I am writing this post from a very busy Starbucks in Madrid's city centre, attempting (and failing) to do some 'life admin'. I've already chosen my third year modules which is SUPER scary...I can't even explain how fast the past 2 years have gone! In a year I'll be applying for jobs, about to go in to *the real world* aaaaah. Let's not talk about that.
Talking about time flying though, if I thought Uni in Sheffield was going too fast, in Madrid it feels like 10x faster! I can't believe that I have almost been here for FOUR MONTHS. Whaaaat?! I feel like I've been here my whole life and I also feel like we just got here yesterday all at the same time.
I think that time goes so fast because living in a different country still feels exciting and different...but it is easy to forget that Uni here counts towards my degree, so many nights are spent trying to get last minute work finished before a deadline (not that anybody sticks to deadlines here...)
Weekends are fun though, since my last post I have visited a teeny village just outside of Madrid with my boyfriend, introduced my brother to the world of sangria and tapas, been to a colour run which wasn't a run and turned out to be more of a kids party...started a language tandem with a girl from Guatemala, visited a new rooftop bar, went to a party at my housemate's University, went to the beaaaach in Valencia for a day, discovered the city of Segovia, been visited by my Dad, Step-Mum and baby brother, been on the longest urban zip-wire in Europe.....no wonder time goes so fast.
I also went home for a week over Easter which was amaaazing. I'd been quite homesick the week before I went, but spending time with family and friends gave me the push I needed to come back to Madrid with a positive mindset.
Side note: the weirdest thing I noticed when I was at home was that the air smelt SO fresh compared to Madrid. I think I've gotten used to stuffy city air, and I didn't realise how refreshing it would be to be surrounded by fields and trees again. Hahaha.
Since Easter, things have been stressful at Uni with lots of deadlines all at once. The work is a lot easier than at home, but we always get bombarded with it all at once! Sometimes it is so hard to communicate with teachers because of the language barrier (although my Spanish is 10x better than before, it is still a struggle sometimes!) Luckily my housemate Rachel and I had a bit of a break when our friend from home came to visit us in sunny Spain.
So scary to think that I only have one month left here. Our exams started last week, and today I learnt that exam season in 28 degree heat is NOT fun....I have 5 exams altogether, and they finish at the end of May. It's so crazy how chilled exams are here compared to in Sheffield. We sit exams in our usual classrooms, we can keep our bags near us, sit next to other people....it's so weird how different it is. A lot less pressure which I'm not complaining about! In June I've got an internship at Spanish newspaper 'El Pais', which is super exciting. After that my friend is joining me in Madrid for a week, and then before I know it I'll be heading home....*sad face*
This week I also 'graduated' from Uni, which was a bit weird as I feel like we've hardly spent any of our time in classes...But it was such a nice 'send off' nevertheless, with free cerveza and tapas (always good) and lots of nice words from the Erasmus tutors here.
Anyways, I best get back to some revision....being in the basement gets pretty claustrophobic so my housemates and I have (after a few failed attempts) squoze our kitchen table onto our patio to do some work (with limited productivity when it's so hot outside...)
Ps you can vote for me as Blogger of the Month here.
Pps...around a year ago I made the huge decision to go on Erasmus in Spain...if anyone is having troubles making a decision about whether to go, feel free to ask me! I promise to give unbiased advice and not mention the amazing weather too much...
Anna x
