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Finally I am Spain for real this time!! I have now been in Salamanca, in the west of Spain, for nearly two weeks and I am loving it. It is a beautiful city with so much culture and things to do and I'm so glad I am here for the first part of my year abroad. Here's what I've been up to so far!
My good friend from uni, Rachel, and I flew out together. We arrived in Madrid at about midday and had a couple of hours wait until we could get our bus to Salamanca. It sounds sad, but one of the things I love about Spain is that how good their public transport system is. Every time I have used it I have a smooth journey, arrived on time, and most importantly been comfortable!! This bus was no exception, it even had wi-fi! After 2 hours 45 mins on the bus we arrived in Salamanca, and the views on the way in were beautiful. We got a taxi from the bus station and arrived at our hostel which was amazing! It had really nice, cool decor and everyone there was so nice.
We then met up with a friend we already knew out here, and commenced the biggest accommodation search I have ever done! Over the course of the next two days I literally saw about 12 flats, may not sound like much but when you're calling the landlords up and talking in Spanish, then trekking around all over a city you don't know and constantly getting lost, it becomes very tiring! However, all the hard work paid off and Rach was settled in by Sunday and I found somewhere on Monday, along with our other friend who we met in the hostel, a French girl called Guillemette.
Finally we could all relax! We decided that Monday night to start sampling the Salamanca nightlife. A great percentage of Salamanca's population is made up of students, therefore it is a very student orientated city. The university itself dates back to the 12th century and is one of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe! How did I end up here?! We went to a bar but were all so tired we didn't drink much and left relatively early, however with a bit of luck I recognised a guy who had previously added me on Facebook, one of two Facebook friends that had added me who were from Bristol. His name was Sam, and the other guy Tom. Their other flat mate was also from Bristol and was called Chris. We all arranged to meet up the next day and go to see some fireworks that were kicking of the two week 'Festias y ferias' of Salamanca. The fireworks were amazing and then we headed to the infamous (on Facebook!) Erasmus bar The Irish Rover. All you could drink for 5euros, not too shabby! There was a big group of us and we all had a great night.
On Wednesday night we went back to the Rover for some karaoke, another good night. We decided to take it easy the next couple of days, but on Saturday I had a fiesta at mine and invited everyone that we had all met so far, plus some that I hadn't! We had some great drinking games and headed off to a few bars before going to a club called Cubic. It was probably one of the best nights I've had here so far - everyone was pretty drunk and by that point we all knew each other well enough to really let lose!
The next big night out was on Monday, when we went over to some Irish girls' flat - I had met their friend at the police station whilst sorting out my temporary residence certificate. Very messy and very drunken, we all had to go back early (by Salamanca's standards!) after a few bars.
During the days most of the time we have all been walking around, hanging out, checking out what Salamanca has to offer. During the fiesta period there has been an amazing atmosphere, largely due to the on-street 'casetas', little huts representing different Salamancan bars and restaurants and selling drinks and pinchos (small tapas) for very cheap!
We also did something a little different today and went to the park to play some football and other ball games. We must have looked pretty good (haha) because some local kids came up to us and asked us if we wanted to do a 4/5-a-side tournament with them. It was really good fun and we got a bit of Spanish practice in too!
Tomorrow Rachel and I have a meeting at our university faculty. Finally a bit of organisation (I hope!). We were told that term started on the 6th of September, but then were told it wasn't until the 20th, and now maybe even until the 28th! I also think I'm going to give rock climbing a try, there is a small place that charges 3 euros a go opposite Chris, Tom and Sam's place.
What else... We have also been a bit Come Dine With Me this week! I didn't know how to work my oven and hob until today so we have all been cooking for each other every night. My turn tomorrow so I hope it doesn't go terribly wrong!
Well... I think that's it for now, I've tried to summarise everything quite quickly as I'm around the boys house with some others but I have a feeling I have rambled on again! Until next time...!
C xxx
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