the mood. Especially when she told Anila she'd throw chalk at her. (I'm sure I've already mentioned that the white board hasn't quite made it to Spain yet... technology eh!) Then she stood there and said 'so, you can have a test tomorrow. On everything'. So my resolution of not drinking coffee anymore due to lack of night-time sleeping managed to last less than 2 hours, due to severe stress levels. My dedication to that resolution was impressive.
But then things were ok, I went to Steph's lovely piso for tea and biccies, and the sunset was pretty gorgeous (see facebook for the pics). But. Still Lucy-Lou was not all that happy, therefore a late-night skype conversation happened (which is never a good idea - life always looks rubbish when it's dark outside), and my poor long-suffering father was faced with 'Dad I want to come hoooome!'
Still, having had said grammar test this morning (epic fail on every side. But somehow it doesn't feel like a fail when no one else has done well either!) and gone for a coffee with Fitzy (a lovely person I met at Church like the first week I was here), and Erin having arrived in Bilbao... this weekend is looking goooooood :) Now, time for a burger, a nap, teaching English, rubbish TV and happy times at Suzy's this evening with the lovely Erin who's come to make us all feel better! Toda la vida es sueño? No, but it never is. Here's the anthem of my life for the present time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8SPwT3nQZ8 - give it a watch if you get chance!
Catch you soon bloggy people who have nothing better to do than listen to me moan! (Just kidding, without you sad people there'd be no need for me to blog, haha)
So yesterday was a bad day. Crazy Grammar Woman (CGW) handed us our tests back, which about 6 of us had passed. Then she spent the rest of the lesson yelling at the ones of us that HAD passed, because we were apparently useless and we know nothing, and we never study. So she had a tizz-attack, which would normally have just been hilarious, but we weren't in the mood. Especially when she told Anila she'd throw chalk at her. (I'm sure I've already mentioned that the white board hasn't quite made it to Spain yet... technology eh!) Then she stood there and said 'so, you can have a test tomorrow. On everything'. So my resolution of not drinking coffee anymore due to lack of night-time sleeping managed to last less than 2 hours, due to severe stress levels. My dedication to that resolution was impressive.
But then things were ok, I went to Steph's lovely piso for tea and biccies, and the sunset was pretty gorgeous (see facebook for the pics). But. Still Lucy-Lou was not all that happy, therefore a late-night skype conversation happened (which is never a good idea - life always looks rubbish when it's dark outside), and my poor long-suffering father was faced with 'Dad I want to come hoooome!'
Still, having had said grammar test this morning (epic fail on every side. But somehow it doesn't feel like a fail when no one else has done well either!) and gone for a coffee with Fitzy (a lovely person I met at Church like the first week I was here), and Erin having arrived in Bilbao... this weekend is looking goooooood :) Now, time for a burger, a nap, teaching English, rubbish TV and happy times at Suzy's this evening with the lovely Erin who's come to make us all feel better! Toda la vida es sueño? No, but it never is. Here's the anthem of my life for the present time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8SPwT3nQZ8 - give it a watch if you get chance!
Catch you soon bloggy people who have nothing better to do than listen to me moan! (Just kidding, without you sad people there'd be no need for me to blog, haha)
Friday, 4 November 2011
How can I not look English?
Buenos días blogueros. How are we all? Well this week has been a week with two glorious days off (Monday and Tuesday) in which I slept and drank copious amounts of tea. Mum set me the challenge of using all 240 tea bags she brought with her before I leave (let's face it, not to do so would be a waste!) and I think this 4-day weekend may have made a slight dent in that number.
I have discovered that there is nothing quite like a Spanish supermarket. On the face of it, it looks like an English one, although it does tend to smell slightly more of fish and meat, due to the thousand dead carcasses they have at the back of the shop for adventurous people who don't want their chicken pre-packaged. It's when you get to the checkout that things get exciting. Who says the Spanish don't know how to queue? There is ALWAYS a queue. And none of the 'there are ten people waiting, maybe we should open another till'. Ho no. So you wait. And wait. And wait. You finally get your shopping on the belt, then you have to wait again because the person in front of you didn't realise they had to weigh and print off a label for their half a watermelon. Then the cashier has no sooner given them their change that they start scanning your stuff with a grumpy 'hola', which would be great if the person before you had packed their stuff into bags and gone, but this is an unknown concept in Spain. So you sort of have to shove them (or at the very least, their stuff) out off the way to get to your shopping, put it in a bag the British way, and if you're lucky you occasionally get the previous customer saying 'is that yours or mine?' And I think, well if you'd packed when you were supposed to, you'd know.
Anyhow. You get all your stuff in bags, you pay, you leave. And then you pop into another shop to have a nosey, some seemingly nice woman is there looking at the same thing as you and she says 'aren't these lovely' and you say 'indeed they are', which gives away the fact you're not Spanish. She says 'oh, you're Russian!' You reply 'oh no, I'm English'. Then she turns her nose up in the most literal manner known to man, and she says 'well your skin's the wrong colour to be English'.
The thing is, I would have found this quite funny if I still had a sense of humour and if she didn't mean it in a racist manner. Which she did (I guess you had to be there). It's something we've noticed up here... if you're anything other than 'Spanish-looking' some people give you the widest berth known to man. I say some because some people don't mind talking to us and love our hilarious approximation of a Spanish accent, but Suzy had to tell her life story to the woman in the post office before she'd give her her package, all because she's got an Egyptian last name on her passport. I've been into some shops, not said a word AT ALL, and the shop assistant has imediately not spoken in Spanish. Usually they go into English, but occasionally you get some random language because they assume you're from somewhere because of how you look. The only reason I mention it, is because I now appreciate just how well England has done by comparison. Of course there's still a long way to go, but actually, our little island has done a better job than Bilbao so far.
I'd not be as bothered if this hadn't followed a bit of a stressful week (hard to believe with two days off). We have another 5 page essay to hand in on Monday, but as the tutor doesn't set a specific day and just says 'you have 15 days' it gets awfully confusing. I mean, do bank holidays count? Do weekends? What if you don't have class on day 15?
Anyway, I will try to find something more fun to talk about next time. Has to be said, I'm a bit sick of being here now and am just at that stage where I can't even take the mickey out of my experiences because I don't find them funny anymore. The little things wear you down after a while. Still, normal Lucy-Cakes blogging should resume soon. I should certainly have had a cup of tea before writing this, it would have turned out differently! In the meantime, if you find my sense of humour, please send it back.
I have discovered that there is nothing quite like a Spanish supermarket. On the face of it, it looks like an English one, although it does tend to smell slightly more of fish and meat, due to the thousand dead carcasses they have at the back of the shop for adventurous people who don't want their chicken pre-packaged. It's when you get to the checkout that things get exciting. Who says the Spanish don't know how to queue? There is ALWAYS a queue. And none of the 'there are ten people waiting, maybe we should open another till'. Ho no. So you wait. And wait. And wait. You finally get your shopping on the belt, then you have to wait again because the person in front of you didn't realise they had to weigh and print off a label for their half a watermelon. Then the cashier has no sooner given them their change that they start scanning your stuff with a grumpy 'hola', which would be great if the person before you had packed their stuff into bags and gone, but this is an unknown concept in Spain. So you sort of have to shove them (or at the very least, their stuff) out off the way to get to your shopping, put it in a bag the British way, and if you're lucky you occasionally get the previous customer saying 'is that yours or mine?' And I think, well if you'd packed when you were supposed to, you'd know.
Anyhow. You get all your stuff in bags, you pay, you leave. And then you pop into another shop to have a nosey, some seemingly nice woman is there looking at the same thing as you and she says 'aren't these lovely' and you say 'indeed they are', which gives away the fact you're not Spanish. She says 'oh, you're Russian!' You reply 'oh no, I'm English'. Then she turns her nose up in the most literal manner known to man, and she says 'well your skin's the wrong colour to be English'.
The thing is, I would have found this quite funny if I still had a sense of humour and if she didn't mean it in a racist manner. Which she did (I guess you had to be there). It's something we've noticed up here... if you're anything other than 'Spanish-looking' some people give you the widest berth known to man. I say some because some people don't mind talking to us and love our hilarious approximation of a Spanish accent, but Suzy had to tell her life story to the woman in the post office before she'd give her her package, all because she's got an Egyptian last name on her passport. I've been into some shops, not said a word AT ALL, and the shop assistant has imediately not spoken in Spanish. Usually they go into English, but occasionally you get some random language because they assume you're from somewhere because of how you look. The only reason I mention it, is because I now appreciate just how well England has done by comparison. Of course there's still a long way to go, but actually, our little island has done a better job than Bilbao so far.
I'd not be as bothered if this hadn't followed a bit of a stressful week (hard to believe with two days off). We have another 5 page essay to hand in on Monday, but as the tutor doesn't set a specific day and just says 'you have 15 days' it gets awfully confusing. I mean, do bank holidays count? Do weekends? What if you don't have class on day 15?
Anyway, I will try to find something more fun to talk about next time. Has to be said, I'm a bit sick of being here now and am just at that stage where I can't even take the mickey out of my experiences because I don't find them funny anymore. The little things wear you down after a while. Still, normal Lucy-Cakes blogging should resume soon. I should certainly have had a cup of tea before writing this, it would have turned out differently! In the meantime, if you find my sense of humour, please send it back.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Post-script...
P.S. GRAVY!!! I'm disappointed to report that my gravy-making technique is sadly lacking after over two months of not having any Bisto. Well, I shall have to practise! Finally... I think tomorrow will be chips cheese and gravy day. I also think I should open a chippie over here, because the Spanish eat nothing of proper nutritional value (by which I mean, nothing that's deep fried in shedloads of oil).
P.P.S. Skyping Beth when she has no voice cheered me up (not because she has no voice... that would just be mean!), as did skyping Dad who's been holding the fort back in the Motherland. As did having half a conversation with Raph until he fell asleep.
P.P.P.S. Someone please send me some real milk. As a rule I've got nothing against UHT, but just occasionally I would like a glass of the real stuff. At the very least, you could all be putting the kettle on in anticipation for my return to the Motherland.
P.P.S. Skyping Beth when she has no voice cheered me up (not because she has no voice... that would just be mean!), as did skyping Dad who's been holding the fort back in the Motherland. As did having half a conversation with Raph until he fell asleep.
P.P.P.S. Someone please send me some real milk. As a rule I've got nothing against UHT, but just occasionally I would like a glass of the real stuff. At the very least, you could all be putting the kettle on in anticipation for my return to the Motherland.
The end of the tea famine.
Yes, I know it's been a while. As I mentioned last time, Mummy Fisher has been for a visit. It has to be said, Mummy Time was long over-due (even though I went much longer in Lancaster without Mummy Time... strange what moving countries does for you).
We had a lovely week, I have embraced my 4 blocks of cheddar on more than one occasion, and the tea famine has officially ended (Hurrah!). We went to Santander on Tuesday with some other Erasmus people, and we did have gorgeous weather and some stunning views. Mumsie (anyone else remember Crystal Maze when Richard O'Brien used to bounce into the Medieval Zone and say hello to his Mumsie? Well, you can blame Crystal Maze for my use of the word!) was very patient and we did a lot of sitting in parks while I wrote an essay, which I had intended to have finished before she got here, but then I was ill so everything got a little delayed.
So, if you want to see the holiday snaps you'll have to ask Mummy Fisher who is currently on her way back to the Motherland with my case (she left me her bigger one) and 18kg of stuff. If you want to see the snaps of an Erasmus student, they're on my Facebook.
I suppose life has to get to normal again now. Whatever that is. Is it possible to have a 'normal' life when you're Erasmus? It has to be said, I'm on the depressed side now Mumsie's gone home, even though it's only five weeks till my own trip to the Motherland. Five weeks seems like a very long time from where I'm sat though (which is on my uncomfy bed, quelle surprise). Bah. I demand that you all send me post to cheer me up, or at the very least, some kind of chart so I can cross the days off till I get out of this Spanish Stafford-equivalent (talk to my sister about that...) Yes it's pretty, yes it's 'an amazing experience that shapes who you are as a person'. It's also something that only gets to be amazing when you've finished it. While you're in it, it can seem far from it.
Rant over. Time to watch English TV and make a brew. Hasta luego blogueros.
We had a lovely week, I have embraced my 4 blocks of cheddar on more than one occasion, and the tea famine has officially ended (Hurrah!). We went to Santander on Tuesday with some other Erasmus people, and we did have gorgeous weather and some stunning views. Mumsie (anyone else remember Crystal Maze when Richard O'Brien used to bounce into the Medieval Zone and say hello to his Mumsie? Well, you can blame Crystal Maze for my use of the word!) was very patient and we did a lot of sitting in parks while I wrote an essay, which I had intended to have finished before she got here, but then I was ill so everything got a little delayed.
So, if you want to see the holiday snaps you'll have to ask Mummy Fisher who is currently on her way back to the Motherland with my case (she left me her bigger one) and 18kg of stuff. If you want to see the snaps of an Erasmus student, they're on my Facebook.
I suppose life has to get to normal again now. Whatever that is. Is it possible to have a 'normal' life when you're Erasmus? It has to be said, I'm on the depressed side now Mumsie's gone home, even though it's only five weeks till my own trip to the Motherland. Five weeks seems like a very long time from where I'm sat though (which is on my uncomfy bed, quelle surprise). Bah. I demand that you all send me post to cheer me up, or at the very least, some kind of chart so I can cross the days off till I get out of this Spanish Stafford-equivalent (talk to my sister about that...) Yes it's pretty, yes it's 'an amazing experience that shapes who you are as a person'. It's also something that only gets to be amazing when you've finished it. While you're in it, it can seem far from it.
Rant over. Time to watch English TV and make a brew. Hasta luego blogueros.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Estoy enferma (and no, that doesn't mean infirm... it means sick... you know who you are!)
Bah, humbug, grumble groan... I'm poorly :( I knew this being healthy malarkey was going too well, given my diet is abysmal, the weather horrifically changeable, and I've not slept much recently.
RE: diet. My diet is so appaling because I'm only eating the same few things, unless I eat in the cafeteria. I can hardly cook beef without gravy, and after the cafeteria served pig's head one day I'm a little suspicious of buying pork. Add to that the fact that all our pans are disgusting (and normally in the sink rather than ready to use) and the kitchen is a tip, that leaves me cooking using one frying pan at best. So it's usually some kind of chicken/tomato/rice/sweetcorn dish (sometimes having beef mince instead of chicken). Tuna is my new found friend - because it comes in Olive Oil it has a gorgeous vinegary flavour and it's just yum, so often I find myself recreating the feeding of the five-thousand (minus 4999 of the people).
RE: Changeable weather. It was 9 degrees the other day. Yesterday it was 37 again. I rest my case.
RE: Lack of sleep. As Lancaster people know, my sleeping is, in a word, erratic. Although I've not done too badly since the night I fell straight out of bed and onto the floor, during the past three nights sleep has not really happened. I went to the farmacia to see if they had some Kalms Sleep equivalent, and I got some crazy pills that have only served to make sure I only have a really light sleep instead of a deep one. Great. Cheers for that Spain! I have no doubt that this wouldn't be a problem if my bed wasn't so darn squeeky! Every time I move I wake myself up. So I have given up on said pills (that will teach me to try the herbal remedy rather than snatching the over-the-counter sleep inducers that they sell here. Why did I not go buy them, I hear you say. Because Farmacias here don't open Saturday afternoon or Sunday). In general, I blame my lack of sleep on the lack of a Learning Zone. Last year, when I used the LZ as my office, I slept much better. Now my room is my office and I can't shut off at night. Bah. Lancaster 1-0 Spain (sorry, I knicked this point system from Jack).
So I'm a little fed up, a little miserable, and waiting for fresher's flu to fall properly. Oh the joys. Also, little bit gutted to have now missed around 6 of Soulrigg's gigs (and let's face it, by the end of the year, it'll be a heck of a lot more). Beth and Emily had better be waving their pompoms double hard to make up for it.
However there is a light... MUMMY FISHER ARRIVES ON FRIDAYYYY!!! And with her she's bringing 240 tea bags (PG Tips), a tub of Bisto, 1.6kg cheddar, and my winter coat. Life gets better on Friday. Fact.
Hasta luego blogueros! x
RE: diet. My diet is so appaling because I'm only eating the same few things, unless I eat in the cafeteria. I can hardly cook beef without gravy, and after the cafeteria served pig's head one day I'm a little suspicious of buying pork. Add to that the fact that all our pans are disgusting (and normally in the sink rather than ready to use) and the kitchen is a tip, that leaves me cooking using one frying pan at best. So it's usually some kind of chicken/tomato/rice/sweetcorn dish (sometimes having beef mince instead of chicken). Tuna is my new found friend - because it comes in Olive Oil it has a gorgeous vinegary flavour and it's just yum, so often I find myself recreating the feeding of the five-thousand (minus 4999 of the people).
RE: Changeable weather. It was 9 degrees the other day. Yesterday it was 37 again. I rest my case.
RE: Lack of sleep. As Lancaster people know, my sleeping is, in a word, erratic. Although I've not done too badly since the night I fell straight out of bed and onto the floor, during the past three nights sleep has not really happened. I went to the farmacia to see if they had some Kalms Sleep equivalent, and I got some crazy pills that have only served to make sure I only have a really light sleep instead of a deep one. Great. Cheers for that Spain! I have no doubt that this wouldn't be a problem if my bed wasn't so darn squeeky! Every time I move I wake myself up. So I have given up on said pills (that will teach me to try the herbal remedy rather than snatching the over-the-counter sleep inducers that they sell here. Why did I not go buy them, I hear you say. Because Farmacias here don't open Saturday afternoon or Sunday). In general, I blame my lack of sleep on the lack of a Learning Zone. Last year, when I used the LZ as my office, I slept much better. Now my room is my office and I can't shut off at night. Bah. Lancaster 1-0 Spain (sorry, I knicked this point system from Jack).
So I'm a little fed up, a little miserable, and waiting for fresher's flu to fall properly. Oh the joys. Also, little bit gutted to have now missed around 6 of Soulrigg's gigs (and let's face it, by the end of the year, it'll be a heck of a lot more). Beth and Emily had better be waving their pompoms double hard to make up for it.
However there is a light... MUMMY FISHER ARRIVES ON FRIDAYYYY!!! And with her she's bringing 240 tea bags (PG Tips), a tub of Bisto, 1.6kg cheddar, and my winter coat. Life gets better on Friday. Fact.
Hasta luego blogueros! x
Monday, 10 October 2011
Bad weather bunting, lizards, and words begining with q/c.
It's finally reached a sensible temperature over here! Bring out the bunting! Little bit ironic, given my sunglasses broke last Wednesday. I literally relished this weekend - on Saturday I went out for a lovely walk by the river. Of course, I thought I'd be adventurous and turn right to walk away from the uni as I hadn't been that way before. Needless to say, I found the rough end of Bilbao and turned around and walked back pretty quickly! So I carried on, past the uni and on towards Casco Viejo. I took quite a few pictures, and I saw a little lizard which made my day for some reason. I suppose I just hadn't expected to see it. However, a camera with a more powerful zoom would have been better as it was quite small! I continued on, then took advantage of one of the many benches that are scatted over Bilbao and got all creative and did some writing (by the end of this year I'm going to have a lot of year abroad poetry written!). Then I walked back to the piso again on the other side of the river, feeling pretty content with life.
Saturday night we went for chocolate con churrios (which are just divine... really thick hot choc with bits of fried, sweetened batter to dip... NOM!) and we talked in Spanish all night. It was so fun, aside from the slightly scary waitress who actually turned out to be ok in the end. We even talked Spanish with Spanish people (shock, horror!) and they didn't run away. So they were brave. We caused hilarity on the metro home as we, still speaking in Spanish, declared that although we could discuss the EU in Spanish, we had no idea how to ask for a haircut. Furthermore, what is the Spanish word for a fringe? And what is the correct terminology for 'layers'? In the end, I decided I'd probably wait until England! But that evening, as we were talking, I finally had the 'ooo I'm glad I'm here' feeling. It didn't linger all that long, but I am making my peace with this place a bit.
Sunday I stayed in and did my work, which took all day for some reason, but there was a lot of it - including a presentation. I felt pretty under-prepared, but I did the presentation today and it wasn't so bad, I think Lancaster has prepared me well to fight the inherant instinct within us all that makes us want to throw up, pee, and run out of the room when we turn round and face the class and know that we're facing almost certain doom. I say almost certain, because it never happens, therefore it should really be 'uncertain' doom... but your emotions tell you it's certain doom whether the result is doom or not. Let's move on.
It's been a good day today, as I've managed to change my dissertation text to one that is actually pretty interesting - hurrah! And I was brave enough to charlar (chat) with the teacher for the literature module we're doing that's all about philosophy. It got a bit complicated because the verb 'creer' and the verb 'crear' are very similar, and both were in frequent use in that class! 'Es que quiere creer, o que creer es crear, o querer cree...' you get the idea. Complicado? Mucho!
All I have to do now is survive Historia de Espana tomorrow and Wednesday (which is more difficult than it sounds. Rarely have I been driven to such depths of despair in a class... and DELC people know that that is saying something!). Hasta luego blogueros xxx
Saturday night we went for chocolate con churrios (which are just divine... really thick hot choc with bits of fried, sweetened batter to dip... NOM!) and we talked in Spanish all night. It was so fun, aside from the slightly scary waitress who actually turned out to be ok in the end. We even talked Spanish with Spanish people (shock, horror!) and they didn't run away. So they were brave. We caused hilarity on the metro home as we, still speaking in Spanish, declared that although we could discuss the EU in Spanish, we had no idea how to ask for a haircut. Furthermore, what is the Spanish word for a fringe? And what is the correct terminology for 'layers'? In the end, I decided I'd probably wait until England! But that evening, as we were talking, I finally had the 'ooo I'm glad I'm here' feeling. It didn't linger all that long, but I am making my peace with this place a bit.
Sunday I stayed in and did my work, which took all day for some reason, but there was a lot of it - including a presentation. I felt pretty under-prepared, but I did the presentation today and it wasn't so bad, I think Lancaster has prepared me well to fight the inherant instinct within us all that makes us want to throw up, pee, and run out of the room when we turn round and face the class and know that we're facing almost certain doom. I say almost certain, because it never happens, therefore it should really be 'uncertain' doom... but your emotions tell you it's certain doom whether the result is doom or not. Let's move on.
It's been a good day today, as I've managed to change my dissertation text to one that is actually pretty interesting - hurrah! And I was brave enough to charlar (chat) with the teacher for the literature module we're doing that's all about philosophy. It got a bit complicated because the verb 'creer' and the verb 'crear' are very similar, and both were in frequent use in that class! 'Es que quiere creer, o que creer es crear, o querer cree...' you get the idea. Complicado? Mucho!
All I have to do now is survive Historia de Espana tomorrow and Wednesday (which is more difficult than it sounds. Rarely have I been driven to such depths of despair in a class... and DELC people know that that is saying something!). Hasta luego blogueros xxx
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