The last day in Madrid...

Hiiiii,

It is my LAST DAY in Madrid :( I don't know how to explain how incredible this experience has been...the scariest/most exciting decision of my life has turned in to something which I will never forget.

Exams finished a few weeks ago and since then Rachel and I have been doing all the things we have on our bucket list before we leave- a pretty monastery called San Lorenzo de el Escorial, hiring bikes (last week we cycled to the club when the metro had closed...), discovering Madrid Rio, and taking as many trips as humanly possible to the outdoor pool in Lago. Basically making the most of the 40 degree heat (which is hard when you feel like you are going to pass out every time you step outside).

We also went on a mini hol to Granada (which was EVEN HOTTER). I would 100% recommend a visit there, it was sooooo beautiful and had a very Moroccan feel to it. On the bus on the way there the aircon had broken, which was slight torture on a small vehicle with 30 other people, but we made it through and made some friends on the way through bonding over the immense heat. We also got to visit some caves in the mountains of Granada which was soooo much fun! There were real life cavemen who showed us around their cave and gave us some watermelon to enjoy the amazing views...

Also our friends Harika and Karina came to visit us for our final trip to the North of Spain...we went to San Sebastian for two nights and Harika and I went on to Bilbao for a few days. We also went to the south of France for the day on the train, a cute little place on the coast called St Jean de Luz. We had some amaaaazing French food. It was nice to feel a bit of sea breeze instead of the mugginess of Madrid! Although we had a slight disaster when we were about to go to sleep one night and the host of the airbnb came in to the flat...it turned out that he was staying there too- a bit of a shock at 2am!! So take it from us and always make sure you check everything before you book an apartment!

I'm sure I will be holding back the tears on that plane tonight as I leave this beautiful city...but of course, I am so excited to see my family/friends/boyf again (and have my first Greggs chicken bake in 5 months!!!)

Also I am absolutely certain that this is not the last of my Erasmus blog posts (of course not, what else will I have to talk about?!)...so keep an eye out for some more soon- including a big list of everything you need to pack for a semester abroad...that one is gonna take me a while.

Hasta luego en Derby,

Love,

Anna x

Four months in Madrid!!

Hiiii!

I am writing this post from a very busy Starbucks in Madrid's city centre, attempting (and failing) to do some 'life admin'. I've already chosen my third year modules which is SUPER scary...I can't even explain how fast the past 2 years have gone! In a year I'll be applying for jobs, about to go in to *the real world* aaaaah. Let's not talk about that.

Talking about time flying though, if I thought Uni in Sheffield was going too fast, in Madrid it feels like 10x faster! I can't believe that I have almost been here for FOUR MONTHS. Whaaaat?! I feel like I've been here my whole life and I also feel like we just got here yesterday all at the same time.

I think that time goes so fast because living in a different country still feels exciting and different...but it is easy to forget that Uni here counts towards my degree, so many nights are spent trying to get last minute work finished before a deadline (not that anybody sticks to deadlines here...)

Weekends are fun though, since my last post I have visited a teeny village just outside of Madrid with my boyfriend, introduced my brother to the world of sangria and tapas, been to a colour run which wasn't a run and turned out to be more of a kids party...started a language tandem with a girl from Guatemala, visited a new rooftop bar, went to a party at my housemate's University, went to the beaaaach in Valencia for a day, discovered the city of Segovia, been visited by my Dad, Step-Mum and baby brother, been on the longest urban zip-wire in Europe.....no wonder time goes so fast. 

I also went home for a week over Easter which was amaaazing. I'd been quite homesick the week before I went, but spending time with family and friends gave me the push I needed to come back to Madrid with a positive mindset. 

Side note: the weirdest thing I noticed when I was at home was that the air smelt SO fresh compared to Madrid. I think I've gotten used to stuffy city air, and I didn't realise how refreshing it would be to be surrounded by fields and trees again. Hahaha.

Since Easter, things have been stressful at Uni with lots of deadlines all at once. The work is a lot easier than at home, but we always get bombarded with it all at once! Sometimes it is so hard to communicate with teachers because of the language barrier (although my Spanish is 10x better than before, it is still a struggle sometimes!) Luckily my housemate Rachel and I had a bit of a break when our friend from home came to visit us in sunny Spain.

So scary to think that I only have one month left here. Our exams started last week, and today I learnt that exam season in 28 degree heat is NOT fun....I have 5 exams altogether, and they finish at the end of May. It's so crazy how chilled exams are here compared to in Sheffield. We sit exams in our usual classrooms, we can keep our bags near us, sit next to other people....it's so weird how different it is. A lot less pressure which I'm not complaining about! In June I've got an internship at Spanish newspaper 'El Pais', which is super exciting. After that my friend is joining me in Madrid for a week, and then before I know it I'll be heading home....*sad face*

This week I also 'graduated' from Uni, which was a bit weird as I feel like we've hardly spent any of our time in classes...But it was such a nice 'send off' nevertheless, with free cerveza and tapas (always good) and lots of nice words from the Erasmus tutors here.

 Anyways, I best get back to some revision....being in the basement gets pretty claustrophobic so my housemates and I have (after a few failed attempts) squoze our kitchen table onto our patio to do some work (with limited productivity when it's so hot outside...)

Ps you can vote for me as Blogger of the Month here.

Pps...around a year ago I made the huge decision to go on Erasmus in Spain...if anyone is having troubles making a decision about whether to go, feel free to ask me! I promise to give unbiased advice and not mention the amazing weather too much...

Anna x

One month (and a half) in Madrid!!

Holaaaaaa, 

I am writing this from a class (which might tell you how Uni is going…) Whoops. We’ll get to that later.

One and a half months living in Spain tomorrow! Madness. Time literally FLIES here. We’ve crammed so much in to such a short period and I can’t believe how fast everything is going. On Sunday I got back from a crazy (and super fun) trip around Portugal, starting in Porto and ending in Lisbon. I had the best time ever: met people from all over the world, took my first trip in a tuk tuk, tasted Port, chilled on a rooftop bar….and somehow, survived three days on 13 hours sleep.

Sunny Lisbon!

Surprisingly smiley for 3 hours sleep...

thoughts on Port...

To those of you abroad or going abroad, I would 100% recommend going on a trip like this one- the 20 hours of travelling by bus may put you off, but don’t let it. We went with a group called City Life Madrid and they organised everything so well, from a trip photographer to a pub crawl (complete with a woman with a big red umbrella who shouted at us when it was time to move to the next bar.)

A few weeks ago I also took a train to Valencia with my boyfriend for a night, which is one of my favourite cities to date. I am already dying to go back! I’ve been to Toledo too- a beautiful little city just outside of Madrid, easily accessible (for most) by bus. I say for most as it took my travel buddy Rach and I three hours to get there instead of one! We are still getting to grips with the Metro…

Slightly stormy Valencia!

Oceanographic Museum in Valencia (aka the most futuristic place EVER)

Forgetting what I’m actually here for is VERY easy. That little thing called Uni. With 8/9am classes every day, and most of my classes being pretty useless in terms of a career in Journalism…missing lectures is extremely tempting. My fave module is photography, where we are developing our own film in dark rooms, manually taking photographs and learning about the history of photography. TV is also cool, where we’ve been taking industry cameras outside and filming news reports in groups.

Everything is just so chilled here compared to home, sometimes in a good way, for example handing in things late doesn’t seem to matter…but in other ways it is so frustrating, like when we had to queue up for 4 hours just to register for modules…It makes me appreciate Uni back at home and how well organised it is!

Speaking Spanish every day (and mostly getting in to awkward situations and ending up flustered and confused…) is definitely improving my language skills. When I have a successful conversation in Spanish it feels so rewarding! Also, one of my housemates is Spanish so I am enjoying practicing with her, as well as our cleaner who visits once a week.

I have also had visits from some friendly faces too- my boyfriend, my Step Mum's brother Jamie and his girlfriend Laura, my Mum and little sister and my friend Harika. It’s been so fun showing them all around this beautiful city. Seeing them has definitely made me feel more settled here and a lot less homesick. When it dawned on me just how soon I would be returning home it helped a lot....and realising that I'm only here for a few months, and soon I'll be back to life in Sheff for my last year.... all these things help to ease the pain of missing home, friends and family. FOMO back at Uni is a definite factor too, but video calling my housemates whilst they are having pre-drinks definitely helps....

Fun visit from my Mum and sis

Amigas...You can tell who is Spanish from the amount of layers!

I also had a slight disaster which I feel like every (clumsy) Erasmus student suffers from at some point...I broke my phone on a night out and had to pay €200 euros for the screen to be repaired. So my bank account suffered a big dent and working all summer is definitely on the cards...

Around a year ago I decided to study abroad after visiting Madrid for the first time….and I’m so thankful that I did! (especially when I’m lay in the park in 26 degree heat).

Thanks for reading!

Anna x