My first semester in Spain

When I started this blog I had a very naive view of my work ethic and time management as I thought it would be easy to upload a blog post every 2 weeks. It is fair to say that the past two months have brought me slightly back down to earth and gave me a reality check of my own organisation. But finally, after 3 weeks in the UK, which involved mostly catching up with sleep and wholesome home cooked meals, I have been able to look back on my first term in Granada and highlight some of my favourite, albeit some blurry, memories.

Firstly, I can’t think of Granada without thinking about the ridiculously amazing view points that can be found amongst the white brick buildings of the Albaicín. However tired I may have been, I can confidently say that it was always worth the steep uphill walk to see the sun setting over the city.

As well as improving my Spanish, I have made a great discovery during my first term. I have discovered the perfect hangover cure. For someone who likes to sleep all day after a night out but then is plagued with the guilt of wasting the day, I have found the best solution. The beach. On more Sundays than I care to admit I have woken up at 1pm with a headache and no motivation to do anything, but my saving grace was a message on the group chat suggesting the beach. This message was the motivation I needed to stagger out of bed, grab a towel, my swim stuff, an extremely large bottle of water and a variety of different carbohydrates and make my way to the bus station for the 45 minute trip to one of the beaches along (as my friend always says) the costa del brexit. Once we had arrived, sleep didn’t feel like such of a waste of the day!

Another highlight of the term was an impromptu trip to Malaga to watch a SoFar Sounds concert. Ignorant of what SoFar Sounds was, I went with little expectation, especially as part of the concept is that you only find out the venue on the day and only find out the artists when they start singing.  So it is fair to say I was confused when instead of arriving at a concert hall we ended up at a tiny library. After waiting outside for a few minutes, we were all ushered into the library and shown to a scattered array of seating which circled a few microphones, a piano and drum set. Once we had all sat down, some on chairs, some on the floor, the first band performed, and were then followed by two more.  It was unlike any concert I had been to before and for this it will always be one of my favourite memories of my time in Spain

Whilst I have been immersing myself as much as possible into Spanish culture, every now and again I have found myself missing things that I am so used to having around in the UK. For example, Sainsburys meal deals, Greggs and continuing on the theme of food, Come Dine with Me. Luckily it didn’t take long to realise that I wasn’t alone, so me and some friends decided to fill the void by having a kind of Come Dine with Me inspired evening, where everyone brought something homemade, which we then ate on the floor of my friends terrace.

Finally, one of the many things I love about being an Erasmus student is that a lot of my friends are also Erasmus students, which has been perfect for travelling around Spain. A few of my friends are studying in Madrid, so I caught the 5 hour bus to Madrid to see them and explore the capital of Spain. I was blown away by the grand metropolis, from the beauty of Retiro Park, to the chaotic squares, it really made Granada feel very small in comparison. Whilst I was there I went to Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, the WiZink centre to watch the band The Lumineers and so many other places that made me fall completely in love with the city

It has been an extremely chaotic and eventful first term in Granada and I am so grateful for all the things I have had the opportunity to do and all the people I have met that have completely distracted me from writing blog posts!