¡¡¡Hola chicos!!!
Today was yet another eventful day here in rainy Granada!
My friend and I had to take our government forms which declare that we are living in Spain to the government building for foreigners so that we could get our Spanish I.D numbers. Doesn't sound too bad so far right?!
We left with plenty of time as we knew we had to get some photocopies of the documents they needed before walked there. Unfortunately it was absolutely hammering it down and we both knew our shoes were not waterproof nor did we bring any with us to Spain!
So after only being outside for about 5minutes and still getting soaked (walking to the printing and copying shop) we decided that taking a taxi was probably a far more sensible option. We popped into a shop asked for a taxi number and proceeded to call them.. The first time my friend got through the woman from the taxi company was very unhelpful as she insisted that they could not take us to the Plaza we needed to go without a road name and to call her back when we had one. So we hung up and got out the trusty map and found a road name. We called her back and this time she insisted that we needed a building number. We did not have one and she flatly refused to send a taxi to us without one! She even told my friend to ''ask them'' for the building number! She replied ''ask who?'' and the woman hung up... Great! So we resolved to walk it in the pouring rain.
After walking 15mins and looking more like drowned rats we found a parked taxi and decided to try it. Fortunately the taxi driver knew exactly where we wanted to go (without a building number or road name) and was happy to take us there. Perfect!
We arrived at the building with plenty of time to spare before it closed at lunch time so we were very pleased. We collected our ticket numbers to wait our turn and sat down. (It was much like the system at Argos!!)
My friend got called first and went in with all her documents... When she came out she looked very distressed and proceeded to tell me that the man on the desk would not accept her document from the University of Southampton and that she needed to bring her enrollment letter from the UGR. She had this document at home but had crossed through it as she thought she would not need it. Therefore she could not get her Spanish I.D. number..
I would have the exact same problem as I did not have this document either and I did not have it at home. We could not re-access this document as the UGR enrollment page had closed and there was no way for us to get any proof from the uni that we were erasmus students as we are not enrolled on their system yet!
It seemed we were in a bit of a predicament. By the time I got called up to the desk my friend had decided to argue our case and came with me. She explained to the man that we could not access these documents and that even if we could they aren't proof that we are erasmus as it was just our module selection page. He proceeded to have another look at our docs from Southampton. He went off to ask someone else and came back stroppily. Finally he processed both of our forms and gave us our Spanish I.D's. After getting these you have to go to the bank to pay a tax and then return to the office to receive an identity card with the I.D on. So arguing does work!
We then went off to the bank to pay the tax.. My friend went first, all was fine she paid, got her form stamped.. and then it was my turn. The man behind the desk entered my Spanish I.D. number and then told me that one of the numbers must be wrong as it wasn't going through. This meant I had to return to the government building, wait again to be seen and have someone check the number. It turns out the guy had written a 'Q' at the end instead of a 'R' .... grrrrrrrr!!!! So I had to go back to the bank again to pay my tax. Luckily it worked the second time. Then it was another trip back to the government building to hand in the stamped form in exchange for my I.D. card. This was all within 20mins of the office closing.
I got seen to pretty quickly and my form was processed and I got my card. I was very relieved! Luckily I checked the card and noticed that they had put I was born in Poole, Ireland instead of Poole, United Kingdom and therefore my nationality was Irish... I went back to the desk of the man who originally wrote my number wrong and he was very apologetic and said I had all the mistakes of the day! He managed to change my card for me despite the time being 13.50 (they closed at 14.00) and all other members of staff were running out the door at 13.55!!
After all the chaos not to mention the fact we were soaked through my friend and I decided we deserved an alcoholic drink and some tapas. I had beer and she had tinto de verano and we shared some great tapas.
I am pleased that we managed to survive the day! When I told my housemates what happened they laughed and said ''welcome to Spain!''. The Spanish are very aware that a lot of their systems out here are appalling and we have to get used to it!
Rant over!!
Adiós xx
Friday, 28 September 2012
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Universidad de Granada (UGR)
Ok so firstly I will say how appalling the education system is in Spain!! Por ejemplo...;
Yesterday I had two classes I wanted to try both starting at 12. So I decided to go to The History of Islam but as I was waiting outside the classroom another Spanish student came up to me and explained that the teacher was not coming as there was a strike and they may be back on Thursday.. How annoying! So I decided to go to the other class at the same time and the teacher did turn up. However, there were so many students that the teacher decided to not take the class..
After returning home early for lunch and a siesta I felt slightly more positive about returning to the university for the afternoon. I attended another history of Spain class and overheard some Spanish students saying that it was a 5th year module.. That would explain why I found all the political terminology hard to understand! So after the class I went to the timetable board and picked some other modules to try from the first and second year (I had learnt how to read their complex timetabling at last!). Finally I went to the class I was really interested in - the history of Arabic women and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Although we were set homework.. boo!!!
Today I got up early to attend a sociology module at 9am. I was looking forward to this module as I loved it at A-Level. I arrived outside the classroom and sat alongside a Spanish girl and waited for the class and teacher to arrive. Another 5 students turned up but surprise surprise no teacher! We traipsed around the offices on the campus to ask what was going on and were palmed off and sent on a wild goose-chase! Eventually someone managed to tell us that the class had been suspended but the teacher failed to let the students know or put a notice on the board.
I was utterly p***ed off!! I got up when it was dark outside and traveled all the way to my campus for nothing! I used the time wisely when I returned home and returned some sheets I bought from El Corte Inglés for an extortionate price and swapped them for some from a Chinese shop for more than half the price - great success!
Later I met with my friend for churros con chocolate mmmmmmmm before heading off to hand in our government form to show our temporary residency in España. Well firstly we entered what looked like an official building and turned out to be a school! Then went to a government building which sent us off to a university office nearby. They in turn sent us to a government building alongside it. However, the man at the desk told us that we could not give the form in there and would have to trek off to another area to hand it in.. We were not surprised at another wild goose-chase. Spanish bureaucracy is rather frustrating to say the least!!!
Nommmm check out those churros ;).
En fin, I am going to enjoy a cosy night in with my housemates (yes it is actually cold here and even rained today!) before attempting the UGR again tomorrow..
Wish me luck!!
Yesterday I had two classes I wanted to try both starting at 12. So I decided to go to The History of Islam but as I was waiting outside the classroom another Spanish student came up to me and explained that the teacher was not coming as there was a strike and they may be back on Thursday.. How annoying! So I decided to go to the other class at the same time and the teacher did turn up. However, there were so many students that the teacher decided to not take the class..
After returning home early for lunch and a siesta I felt slightly more positive about returning to the university for the afternoon. I attended another history of Spain class and overheard some Spanish students saying that it was a 5th year module.. That would explain why I found all the political terminology hard to understand! So after the class I went to the timetable board and picked some other modules to try from the first and second year (I had learnt how to read their complex timetabling at last!). Finally I went to the class I was really interested in - the history of Arabic women and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Although we were set homework.. boo!!!
Today I got up early to attend a sociology module at 9am. I was looking forward to this module as I loved it at A-Level. I arrived outside the classroom and sat alongside a Spanish girl and waited for the class and teacher to arrive. Another 5 students turned up but surprise surprise no teacher! We traipsed around the offices on the campus to ask what was going on and were palmed off and sent on a wild goose-chase! Eventually someone managed to tell us that the class had been suspended but the teacher failed to let the students know or put a notice on the board.
I was utterly p***ed off!! I got up when it was dark outside and traveled all the way to my campus for nothing! I used the time wisely when I returned home and returned some sheets I bought from El Corte Inglés for an extortionate price and swapped them for some from a Chinese shop for more than half the price - great success!
Later I met with my friend for churros con chocolate mmmmmmmm before heading off to hand in our government form to show our temporary residency in España. Well firstly we entered what looked like an official building and turned out to be a school! Then went to a government building which sent us off to a university office nearby. They in turn sent us to a government building alongside it. However, the man at the desk told us that we could not give the form in there and would have to trek off to another area to hand it in.. We were not surprised at another wild goose-chase. Spanish bureaucracy is rather frustrating to say the least!!!
Nommmm check out those churros ;).
En fin, I am going to enjoy a cosy night in with my housemates (yes it is actually cold here and even rained today!) before attempting the UGR again tomorrow..
Wish me luck!!
Monday, 24 September 2012
Day one part two..
Ok so after a worrying start to the day (the bus breaking down and a lecturer not turning up) I vowed to plow on with the university in hope that the rest of the day would improve.. No such luck!
After returning after my lunch I went to one class - Historia de España actual (recent history of Spain). This was not so bad as the teacher was aware that there were a lot of erasmus students in the class and was very accommodating.
The second class I attended of Spanish as a foreign language started off well, with a great teacher but once he began to set work online (we cannot access as we can't enroll and don't have student i.d.) he soon realised that having erasmus students in his class was a bad idea. Therefore he recommended we took other modules and basically told us where to go! This puts us Spanish students in an awkward position as we were told by our uni we had to study a Spanish module and it seems that there aren't any for us!
Oh well, onwards and upwards! I went to my next class that I was really looking forward to - historia de las mujeres arabes (history of arabic women).. However, when I arrived the teacher began talking about Italy and I thought - hold on what the hell is going on here! Turns out it was a lesson about the history of Italian art (yawn yawn). I hate art, so imagine listening to someone talking about a subject you don't like in a foreign language for an hour.. Let me tell you, I was dying a slow death!!
Subsequent to this I checked the timetable board to see if I had mistaken the location of my module - but no I had the right class.. It appeared I had walked into the wrong room as it was so unclearly marked!
After the chaos of day one I can't say I am looking forward to tomorrow but let's see how it goes!
The definite highlight of my day was walking home from uni with my friend and watching the sunset. Then going to a Chinese restaurant for a four course meal and a drink for only €6 each! Bargain!!! Loved the vino de verano, was quite strong - just what I needed!
Well it is time for bed now so hasta luego chicos,
un beso!!
After returning after my lunch I went to one class - Historia de España actual (recent history of Spain). This was not so bad as the teacher was aware that there were a lot of erasmus students in the class and was very accommodating.
The second class I attended of Spanish as a foreign language started off well, with a great teacher but once he began to set work online (we cannot access as we can't enroll and don't have student i.d.) he soon realised that having erasmus students in his class was a bad idea. Therefore he recommended we took other modules and basically told us where to go! This puts us Spanish students in an awkward position as we were told by our uni we had to study a Spanish module and it seems that there aren't any for us!
Oh well, onwards and upwards! I went to my next class that I was really looking forward to - historia de las mujeres arabes (history of arabic women).. However, when I arrived the teacher began talking about Italy and I thought - hold on what the hell is going on here! Turns out it was a lesson about the history of Italian art (yawn yawn). I hate art, so imagine listening to someone talking about a subject you don't like in a foreign language for an hour.. Let me tell you, I was dying a slow death!!
Subsequent to this I checked the timetable board to see if I had mistaken the location of my module - but no I had the right class.. It appeared I had walked into the wrong room as it was so unclearly marked!
After the chaos of day one I can't say I am looking forward to tomorrow but let's see how it goes!
The definite highlight of my day was walking home from uni with my friend and watching the sunset. Then going to a Chinese restaurant for a four course meal and a drink for only €6 each! Bargain!!! Loved the vino de verano, was quite strong - just what I needed!
Well it is time for bed now so hasta luego chicos,
un beso!!
Bienvenido a mi blog!
Hello people!
I have decided that after two weeks of living in Granada - Spain that I have to write a blog. There is just too much to report!
So first of all I will go back to when I arrived here. I expected the journey to go smoothly as I have traveled to Granada from Malaga several times already. So being very organised I had already booked my Alsa bus (much like National Express) ticket online in England before I left. I knew I had plenty of time from the landing of my flight until the bus was due to arrive so I was quite relaxed. I waited outside the airport in view of the bus stop eating my packed lunch my mum had made me as I waited the 40mins or so for the bus to arrive....
However, it seemed that on that particular day the bus was not going to turn up at all and I was stranded at Malaga airport. I was not the only one so it wasn't me being oblivious! There was another group of girls there that had been waiting the same amount of time as me and hadn't seen the bus. They decided to take a taxi to Malaga and take another bus from there. They must have thought I looked quite distressed as they kept asking me if I would be ok!! After all the emotional farewells at the airport and the week before, added to the early morning (4am).. it is no surprise that I was quite upset when the bus didn't arrive. With two heavy suitcases all alone I was not enjoying myself. I decided to take the bus to Malaga and then take a coach onto Granada. Inbetween texting my mum, my boyfriend (through teary eyes) and my friend who was meeting me at Granada bus station, I managed to get myself to Malaga and onto a coach. The wait at the airport had put me about 2hours behind schedule!!
Luckily my friend was able to meet still at Granada coach station and drove me to my flat... I was so grateful for that as I NEVER would have found it alone!!! I was very nervous and was hoping that the flat would be nice and luckily it was lovely. Very cute and homely. My housemates are very friendly and helpful too so I fell on my feet :D. It was definitely the right decision to live with Spanish people as I hear Spanish 24/7 at home, in the street, at uni, on tv etc etc etc.
My first week consisted mainly of settling in and trying to locate places. The latter I failed at badly and got lost many times!! Once I was walking for 2hours and could not work out where I was! (And they say Granada is a small town - hahaha). In all honesty the first week was a little boring for me as all my Spanish friends had exams and therefore no one was available to do anything.
In the second week I had to attend several meetings at the university designed to give us information about courses, enrollment etc. I realised that I did not bring copies of my passport or passport photos with me which resulted in many lengthy treks around the town to find places to get them.
My best advice so far is do not follow instructions from Spanish people!!! For example; go straight up that road, keep going, keep going and then turn left and you will see it... Well turn left at which point?!! How far is keep going?!!! I have got very lost following these vague instructions as you can imagine.
One particular funny incident I have to write about involves going to a tapas bar.. I went along with 2 English friends and we were trying all different types of tapas. I ordered one round and politely asked the waiter for ''croquetas de polla'' instead of ''croquetas de pollo''.. In English: croquettes of dick instead of chicken!!! How embarrassing but utterly hilarious! The difference of one letter hahaha!!
I promise I am rounding this off now and will leave with my experience of university that I had today.. Firstly on the way there the bus broke down! This meant I arrived to my first lesson late but luckily the teacher didn't seem to mind. I went along to my next lesson a little before starting time in order to not have to walk into another classroom late.. Well after sitting down inside for about 10/15mins with the rest of the class it was announced that the teacher wasn't going to turn up - brilliant!!
The uni system is clearly far more relaxed here than in England! Don't even get me started on the fact that we cannot enroll yet until we receive our student cards (in 2-3weeks). This means we can't select our modules, get our bus pass, eat in the uni canteens or anything! Guess I will have to be patient.. The mañana feeling is still unfamiliar to me!
Anyway, that is enough for now!
Hasta luego!!
I have decided that after two weeks of living in Granada - Spain that I have to write a blog. There is just too much to report!
So first of all I will go back to when I arrived here. I expected the journey to go smoothly as I have traveled to Granada from Malaga several times already. So being very organised I had already booked my Alsa bus (much like National Express) ticket online in England before I left. I knew I had plenty of time from the landing of my flight until the bus was due to arrive so I was quite relaxed. I waited outside the airport in view of the bus stop eating my packed lunch my mum had made me as I waited the 40mins or so for the bus to arrive....
However, it seemed that on that particular day the bus was not going to turn up at all and I was stranded at Malaga airport. I was not the only one so it wasn't me being oblivious! There was another group of girls there that had been waiting the same amount of time as me and hadn't seen the bus. They decided to take a taxi to Malaga and take another bus from there. They must have thought I looked quite distressed as they kept asking me if I would be ok!! After all the emotional farewells at the airport and the week before, added to the early morning (4am).. it is no surprise that I was quite upset when the bus didn't arrive. With two heavy suitcases all alone I was not enjoying myself. I decided to take the bus to Malaga and then take a coach onto Granada. Inbetween texting my mum, my boyfriend (through teary eyes) and my friend who was meeting me at Granada bus station, I managed to get myself to Malaga and onto a coach. The wait at the airport had put me about 2hours behind schedule!!
Luckily my friend was able to meet still at Granada coach station and drove me to my flat... I was so grateful for that as I NEVER would have found it alone!!! I was very nervous and was hoping that the flat would be nice and luckily it was lovely. Very cute and homely. My housemates are very friendly and helpful too so I fell on my feet :D. It was definitely the right decision to live with Spanish people as I hear Spanish 24/7 at home, in the street, at uni, on tv etc etc etc.
My first week consisted mainly of settling in and trying to locate places. The latter I failed at badly and got lost many times!! Once I was walking for 2hours and could not work out where I was! (And they say Granada is a small town - hahaha). In all honesty the first week was a little boring for me as all my Spanish friends had exams and therefore no one was available to do anything.
In the second week I had to attend several meetings at the university designed to give us information about courses, enrollment etc. I realised that I did not bring copies of my passport or passport photos with me which resulted in many lengthy treks around the town to find places to get them.
My best advice so far is do not follow instructions from Spanish people!!! For example; go straight up that road, keep going, keep going and then turn left and you will see it... Well turn left at which point?!! How far is keep going?!!! I have got very lost following these vague instructions as you can imagine.
One particular funny incident I have to write about involves going to a tapas bar.. I went along with 2 English friends and we were trying all different types of tapas. I ordered one round and politely asked the waiter for ''croquetas de polla'' instead of ''croquetas de pollo''.. In English: croquettes of dick instead of chicken!!! How embarrassing but utterly hilarious! The difference of one letter hahaha!!
I promise I am rounding this off now and will leave with my experience of university that I had today.. Firstly on the way there the bus broke down! This meant I arrived to my first lesson late but luckily the teacher didn't seem to mind. I went along to my next lesson a little before starting time in order to not have to walk into another classroom late.. Well after sitting down inside for about 10/15mins with the rest of the class it was announced that the teacher wasn't going to turn up - brilliant!!
The uni system is clearly far more relaxed here than in England! Don't even get me started on the fact that we cannot enroll yet until we receive our student cards (in 2-3weeks). This means we can't select our modules, get our bus pass, eat in the uni canteens or anything! Guess I will have to be patient.. The mañana feeling is still unfamiliar to me!
Anyway, that is enough for now!
Hasta luego!!
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