Well, lots of stuff has been happening lately. I am back in the cafe drinking more chocolate and getting up the energy to write more. Last night we went out for tapas but it wasn't tapas it was only a bar..:( but it was still fun. They played Bon Jovi's Livin on a Prayer and everyone knew all the words no matter what their native language was, it was interesting to listen to the singing!!
I have enrolled at uni, and, hence the title of this post, I have had to climb mountains and defeat Jedi Knights in the process. Does anyone else remember that cartoon from the beginning of first year? Anyway, it's over now and I have a user name and email and everything, only I don't know them off by heart yet and I don't need them for anything except free wireless at uni (!!!) Yay... SO I am taking a couple of history courses and perhaps a literature course too, I have enrolled in more because I have to be full-time but I'm not gonna go to classes or anything as it's too hard. One of the courses that i would take if I could is Greco-Roman mythology, I went to one lecture and it looked really interesting but the ORI (Int. office) runs a spanish course at the same time.
I also joined the local video store, it was free (they just wanted to see my passport) and it costs maybe 1 or 2 euro to rent a film. Sex and the City in spanish, anyone? Haha...
I am completely exhausted right now because today I have been trying to get internet at my flat. I felt like such an idiot because all I wanted to do was pay for the installation (as we don't have a modem/router/whatever atm) and I ended up having to ask one of the girls who works in the ORI to come to the store and help me because we weren't getting anywhere. They wanted me to give my credit card number over the phone or something and I wasn't prepared to do that, so they told me to go to a bank and get a sort of mini credit card which I couldn't because at that point I wasn't enrolled, and it takes AGES to get ANYTHING done here because people TALK so much and waste so much TIME and ARRRGGHH! The lady in the ORI insisted on explaining to me how to access my webmail at this uni when I already know how to and there were four people waiting behind me. It's insane!
Ok, rant over. I have bought a jacket and bag and some tops and stuff and am feeling very spanish. I thought about trying to get a haircut too but I checked the prices in a shop window and realised that I don't actually know any of the vocab. I could just point to something and see what happens I suppose but I'm not sure I want to do that :P. Dictionary time!
Tomorrow there are no lectures as it's St Thomas Aquinas day or something, but for some reason the shops are open. And next weekend Amanda and I are planning on going to Cordoba for a couple of nights, mostly because it's not in the guide book and is therefore bound to be an interesting time. We'll see! With a student card there's a 50% discount on regional buses...yay...
Hasta luego :)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Smoke and Mirrors (and Chocolate)
I am finally using a legit net connection! It is in a cafe which sells chocolatey stuff, and has free wireless. So I can finally upload photos! Wahoo! They're on facebook, although if you don't have facebook you can still see the album at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98602&l=c8d5c&id=585155585 . Anyway...
I have met up with the other two students from canterbury, Amanda and Feli. Feli is from Germany but has residency in NZ and is on exchange to Spain. They will flat together, but until Amanda moves in on thursday she is staying with me. My french flatmate is in france for the next week so it's working out quite nicely.
About internet, here it is expensive and slow. About $100 a month for 1GB - 1GB!! I might have to resort to using cafes like this one, although as they don't open til 10:30am (pretty much nothing does) co-ordinating times might be an issue. The uni wireless is free once I'm enrolled too, so we'll see.
I have bought a cellphone. It cost 29 euro and it costs 15c to text, 5c/min to call other phones on the same network, and 37c/min (or somethinglike that) to call nationally, so it'll do.
Um, what else? Everyone smokes here, I detest it but there's not much I can do about it. We went out to a bar with some greek students last night, it was fun and we're going to go to a tapas bar sometime this week, but my hair stinks now. Of smoke. Meh!!!
I went clothes shopping yesterday, it's so cheap!!! And I have also found a place that sells fresh fruit and veges!! A half-dozen mandarins cost me 30c. Excellent!
Overall it's great. Uni starts tomorrow so I'll have to update this again soon. I'm gonna give myself a couple of weeks to settle in and then devote my weekends to travelling, I hope. Depending on money. Anyway! My battery's running low and the power points here don't work (which is not really that surprising) so I'd better go. Let me know how NZ's going occasionally!
Adios :D
I have met up with the other two students from canterbury, Amanda and Feli. Feli is from Germany but has residency in NZ and is on exchange to Spain. They will flat together, but until Amanda moves in on thursday she is staying with me. My french flatmate is in france for the next week so it's working out quite nicely.
About internet, here it is expensive and slow. About $100 a month for 1GB - 1GB!! I might have to resort to using cafes like this one, although as they don't open til 10:30am (pretty much nothing does) co-ordinating times might be an issue. The uni wireless is free once I'm enrolled too, so we'll see.
I have bought a cellphone. It cost 29 euro and it costs 15c to text, 5c/min to call other phones on the same network, and 37c/min (or somethinglike that) to call nationally, so it'll do.
Um, what else? Everyone smokes here, I detest it but there's not much I can do about it. We went out to a bar with some greek students last night, it was fun and we're going to go to a tapas bar sometime this week, but my hair stinks now. Of smoke. Meh!!!
I went clothes shopping yesterday, it's so cheap!!! And I have also found a place that sells fresh fruit and veges!! A half-dozen mandarins cost me 30c. Excellent!
Overall it's great. Uni starts tomorrow so I'll have to update this again soon. I'm gonna give myself a couple of weeks to settle in and then devote my weekends to travelling, I hope. Depending on money. Anyway! My battery's running low and the power points here don't work (which is not really that surprising) so I'd better go. Let me know how NZ's going occasionally!
Adios :D
Friday, January 23, 2009
L'auberge espanol
I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get a flat! My first day here I met some potential flatmates and we had a look at a place, and we signed the lease the next day. So here I am. In my very own Spanish Apartment. I have two flatmates, both girls. Emilie (pronounced 'Amelie') is french, but has lived in Spain for a while and her spanish is excellent. It was great having her for the negotiations with the landlords, they went so much more quickly. Giulia (Julia) is from Italy and is only here until June, but that's ok as that's when the contract runs out. I think I'll probably end up finding somewhere else to live after that.
The name of this post is actually strangely accurate. We all speak, with varying fluency, Spanish, French, and English, and of course Giulia speaks Italian too. I'd like to learn at some point but I think I'd better wait until my spanish falls into line...
This is my first night here, and there are so many issues with the place. I wasn't too impressed by the landlords (I should say 'landladies' I guess) at first, but they've rallied well and have also supplied just about everything. There are windows that don't lock properly, although we're on the third floor so it could be worse, the door from the kitchen onto the tiniest balcony you've ever seen doesn't even have a handle, the washing machine has a broken door, the blinds over the windows are having tantrums, one of the toilets didn't flush, the extension cord for the fridge was faulty (we have another one now though), a light refused to shine, and the first keys we got cut for the front door (we were only supplied with one) didn't work either, although I guess that wasn't the landladies fault, however I do think they should have had keys cut before renting out a three bedroom apartment! Anyway, there is this guy who I think looks after the whole apartment block who has fixed a lot of things and is coming back to fix some more tomorrow.
I went out to buy some food this evening, I got really lost but I'll tell you about that in a sec, and when I got back I tried to turn on the stove but that didn't go! And the fridge wasn't working. I thought I'd have to have plain bread for dinner (the bread here is divine) but then I realised that the sausages I'd bought were cured ham (and gluten-free lol) so I had sausages and bread. I asked the handyman about the stove and he showed me the fusebox, and turned on the electricity to the kitchen!! So now I can cook stuff. Yay!!
I looked at a couple of places when I was flat-hunting and something that struck me as odd was that the kitchen is usually a separate room, down the hall, from the living area, where the dining table is kept. This seems kinda strange but I guess it does mean that unwashed dishes are less noticeable when you have guests!
So, navigating Ciudad Real. It is VERY interesting to try. I have a couple of maps which are fine, but which sometimes aren't much use because THERE ARE NO STREET SIGNS!!! Well, there is the occasional plaque on the side of a building but they're few and far between. Yay for orienteering! I did get quite lost earlier though. I guess you can't really get to know a town until you've been lost in it a few times :D The streets are so narrow and aren't really laid out in squares, they just go wherever they want to, it's so confusing. I have marked my apartment building with a star on my map because when we first visited I had no idea where it was. Oh, and the parking!! The cars here crack me up all the time! In the middle of some of the larger intersections there are striped 'median-areas', and people park their cars on them. It is also apparently not illegal to park facing the opposite direction to traffic flow on the side of the street, although how people manage it on one-way streets I have no idea!
I have seen so many dogs in the few days I've been here. Little ones are very popular, chihuahuas and the like, the occasional sausage dog is around too. Yesterday as we were driving past a park I saw the tiniest dog I've ever seen in my whole life, it was perhaps a third the size of a bichon frise, and right after it there was this huge waist-high shaggy thing lolloping around. I would say 'great dane' but I'm not sure that's the right breed. The contrast was stunning. I suppose people keep little dogs because there are so many who live in apartments.. The town has very definite borders even though there's plenty of room outside them, and it is full of four-storey apartment blocks. There are the classic 'clothes hung out to dry on bits of string' everywhere. It's kinda cool in it's own way! I guess it stems from the days when people had to walk everywhere.
I visited a couple of small dairies and a supermarket (I say supermarket but it was only about the size of the fresh vege section at pak'n'save) and the difference in service and price was noticeable. I bought a box of cereal at a dairy and the proprietor gave me some watermelon flavoured chewing gum, it was really good. At the supermarket, though it was much cheaper, the lady behind the till didn't even look at me.
Oh well! Have a good day everyone :)
The name of this post is actually strangely accurate. We all speak, with varying fluency, Spanish, French, and English, and of course Giulia speaks Italian too. I'd like to learn at some point but I think I'd better wait until my spanish falls into line...
This is my first night here, and there are so many issues with the place. I wasn't too impressed by the landlords (I should say 'landladies' I guess) at first, but they've rallied well and have also supplied just about everything. There are windows that don't lock properly, although we're on the third floor so it could be worse, the door from the kitchen onto the tiniest balcony you've ever seen doesn't even have a handle, the washing machine has a broken door, the blinds over the windows are having tantrums, one of the toilets didn't flush, the extension cord for the fridge was faulty (we have another one now though), a light refused to shine, and the first keys we got cut for the front door (we were only supplied with one) didn't work either, although I guess that wasn't the landladies fault, however I do think they should have had keys cut before renting out a three bedroom apartment! Anyway, there is this guy who I think looks after the whole apartment block who has fixed a lot of things and is coming back to fix some more tomorrow.
I went out to buy some food this evening, I got really lost but I'll tell you about that in a sec, and when I got back I tried to turn on the stove but that didn't go! And the fridge wasn't working. I thought I'd have to have plain bread for dinner (the bread here is divine) but then I realised that the sausages I'd bought were cured ham (and gluten-free lol) so I had sausages and bread. I asked the handyman about the stove and he showed me the fusebox, and turned on the electricity to the kitchen!! So now I can cook stuff. Yay!!
I looked at a couple of places when I was flat-hunting and something that struck me as odd was that the kitchen is usually a separate room, down the hall, from the living area, where the dining table is kept. This seems kinda strange but I guess it does mean that unwashed dishes are less noticeable when you have guests!
So, navigating Ciudad Real. It is VERY interesting to try. I have a couple of maps which are fine, but which sometimes aren't much use because THERE ARE NO STREET SIGNS!!! Well, there is the occasional plaque on the side of a building but they're few and far between. Yay for orienteering! I did get quite lost earlier though. I guess you can't really get to know a town until you've been lost in it a few times :D The streets are so narrow and aren't really laid out in squares, they just go wherever they want to, it's so confusing. I have marked my apartment building with a star on my map because when we first visited I had no idea where it was. Oh, and the parking!! The cars here crack me up all the time! In the middle of some of the larger intersections there are striped 'median-areas', and people park their cars on them. It is also apparently not illegal to park facing the opposite direction to traffic flow on the side of the street, although how people manage it on one-way streets I have no idea!
I have seen so many dogs in the few days I've been here. Little ones are very popular, chihuahuas and the like, the occasional sausage dog is around too. Yesterday as we were driving past a park I saw the tiniest dog I've ever seen in my whole life, it was perhaps a third the size of a bichon frise, and right after it there was this huge waist-high shaggy thing lolloping around. I would say 'great dane' but I'm not sure that's the right breed. The contrast was stunning. I suppose people keep little dogs because there are so many who live in apartments.. The town has very definite borders even though there's plenty of room outside them, and it is full of four-storey apartment blocks. There are the classic 'clothes hung out to dry on bits of string' everywhere. It's kinda cool in it's own way! I guess it stems from the days when people had to walk everywhere.
I visited a couple of small dairies and a supermarket (I say supermarket but it was only about the size of the fresh vege section at pak'n'save) and the difference in service and price was noticeable. I bought a box of cereal at a dairy and the proprietor gave me some watermelon flavoured chewing gum, it was really good. At the supermarket, though it was much cheaper, the lady behind the till didn't even look at me.
Oh well! Have a good day everyone :)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I NEVER Want to See Another Aeroplane EVER Again...
(Monday Lunchtime:)
Hola a todos! Well, I'm here. It was quite a long journey and I could quite happily not set eyes on another plane for a year, which is hopefully what will happen! Except perhaps a short flight to Sweden. Emphasis being on SHORT.
It went better than I expected, even in San Francisco I didn't have any holdups at all. The only delay was about 45mins when leaving Frankfurt, when an engine wouldn't start. By that stage I was exhausted and quite happy to just sit somewhere for a while, plus there was no connecting flight from Madrid. I enjoyed the stopovers though, Germany was gloomy and rainy (and beautiful from the air) but I didn't have to go out in it, and San Francisco, oh my god! The weather was perfect - perfect!- and I had an hour or so to look round the airport. I really wanted to leave it and have a look at the city but there wasn't time. I did jump on the AirRail (or something like that) which is a little shuttle-train thing that connects the terminals (all seven of them), and there were some nice views from that. I was chatting to an american guy who said he was surprised at how nice the weather was, I think they stole our summer as it was hailing in NZ not so long ago. I got some photos and bought some postcards and I saw the Golden Gate Bridge from the plane as we were leaving, I had a window seat :D.
I was slightly disappointed that the Lufthansa plane we were on didn't have individual screens and movies and things, but I was able to sleep (unlike the AirNZ flight, that was horrible, I couldn't sleep at all, but I did watch some movies! I watched Four Weddings and a Funeral and Camp Rock, and listened to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack which I could kinda watch in my mind as I've seen the movie).
I was excited to fly over the states, I saw a bit of it from the air before it got dark. I'm so keen to go back and travel round. I bought a cup of tea and some reese's peanut butter cups (yum!) while waiting to board, and the guy called them 'candy', and when I looked for a rubbish bin to throw out the wrapper a cop pointed it out and called it a trash can. Everyone was really friendly! Although I guess when you work in an airport you're a bit more aware of travellers. This is gonna sound so naive, but I felt like I was on a movie set or something. It was so cool to FINALLY visit one of these places I've heard so much, read so many books, and seen so many movies about.
On the Lufthansa one I sitting next to this elderly German couple who spoke a bit of english, they had visited their son in the states and were on their way home, so we chatted and I had a couple of games of cards with the husband. When I was talking about my journey the guy in the seat in front of me turned around and said "I've come from chch and I'm going to Madrid too". He went to CPIT, studying cookery, and knows one of the chefs at the Bicycle Thief where I worked for a few months. Weird.
So, I had an uneventful trip on the Metro and the AVE Renfe (high-speed train), turned up at the hotel in Ciudad Real, to hear "we don't have a booking for you". Fortunately they have a room free, or perhaps they found the booking, and the minimum stay is three nights, so I'm sorted for now, and they even threw in breakfast. They're lovely people, and they don't speak any english at all, one of the regulars does (a bit) and the barmaid is french, so I'm learning pretty fast.
The guy who speaks English is called Felipe, and he offered me a lift to the uni this morning as "it's on the other side of town" and he had to run an errand there anyway. We agreed to meet at ten, (I was thinking earlier but the office doesn't even open til 9:30) he hadn't turned up by eleven, I had procured a map which showed the uni two blocks away like I thought it was, and it wasn't -5 outside, so I walked. I don't know if it was a miscommunication but it doesn't matter. At the uni, I was sent to go see the head of the faculty to discuss courses and he wasn't there, so I went back to the Int. Office (abbreviation: ORI) and was introduced to a couple of other people looking for accomodation. The girl was busy sorting something else out and I've already forgotten her name, and the guy is called Javier and hails from Italy. I can hear you guys already: Yes, he's hot. Like pretty much all the guys here! Haha... He has been in Spain since september and his english isn't too bad either, it's funny how people find out where you're from and just start talking in english. Although the people at the hotel thought I was from England for a bit.
So I have to go back to the ORI at 4pm to meet a third potential flatmate and see about some flats. I walked around Ciudad Real for an hour before coming back to the hotel, it's reminiscent of France in some ways, which isn't really surprising, and I'm looking forward to getting to know it better.
Hola a todos! Well, I'm here. It was quite a long journey and I could quite happily not set eyes on another plane for a year, which is hopefully what will happen! Except perhaps a short flight to Sweden. Emphasis being on SHORT.
It went better than I expected, even in San Francisco I didn't have any holdups at all. The only delay was about 45mins when leaving Frankfurt, when an engine wouldn't start. By that stage I was exhausted and quite happy to just sit somewhere for a while, plus there was no connecting flight from Madrid. I enjoyed the stopovers though, Germany was gloomy and rainy (and beautiful from the air) but I didn't have to go out in it, and San Francisco, oh my god! The weather was perfect - perfect!- and I had an hour or so to look round the airport. I really wanted to leave it and have a look at the city but there wasn't time. I did jump on the AirRail (or something like that) which is a little shuttle-train thing that connects the terminals (all seven of them), and there were some nice views from that. I was chatting to an american guy who said he was surprised at how nice the weather was, I think they stole our summer as it was hailing in NZ not so long ago. I got some photos and bought some postcards and I saw the Golden Gate Bridge from the plane as we were leaving, I had a window seat :D.
I was slightly disappointed that the Lufthansa plane we were on didn't have individual screens and movies and things, but I was able to sleep (unlike the AirNZ flight, that was horrible, I couldn't sleep at all, but I did watch some movies! I watched Four Weddings and a Funeral and Camp Rock, and listened to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack which I could kinda watch in my mind as I've seen the movie).
I was excited to fly over the states, I saw a bit of it from the air before it got dark. I'm so keen to go back and travel round. I bought a cup of tea and some reese's peanut butter cups (yum!) while waiting to board, and the guy called them 'candy', and when I looked for a rubbish bin to throw out the wrapper a cop pointed it out and called it a trash can. Everyone was really friendly! Although I guess when you work in an airport you're a bit more aware of travellers. This is gonna sound so naive, but I felt like I was on a movie set or something. It was so cool to FINALLY visit one of these places I've heard so much, read so many books, and seen so many movies about.
On the Lufthansa one I sitting next to this elderly German couple who spoke a bit of english, they had visited their son in the states and were on their way home, so we chatted and I had a couple of games of cards with the husband. When I was talking about my journey the guy in the seat in front of me turned around and said "I've come from chch and I'm going to Madrid too". He went to CPIT, studying cookery, and knows one of the chefs at the Bicycle Thief where I worked for a few months. Weird.
So, I had an uneventful trip on the Metro and the AVE Renfe (high-speed train), turned up at the hotel in Ciudad Real, to hear "we don't have a booking for you". Fortunately they have a room free, or perhaps they found the booking, and the minimum stay is three nights, so I'm sorted for now, and they even threw in breakfast. They're lovely people, and they don't speak any english at all, one of the regulars does (a bit) and the barmaid is french, so I'm learning pretty fast.
The guy who speaks English is called Felipe, and he offered me a lift to the uni this morning as "it's on the other side of town" and he had to run an errand there anyway. We agreed to meet at ten, (I was thinking earlier but the office doesn't even open til 9:30) he hadn't turned up by eleven, I had procured a map which showed the uni two blocks away like I thought it was, and it wasn't -5 outside, so I walked. I don't know if it was a miscommunication but it doesn't matter. At the uni, I was sent to go see the head of the faculty to discuss courses and he wasn't there, so I went back to the Int. Office (abbreviation: ORI) and was introduced to a couple of other people looking for accomodation. The girl was busy sorting something else out and I've already forgotten her name, and the guy is called Javier and hails from Italy. I can hear you guys already: Yes, he's hot. Like pretty much all the guys here! Haha... He has been in Spain since september and his english isn't too bad either, it's funny how people find out where you're from and just start talking in english. Although the people at the hotel thought I was from England for a bit.
So I have to go back to the ORI at 4pm to meet a third potential flatmate and see about some flats. I walked around Ciudad Real for an hour before coming back to the hotel, it's reminiscent of France in some ways, which isn't really surprising, and I'm looking forward to getting to know it better.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Going... Going... Gone!!
Two hours left!! Man this time has gone so fast. I need to close my suitcase, and take some old clothes to the clothing bin, and vacuum my room...and that's pretty much it.
Last night was wonderful, it was great to catch up with so many people before I leave, and the food also deserves a mention. I tried deep-fried ice cream for dessert, it was beautiful. But then again, I am known by some friends for having an extremely sweet tooth. I hope that everyone has a great year regardless of where they spend it :). There are definitely some things I will miss about NZ!!
Anyway, I am about to pack my computer up, so the next entry could be from Auckland or from Ciudad Real! Wherever I find free internet, until I have a flat sorted. By the way, for those reading this on Facebook there's a comments facility on the blog site, if you wish to comment on the blog. Just click "read more" at the bottom of the entry. Or you can write on my wall, I guess. Yay!!
Last night was wonderful, it was great to catch up with so many people before I leave, and the food also deserves a mention. I tried deep-fried ice cream for dessert, it was beautiful. But then again, I am known by some friends for having an extremely sweet tooth. I hope that everyone has a great year regardless of where they spend it :). There are definitely some things I will miss about NZ!!
Anyway, I am about to pack my computer up, so the next entry could be from Auckland or from Ciudad Real! Wherever I find free internet, until I have a flat sorted. By the way, for those reading this on Facebook there's a comments facility on the blog site, if you wish to comment on the blog. Just click "read more" at the bottom of the entry. Or you can write on my wall, I guess. Yay!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
What have I got myself into??
A couple of days ago I had to find a hostel for a couple of nights, and I'll tell you now, doing anything from the other side of the world is IMPOSSIBLE. It's Nuts!! I ended up ringing the uni to ask if they recommended anywhere and they said they'd book me a room. Which was nice. So now at least when I get there at 7pm in the middle of winter when it's dark and snowy and cold and scarey (yes, with an e) I'll have somewhere to stay. Yay!
I went to the mall today, to bank a cheque (another yay) and I succumbed to temptation, I am afraid to say. I bought some books. They're for the plane, I swear!! Just when I'd finished packing all mine up. It's been a long time since I've used the term 'underliteralised', but it fits perfectly. Nat and I coined it when we were younger, it means 'I haven't read many books lately and I'm going through withdrawal symptoms'. Haha!
I packed and managed to close my suitcase again this morning. It was pretty heavy so I also picked up a cheap pair of scales at the mall (Briscoes was having a sale) and it weighs 23kg. I think that'll be ok, I'll have to reread my ticket I guess. But the more I pack the more I'm looking forward to going. Now I just have to figure out how to link this up to facebook...
I went to the mall today, to bank a cheque (another yay) and I succumbed to temptation, I am afraid to say. I bought some books. They're for the plane, I swear!! Just when I'd finished packing all mine up. It's been a long time since I've used the term 'underliteralised', but it fits perfectly. Nat and I coined it when we were younger, it means 'I haven't read many books lately and I'm going through withdrawal symptoms'. Haha!
I packed and managed to close my suitcase again this morning. It was pretty heavy so I also picked up a cheap pair of scales at the mall (Briscoes was having a sale) and it weighs 23kg. I think that'll be ok, I'll have to reread my ticket I guess. But the more I pack the more I'm looking forward to going. Now I just have to figure out how to link this up to facebook...
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