Having an amazing time here studying here in Valladolid in Spain! I've only been here 2 weeks but I have already been made to feel welcome by the Spanish students in my spanish student residence! We have been split into 'novatos' (first year students) and 'veteranos' (the second/third year students). The spanish 'freshers' or 'novatades' as the Spanish call it has been a bit crazy but also fun! We have played a lot of fun games to get to know each other and us 'novatos' (first year students) have had to wear silly clothes to lunch and dinner- we have to wear a shower cap, a apron, a nappy (made out of a bin bag), arm-bands, an eye-patch and drink from a baby bottle. I have put a picture showing the top-half of the outfit and will try and get someone to take a picture of the whole body so you can see the full effect. It looks really funny together! My friend in the picture with me is called Sara and she is Spanish. She is really friendly and we often go to lunch and dinner together. Sara does not know a lot of English but prior to my coming wanted to meet up with a native English speaker so she can practice her English. None of the other students in my residence know much English so it is very good practice for my Spanish. I have only had a few lessons so far but I have enjoyed the ones I have been to so far! I have met a few Erasmus students from different countries and everyone I have met so far has been really nice! There is a real mix of different nationalities here from Belgian, to Italian, French, Spanish and even some English and Irish students. Looking forward to the trips the Erasmus society will organise over the year and I also hope to meet up with my German friend who is studying in Barcelona for the first semester (September-December) and my friend from Switzerland who is studying in Madrid in the second semester-both of whom I met whilst I was at the Summer School at Pompeu Fabra Universitat in Barcelona. My first week In Valladolid was crazy because I had my "cumpleaños" (my birthday) en el veinte-tres (23) de septiembre y ahora tengo veinte-uno años. Also my birthday was the day I had my orientation where they gave us all the information about what we need to do in order to register. I have attached a photo with all my 21st birthday decorations that my family put up in my room. I also did a quick tour of Valladolid on Monday (in the first week I was here), walking around the city and I went on the tourist bus around Valladolid. On my quick tour with my family I visited 'El campo grande' which is a romantic park where they have peacocks and there were even some peacocks outside the park that had escaped which I took a photo of. We also saw the end of the Spanish equivalent of a Car Cruise where they show off lots of old cars and people can come and look at them and take pictures of them as they drive past. The spanish people were packing up when we were there so unfortunately I have not got any pictures of it. It was very strange seeing that here in Valladolid in Spain as I have only ever seen a car cruise in Florida in America which my uncle showed me (he lived out in Florida for 10 years but has now returned to England so he can see his grandchildren and lives in Luton). I haven't seen that much of Valladolid yet but I hope to go and visit some of the museums here and to see the attractions dedicated to Christopher Columbus (as he died here in Valladolid and there are monuments here dedicated to his memory) such as the Casa Colon. Below I have put some photos of what I have see so far of Valladolid and the building where I had my induction and where I will be studying (la facultad de filosofia y letras).
This second week has been quite busy because I had a lot of things still to be done and some things have gone a bit wrong. I managed to get my NIE (Foreign student number) from the police station but can not open a bank account until the card version of the NIE comes through. Luckily they were very understanding at my student residence and let me pay in cash for next month's rent. Unfortunately I found out that my European Health Insurance Card ran out and so I have to apply for a new one-so I was unable to register and get my student card and gain access to the online site. I have to wait for my new health card to come so cannot access anything until at least next week :(. I have also had my first translation class from English to Spanish which is quite difficult but I am learning a lot already from it and I think my Spanish will have definitely improved from doing this course. I am glad I decided to take a year abroad in Spain to study because I have only been here 2 weeks but I feel as I am learning more Spanish already. I am still a bit nervous about my Spanish speaking but I am hoping to gain more confidence in my Spanish speaking over the next few months.
Adios para ahora y hasta la semana que viene,
Becky
 |
| Campo Grande en Valladolid |
 |
| Casa del estudiante (this is where I went for my orientation day) |
 |
| Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (this is where I have my classes) |
 |
| My bathroom in my student residence in Valladolid |
 |
| My bedroom at Valladolid (with my 21st birthday decorations) |
 |
| Shop in Valladolid with my name! |
 |
| 'Novatos' outfit-me (on left) and Sara(on right) |
No comments:
Post a Comment