Sunday, October 7, 2012
Erasmus has finally begun!
The past week has been a week of impression-overload;
I could finally restrain myself from going to Madrid every five seconds and start discovering Alcala.
I am now completely engaged in the two courses I'm following, and I'm glad to say that I enjoy both of them very much which is a far cry from my classes in Belgium.
Even though these two classes have different people in them, and I only see them 3hours a week, I'm still trying to make a connection.
Me and Jessica decided to take dance classes together, with some very "anti-crisis prices" as they call it here. It turned out their turn out was also very crisis-esque - the class is cancelled until they have enough members. There goes that attempt at being sportive...
On the other hand, I found the best way to really experience a place is on foot, so I put on my work-out gear and walked 10kms to a 'centro comercial' nearby, centros comerciales are pretty self-explanatory but there's a movie theatre, two supermarkets, a bowling, a Media Markt, a Decathlon, etc. Obviously there are plenty of busses that go there, which I took advantage of on the way back - there was no way I was walking the same route home...
Alcala also has a mountain area with the remains of the original Alcala setting, this whole area is now a park with trails and panoramic views. Yesterday I decided to go walk there, but by the time I got to the foot of the mountain I was already so exhausted I went back home. Next time I will take the bus there :)
This week also meant the beginning of erasmus activities. The erasmus office here has apparently been in some sort of coma, since the schoolyear started over 4 weeks ago but they're catching up.
We had a welcome dinner, over 200 students showed up, which was totally crazy but very exciting!
I went with Jessica and my german roommate Anna Lena but we consciously tried to socialize with other people as well.
We met some Mexicans and a group of Brazilian guys, and later we joined them to the local erasmus club and had our first dance session of the year. Much needed by the way!
I was planning on going on an organized erasmus trip to Toledo but the list filled up too quickly so I went walking instead. Later that evening me and Jessica met up with the Brazalian guys at a Mexican restaurant. My first time eating Mexican food, in Spain, and it was delicious! Later, we went back to the erasmus club, which was completely empty but we still managed to have a great time.
Also, for once I felt threatened in the dance department - these latin-americans... phuuu!
It is clear that we Northern-Europeans lack some sort of elegance and style, I have no idea how to dance in pairs!
The boys were kind enough to walk me and Jessica home (a 2.6km walk I might add, quite chivalrous people those Brazilians)
Communication proved rather difficult though, they don't speak English, nor Spanish, so the conversations rely mostly on hand gestures, which are easily miss-interpreted and caused some rather akward moments...
One of them has kindly offered to join me on my mountain hike so to diminish my fear of getting attacked by things one might find hiding in the bushes :D
On a more sad note, seeing the crisis' effect on Spain leaves a deep impact on me, I think about it almost daily. I see people like myself begging on the street, 50% of shops have shut down, people without jobs, adds on every lantern post offering simple things like cleaning your car. There was a massive strike in Madrid on two occasions that I went there, thousands of people crying and angry.
But seeing the massive turnout on Alcala's town square on a Saturday night is truly touching - people come there for no other reason than to be together, and forget about the troubles they're in.
The past week, I aso found myself thinking of the Camino often, I really miss it. Who would have thought, you could miss waking up at 5.30am but with a solid purpose, feeling proud and fit every day, thankful for every conversation. That's probably the reason why I've been walking here, to re-create the feeling.
But I'm sure erasmus will have given me plenty more beautiful memories by the end of the year!
I could finally restrain myself from going to Madrid every five seconds and start discovering Alcala.
I am now completely engaged in the two courses I'm following, and I'm glad to say that I enjoy both of them very much which is a far cry from my classes in Belgium.
Even though these two classes have different people in them, and I only see them 3hours a week, I'm still trying to make a connection.
Me and Jessica decided to take dance classes together, with some very "anti-crisis prices" as they call it here. It turned out their turn out was also very crisis-esque - the class is cancelled until they have enough members. There goes that attempt at being sportive...
On the other hand, I found the best way to really experience a place is on foot, so I put on my work-out gear and walked 10kms to a 'centro comercial' nearby, centros comerciales are pretty self-explanatory but there's a movie theatre, two supermarkets, a bowling, a Media Markt, a Decathlon, etc. Obviously there are plenty of busses that go there, which I took advantage of on the way back - there was no way I was walking the same route home...
Alcala also has a mountain area with the remains of the original Alcala setting, this whole area is now a park with trails and panoramic views. Yesterday I decided to go walk there, but by the time I got to the foot of the mountain I was already so exhausted I went back home. Next time I will take the bus there :)
This week also meant the beginning of erasmus activities. The erasmus office here has apparently been in some sort of coma, since the schoolyear started over 4 weeks ago but they're catching up.
We had a welcome dinner, over 200 students showed up, which was totally crazy but very exciting!
I went with Jessica and my german roommate Anna Lena but we consciously tried to socialize with other people as well.
We met some Mexicans and a group of Brazilian guys, and later we joined them to the local erasmus club and had our first dance session of the year. Much needed by the way!
I was planning on going on an organized erasmus trip to Toledo but the list filled up too quickly so I went walking instead. Later that evening me and Jessica met up with the Brazalian guys at a Mexican restaurant. My first time eating Mexican food, in Spain, and it was delicious! Later, we went back to the erasmus club, which was completely empty but we still managed to have a great time.
Also, for once I felt threatened in the dance department - these latin-americans... phuuu!
It is clear that we Northern-Europeans lack some sort of elegance and style, I have no idea how to dance in pairs!
The boys were kind enough to walk me and Jessica home (a 2.6km walk I might add, quite chivalrous people those Brazilians)
Communication proved rather difficult though, they don't speak English, nor Spanish, so the conversations rely mostly on hand gestures, which are easily miss-interpreted and caused some rather akward moments...
One of them has kindly offered to join me on my mountain hike so to diminish my fear of getting attacked by things one might find hiding in the bushes :D
On a more sad note, seeing the crisis' effect on Spain leaves a deep impact on me, I think about it almost daily. I see people like myself begging on the street, 50% of shops have shut down, people without jobs, adds on every lantern post offering simple things like cleaning your car. There was a massive strike in Madrid on two occasions that I went there, thousands of people crying and angry.
But seeing the massive turnout on Alcala's town square on a Saturday night is truly touching - people come there for no other reason than to be together, and forget about the troubles they're in.
The past week, I aso found myself thinking of the Camino often, I really miss it. Who would have thought, you could miss waking up at 5.30am but with a solid purpose, feeling proud and fit every day, thankful for every conversation. That's probably the reason why I've been walking here, to re-create the feeling.
But I'm sure erasmus will have given me plenty more beautiful memories by the end of the year!
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