Life in Santiago

So I thought I'd tell you a little bit more about life in Santiago as I haven't really gone into it that much before, but don't worry; It won't just be a list of - "well this is what they don't sell here", or "this is what the Spaniards do differently and I don't like it", as that's boring and doesn't make for good reading.There shall be no moaning ... Pinky promise.

I guess the first thing I HAVE to mention is the weather. Now I was told by (many) people who'd studied here before about the rain in Santiago, but a little part of me always hoped that they were just exaggerating. When we arrived it was so warm and sunny, so all these people just had to be making it up (not like they'd spent time here themselves or anything...) A couple of weeks in it did start to rain, but it soon went and left us with some glorious sunshine; it was almost like we were, dare I say it, in the south!

                      Santiago Cathedral on a sunny September day


HOWEVER. This is almost 5 weeks later and I have to say rain, you play a tough game. I surrender!! *waves white flag*. It seems you're here to stay for a while so there's nothing else for me to do except put on my 'mac-in-a-sac' (not attractive in the slightest but oh so useful), pull on my welly boots and brace myself for the monsoons which so conveniently decide to start just as I leave the house. Oh, and buy myself another umbrella, since you so very kindly decided that I didn't one this morning and so broke my other one clean in two. Rain 1-0 Carys.

An aspect of Santiago which I find appealing is that it's not like 'normal' Spain in the slightest. Think Spain and you think flamenco, bulls or 'sun sea & sangria', but you'll find none of those here (well, maybe sangria .. quite a lot of it actually). I find Galicia to be very similar to Wales - not just because of the rain, but many other things actually:

• The landscape - Santiago is very green; although there are a lot of buildings/shops/flats, there are also a lot of parks which are lovely, and were perfect to spend time in during those first few weeks when we had nice weather ('Alameda' is especially beautiful). Even though Santiago is  a city, sometimes I really do feel as if I'm living in the countryside, as if I were at home. Surrounded by plenty of nature and greenery .. Although sadly, no sheep.
•  The sense of identity - Here, the Galician language, 'Gallego', is especially prominent; like Welsh, you'll find it on road signs, in shops/restaurants and will often hear it spoken on the street. At first, it took some adjusting to and whenever I didn't understand something someone was saying I always put it down to "must have been speaking in Galician". But now, it's a lot easier to recognise and I thiiiiink I might even understand it a little bit! (As a linguist this makes me very happy - I live a sad life, I know). A lot of bars/restaurants also play live Galician music, which makes for a great night out as you can really get involved by dancing, or even singing too if you're brave enough! Galicia has a completely different culture to 'normal Spain', which I definitely think is reflected in everyday life here.
• The Galician's like to talk. A lot. I don't know if it's just the people I've met but everybody here seems so chatty! Whether it's in lectures, on the bus or in the supermarket, people here like a good old natter. I always thought that being able to strike up a conversation with anybody, anywhere was always just a Welsh thing but it looks like we have some competition!

As for the food ... Well, it's just out of this world. Ok, so there are several things from home which they don't have here - BUT SO freakin' WHAT. Don't get me wrong, I could list a lot of things which, yeah ok would be nice now and again - roast dinner, cawl, dairy milk - but then I just think that there's also plenty of things here that we don't have at home, which I just HAVE to make the most of while I'm here. Like churros for example; churros, taken straight from the churros maker, dipped into a cup of some thick hot chocolate ... Absolute heaven on earth. Also tetilla (or 'tit cheese', as I will call it from now on), which is lush when served with honey or 'membrillo' (I think the English translation for this is 'quince'?) Ooh and Carrefour's chocolate muesli ... that's some pretty tasty cereal right there.

Legendary 'Valor' churros

Ok so I think I've babbled enough ... Apologies for the lengthy post!

Mediterranean diet? There's no such thing!

Kind of a vain post I guess, but still one I feel I should post considering my recent eating habits during the last few weeks.

Perhaps quite naively, I thought that by coming to Spain I would lose weight like that *clicks fingers*. As if by magic, by the time I'd return to Wales at Christmas I'd be fitter, healthier and - 'most importantly' - thinner. People would comment on my weight loss and I'd be able to sit there and bask in the attention with a Big Mac in hand - which would of course be allowed after 4 months of lentils and vegetables, wouldn't it? 

Stupidly I thought "well there's plenty of fruit and veg in the Mediterranean diet", "well there's not much bread in the Mediterranean diet", "I'll lose so much weight on the Mediterranean diet" ... But this is all a lie!!

Although it's clear to see that in general, the Spanish are a lot healthier and slimmer (try finding underwear above a, wait for it, C cup .. nightmare!), I really couldn't tell you how they do it. Having been here for nearly 7 weeks now I think I must have eaten my whole body weight in bread ... But it's not my fault!! Bread is EVERYWHERE, and if someone is kind enough to give me free bread then who am I to say no ...

But seriously, trying to lose weight on an Erasmus year is a nightmare. Take Smooy, for example. What's Smooy I hear you ask? Only THE HOLY GRAIL OF FROZEN YOGHURT SHOPS!

The one and only Smooy counter

Yes yes I know, frozen yoghurt is healthy and all that, but when there's also the option of brownies and pancakes and crepes and waffles .. Yeah well, you get the idea.

Add to this the countless bakeries (with croissants the size of, um, very big croissants), McDonald's (which are even better out here I swear) and OF COURSE the concept of tapas (free food - who'd say no?!) and you're left with a very big problem waistline.

But it leads me to the idea ... Is it right to spend so much time worrying about weight?! An Erasmus year is a one-time opportunity and should be lived to the fullest, right? Referring to a Daily Mail article from earlier in the week, in which a size-12 model was referred to as plus-size, it seems that we've become a nation obsessed with size/weight/body shape. As a size 12 too, would I really consider myself "plus-size"? 

Either way, you'll find me at the Smooy counter - mine's a waffle with white chocolate and strawberries please!

1,2,3 mini holidays ..

One of the best things about being an Erasmus student here in Santiago is that there are so many opportunities to visit other places, something that I briefly mentioned in my 1st blog. Even though I've been here less than 2 months, I've been lucky enough to visit Porto (in Portugal), Lugo and Salamanca, and am also heading to Madrid this weekend for the ESN's 'national event', which I'm really looking forward to!

The ESN/SharinGalicia trips are great as you can really get to know a lot of other people from different countries. As for the price - well, you can't complain! €44 for a trip to Portugal, including bus journey there and back plus a night in a hotel with breakfast? Yes please!!

Portugal, September 2013

What's lovely about being in Santiago is that I can visit the family who I au-paired for last year, who are just up the road in Lugo. I spent a weekend with them a few weeks ago and it was so nice to see how much the boys had grown, catch up with the parents and in general, forget about uni for one weekend. The week after, I decided to head to Lugo again with my friends for the annual 'San Froilan' festival. From a cultural point of view it was very interesting .. But I definitely got to unleash my inner child by going on different fairground rides (including a 3D ghost train - it was class!!) and buying cartoon balloons - see photo. Expensive, but oh so worth it!

Hello Kitty at San Froilan

Last weekend we were off on our travels once again, but this time to Salamanca. Having heard a lot about how nice a place it was, I had some pretty big expectations .. and it certainly didn't disappoint! It really is a stunning city and the buildings are so beautifully designed - there's so much attention to detail, the cathedral in particular. The first night out absolutely finished me - all you can drink for €8, absolutely lethal - which made for a very tired/hungover Carys the next day. Luckily though, I was still able to take in the sights and see for myself what this beautiful city had to offer.

ESN Santiago, Salamanca

"Somos Erasmuuuuus!"

Ok so I managed to find myself somewhere to live, after many frantic phone calls to various numbers we'd found stuck to lampposts/bustops/shop windows etc. Possibly one of the scariest thing's I've had to do so far is speak on the phone, in SPANISH!! Trying to explain to possible future landlords that:

1) We're Erasmus students

2) We're only here for 5 months

3) We'd prefer somewhere close to uni

without them hanging up on you, proved to be quite difficult! Eventually I found myself a room in a flat, sharing with Fernando (who is an excellent cook, and also didn't get mad when I flooded the bathroom after only 3 days) and Daniella, another Eramus student from Germany, who are both great.

As the saying goes: "Everything will turn out alright in the end, and if it's not alright, it's not the end". Luckily, it all turned out OK and within the first 2 weeks I'd found somewhere to live, sorted my timetable, enrolled in my modules, joined a gym - and most importantly, found time to socialize .. A lot! I think I definitely underestimated the importance of the phrase "soy Erasmus" (translation: literally, "I'm an Erasmus") as it appears that it can be used as an excuse for a whole range of things, including forgetting your booklet - "soy Eramus";  not doing your work - "soy Erasmus" and even in the supermarket when you get the words for 'cheese' and 'tits' mixed up - "lo siento pero soy Erasmuuuus!!"

"Wales? That's in England right?"

No. No it isn't.

Just one teeny-tiny rant about life here in Santiago, is the apparent lack of understanding about what countries make up the UK. So far I've had:

"Welsh? Oh so you're from England!"

"Wales? Isn't that a part of London?"

"What is Wales? That's just another city in England, right?"

And my personal favourite ..

"Wales? Isn't that an animal?!"

I guess I thought that now it'd be easier to explain where Wales is, thanks to Gareth Bale - alas, my cries of "Gareth Bale, you know, plays for Real Madrid?" seem to be falling on deaf ears.

I think if I had a euro for every time I've had to explain to people that surprisingly, being from Wales DOES NOT MAKE ME ENGLISH, I'd solve Spain's economic crisis in an instant.

P.S - To all my English friends out there, I don't mean to offend when I say I don't want to be English - we are all equal of course! (Except at rugby *cough* 30-3 *cough*)

What's in a name?

So 7 weeks into my year abroad and I've finally got around to writing a blog; I could blame it on being busy but the truth is, I've spent all this time trying to come up with a witty title - something funny (but not cringey) that would suit me perfectly. Taking into account various, ahem, happenings over the last few weeks (see facebook) I think it's safe to say that the 21st century definitely has a new tragic singleton - move over Bridget!

Right well first thing's first ... HELLO FROM SUNNY SPAIN! (Haha. Ha. Ha. Whoever coined that phrase has obviously never visited Santiago). And what a 7 weeks it's been! They say your year abroad is full of ups and downs and boy, were they right - although I'm having the time of my life, it's not always plain-sailing.

So anyway I made it here in one piece, after a - surprisingly - pleasant journey with RyanAir (watched Anastasia, cue "what the hell is this" look from guy sat next to me - um none of your business). After successfully navigating our way around Santiago airport, me and Amy made it to our hotel - our 'base' for the next 5 days while we tried to sort out uni things/find a flat/work out which bars offered the best tapas.

                               

Me & Amy at Stansted Airport

Luckily, we both found places before starting uni on the Monday (more about this later) and so were able to get unpacked and settled before the hard work began. One thing I feel I have to mention is just how friendly the Spanish - or rather, Galician - people are. I've lost count of how many times we got lost during those first few days yet the people here are always so willing to help.

As for Santiago itself, it really is beautiful. Considering it was my third choice (after sunny Seville and Granada - sob), I'm so pleased to be here. Although a small city, there's so many things you can do; the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) here are great and are always planning 'fiestas' or trips away, as does SharinGalicia, and the people I've met so far have all been lovely; I've definitely made some friends for life. I can't wait to see what these next couple of months will bring!

View from the top of Santiago Cathedral