I finally made it! I couldn’t bring myself to cut down my
luggage so I turned up to the airport quite a few kilos over the allowance, and
amazingly didn’t have to pay any extra charges. The woman behind the desk
obviously felt sorry for the girl on the brink of tears dragging 4 bags behind
her, and didn’t want to add to my problems.
So, today was the day when I needed to start my mission to
find accommodation. After a very successful morning where I managed to get a
Spanish sim card on my second attempt (who knew you needed a passport to get a
phone number?), I went to the Universidad del Pais Vasco with Laura, a fellow
Southampton University student who I met for the first time via social
networking a week ago, and her mum to look for posters offering accommodation. What
I’d been told previously was in fact true and there are loads of posters
advertising flats and rooms so we took down some numbers. Then came the tricky
part: I had to actually ring real life Spanish people and have a proper conversation
with them. This is where my success ended. I have so far only rung two people
and the conversations were going so well until they said something I didn’t
understand, which led to a long, awkward pause. They then proceeded to say
something else which I didn’t understand; I panicked and hung up both times.
Therefore, I’ve decided to give myself a break because obviously this speaking
Spanish business isn’t for me, and from now on I think my use of the language
should be limited to writing emails only.
On a side note, people back home will be pleased to know
that it isn’t all lovely and sunny in Spain. Today I got caught walking for 15
minutes in torrential rain. It might not be as bad as the flooding at home, but you
wouldn’t expect anything less from Britain. I, on the other hand, did not sign
up for rain on my year abroad.
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