I know its been a long time, but there has been so much going on here in Spain! I am still loving life and enjoying every moment! Part of studying abroad is getting to know a new place, a new culture, etc., but the best part of studying abroad that no on really talks about is all of the new people. Maybe I'm a corny cheese-ball, or maybe I am just lucky to be surrounded by the people that I have met here; but honestly, I can say that all of the good times that I have had during my time in Pamplona and in travelling have been made 1,000 times better by the great people that I have got to share them with.
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| Valentine's Brunch |
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| Brunch Bunch |
Valentine's Day is a day dedicated to love and mine was so full of love and friendship that it will honestly be one that I will look to fondly for the rest of my life. I started the day with brunch at the piso of one of my good friends. All of us brought different things. We sat around, preparing the food, eating, and laughing for hours before deciding to watch Bridget Jones' Diary (in Spanish, of course). We laughed, oohhed, and awwed together through the whole thing and after sat around and listened and sang to some of our favorite songs that they play in all of the clubs here. You haven't lived until you've jammed to El Taxi, Bialando, Travesuras, and Si No Te Quisiera! Really... look them up, listen to them, love them. Back to my Valentine's Day, for Valentine's Evening, I had some other friends over to my piso to hangout before going out for the night, we played games and laughed and giggled, maybe a bit too loudly because Maria, my flatmate didn't seem too pleased! Anyway when the time came we headed to meet all of the other Erasmus students for a Carnival party. They gave us free masks, which was great until I realized that my sensitive skin wasn't a fan. Needless to say, I had a VERY pink face for the rest of the night (and for 3 days to come....). Even pink face and all, it was still a great night! One to remember for sure because when you are Erasmus you don't simply go to one place for the night! We headed to a few other places and finally made it home in the hours of the next morning (I was quite proud of this accomplishment for myself, I usually bail early).
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| Me and my pink face! |
Sometimes the time difference between here and home really sucks but this was one time when it did not, because as I was ending my Valentine's on the phone with some of my favorite people in the world, because thousands of miles can't hinder the love I have for my friends back home!
Last week. I finally got settled into my courses at the university and again I can't help but to be thankful for people I meet! In my courses, I am lost sometimes and sometimes the language barrier is hard, but there have been so many students who have taken time to make sure that I am on the same page and I have even been approached after class a few times by people who wanted to let me know that if I need help they are willing to help out. This makes being in a new setting, surrounded by a language that I am not a master in a lot easier! I think that I will make a lot of good relationships through this aspect of my time here too.
Another great experience I have had has been in an intercambio that I have with a girl here in Spain, we meet once a week and I help her with verbs, word structure, and pronunciation in English and she practices my Spanish with me! This is great, not only because we both get to practice, but also because we are getting to know each other and spend time together. It is amazing the power that language can have and how important sharing and exchange is in improving.
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Thursdays are better
at Singular! Roommate and
Private Uni Friend! |
We had another "Crazy Wednesday" and this brings me to another instance where people have made my experience here that much better. The Erasmus mentors have been nothing but helpful and nice from day 1. I don't think that I would be nearly as settled into my life here in Pamplona without Laura, Gabby, Pablo Simpático, and all of the other mentors who make sure that we have every opportunity to have fun and to have great cultural experiences. I have felt so welcomed and cared for by them.
I also have met students from the Private University here in Pamplona which is awesome since we are all here in one city studying abroad.
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| We really were their #1 fans |
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| #BilbaoCookers |
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| View in Bilbao |
I ended the week and spent the weekend in Bilbao with a few friends. We took a 2 hour bus ride and spent the weekend exploring, shopping, and taking a much needed relaxing weekend. During our weekend, we encountered rain, an empty club, and an interesting hostel roommate, but those things were made up for by some delicious meals, great days of shopping, a free concerts, and nights spent giggling and having fun. We happened in to discotecca that our hostel gave us free admission into and it turned out there was a rock concert going on. By the end of the second song, we were the biggest fans in the room and we knew all of the words! "Don't go, don't go! Fallin' in love!". The next day another friend met us in town and we walked around and did some serious shopping! By the afternoon we were tired and headed in for the night. Although we had a creepy hostel mate, we made the best of it and I laughed more than I have in ages. We prepared an excellent dinner and dubbed ourselves the Bilbao Cookers, tacos are our specialty, and we will be in a city near you soon! After an interesting night, we headed out to the Guggenheim Museum the next morning and then back to Pamplona it was! The Guggenheim was quite impressive and some of the pieces were really beautiful and made me reflect.
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| Guggenheim |
I think that is all for now but back to my original point... the one thing I've learned on this journey so far is that any boring day or seemingly unimportant day can be made by amazing people and the life-long memories that you make with them! Laugh, smile, and appreciate every second, because time is flying!
Until next time,
Brittany
