¡Hola!
The last 2 weeks have been fairly quiet in my Valencian
life, so there isn’t much to say! weeks have been fairly quite in my Valencian
life.
As previously mentioned, we returned to heat and sunshine
after Easter, and being April, we thought it was finally time to get out the
shorts and head to the beach (everyone at home thought it was crazy I hadn’t
already spent a day at the beach, with the temperatures here being similar if
not higher than those of a “British Summer.” Therefore, last week consisted of
several trips to the beach. One day, however, we did get rather badly sunburnt
as so I spent last weekend in my room, rather red and burnt and in quite a bit
of pain, hiding away from the sun. After a few horrible days, the burn turned
into tan and now I have a base tan, it’s full steam ahead with a great tan, I
hope!
During this unfortunate period, I learnt a new Spanish word: “Un Guiri.” This is a word used by locals for obvious foreign tourists, often pale-skinned and from Northern Europe who come to Spain and get sunburnt easily, clearly standing out as ‘foreign.’ The term can also extend to refer to those who come to Spain on holiday but then eat the same foods that can be found at home, indulge themselves in purchasing cheap ‘España’ memorabilia and generally being an outside of Spanish culture. Indeed, María thought it was hilarious, hence introducing me to the word.
During this unfortunate period, I learnt a new Spanish word: “Un Guiri.” This is a word used by locals for obvious foreign tourists, often pale-skinned and from Northern Europe who come to Spain and get sunburnt easily, clearly standing out as ‘foreign.’ The term can also extend to refer to those who come to Spain on holiday but then eat the same foods that can be found at home, indulge themselves in purchasing cheap ‘España’ memorabilia and generally being an outside of Spanish culture. Indeed, María thought it was hilarious, hence introducing me to the word.
Hannah & I In The Sea!
We’ve also become friends with a large group of Irish
people who are in Valencia to work for the next few months – we’ve had some
nights out with them and they’re lots of fun and create lots of laughs – I’m
sure there’ll be some hilarious times to come with them!
Last Sunday, Alex, Hannah, Heather, Sam and I went to ‘100
Montaditos.’ A montadito is a bit like a mini baguette and as the name
suggests, the menu has 100 different varieties. On a Sunday and Wednesday, all
food and drink is 1eur and so we certainly had our money’s worth – they were surprisingly
filling and there wasn’t a need to eat too many, shall definitely be popping
back there again!
This week I’ve been focussing a lot on my teaching
assistant and tandems to bulk up my hours as quickly as possible and so there
isn’t a lot to report. I need to complete 70 hours to pass the module and I’m
aiming to reach 50 by the time I go to London next Thursday, which I think will
be manageable – I hope!
Having spent my evenings in this week, last night a
number of us went to a cocktail bar located just off Plaza de la Virgen.
Although chilled and they had great drinks (Apple Mojito – YUM,) I did feel the
bar lacked a little atmosphere, some background music would’ve been good! After
a few drinks, I left the others to go and meet Quique, a Spanish guy I met just
before easter, and some of his friends and we went to a bar before going on to
a club. I spoke way too much Spanish for my head to cope with and on the walk
home it was a mix of English, French, Spanish and non-existant words, but I
felt I did well, nevertheless!
With Han
With Alex
With Quique :)
The weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse over
the last few days and looks set to continue right into next week – lots of
cloud, even more rain and definitely no sun. However, I think it’s quite nice
to have a little break from the sun and the rain definitely clears the air of
humidity!
The Rain In Spain....
This week is a very short one! I have one class on
Monday, Tuesday’s class is cancelled due to a conference, which I will
subsequently be helping out with for more hours to reach the 70 hour goal.
Wednesday is some sort of bank holiday and University is closed and on Thursday
I will be London-bound for BEYONCÉ. This may possibly be the most exciting
moment of my life, so far! I’ve watched tons of videos online to see what I can
expect and I have a friend who saw her in Paris earlier this week, and a friend
who saw her last night in Birmingham. Both said the show was INCREDIBLE and
there is no doubt in my mind that it will be spectacular – exciting times indeed!!
The only bad thing about the timing is that Naomi and her boyfriend are coming
to visit Valencia when I happen to be away but fingers crossed we’ll get to see
each other before they leave!
VERY Exciting Times!
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