First 3 weeks in Peru.

Seeing as I'm currently residing on the other side of the world, I though it would be nice to start this up again. Last summer in Montpelier I got lazy and didn't bother but this time I'm gonna stick at it.

So, here I am in Peru (technically Huanchacho- a beach town near Trujillo which is in the north of the country) and I've been here nearly 3 weeks now. I'm staying with a host family who I haven't seen much of yet really as they're off in Brazil watching the world cup! I'm staying with 3 other English volunteers who are all super nice. Sadly they're all leaving this weekend but I'm sure my new housemates will be just as lovely! I'll be taking over in the school that two of them are currently working on next week.

The town and locals are lovely. It's relatively small but there's everything that I could possibly need. There is a mall about 15/20 minutes away for the more commercial food stuffs, like nutella! There are loads of restaurants and cafes to eat at and everything is really cheap so I've been eating out a lot. The food is actually pretty awesome, a fair bit of seafood and lots of rice- good combo. This is also a surfing haven do there are plenty of stuff hostels and schools, as well as the surfers(!) I've even tried my hand at some surfing and I wasn't bad (see video evidence for proof!)

Currently I'm working in a school for disabled kids (autism, blindness, deafness among other things). It's very rewarding but really quite exhausting at times. I'll be leaving there Friday which will be sad as I've developed some strong relationships with some of they kids. Having said that, I can't wait to get stuck into some English teaching on Monday!!

Now that I'm properly settled in, I have some exciting plans for the next few weeks, including visiting the local archaeological sites, visiting a place called Chiclayo, amongst other stuff, maybe even another surf lesson! That's all for now, I'm sure I'll have lots more to blabber on about next time I write!!

And now...the end is near...

Well my time here is drawing to a close and quite frankly I don't want it to. I have been well and truly making the most of what little time I have left in sunny (at times) Spain. It's been a jam packed couple of weeks for one reason or another, most of this time was spent gallivanting around the local area to soak up some last minute sun/culture before I leave for Wales on 7th June- a mere 11 days away!!

A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to a beach north of Barcelona for the day as it due to be a lush day, and when we woke up in Vic the sun was blazing...it was going to be a fab day! We went to a place called Calella where a lot of tourists can be found. However, it was not so sunny when we arrived in fact it starting spitting! The spitting soon stopped but the clouds hung around all day long. Sun bathing was out of the question (even though we were dressed in the appropriate attire for a British tourist in Spain), as was swimming in the sea- the water was freezing! We decided to entertain ourselves by buying a frisbee and a red football to throw about. We had a great time playing like 8 year old boys on the beach with our new toys, we even had a penalty shoot out! It was a day of lots of silliness and we were well and truly knackered afterwards.

Maria and me

Since my time is coming to an end, my English teacher has decided that every Thursday she takes me out to see something local and cultural. So far we've been to some lovely places such as some religious hills on the outskirts of Vic to get some great views of the plain and the city and a monastery on the edge of a cliff with spectacular views over the landscape. We also went to a reservoir in which there used to be a small village, you can, in fact, still see the church spire sticking up through the middle of the lake. It was quite spooky but beautiful nonetheless. In fact the majority of the landscape here is beautiful so I consider myself very lucky to be here.

Being here in Catalonia close to Barcelona it felt right that I go to Camp Nou, Barcelona's football stadium. Unfortunately I didn't see a football match, the tickets are very expensive, but I did do a tour of the museum and the stadium which was great fun. We even had our photo taken with a pretend Leo Messi and a fake Champions League Cup so all in all it was a great experience.

Tossa de Mar

Yet again I was invited away with the VallFus family to another beach house close to Tossa de Mar on the bank holiday weekend a few weeks ago. Just like the other place that I mentioned, it was beautiful. We were staying on a an estate (full of Germans) with a view of the sea from the garden and more lovely countryside to marvel in. The town of Tossa de Mar is gorgeous, every street is a picture and it really is beautiful, along with the castle and spectacular views of the Costa Brava. Yet again, I felt like part of the family and I even met the grandparents who are also lovely people. The weather was beautiful but not quite warm enough to swim in the sea (mainly because the waves were unusually high and so with little kids it wasn't really very safe.) Having said that I did enjoy chilling on the beach with a beer and great company.

I've been going to Barcelona more than usual recently. I think it's because I know I'm not going to get the chance to go when I'm back in the UK so I', making up for it now. We recently discovered a park next to the Arc de Triomf and we've been making the most of the green space there and we even went on the little rowing boats on the lake, only to get stuck under a tree, much to the amusement of a family of tourists. We also rented bikes and took them all the way up the coast as far as we physically could. This was an experience in itself and playing dodge the tourist who does bot respect the rules of the cycle lane was proving....interesting. Either way, it was lovely to spend some more time n the sunshine, although I did get a little burnt- whoops!

More recently, we went back to Sitges (the beach town where it rained the last time we were there) as it was actually due to be sunny. And sunny it was. I even managed to go for a swim in the sea- finally! At least I can say that I've done that now. We sunbathed on the beach all day and enjoyed a luscious lunch in the lovely little town. Sadly it was a little too windy to endure more frisbeeing and footballing but nevertheless we had fun doing other stuff.

Well I think this will be my last blog from Spain as life it about to get hectic with one thing or another over the next few weeks. I have a Catalan oral and writing exam coming up on Tuesday and Thursday, both of which I am thoroughly looking forward to. Then I have my last school days, last meal out in Vic, last Barcelona trip and then that's it. Two on my friends from home are coming out to stay for the last few days- I'm very excited to see them. Then Friday 7th June, my year abroad in Spain comes to an end, very sad but I'm very much looking forward to coming back to HK and spending a bit of time in the UK before my next adventure. 

Sunshine and rain.

At the moment I don't seem to ever spend a weekend at home as I'm off with friends being a tourist somewhere. However, this weekend I've been blessed with a Sunday at home- time to relax!

A rainy day in Sitges

A few weeks ago, on a whim, Jade and I booked a weekend away in Sitges to chill in the sun by the sea. Sitges is a great little city with a bit gay population and a mountain of tourists- lush right? Wrong. It rained the whole time! Fortunately it rained all over Catalonia that weekend so we weren't singled out. We did however still have great fun there as we were able to entertain ourselves with other activities. For example, we took a lovely albeit wet tour of the city, taking regular pit stops in cafes and bars to replenish, we went tot he Bacardí museum for a tour and a lesson in mojito making (that bit was awesome) and we did manage to spend a bit of time skimming stones and finding nice shells on the beach when the rain let up a little. It was a super girls weekend away but it was just a shame that the Spanish weather did not feel the need to give us some sunshine. Another time maybe!

A sunny day in Montserrat

In Spain, 1st May is always a bank holiday. Not the first Monday of May like in the UK, but the 1st. So, if the 1st falls on a Sunday- tough, that's that- no bank holiday. Fortunately for me, it fell on a Wednesday this year so I had a lovely disrupted week. We decided the make the most of my day off and head to Montserrat. No not the rather large opera singer that sang Barcelona with Freddie Mercury, the big religious mountain here in Catalonia, after which she was probably named. It took a while to get there and 3 trains but it was most definitely worth it! The views from up the top are spectacular as was the church and the buildings. We were also lucky that the weather decided to resume normality and let the sun shine. We could see the city and the sea at Barcelona and the Pyrenees heading towards France- that's quite a lot! Yet again, it was a great day out with some top friends.

Currently writing this on my balcony in the sunshine, trying to catch some rays- I should be so lucky! 4 school weeks left now and then that's it- my goodness how time flies!

Madrid and L'Escala

Well well well, I'm sure you've all been eagerly awaiting this next blog which is yet again slightly late. It's also probably going to be quite long as there's a fair few things to cram but I'll try to be as succinct as possible! Still loving life though so busyness is a good thing! I have a mere 5 weeks left in school which I'm really finding hard to comprehend as I really don't want this year to end. Honestly though, I'm really looking forward to coming back to the UK as I have literally only spent about 5 days there this year and quite frankly, I miss it and all its glorious Britishisms. However, not coming back here afterwards is going to be a real bummer. Either way, I have 2 months of Montpellier to look forward to this summer- more on that in a moment.

So, as it's been a while since me and my university friends have seen each other, we decided that it would be a good idea to reconvene in the countries capital, Madrid! The trip didn't quite get off to a smooth start as me and Emily only just made the flight with about 5 minutes to spare- I nearly had a heart attack. Once there, however, it was just as much of an effort trying to find the hostel and it's various buildings located all over Plaza Espana. However, we were settled in and off we went for some TGI Fridays as a reward for all our hardship over the day. 

The next day, the amigas arrived!! It was super to see them all again and laugh and exchange our funny year abroad happenings as we're all scattered all over Spain doing various things. We did loads of touristy things like the walk down the Gran Via (the main drag through Madrid), visit the Royal Palace, some museums, and the lush park with all it's fountains and whatnot. The weather was absolutely gorgeous so plenty of ice creams were eaten and sangria consumed to solve all our heat issues. I can't say we ate many cultural dishes as we all do that at our respective towns/cities anyway. We treated ourselves to English breakfasts everyday and some good hearty burgers and chips. Our hostel was...ok...I mean it was quite small and full of some weird people and spread all over the place but on the whole it served us well for a great weekend! However, Madrid is lovely but Barcelona beats it 10 times over for just being awesome.

After a fun filled weekend in Madrid it was back to reality for a week. Fortunately the sun really shone that week, it was like 27 degrees for a few days and it really felt like summer. So, spontaneously, I booked a mini weekend away to a place called Sitges. You may remember this place as I have already had one failed attempt at going there. However, the weekend I booked this for is forecast to rain all weekend so we shall see what happens there!

Anyway, back to stuff I did. I was fortunate enough to be invited away with a family from the school. Don't worry, this isn't just a random family that told me to get in their car, I already knew the mum as we do a Spanish exchange once a week and I teach some of the kids English at school. the family are all such lovely people; mum, dad, one boy and three girls. They took me to the grandparents' second home/beach house in a place called L'Escala on the Costa Brava. Needless to say it was beautiful- the views and the town. I really felt like part of the family and they wouldn't let me pay for anything (except a round of ice creams), but to be honest it was great being  taken care of for a few days. This sounds slightly weird but it was like going away for the weekend with my family but about 7 years ago- very bizarre but it was so lovely. I met some of their friends there including the crazy Dutch guy who owns the bar and is obsessed with London, the kids next door who have some boundary issues and the rich guy who has just bought a  castle and a horse to go with it. Incidentally, we visited the castle to have a nosey and oh my god it's fabulous! It really is a castle! Perched on a hill looking out to see, my guess is to spot invaders (probably the English) making the view from the terrace on top spectacular! 

Following this slightly exhausting, child filled weekend, I had to work 5 DAYS this week. This was due to missing a day to head to Madrid and then making up for it so that I still do all my hours. In the next few weeks there are some days off where I can have some more fun and games whilst I still have time here!!

Speak to you again soon chaps.

The Easter Oleedays!!

Well, what a busy few weeks it's been. Literally hectic.....but absolutely FABULOUS!!

First of all, when I last posted, I was a mere 20 years old. Now, however, I've turned the grand old age of 21....officially adult age now. And, to help me celebrate this 'joyous' occasion, the family came out to Barcelona for the weekend. The day of my birthday, I had a wee party at my school with the year 6 class, I felt very embarrassed but very happy as they brought cake! It was also my mentor's (the other English teacher) birthday on the same day so it was sort of a joint party and really lovely. 

Then, the family arrived. That's not meant to sound as gloomy as it does. It was brilliant (albeit a little odd) to have them here and to show them around Vic, and I think they liked it. I even gave them a super awesome tour (with super awesome facts) of the city and all it's contents. After having Tapas for lunch (something they had A LOT of that weekend) and fuelling up on cups of tea for the ride back down to Barcelona we parted ways so that I could celebrate with my amigos! We had a lovely meal in a restaurant and then went on to celebrate the way 20 something year olds are supposed to, I won't bore you with the details on that. I'm very lucky to have such great friends and it truly was a great night!



The next day I headed down to meet the tourists. I was feeling a little tired and quite hungover but I wasn't going to let that stop me! We did all the touristy things; Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Montjuic, Olympic Stadium, the beach, the cable car, the food market and basically the whole city. I included more super awesome fun facts whilst we ambled round the best city on the planet! We ate some amazing food (mainly Tapas) and I loved every moment with them all in the big city. I want to thank them for making my 21st a super special time and a birthday remember- love you guys!

Ok so that takes us up to the end of term. I was lucky enough to tag along on a little school trip to a local newspaper company which was really interesting; there's more than just newspaper stuff actually- there was a TV set, radio studios and lots of people running around with bits of paper. It was a super day and it really tested my Catalan, I reckon I understood about 90% of the information which isn't too bad. Although, I have to continue playing dumb to the kids telling them that I didn't understand any of it. This prompted one of the kids to say to me: 'so, you've been here for six months and all you can say is 'hola', that's ridiculous!' It's a little frustrating but it's not the end of the world!
On the last day, we went on the annual bike ride with the school, all 380 of them. Fortunately it was mainly farm tracks and back lanes so there wasn't too many disgruntled old men that couldn't get to their bowls tournament. I'll tell you who did suffer though, my bottom! I was not wearing the appropriate attire for a 17km bike ride and it's safe to say that I suffered a wee bit. Hey-ho, it was great last morning and a good exercise session!

So, the day after was the start of mine and miss Emily's big adventure in Andorra and Toulouse. We set off from Barcelona Sants on the Saturday morning on the coach, not really knowing what to expect in Andorra although we were kind of hoping that we would have to cross a border or something to let us know when we had arrived in the tax-haven. We were not disappointed as we were stopped for some time whilst we had our passports and the bus checked- it was thrilling!

Caldea (the spa)- aka heaven in swimming pool form

Anyway, so we had arrived it what can only be described as a mixture of France, Spain and Catalonia where they speak and mixture of French, Spanish and Catalan. Needless to say our heads were exploding! However, we were on the 'Spanish' side so we got by just fine. We were staying in a little hotel in Escalders which is joined with Andorra la Vella (the 'capital' city) so we were in a great location to explore. We spent our days wandering the tax free shops (which consist mainly of cigarettes and alcohol), going to museums, eating and soaking up the 'Andorrasian' culture. The highlight of the trip was most definitely going to Caldea- Europe's largest spa. We went at 9.30 at night and the best bit about this place is the outdoor section. There was a Jacuzzi and rapids where you could glare up at the stars and the snowy mountains which was connected to the indoor bit by canals that you swan through. It was like swimming pool heaven for me, and although I fell in the pool and subsequently got told off for climbing in the wrong way, it was a fantastic experience!

French and Spanish post boxes side by side

The next day we set off for Toulouse through the mountains of Andorra where there was at least 6 feet of snow, fortunately the roads were clear so we could just admire the beautiful scenery as we headed to the land of wine and frogs legs!
What can I say about Toulouse? Well, it's very French and it's full of French people. Our hostel was in an 'interesting' area of the city so we didn't hang around there too much. We did the standard French touristy things including all the cathedrals, monuments and museums, including the natural history museum which was super! We even went on the awesome but rather chilly Tourist Land Train.

The main square in Toulouse

Surprisingly, the museums were not too expensive but anything else was quite pricey, especially food and alcohol in bars. However, being students we were able to live quite happily and made the most of the city.

So came the end of our road trip, back in time for Easter and ready indulge in a ridiculous amounts of chocolate- courtesy of Emily's family! We had a great few days back in Spain where we made the most of the beautiful weather on the beach- still a little too chilly to swim in the sea mind. 
We also ventured up to Tibidabo- the big monastery on the giant hill in Barcelona. Not much to say about this other than it's beautiful but extremely high at the very top- a mere 500 metres above sea level. The views were incredible though and definitely worth doing.

The view from Tibidabo

Well, that's that. I hope I didn't bore you all to death with all of this useless information, but that's what I've been up to for the past few weeks. I only have 2 short months left here and I am definitely not wanting to go back to the UK any time soon, I can't believe this time of year has come round already! This means I have to make the most of what time  have left and I am most definitely going to do that- I assure you!

P.s. Just an FYI- my English phone is no longer working. 

Here comes the sun.

Ok, apologies are due once again as it's been a while since my last blog. A month in fact, even though I vowed to be more punctual with it. Either way, I'll fill you all in on what I've been up to. 

After being back in Barcelona for 6 weeks, I decided to treat myself with a little trip home. The initial plan was for it to be a surprise for my Mum and family but being a rubbish secret keeper and over compensating for my whereabouts all the time, she managed to work it out as her Mum-radar was in full swing during the week leading up to this. I had a really lovely time at home with the family and friends that I saw, it was a super break and just what I needed. 

Being home made me realise how much I love life in Spain and it makes me sad to think that I have just under 3 months left here. I'm glad I feel this way as I was worried that after Christmas, the rest of the time would drag. It seems that the exact opposite is happening, time is going too fast and I'm trying to make the most of it whilst I still can. There are lots of fun and games planned for the next month or so, so watch this space!

A friend who is studying in Valencia came up to beautiful Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and being the Barcelona fanatics that we are, Emily and I took Billie around the whole city in 2 fun-filled days, dishing out all the fun facts that we could think of! We stayed in the normal hostel right on Placa Catalunya The activities undertaken have already been mentioned in this blog somewhere so I won't bore you with more of that. However, I have been venturing to some different cultural sights of Barcelona. For example, I went to the MNAC; The National Art Museum of Catalonia, for free. I'm glad I went for free because it turns out that art isn't that interesting...especially on 2 hours sleep and when you're still a little bit drunk. Having said that, I still enjoyed the visit as the building was really impressive.

Winning at skiing.

Without doubt, the most exciting excursion I've recently been on was our adventure up to the mountains to go SKIING!! As I have a friend who lives in the village where the ski tram goes from it was a no brainer that I should go up and have a go at skiing. It was a great weekend, and I had the most fun. We decided against a lesson (a risky move) but it turns out we didn't need one. Jade and I were pro's (well sort of). We only fell over on the ski lift thing and there were no broken bones or injuries. In all seriousness, I love skiing and I can't wait to go again some day as it was so much fun. 

Me, loving life in the sun.

Here in Spain, the weather is finally warming up and the big winter coat has been hidden away for another year, thank goodness. I'm so glad the warmth has arrived as I was getting a bit fed up of winter. 

This weekend, the Bann fam are coming out to see me to help me celebrate me turning into an adult and I'm really looking forward to seeing them and showing round my life here. It'll be a while until I write again as I won't be at home for a week or in a weeks time....more on that another day. 

Carnaval

Now that the weather is brightening up it's starting to feel more like a holiday once again. Having said that, there have been a few weather related hiccups recently but it's no biggy. And, as usual, I've been making the most of this weather and venturing out to...(surprise surprise) Barcelona! 

There were plans to go to Sitges, which is a lovely little seaside town south of Barcelona. However, due to 120kmph winds, there was a problem with the trains and so that was a big fat no go. We replaced this with a trip to Mcdonalds and the cinema. Not a bad replacement after all. 

The last trip to Barcelona was probably the most jam packed day in Barcelona I've had to date, and it was spent in 'fabulous' company. Emily and I took Pierre (our year abroad bear who is slowly making his way around Europe) around some of the sights of the greatest city on Earth. We took the cable car up to Montjuic where we went around the Olympic Stadium. The views from the cable car were spectacular although it's definitely not for the faint hearted as the cars are fairly small and rickety. We then ventured down through Placa Espanya and to the metro to head over to the other side of the city. We were briefly separated in a moment of panic, but we all saw the funny side, including the delightful onlookers on the metro, some of whom thought it was hilarious. 
Anyway, once reunited we headed over to Parc Guell which is another of Antoní Gaudí's wonderful creations. It's was so warm up there, but that may have been because of the million steps that you have to climb to get up there! Nonetheless, it was certainly worth it and Pierre thought it was great. The day ended on a romantic stroll down the beach followed by some lovely cocktails in the sunset before heading back to Vic for another week of school.

This week at school has been rather...different. This is because we were celebrating Carnival (Carnaval). I'm not entirely sure what this is or why exactly but I'll give explaining it a go. Basically it's our equivalent to Pancake day(!) whereby it's the last days of craziness and partying before 6/7 weeks of being well behaved before Easter comes. This means that for 1 week, Carnestoltes (the weird carnival king) gives out themes and instructions for the children to do each day. For example, on Tuesday we had to wear sport clothes, on Wednesday we had to prepare a ball (I'm not sure why but all the kids brought in balls), on Thursday we had to bring in or make a medal (mine said 'Best English Speaker') and on Friday it was fancy dress (I was a cowboy). It was a week of fun at school but it did just seem like the Spanish were looking for an excuse to party. 

Speaking of which, although this takes place in schools, in the evenings there are activities and parades for the adults and the kids. The biggest Carnaval celebration near to where I live is in Torelló, about 15 minutes away. This place normally has a population of about 13,000 but over this weekend, it reached about 100,000. On Friday night, there was a great big party in the town. This consisted of a vehicle pulling a giant DJ set around and blasting out music. We very appropriately nicknamed this 'The Party Bus'. The theme for this night was Senyoretes i Homenots  where the boys and men dress as girls and the girls and women dress as boys. It was a fantastic night of partying in the streets with all the crazy Catalans. The next night was just a simple fancy dress and parade. Now we didn't dress up but we did paint our faces with Union Jacks, which caused more confusion than expected as people didn't seem to know what country it represented. (HELLO...OLYMPICS/GOLDEN JUBILEE!) Anyway, we went along, not really knowing what to expect. What greeted us were huge and elaborate floats made by the locals, each blasting out more music and therefore being followed by thousands of dressed up crazy people. The atmosphere was electric and the floats were amazing, and quite frankly, crazy. We're not too sure where they came from or what the reasoning is behind the floats but it was great nonetheless! 

It's been one CRAZY week. 

Barcelona and Puigsacalm

It's been relatively busy out here in Spain over the past few weeks with one thing or another. I'll try and cram them all into this without boring you to death. 

Every weekend I seem to go to Barcelona. This is far from a chore and seen as it's only an hour and half away, why not?! The Barcelona Bucket List is slowly but surely being ticked off and it's great fun doing so. Although the trips to Barcelona are mainly cultural and touristy, I do manage to squeeze in the odd Starbucks and fastfood indulgence from time to time as a reward for living in the least touristy place on earth. Along with wondering down La Rambla and super walks along the beach watching the crazy surfers out in January!

Recently I have visited Sagrada Familia which is the big Cathedral designed by Antoní Gaudi. It's immensely impressive on the outside but slightly disappointing on the inside, and certainly not worth the 11 euros I paid to get in. It is arguably the symbol of Barcelona and it's clear to see why. However, it is yet to be completed and so adding to the wonder that is Sagrada Familia. My Grandad Harry had a theory that every night all the work that had been done in the day would be removed so that it would never be finished and continue to be this extravagant tourist attraction. Who knows?
I have also been to another of Gaudí's famous bulidings; Casa Batlló. This is basically a house built on the Passeig de Gracia running through the centre of Barcelona that is a bit wacky. (Gaudí was a bit wacky). It's a fully functioning, practical house but with weird and wonderful 'stuff' in it, all designed and overseen by Gaudí. It was really interesting to visit but I don't think I'd like to live there, I'm happy with my little flat. 

The last leg to the top.

On Sunday, the gym I go to had organised a little excursion- a walk to Puigsacalm. This should have really been labelled as a climb as it is, according to wikipedia, 'the highest mountain in the Catalan Transversal Range...and has an altitude of 1512 metres.' Now, although I didn't start the walk...I mean climb from sea level, it bloody well felt like it. It was extremely steep and it definitely nearly killed me. Ok that's an exaggeration but it was pretty difficult and my legs were aching like mad afterwards. Having said all this, it was a grand day out in great company (mainly old ladies who were out climbing us- to be fair they had sticks) and the views from the top were spectacular. It was lovely to get some proper fresh air and see another part of this fab country. 

Thankful to be alive

Other activities that have been undertaken over the past few weeks include seeing Les Misérables twice (it's immense, and if you haven't already seen it then do!), being subjected to a questionable English production of the Ugly Duckling and Pinocchio at school and indulging in some gorgeous strawberries and cream IN WINTER!



Well that's all for now folks but I'm sure I'll have some more Barcelona stories to fill you in on soon. Ciao for now!!

P.s. Hi Fran.

Back to Spain we go...

Ok, it's been far too long since I've updated this blog. I do apologise for this but I can assure you that I'll be more disciplined this year.

Let's start at the end of last year, before Christmas. The last few weeks before we broke up for the holidays were mainly geared towards Christmas and Els Pastorets. This is the Catalan equivalent of the Nativity play that young kids put on around Christmas time but the story is centred around the Shepherds (els pastorets) and the journey they make to see the birth of baby Jesus. The three Kings, Mary, Joseph, the Angel Gabriel etc feature very little in the production and so I wasn't really following the story until it was explained to me afterwards! This is mainly because there are about 400 kids at my school which made the show a complete shambles, and that, along with the fact that only half the microphones worked meant that it was about 2 hours of me thinking 'what the hell is going on?!' Having said that, it was great to see another Catalan tradition and I felt like a proud honorary teacher watching all the students perform. 

By the time the 21st December came around, I was super excited to venture back to the UK Christmas. I was met at the airport by the family and was extremely happy to back on home soil. Needless to say, it was a very special 2 weeks at home seeing the family and friends and going to London to see in the New Year made it even better! I also got see the newest addition to the family- little baby Willow (who is actually a dog). I love her to pieces but I just hope she remembers me when I'm home next, whenever that may be. 

So, on coming back to Spain, I decided to drag my Dad and brothers out here to see what goes on and where I live. They were staying in the hotel opposite my flat which was very handy and they spent 3 days and nights here and we barely stopped. We visited Barcelona and Girona, seeing as much as possible in the little time we had. I also showed them around lovely little Vic and took them to some of my favourite places. We were lucky enough to be invited to my lovely mentor's house for dinner on Saturday before the Three Kings parade through the city. I should mention at this point that some families go with the tradition that the Three Kings bring the presents on the night of the 5th January as opposed to Santa Claus on 25th December. Anyway, after indulging in some traditional Catalan foods with my family and Maria's, we set off for the city centre and needless to say, it was booming. I had no idea that there was so many people in Vic. The atmosphere was super and I can imagine that being 5 years old and seeing the Three Kings parade through the town is exceedingly exciting!

The boys all left on 6th January and so that meant it was back to normal for me here in Vic. I'm really happy to be back and to see all my Spanish, English and French friends again along with all the little monkeys at school. I've already tried my hand at some new Catalan foods with my French friend Aurelie and her brand new baby boy, Yann, and their friends. I was invited out for lunch with them and by lunch I mean about 4 hours of food in a restaurant whilst nursing a hangover. However, I had the most fun! We ate calcots which are a vegetable (somewhere between a leek and an onion) cooked on a fire. You then pinch one end and pull the other to take out the juicy vegetable from inside, all the while wearing a bib and gloves (it gets very messy). This is all served on a roof tile, I don't know maybe the restaurant couldn't afford plates. This was all an experience in itself which made for a great day out with some new friends. 

I'm looking forward to some new adventures out here over the next 6 months, I've even written a 'Barcelona Bucket List' (don't worry I'm not dying) but it's all the stuff I want to do before I leave Spain in June, so watch this space. So, I hope the New Year is treating all of you well and I promise to update you all more often from now on....I hope.

The most wonderful time of the year!

It's been a fair few weeks since I last updated my life in blog world. This isn't because I've been too busy, more because nothing amazingly spectacular has happened. I think the 'honeymoon period' of my year abroad has well and truly ended in that life here is just normal and I go about my daily doings quite happily. However, I don't see this as a bad thing, far from it in fact, but it does mean I have well and truly settled into my life out here in Vic.

This is the market as seen from Jade's balcony

Having said that, these last few weeks have been a delight as ever. The highlight of which has to be the annual Medieval Market that comes to Vic each year, bringing THOUSANDS of people from all over Spain with it. I definitely think this is the best market I have ever been to, and I live a minute away from it! The food was to die for (I didn't cook for 3 days!) and the atmosphere was super and very cultural. Therefore, all my indulgences in food and mulled wine counts as being culturally educated as part of my year abroad. This market took over the city for 4 days and, although going anywhere was a bit of a pain, it was a great to see everyone walking around in medieval attire and hearing some traditional Catalan music. We also caught a mini show-thing one night which was...umm...interesting but entertaining nonetheless. I would like to mention that the highlight of this market was the vessel in which the mulled wine was sold...a horn, which made the wine drinking an experience in itself!

Being only an hour and a half from the beautiful city of Barcelona, I've visited a couple of times to do various things. The Christmasness in Barcelona is fabulous, just like any city in the UK, there are lights everywhere, an ice rink in the centre, and a gorgeous Christmas market complete with Christmas songs in English! It's safe to say that I really love the city as it's great to get lost in tourism as opposed to being one of the few foreigners here in Vic and also the fact that the city is just immense. Recently, I went for the weekend to celebrate a friends birthday and to let our hair down which was a truly fabulous getaway. 

This is me, Maria and Josep enjoying our traditional roast dinner.

Having been invited to dinner a few times to my mentor's house to experience some traditional Catalan stuff, I decided that I would attempt to cook a roast dinner for Maria and her husband Josep with the help of my friend Jade. This masterpiece was complete with proper gravy, stuffing, roast potatoes and an apple pie for pudding (yum). It was, I am pleased to say, a great success and I think (and hope) it went down a treat, even though it did take us 4 hours to cook from start to finish!

I took this picture from my balcony, the clouds are pretty impressive

So Christmas has finally arrived in Vic. The lights have only just been turned even though they've been up for about a month, but they were well worth the wait. The main square has a great big tree and all the streets are lined with lights, one even has a very festive red carpet running down it. However, it's just not the same here and I'm super excited about coming back to the land of tacky Christmas decorations and songs, but more importantly, stuffing my face for 2 weeks with Britain's finest Christmas nosh. 

Lyon and stuff...

Sorry for being a little behind with this blogging malarkey, it's been a bit manic recently but I don't seem to have done anything. The last couple of weeks have been relatively normal to be honest. 

My normal week consists of going to school 4 days a week, going to my Catalan class twice a week, dragging myself to my gym class 3 evenings a weeks, drinking in cafes more often than I should be, having Spanish language exchanges (in yet more cafes) and enjoying fun and games on the weekends. All the rest of the time is filled in with tele watching and a lot of eating (hence the gym).

Having said all this, I have done a couple of things for the first time very recently. I paid my rent which meant trying to find the Estate Agents again which was a bit of a challenge. However, the people were very nice and I was referred to as 'the English girl'- could be worse I suppose. I also decided it was time for a hair cut so I braved the trip to the salon to tidy up the birds nest that was, my hair. I also left my keys at school this week which was a tad dumb. It meant I wasn't able to get into my flat for a good few hours before my keys were returned safely to their rightful owner. Nonetheless, I embraced the situation and went for some delicious Tapas to pass the time.

This weekend, however, was a lot more exciting. It started on Friday evening when I went down to Barcelona for the evening to stay in a hostel for the night, before I had to catch a flight the next day...more on that in a mo. I spent the evening wondering around the city, soaking up the hustle and bustle of my favourite city. I went to the fountains near to Placa Espana called las fuentes de Montjuïc, they're gorgeous and mesmerising to watch. After exploring a bit more of the city, I headed back to the hostel for some tea with some Canadians I had met when I arrived. They were good company but a bit weird- never mind eh? 

Saturday morning started too early for my liking- 6am! My flight to Lyon was at half 8 so I needed to get a move on. The reason for visiting, was to see the love of my life Fran and my beautiful friend Abbi, who are also teaching as part of their year abroad, and as flights were ridiculously cheap, I could hardly resist. 

The first day was spent wondering around Lyon and generally catching up. Although, we did find a rather spiffing free zoo in a park which was a nice surprise, good research Abbi! The rest of the day involved walking round in circles in the centre of the city, eating in a restaurant far too posh for us students and travelling back to Fran's house a million miles above sea level. The village I was staying was lush and the scenery was amazing. To be honest it was great to get some genuine fresh air rather than the farmy/pig smell here in Vic. Having said that, there's not a great deal to do there so I'm kinda glad I don't live there. Although, we did find a lovely little crepe place in the village that was extremely French and so we couldn't resist. The rest of my time in the middle of nowhere was spent watching films, cooking and eating traditional French food (pizza and fajitas) and absorbing the wonders of the French countryside. 

The downside to the trip was the fact that I, yet again, had to get up at the unreasonable hour of 6am to get the bus and train back to Lyon for my flight at 8pm. This obviously meant that I had a lot of time to kill so I made the most of this by going to the Fourviere on the big hill, the old town, a couple of cathedrals, some cafés and a shopping centre. After a tram to the airport, the plane back to Barcelona, a bus from the airport to the city centre and a train back home to Vic, I was knackered but was pleased to see my lovely flat and more importantly, my bed. 

So, to sum up, the last couple of weeks have yet again been great and it was great seeing some familiar faces. It's starting to get really cold here in Catalonia and those sparkly lights have been going up which can only mean one thing...CHRISTMAS! I'm very much looking forward to this but I have another month or so of fun and games before heading back to sunny Wales for some Christmas Cheer. 

Zaragoza

Last week, I had a 2 day working week. That was thanks to the Spanish and Catalans and their constant need to celebrate something. 

Anyway, this time it was Castanyada. I'm not really sure what the story behind the whole thing is but the Spanish eat roasted chestnuts and little cake things. My second day of work (Wednesday) which only starts at 11am, was fun and games in the afternoon so I technically only did one day of teaching. This was absolutely fine by me as you can imagine. I didn't let all the free time go to waste though- don't worry.

I was invited to my mentor's house so she could show me what normally goes on at Castanyada. Jade and I went over in the evening bearing nothing but a pumpkin that I carved for Halloween and had a fab evening. We met up with Merce and Tomas (who we already know) and their friends Jan and another woman whose name I can't remember. Jade and I were most impressed by the fact that Jan was an Inuit who could speak 5 languages, play guitar, paint (pretty well), and make amazing Sushi. The night was lush and it felt really family-ish and homelike. 

On Friday morning, Jade, Anna and I went on a little 'holiday' to Zaragoza. We arrived in the city about 5ish and after checking in at the hostel, we went straight to the Palace building, which seems to be the 'image' of Zaragoza. The building is MASSIVE and the area it's in is just lovely. 

We did lots of exciting things over the weekend including visiting an art museum (it was free), going to the future (the futuristic looking buildings of the city), going inside (and up) the palace building, visiting the university, walking around a lush looking park and going to clubs and bars. Arguably the best bit of the trip was the last night when we went to the El Tubo area of the city where all the bars and restaurants are. We had the most incredible Tapas ever and for only 10 euros each. I also had the best xocolata desfeta in a gorgeous place on the main drag through Zaragoza, and it has gone to the top of my list as the best one I've tasted since I've been here.

Once again, had an enjoyable weekend away discovering another part of Spain. I would definitely go back and recommend it to friend. Definitely falling for this travelling malarkey! 

It has turned.

I can't believe how fast time is passing. The saying 'time flies when you're having fun' is certainly applicable here. Nothing amazing has occurred really this week but it's been a great one yet again. As usual, however, it's been a busy one!

I decided that, to avoid boredom and eating to many goodies, I should join the gym, so I did. It's so much fun and the people are fab. The three gym workers are a variety of characters. There's a beautifully built man who sadly doesn't take any of the classes I go to, a 3 foot nothing woman who is a bit lazy but she speaks English to us (as we're few and far between here, when we crop up people like to show off their language, or at least attempt to) and lastly a seven foot Samoan looking guy, Berto. He is hilarious and so enthusiastic but sadly his English stretches to counting to 10, I don't he's the brightest knife in the shed, if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, I've been 3 times this week and hopefully I'll be able to keep that up!

As I'm spending my days speaking English at school and meeting up with other English speakers, I thought it would be a good idea to set up some foreign language exchanges. I met a lovely guy, Eduard, who wants to perfect his English so he can work in Santander in Britain. He's a friend of my friends partner so I met him through them on a night out. I've also met up with Andrea who is the daughter of Maria's friend Merce, who we went to Costa Brava with. She was lovely and we just spoke Spanish the entire time and it turns out I can waffle in Spanish too as she even asked me if I like talking... I met a lovely French lady at my Catalan class and so I thought it would worth it meeting with her to make sure I don't forget how to speak the lingo. Incidentally, she is how I met Eduard as he is friends with her partner, Sergi. It turns out my French still exists but with the odd Spanish word thrown in and that's exactly why I want to practice with her!

Anna, Jade and I decided we would visit somewhere else earlier in the week and so we hopped on the train and visited Ripoll. It's a lovely little town close to the French border in the mountains. I wouldn't say I loved it but it was a very nice place and the scenery is amazing. I know I keep saying that but it truly is!

On Saturday, we visited Barcelona again because I really really needed to buy a coat before the cold really sets in. The cold Gods were obviously watching over me as the queue in Primark was minimalistic and, literally, as soon as we touched back down in Vic, IT WAS FREEZING! And it has been ever since. It almost feels like we had a week of Autumn and then went straight to winter. This doesn't bother me in the slightest anymore as I know have a lovely new coat. Barcelona didn't disappoint, yet again, which made Saturday a great day out and we topped it off by going out on Saturday night for some fun times. Needless to say that Sunday was quite a relaxing day after a pretty busy week.

Colonies.

This week has been exhausting in more than one way! I was invited on my first activity holiday with the kids and teachers and let's just say it was an experience. Spending 3 days with a hundred 8 and 9 year olds was a challenge and I really feel for all my primary school teachers that had to put up with me when I was that age.

We left on Wednesday morning and immediately went on an excursion. We were staying in a place in the mountains not far from here but it took nearly 2 hours to get there due to the mountainous terrain. The coach took us up to 1800m and on the way we saw vultures looking scary on the side of the road like they were sizing us up for their next meal, deer running down the side of the mountain and snow. I know right...SNOW!! It was crazy- only a week and a half ago I was sunburnt on a beach in nearly 30 degree heat. We walked down the mountain side back to the village of Castellar de n'Hug. On the way down we went into a cave which was fab. I know this sounds daft but it was so dark and quiet! I haven't heard silence for a while so it was nice to have a few minutes of peace. 

The village itself is beautiful. There are only 83 people who live there, 4 of which are children as there is no school within about an hour of the place. It seemed to me that as a substitute for kids, the habitants all had dogs instead which roamed the village at will like a back garden. There are 4 bakeries, each claiming to be the only one in the village which made me chuckle. These bakeries do giant croissants which were HUGE and costed 8 euros! I would also like to point out that it was absolutely freezing up there, but the views of the landscape most definitely made up for this. It is nothing like Britain; it's harsh, dangerous and very rocky. 

On Thursday morning, I went down to the river with the headmistress and another young teacher which I really enjoyed as it was some good teacher bonding time. In fact, I bonded with all the teachers during the stay which I've really appreciated. I felt as part of the team and although they were happily nattering away in Catalan, I did pick up some more language but had plenty of one on one conversations in Spanish. I also really enjoy spending more time with the kids as there are some real gems at the school, but there are also some absolute brats but as I 'can't understand Spanish or Catalan' I didn't have to put with them much.

After the disco on the last night which, by the way, I thoroughly enjoyed and made a complete full of myself with me awesome dancing, the kids were knackered so they fell asleep pretty quickly. This was a massive relief because the previous night they were so hyper that out of all the teachers, I got the most sleep- a whole 5 hours. Once they'd fallen asleep, me and the other teachers painted the nails of the naughty boys and drew on the faces of the cocky girls. Apparently, it is normal for the teachers to play practical jokes on the kids so I just went along with it and it was hilarious!

Come homing on Friday was such a relief as I was fed up of all the children and really wanted some peace and quiet. The weekend was just as fun but slightly more relaxing as the week. I went to the market for the first time and although it was great to finally go there, it wasn't anything special but I did enjoy the hustle and bustle of the town. 

Saturday was the first time that we all available to go to a nightclub in town. It was a great night and we met the family of my French pregnant lady friend and they were brilliant. It was fun to let our hair down after a busy week. After a night of drinking and dancing, Sunday was most definitely a relaxing day. Anna and I went for some fresh air and bumped into a dance demonstration in the placa major to raise money for dogs or something. We just chilled in a cafe with Jade for a couple of hours and discussed last nights antics! 

Overall, I've an eye opening week and it's been a lot of laughs but quite tiring. I know I keep saying that I'm tired, which is the truth, but it's a good tired so I'm not moaning about it. But let's just say that this week will be a little less full on!

More Spain Shenanigans

Firstly, this week has been truly fabulous- as usual!! This blog entry is a weeks worth of 'stuff' so I'll try and keep it to the point and a sensible length. 

I had a day off on Monday as normal and I was still shattered from the weekend before but it was relaxing and pleasant nonetheless. I had my Catalan class in the evening where I made friends with a very heavily pregnant French lady with whom I'm going to be meeting up with now and again to do a French-English language exchange. We went for a drink after the lesson (non-alcoholic obviously) and as there was no common language between the 4 of us, we spoke a mixture of French, Spanish and English which got very confusing but funny at the same time!

Tuesday is my 'full' day. By this I mean I work from 10am until 4.30pm with a 2 hour gap in the middle- hard life eh? The day was good as normal I was told to make a presentation about British film and television which was great fun to make!! I was feeling very nostalgic about and decided to watch a bit of Wallace and Gromit on youtube. Later on in the evening, (young) Maria and I went to the gym to try out tonestep which was great fun and hilarious! I'll definitely be joining this gym after this week as it's about 2 minutes from my flat and not bad value for money.

Sadly, on Wednesday, nothing spectacular happened. School until half 4 and then out to play with my friend Jade. We've found a cafe called L'Occita which serves xocolata defreta which is basically a melted chocolate bar in a cup. Oh my god it's amazing but it's probably not something one should divulge in everyday! Had the Catalan class in the evening again and had my first assessment which I most definitely aced as I'm 1 or 2 classes to low. The reason for this is that I've already studied Catalan at uni but there are no spaces in the classes above me so I have to go at a snails pace until January when I can change. You may ask: Why bother? Well I'll tell you- the classes are free and if I didn't go I wouldn't be speaking much Catalan plus I get to spend more time with my amigas so it's no bother.

Thursday didn't get very exciting until the end of the day when I decided to trek to the outskirts of town to where all the big shops are, to find a Decathlon. I spent a fair bit of money to be fair but it was all practical purchases. After this little trip, I embraced my new stuff and went for a jog around the city (that sounds impressive but it really isn't huge!). Jade came round for the evening but at about 9 we remembered that there was the demonstration for independence whereby 8000 candles are lit in the main square and all the patriots chant stuff about how awesome Catalonia is and how much they don't want to be a part of Spain. It was really great and the atmosphere was fabulous. The reason for this is that on the 12th October (the next day), Spain has a national holiday and whatsmore, some companies and schools will open for a few hours on the bank holiday in protest where the employees/children can make flags and anti-Spanish stuff. 

This is where the week gets more exciting...we went to Valencia!! The trip got off to a false start as we looked up the wrong train times due to the bank holiday so we didn't actually leave Barcelona until half past 2, having arrived there at 10.30. Either way, we hopped onto the super, awesome, cool, fast train down the coast to rainy Valencia. The day was quite long and stressful but we eventually arrived at the hostel and immediately went out for tea at an Italian restaurant. Valencia wasn't doing much for me at this point as it was dark, raining and full of annoying tourists (probably like myself). Once we were back at the hostel we prepped ourselves for a well deserved night out. We most definitely let our hair down and had a super night (from what I recall!)

Fortunately, the sun was well and truly shining on Saturday so, after a morning and a good hearty breakfast, we ventured to the city and decided where to take it from there. As we were pretty tired (hungover) we thought the best way to see the city would be by tour bus! This was a brilliant idea as we saw everything for 15 euros and met some absolutely hilarious Italian people. The city is lovely and really full of history and culture- the scientific zone, especially, is really magnificent. We took our time over these two tours, as they were an hour and a half each anyway, and we stopped for lunch in between them as well. This took us up to dinner time, so we went on the hunt for somewhere that did Tapas or Paella at a reasonable price. This proved more difficult than expected but we eventually found somewhere Tapas-y and it was lush but definitely did not fill me up! The plan was to go back out on Saturday evening but this did not follow through...we were far too tired from the night before and the day of Valencia-ing and our train on Sunday was at half past 8 leaving us not much time to sleep. It was certainly the right decision to make as we were still shattered on Sunday morning! we caught the train back up to Barcelona and then across to Vic to an awaiting shower and bed! It was a great week and a super weekend and very much looking forward to next weeks shenanigans too.

Ok, I said it was going to be a decent length but never mind. Also, I apologise for the amount and variety of adjectives but seen as the bus tour-guide only knew the word 'interesting' I am trying to be as diverse as possible to make up for her uselessness.