Monday Ramblings!

I know I said I was going to write a post about my parents visit but I want to write that one properly and I don't really have time right now to do that, but I wanted to post something! So I have written a little ramble for you to read.

Firstly, I have to get it over and done with early - HOW IS IT NOVEMBER ALREADY & IT'S SO AMAZING I CAN STILL GO OUT IN A T-SHIRT! Seriously I can't believe its November for 2 reasons. One being how can time be going fast that quickly and that I only have 6 weekends left in Barcelona or something crazy like that? And Secondly, I never thought it would still be this warm, its crazy nice still. I don't know if I have just been lucky this year but I would definitely recommend coming this time of year to visit this area of Spain. The tourists are less, the weather is lovely and its much more pleasurable walking around when its not 'too' hot ad full of people. (But I do kind of want it too get a bit more autumn-y now strange as that may sound!). (I wrote a lot of this yesterday, ans surprise surprise it CHUCKED IT DOWN today - maybe it is November now..)

I also recently read a book called the 'Shadow of the Wind' by Carlos Ruiz Zafón which came with very high recommendations from some friends. I really enjoyed it, and as I read quite a lot here (especially on public transport) I read it super fast! I kind of which I hadn't because now I don't have anything good to follow it. And the main reason I was told to read it whilst I am here is as it is set in Barcelona, and I have decided reading a book set in a place you have spent any significant amount of time inn makes the story feel a bit more real whatever the genre. And to be honest I haven't come across many (any) books set in Southampton or Leighton Buzzard, so it was a highly enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone who has spent any amount of time here in BCN purely for that reason! And also if you can recommend me a new book to read I would be highly grateful - my kindle is currently looking a bit sparse....

Finally a quick catch up with what I have been doing. Yesterday I went to Palau Guell, which is a house designed by Gaudi as one of his first commissions. It wasn't quite as I was expecting, but that was probably as the only other Gaudi architecture I have seen on the inside is the Sagrada Famillia which really is in a league of its own. This house was darker and less colourful than I was expecting on the inside with a lot of wood paneling ect:

Inside the Palau Guell! 

But the terrace was amazing, unfortunately the views aren't that amazing from there now as I think new building have probably been built since it was designed but all the chimneys were so colourfull! I am not sure I would pay to go inside though, we got in for free as it was the 1st Sunday of the month.

On the Roof. Shame the view isn't better but it was so much fun (and blue skies as you can see)

I have also drunk a significant amount of coffee, tried to read a lot of stuff about carboranes and written some words for my dissertation (its already verging on being too long... and I have barley started on the results but I wouldn't be able to write any other way!)

So really this post wasn't as exciting as I would have hoped, I thought I had done more but I will write a post very soon when I have a little more time about my parents visit. Be prepared for lots of photos of food!

Montserrat, La Merce & Valencia

View from one of the peaks of the mountain, my
iPhone camera does not do the beautiful view justice! 

So I am procrastinating doing anything useful this afternoon by writing a new blog post. Yet again I didn't realise quite how long it had been since the last post so I guess it would be rude not to fill you in with my latest adventures. So I am not sure where I left off, but the last couple of weekends have been lots of fun! Have been getting out of BCN and seeing some more parts of Spain.

One Saturday we took a day trip to Montserrat, which according to wikipidea is a 'multi-peaked mountain' and it was quite impressive. The views were really beautiful and it was nice to just get some fresh air!

We decided to take the funicular train to the top of the peak and it was well worth it. If you are ever in this area for a significant amount of time and you want to leave the city for a bit I would highly recommend a trip here (but make sure you bring a picnic - the 'supermarket' was not all that, and there are a lot of tourists in the main square near the church so there are many places trying to flog you crap but once you make it up to the top the veiws are amazing, and the walk back down to the bottom was much more peaceful.

From 19th-24th September La Merce was also taking place in Barcelona which is the city's annual festival so I am sure you can imagine there were a lot of things taking place. But paired with a lot of people everywhere so often you can turn up to an event on time and not even be able to see due to the crowds or miss the event all together becuase the metro was so full. However I did manage to catch some of the festivities.

I hope you can gauge just quite how impressive these towers
 are.Seeing them being constructed is obviously good,
but also seeing them being deconstructed is impressive - the
 teams are obviously so organised.

On the Friday night there were brilliant fireworks down at Barcelonetta beach. It was a totally strange but pleasant experience watching the fireworks in the warmth of a summer evening because generally in the UK fireworks are associated to the winter and watching wrapped up in a coat and about 10 layers (at least they are for me due to fireworks night and new year).

I also got to see the one thing I really wanted to which were the castell. These are the human towers which are constructed just of people, which are built up as tall as possible by teams known as colles castelleres, with a small child scrambling to the top to declare the tower complete. Well at least that is what I understood whilst standing in a very crowded square slightly hungover after celebrations at the beach the night before (but that's a different story including a live band and 4 slightly confused international students!). It was also an excuse for another day off, I could totally get used to the 9 day working fortnights but sadly I don't think there is another holiday for a while now.

Then last weekend I went for a couple nights to Valencia, which is about three and a half hours from Barcelona by train. I could probably write a whole blog post alone about this trip, and I know I am going on a bit so I will try and summarise quickly!

My first and most predominant opinion on Valencia is that it feels more 'Spanish' than Barcelona if that makes any sense to anyone! I think it is just due to the weather, look of the place and the fact that it is the home of paella. Whist we were there we looked around some of the old town and then walked along the old river bed which has been turned into a park (runners paradise!!) leafing to the science and arts park which itself a little bit Wall-e/scifi like! And obviously we fitted this all in around copious amounts of wine, coffee, nestea and hummus so all in all it was a lovely weekend away. I can't wait for the next adventure - but it might not be for a while due to a various parents/friends/other half's visiting over the next few weeks.

A little summary of Valencia! (the park; art & science park; fountain by the cathedral; coffee and pastries)

In other news, I finally rejoined the gym (surprisingly easy for Spain, they just asked me to pay for August and Sept easypeasy); the chemical I have been waiting for for about a month finally arrived Friday afternoon (sadly this was a highlight); I ate some Turkish food; a new flat mate moved in; and I am sure some other things which I can't remember.

And if you want daily updates on my life follow my instagram (@AMYLJ_) because this is about the only thing I manage to update of a regular basis!

What's the big deal?

I was just sitting on the bus the other day and I suddenly thought 'why is being here so different?' and it made me think. Really what difference does it make that I am in another country? It shouldn't really should it? I can still pick up the phone and talk to my parents. I can still probably get home within about 5 hours. I can still go to the shop and buy food. I can still pretty much do all the things I did when I was living in Southampton.

There is clearly a difference from living at home with my parents, but why is it different from living at university? Loads of reasons. That's why. And its more than just a new flat.

Sometimes when you are just in your own little world its hard to know why living away from your home country is so much harder then living in a new city within it. You wouldn't have your old friends there, you wouldn't automatically know what bus to take to work, you wouldn't know what time the local shop was open until, you wouldn't be able to remember the names of all your new flatmates friends... the list of similarities goes on.
But the point is in your home country; the place you grew up; the place where you have lived all your life, you know how to find these things out.
You take so much for granted in your own country. You know where you can go for a cheap dinner. What shop on the high street you will be able to by plasters in. You vaguely know what time the bank will shut. You know the the nearest supermarket will be a Tesco/Sainsburys/Asda. You know that you will be able to look up all the train times on national rail. That you just need to search for a post office to send a letter. Little things you don't even know you know.

Obviously I live in a Country with a language barrier. But I don't this would stop all the problems. Yes, its genuinely tiring to keep up whilst listening to a foreign language all the time until you actually switch off completely. You stop even trying to understand what the people around you are talking about let alone what they are saying. But that's not the real issue. The issue is everything is new. Sometimes I wander around a shop looking for something as simple as a notepad before I realise there is no way the local supermarket is going to sell one. They would in the UK. I could go to Tesco express and buy one within 5 minutes of my house.

The cultural differences are always there as well, and I am only just starting to really notice them. People eat at different times, people have a different work life balance, TV shows are on at different times, appropriate clothes are different. For example in the summer here it all revolves around family but once the summer starts to leave it all becomes much more work orientated. Not that that's a bad thing, but its something which is different. And I couldn't go much further without mentioning greetings. I WILL FOREVER BE AWKWARD WITH THE CHEEK KISSING. FULL STOP. This might just be an ingrained part of my personality or it might be that its just so different from the UK I never learnt as a child what you should do. But I have a strange feeling I will have to stop myself trying to kiss everyone when I come back to England; here you kiss the person you have just meet when you are saying bye. But you don't kiss work colleagues in the mornings which I have come to understand you would do in France. Oh and I think the German's go for one kiss, and Romanian people have more of a hug involved. The list goes on. Good job I am used to awkward moments.

So why is it harder. It's harder because you have to think about everything all the time. You wonder if the person next to you on the bus is offended you don't speak the language. Its a constant battle of trying to 'fit in' without making it feel alien. None of these things are an issue in your home country. But it's not bad, it's a challenge. It has also made me realise I am willing to go for a job anywhere in the UK because at least I will be able to have a propa cuppa when I sit down at the end of the day in my strange new scary flat.

Next time I promise I will update you on what I have been doing! But for now here is a nice picture of Catalonia's independence day 'celebrations'

I cannot even begin to explain how crazy this was... I felt like the only person not wearing red or yellow on the streets. (I wasn't, and it would have been even more weird wearing the colours if I am not even sure if I support it or not) Quite a site really. 

Finally feeling at home?

I promise myself that I will blog every week - but I don't. Maybe I will have to set aside blog evening once a week to ensure I do. (But don't quote me on this!). Also thank you to everyone for their great responses to my last blog post! It is great to know it is being read (even if its only by a few) so all comments and feedback are welcome.

The week I came back I spent in the lab, and did very little practical work because the lab was still officially shut but I did finally admit defeat and remind myself I have to write a dissertation whilst I am here. Limited work has been achieved but there is a word document none the less. That is an achievement right?

I went on another walking tour last Saturday, and it was slightly different to the others I have been on. It was aimed at a younger audience, backpackers, students ect.. so it was slightly less orientated around history as the previous tours but more information about visiting the city itself but good non the less! (I wish I had done them the other way around but if you are only here for a short time I would highly recommend the runner beans tours most)

From the Parliament square in Barcelona - Not sure why I love this photo but I do! 

Then as the lab was going to be virtually empty for the next week I decided to use the time to do a 'super intensive' Spanish course last week! It was great fun. I would like to spend longer there and improve more (but I am living in Spain so I should be learning all the time yes?) but maybe I will have the chance to do something similar next summer to help me keep up the skill. I also meet some really lovely people, went out for dinner, went to the beach and had great fun all week. I want to keep in touch with some of the people I meet there for sure!


I then yesterday went to the 1st meeting for Erasmus Student on the Beach and meet more lovely people - who I am  actually meeting this afternoon to attend another Erasmus meeting! Finally I feel as though I am meeting so many people, and I have made more contacts in the last week or so than the whole month I was here to begin with. Maybe I have finally turned a corner (or Spain is finally leaving the vacation period!) Both are probably true. It's totally relevant to me here that friends aren't going to find you unless you put yourself out there.





Anyway unfortunately its back to 'normal' next week! Not that any 2 weeks are the same here - and I am determined to keep that up but it does mean I can start gym classes again (YAYYYY I have been seriously missing a stress relieving aerobics session) and can finally go to the bank ect.

So a final word of this post is that I am finally feeling much more at home here. I am finding friends, catching the night bus alone - not dangerous because I have never seen so many people on a bus here is Spain before, scrapbooking my time here, ensuring I watch my favorite TV shows on i-player and getting back to a slight routine. Maybe this summer wasn't quite as I would have planned but the next 3 months are going to be great, I am sure of it!

Also if you can't tell I ate lots of great food this week!

It's been a while

Hola.

I wrote a lovely blog a couple of weeks ago after my birthday - it was based around a cake (typical me!) and maybe one of these days I will post it here. It was a very nice cake and did deserve its own blog post. But then I received some news that kind of changed my summer plans a little, my wonderful Nan passed away the same day I turned 21. I don't want to dwell on that here at all but I just wanted to explain my absence from the blogging thing for the past few weeks - and unless you wanted to hear daily updates of my horrendous rash I received once I got home (apparently I am allergic to my own house) or the fact the allergy tablets were making me muy muy sleepy - I didn't get up to that much of interest the couple of weeks I was home. I haven't forgotten that I did get to see some of my brilliant friends whilst I was home though and this was lovely!!

BUT I did get to spend a lovely week with my mum, dad, little brother and ROSIE in a caravan park in Brittany, France. A great week. I sunbathed, ate lots, spent some quality time with my family, walked the doggy lots, swam in the very cold sea and refused (much to my brothers disappointment) to throw myself backwards down the water slide! If I am totally honest I didn't really want to leave and I did cry a fair amount at the train station. Following this was what felt like the longest journey of my life. But I made it back to my flat in Barca and even managed to drag myself to work today which was nowhere near as bad as I had expected!

This was one of the only photos I took on holiday. Opppsss. (But it was a pretty gardens and a much better sight than my dad at the pool in his speedos - unfortunately they were compulsory)

I am really going to try and make a massive effort to feel more settled for the rest of my time here. This is not forever so ENJOY IT! And it doesn't matter if I want to sit in at the weekend and watch UK TV sometimes. I am working full time which I haven't done for a year or so (also really gutted I'm not being able to take part in the accommodation hotline this year and get my annual dose of chatting/being shouted at by freshers!) and I wouldn't be sightseeing and out and about every weekend if I was still in the soton or on a work placement somewhere else in the UK! Also it's okay to feel homesick sometimes, but I wouldn't really advise a trip home to cure it...

I still haven't really met many (any) people doing the same thing as me, but I am hoping in the influx of new Erasmus and just general students will be coming soon and should give me the chance to be a bit more sociable and give me a better chance of making some more friends!

Note to self: Spain shuts down in August. Full Stop!

For the time being I apologise for this slightly self indulgent rambly post but I want to keep up the blogging so I will try and do something exciting within the next couple of weeks which will be worth your while reading. I don't know what that will be at the moment....

How has it been over a month?!?!

I will never get used to everything being shut on a Sunday - what are you meant to do for one whole day of your precious weekend! Well I guess I will have to use it to finally write another blog post! (I didn't realise how long it had been since the last one)

First a weather update as I can't seem to escape the news of it being a bit of a heatwave in the UK. It is getting very very hot here now, I think I was treated with a mild welcome when I arrived but it's bearable! Things here are made for when it is hot so the lab is air conditioned and my flat has shutters to block the sun out but it's still not easy to escape the heat especially at night. But a cheeky glass of wine before bed generally helps with sleep! 

Last weekend didn't consist of much touristy stuff but I met a few of my housemates friends near the beach, had a drink and was reintroduced to a chicken sandwich. Yes I caved and I do pretty much eat meat when I am offered it here which is quiet often. But I think we all knew (at least I did) that I wouldn't last so long as being a veggie and wannabe foodie in Spain. I can't live of eggs you know!

Yesterday I went for the second walking tour offered by the same company as the last one I went on and it was also very interesting. It was all about Gaudí, who if you don't know is the architect you can't avoid here in Barca, his buildings and designs are all over the city with every other postcard having his works on and a number of museums dedicated to him. I was a bit skeptical because I'm not that big on my art ect but having a knowledgeable person explain it all to you, especially pointing out what you are looking at, is 100x more interesting. I also was able to chat to some people travelling in the area this time, which was nice as the last tour was mainly older couples. 

My favorite Gaudí building I saw on the tour - Casa Batlló

Now referring back to the title of this post I can not believe I have been here over a month now. Crazy. Don't know if this has been the longest or fastest month of my life. It feels like a lifetime ago I got of that plane entering a foreign country where I knew basically nobody with a poor grasp of the native language and a return flight booked for December. That first week was tough. I think I was a little/very naive about quite how challenging this would be. I have to admit now I probably rang home more in my first couple of weeks than a whole year at Uni. But at the same time the weeks are flying by, especially in the world of research a month isn't very long, and my Saturdays are quickly used up with such a cool city on my doorstep to explore. 

6 months still sounds like a daunting amount of time to me - but I am breaking it down in my head into smaller manageable segments. And once summer is over I will have to throw myself head first into working, as both me and my PhD supervisor will leave in December so there will be a lot to get done. 

Quick snap of most of the people in my lab. (Sandals and shorts are fine here but I can't quite bring myself to leave jeans and leggings) 

I am home in a week and half now (still doesn't actually seem like I'll actually be on a flight to the UK anytime soon). I am looking forward to some belated birthday celebrations (hint hint if you thought you could get away with not buying me an extravagant 21st gift) and then a weeks holiday by the beach with my family for lots of food and relaxation. I will try and write another post before then, potentially about the joke of me trying to bake a cake to take to work on Friday. Firstly it's too hot to really put the oven on so hello late night baking and I don't have any scales or correct equipment (apart from a mixing bowl and a whisk) so it's going to contain ALOT of guess work and improvisation! But that's a skill you learn to acquire in a lab with double the amount of students than usual! 

Plus I have also got the bug to do some travelling next summer recently! It would be amazing to visit more of Spain and Europe (I really fancy Italy and central Europe). 

Just a bit of an update.

I  sat down and wrote a lot of this post at the weekend, and now I have sat down with some pastries and a cuppa peppermint tea and deleted half of it. For that reason it is a little disjointed but really its just a bit of an update about what I have been up to. 

On Saturday I went on a walking tour of Barcelona around some of the old city and learnt lots of fascinating information about the history of the area! It was a runner beans tour (http://www.runnerbeantours.com/) and I would recommend them to anyone coming for a visit and wants to fill a morning. I then did as girls do and did some shopping in the afternoon! I promise I really do need some more summer clothes and it is the sales so it would have been rude not to; I did need to get out of the sun for a little bit as well.

I didn't take too many photos on my trip but here a couple I wanted to share!

The Placa Reial which I have to admit might be one of my favorite squares I've visited in Barca so far but I am sure there are many more just as beautiful I am yet to discover. 

A typical old city street in Barcelona, and this was one of the main streets. In the very narrow parts it looks as though you could jump between the balconies at the top with no problems at all.  

I also went on a bit of a walk on Sunday morning to the edge of the town where I am living and it was quite pleasant to just have a bit of a wander and see some new scenery. It was too hot to go very far but I am sure I will be climbing mountains come Autumn. Maybe...

 I was just sat on a bench reading a book when I took this with the local swimming pool blasting some old school tunes which gave a slightly different feeling to what you might expect from the photo. 

On Tuesday I went to my first Spanish exercise class at the gym - quite an adventure. Firstly, I was struggling to remember how to even enter the gym (last digit of you DOB and then your thumb scan?!- they use finger prints everywhere here!) but a nice man helped me and it was all fine. Then the class was hard, I am definitely still feeling it today but it has been a while since I have been to a body conditioning class so it was to be expected. But I really enjoyed it. The class was in Spanish (again I don't think it was Catalan) but it didn't seems to matter as long as you can see the front and count to 8. There is also A LOT of nudity in the changing rooms here compared to what I have previously experienced. I'm not that bothered and its really not worth trying to hide under a towel while quickly getting changed but wandering around the whole room starkers to the showers (no towel or anything) maybe going a little to far for me personally. But I will soon be back to try out some more classes. It's 3 weeks to get a Bikini body for holiday and I have eaten A LOT of bread... Plus I need to work on my tan before I am home at the end of the month to make everyone (especially my mum) jealous. 

Finally. I LOVE ESPANA, it's such a laid back place. Lab health and safety - who cares (actually I do, I never thought I would miss a COSSH form but they were a large part of my 3rd yr project and I claim one of my skills is writing them!); Bus runs late - oh well; Drink beer and watch football - of course. Chill out for at least an hour in the middle of the day and make sure you take a proper lunch - always.

I don't have anything planned for this weekend apart from some catch up on much needed sleep and a wander out to buy some food so I have no idea what I will post about but I am sure I will come up with something! 

Success - I survived a full week.

So I have survived my first full week in the lab here. Last week had a free day on Tuesday so I only really did 3 proper days and I totally forgot how tiring a day is when you are having to balance standing around a lot, understanding what on earth you are doing and not blowing yourself or anyone else up so you can end the day in one piece is. (Okay so maybe that’s a bit over the top but would you expect any less) But I am still here and I haven’t broken any expensive equipment yet so I think I’ll count it a success. 

I did however throw my lunch all over the floor in the kitchen of the institute today. But in the grand scheme of things I'll get over the minor embarrassment. 

I haven’t really managed to do anything else of excitement at all this week, The hours here are long and I think this is mainly due to the fact a large amounts of the day are taken up drinking coffee and waiting for public transport but I’m not complaining. I can totally get used to the more relaxed pace.

And on the same note of relaxed paces the whole of Spain basically takes the whole of August off work so the institute I am working at closes for 3 weeks, and I am using this time to have a little holiday of my own. Yep that’s right, it looks like I will be back in the UK for a week and then I'm going on holiday with my family to France for a week. I did want to use my extra week off to do a bit of travelling but the costs are just a bit much in Aug and I do kind of have to do some work for a week (I am still a student) so as it stands I am likely to be back in LB for the first week of August, so watch this space.

I also wanted to share a couple of pictures from my lovely day in Barca last weekend, and I am going on a walking tour of the old town of Barca tomorrow so I am sure I will have another set of photos to share fairly soon. 

The Sagrada Familia is crazy impressive in real life. It is hard to imagine that they will ever really finish it. 

Barcelona's Gay pride parade passing by. We were not expecting this when we walked out of the metro station at all! 

 The Font màgica de Montjuïc in Catalan is amazing. It was quite odd watching and listening to the classical music accompaniment whilst hearing the tecno music from the party behind! Something I deffs want to see again. 

I think next time I will write a nice post about my observations on Spain whilst I am going about my daily life. On the whole its not that different here but there are a couple of things which make me chuckle/want to cry every time I see them! 

So what am I doing in Spain?

Okay, so I've never done anything interesting enough in my life to write about in the past but I think now is about time. I have been in Spain for nearly 2 weeks now for my 6 month placement and I thought it was about time I wrote some of it down. 

Firstly, why am I here? 

I have to admit I have asked myself that question more than a couple of times, and if I'm honest I am still trying to work out why I am here! So a few reasons I could come up with are: 

To 'become' Spanish - No! (Although I have been reminded by my friends a few times not to come back Spanish and I ensure you that I like tea and cake too much for that to happen, and otherwise cafe con leche will continue to ruin my sleeping habits) 

To learn to speak Spanish - I hope so. But it is so hard being English and working (and living) with other students who are trying to improve their English. I have been told lots of times already I 'speak such perfect English', but I then have to remind them that it is the only language I can speak so they are already well ahead of me. And also anyone who knows me will understand how untrue this is, and will appreciate I'm avoiding having to say the word microwave at all costs. It is also tricky when a lot of the people I will be working with aren't Spanish either so it is as unnatural to them to speak in Spanish as it is in English. But I am trying, and I hope just being surrounded by it on a day to day basis will at least help me learn a little more than I know now! 

To do Chemistry - I guess at the end of the day this is really why I am here. I am just starting the final year of my degree and the first 6 months require me to complete a research placement and a dissertation. So, I think I am going to have to knuckle down and do some pretty hardcore research and lots of work to have it all done before I go home for Christmas. 

But I think after some reflection what I really want to do is eat some amazing food whilst I am here so that when I go back home I can wow everyone with some dishes I have learnt to cook. The fresh produce here, such as the fruit and veg is amazing, and it’s so easily available. I barely have to walk 5 mins to end up with a number of fruit shops, bakeries and supermarkets to choose from which is great. I have also had the chance to try some food from around the world already which I had never tried before, including Chinese, Romanian and Catalan dishes. 

I am also learning to be a bit more independent whilst I am here. Basically, I knew no one when I got of that plane and this has been the hardest thing for me. I keep asking myself "How can I enjoy such an amazing opportunity when I have no friends to share it with?" I am not on a classic Erasmus scheme in which there are other students in the same situation as me who have time to travel and explore with me. I am also not living in halls with other students around so classic student activities such as nights out and drinking aren't a weekly occurrence. But I think in the long run this will be better for me. I am going to learn to say yes to things maybe I wouldn't have in England, such as seeing a film at the cinema in Spanish (at least I don't think it was in Catalan - but that is a whole new post!) and casually ending up on the edge of Barcelona's gay pride by accident. 

I will keep this blog updates - I promise. And I hope to fill it with everything I do, lots of things I eat and generally keep an online record for myself (selfish I know).

P.S. I REPEAT THAT ALL FRIENDS WHO WANT TO VISIT ARE MORE THAN WELCOME (I've got a comfy sofa you are more than welcome to kip on for a few nights and flights to Barca are pretty cheap!)