Life is...blahh but crafty

It has been waaaaaaay too long since I've posted anything on here. But alas, life is not all that interesting. I have basically lost all motivation to do anything (like school work) so I'm kinda behind in that regard. My lack of apartment hunting means that instead of living in an apartment from December onwards, I settled for moving to another res, the one across from mine. I will have a smaller room, but it will be all mine and fantastically glorious. There is a small kitchen where I would cook for myself and overall hopefully save about 100 euros a month. I only plan on being there for two months though.

Instead of working I have become even more obsessed with Pinterest, the most fantastical site in the world. Did you know you can save your boards as PDF files?!?!?!?! Imagine my joy. I also watched the first two seasons and a half of Fringe, caught up with a bunch of other shows and listened the Lianne La Havas album, "Is Your Love Big Enough?" about 30 times on repeat yesterday.

I made a bow from ribbons

Before that though, Vi and I went to a mini concert organized by a very nice Russian/Portuguese girl we met at that Brazilian party a few weeks ago. She sang some jazz songs and played classical songs on the piano. A few other people played songs as well. It is amazing how people can memorized such complex pieces of music and how quickly and swiftly their hands moved. I was mesmerized - it was great.

Last Friday I saw Skyfall with Em and her friends, IN SPANISH. I'm not quite sure I understand the whole appeal of James Bond. That was the first full JB movie I've ever seen and I was actually pretty funny altough I don't think it was supposed to be. Many parts seemed illogical to me and Javier Bardem makes a horrible blonde.

I have also been getting crafty, because making random stuff keeps me sane. I've made some rings from wire, a wire Christmas tree ornament and an unconventional advent calendar for a friend (although I am still on the hunt for small edible deliciousness...). I think I am going to do another 12 days of DIY, like I did last year on the old blog, except I shall do ALL 12 days. There are a bajillion ideas running through my head...

That's about it.

Happy Belated American Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Rick Mercer Tuesday, etc.

Hello Alone - Charlie Winston

The Week

It hasn't been terribly exciting around here. On Tuesday my roommate moved out to a single room down the hall. I was all excited  (although cautiously) that I might get the room to myself - my roommate and I got along well, btw. People have still been moving in despite that fact that school already started two weeks ago. But all hopes were dashed on Friday when the residence emailed me and about five or six other girls saying that we can't stay in double rooms by ourselves and we would have to move in with one another. Fun times. There was a meeting today but I wasn't able to go due to class. But then I ran into a girl outside my door and from what I understood, by the end of the night I could have a new roommate/be moving rooms. Hopefully they're nice!

I still haven't registered for classes yet....gotta get on that....But I finally worked out my schedule. I've started this third week of school actually knowing what classes I'm taking and where they are, so that is lovely. They're okay. The hardest one is probably going to be the teaching Spanish as a second language course. I don't really know what's going on most of the time. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take any french classes this semester. I feel like if anything is gonna screw me up for 4th year it's gonna be french, which is my minor. I guess we will have to see what happens.

The course I am most excited about is Portuguese. I love the prof. He is from Lisbon and is so passionate about the culture and making the course interesting and not just about drilling grammar into our heads. He already speaks in Portuguese most of the class. Admittedly it can be a bit hard to understand him because he speaks Spanish with a strong accent but he's so nice and I'll get used to it.

Some girls and a guy just came up to my door and introduced themselves, after they heard there was an international girl in my room. They were so nice. Apparently there is a British girl across the hall but I haven't met/seen her yet.

What else....

Went out for tapas last Monday after class. That was nice. I had some delicious Shepard's pie like thing. Had I known it was so cheap I would have had five. Wednesday night was the regular intercambio (exchange) group that I go to with Vi, my friend. We went to a different bar than the week before. It was an open bar for 4 euros for the time we were there. Open bars are a common thing it seems during the week. You can usually get things like sangria, beers, some wines and other concoctions. There was an Eramus (the European student exchange network) party (again with open bar) on Thursday. We didn't stay out too long, by Spanish standards, only until about 3, when we left downtown. And the weekend was thoroughly boring as I was sick for most of it. Although I did get caught up on almost all my shows (I completely forgot about Hawaii Five-O - that's next on the list).

It's only Monday but this week is looking like a good one. I'm off to dinner!

oh and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Enjoy the turkey :)

♥♥♥

This Town Called Salamanca

It is now day 5 in Salamanca and it has been an interesting/not terribly exciting few days.  My mom and I have basically traveled all over the city -  walking, taking the bus and going by taxi. Salamanca is small enough that you can walk almost anywhere in 30-40 mins. But it doesn’t feel like a small town.  There is the historic centre, where the old part of the university is and where the main tourist attractions are. And then there is the rest of the city, which has sort of grown out from the centre.  The centre is probably almost a thousand years old and can be a bit hard to navigate because the streets aren’t labelled the greatest and can be very narrow. 

But it really is beautiful.

The Cathedral by my mom's hotel.

The last few days has basically been about setting me up and getting everything ready. On Thursday I moved into my room on res. And today, at this very moment as I write my post, my roommate is moving in, the day before classes start. For the last few days I thought I wouldn’t have one so naturally this came as a shock. But she seems nice and she’s Spanish. Ohhh how I wish the room was cleaner…

not the greatest pic of the outside of res

 

I also looked up classes and got some of the academic stuff sorted. The University works very differently from UofT. In Toronto, courses would have already been picked in July, all done online. The process for international students is different from the process for regular Spanish students, so I don’t officially enroll until October  1^st. This first week I attend classes as if I were in them, to see if I like them or not. By Friday I have to fill out a sheet with the courses I want, get it signed by the department coordinator and then submit it to my faculty – La Facultad de filologia (philology – the study of written texts – I def had to google that). Then I’m good to go and permanently locked into my classes. 

My faculty. Ain't it splendid!

Faculty of philology

Yeaaa that’s it for now. Not very exciting I know. Tomorrow’s filled with even more non-excitement/nervous anxiety as classes start and I’m going to attempt (once more!) to get a phone plan. The last time I forgot my passport, which they need to open an account. Hopefully I can find a very bilingual person to drag with me so I don’t get duped or something : P