"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!!"