The calm not before but after the storm

I have just spent an entire weekend disconnected from what I would call reality.  After an enormous storm our Internet got disconnected and Spain being Spain, it is taking them a while to get us reconnected.   Reconnected in every sense of the word.  It is unbelievable how much I have come to depend on the being connected and it has taken removing it for two days for me to realise how important a part of my life it has become.

I think being abroad this year has only helped highlight this aspect of my life because my laptop and the Internet are quite literally my only real contact with home and with everyone I know.  Skype has become my new telephone and my emails are something I check on an hourly basis just incase someone has messaged me with their news. 

I have always prided myself on being someone that didn’t need the latest new toy or technology because there is a big part of me that enjoys being a little ‘old fashioned’.  The part that loves going for a long walk for no real reason or loves playing board games with friends to pass the time.  So it disappoints me that I found an entire weekend with no Internet quite difficult.

At first I just didn’t know what to do with myself.  All I wanted to do was check facebook and twitter to see what people were up to and then my emails for news from friends, family and my uni. When I realised this wasn’t going to be possible for the entire day I began to wonder what I was going to do with myself.  Trapped inside thanks to the hammering rain I considered it the perfect opportunity to get on with my essay.  However then I realised this too was going to be difficult as my dictionary, grammar book and sources of information are all online.  Having already drafted the whole thing in English and translated most of it into Spanish already, it is at the stage for checking and perfection, which certainly requires all of the above mentioned sources.

I also have no DVDs with me and have finished all my books except for my Spanish novel for next year.  So, a day of thinking and watching everything on my itunes was in order.

It was actually quite nice to be separate from everything.  It is amazing how much more you can listen to the little voices in your head when you aren’t trying to do ten things at once.  Being in Austria I had a lot of time on my own and today has reminded me of how beneficial that is every now and then.  I am someone who likes to be on the go all the time and so taking a break or stopping for 5 minutes used to seem scary.  But now I can quite appreciate it. 

So after a fairly shaky start to the day it can be said that I a) survived and b) managed to amuse myself for an entire day from very little.

Sunday morning I woke up with an awful feeling of dread in my stomach… a whole other day of nothing was just not an option!  So I made my way over to Flossie’s for some Internet stealing and then we went out for an early dinner.  Then I spent another evening in with my housemates.  Having no internet has made us all much more sociable and we have spoken more in the last two days than in the last two weeks… and we talk a LOT haha!

I am now in McDonald’s, one of the only two WiFi locations in Alcala and am going to spend the afternoon here, by which time hopefully the internet in CRUSA will be up and running once again… fingers crossed…

It is time for me to get back to my essay…So Adios! xxx

Muggings in Madrid and other news..

So just two weeks after my trip home the UK it was time for Mummy Baikie to come out for a week and then Bianca and Daddy Baikie made it out for four days, within that week.

Mum arrived and we spent Thursday and Friday exploring Alcala.   The city is a world Heritage Site so has lots of beautiful buildings to see and visit.  We walked around enjoying the sunshine and saw the University buildings (where I have my lectures - they are stunning!), the palace, the monastry, the Cathedral, the big wall which used to surround the city and we even managed a little visit around Cervantes' House. 

Then on Saturday morning we made our way into Madrid to meet Bianca and dad as they arrived and after we dropped everything off at our hotel, we made our way into the centre for a day of sightseeing and tourist behaviour. 

This is when the title of my post becomes relevent.  On the metro from Tribunal to Sol my purse got stolen, right out of my zipped shut bag which was held under my arm...  I thought I was doing everything right but it turns out when it's going to happen, it will happen.  The metro was already packed and just as the doors were shutting four people threw themselves into it and jostled everyone around for the whole journey.  Therefore no one had any idea what was happening.  They clearly had a plan and also had a knife.  Mum's bag got slashed into (luckily they got into an empty outer pocket), Dad felt someone go for his pocket but he got there first and the zip on my bag was forced open from the wrong end and unlucky for me that's just where my purse was.  Hey ho, all they got was 53cents (the benefit of being a student) and a lot of plastic.  It was annoying to deal with but at the end of the day it's nothing.  There was something sentimental which someone special gave me to take on my year abroad and this is the one thing which still upsets me/winds me up.  Upsets me because I lost it and winds me up because it will mean nothing to them!! GRRRR!!!  Ah well, we are all safe and that is the important thing.

After said incident we went round the main sites, Sol, Plaza Mayor (saying hi to fat Spiderman on the way of course), the palace, the cathedral and then down Gran Via.  After all the sun and walking we were pretty tired so just headed back to the hotel and had a late dinner in the bar.  The next day we went all the way down to Atocha and then walked back up towards the centre of town and saw the 'Wedding Cake' building and then went for a leisurely afternoon in the park.  I then headed home to do some work before uni and teaching the next day.

On the Monday night we had a lovely meal and then it was time to say bye to dad and Bianca on the Tuesday morning and I got to enjoy a couple more days with mum before it was bye to her too.  Here are some of the best photos from the weekend.

 With Fat Spiderman in Plaza Mayor

 Flying with Spiderman...

 Mummy and Daddy Baikie :)

 Such a Baikie family moment...

 Bianca and her Chocolate y Churros

 Temptation...

 he he he he

 In Atocha train station

 sisters..

 Mum in Cervantes' house

Alcala by night

Confessions of a Chocoholic...

So, having completed lent - something I realise I never really commented on - I am ashamed to admit that in the past 24 hours I have consumed a total of 8.. yes 8 chocolate bars and 2 pain au chocolats.  And I thought this 40 days of chocolate was meant to help my little chocolate addiction.  If anything it has made it worse..

What I have realised was during lent I would crave chocolate but then thought of all the reasons for going 40 days without and then would stop myself.. however now I have nothing stopping me!!  

I proved I could do it, to myself most importantly and to everyone else who doubted me *cough* Keri, Lucy, Sam *cough* to name but a few. But now where does it leave me?!  I still feel like I am doing something wrong when buying chocolate but then remind myself that now I can.. maybe I should just keep the ban going? Who knows?  

All I know is when I first started eating chocolate again I didn't want it and was SO shocked.  I thought to myself.. 'What have I done!!!' However within a few days I was back to my normal self, eating chocolate as regularly as most people have a drink ( a non alcoholic drink :P) 

Maybe the one difference is that I no longer feel that I NEED chocolate.  This is quite honestly a feeling I sometimes get, much as I would imagine a smoker feels when they need a cigarette.  The feeling that the world WILL end if I do not have that little sweet, sticky piece of yummy goodness.  This is perhaps best illustrated with a little story.  

Imagine Bischofshofen (my beautiful mountain town in Austria) in winter... it is night time, it is cold (probably about minus 15 something tropical like that :P) and it is hammering down with snow.  Then imagine me... craving chocolate as if there is no tomorrow... then see me actually get dressed (I was in my pyjamas) and get my snow boots and jacket on and trek the whole way to the station just to get some chocolate from the vending machine.... 

Judge all you want!! Now I look back and laugh, but really.. it's not that funny!

The good news is that after my experience this year I don't think there will be any late night snow adventures for me! :)  I have also realised that I actually feel quite proud in having achieved the full 40 days, despite MANY temptations - I even passed on Ben and Jerry's in Ibiza AND Chocolate and Churros in Madrid  THREE times!!!

So, my conclusion to this very random blog post can be that I no longer feel quite so attached.  Chocolate will still feature heavily in my life I am sure but maybe with slightly less importance as I now know I can control said addiction...

Goodnight

 Amazing Ice cream in a crepe - the crepe serves as the cone.. two of my faves combined!!

A trip to the Zoo!

I want to get my blog up to date before Sam comes out on Thursday because then it is nearly time for me to go on to France and as I am someone that needs order in my life, Spain needs to be done before France can start!  So, here goes....

A few weeks ago we were bored so decided to go on a kids day out to the zoo in Madrid.  My views on zoos vary but I decided that I could do with a day outside in the fresh air, not in Alcala.  So we got up bright and early and went off into Madrid.  The first thing we did when we got there was go and see the dolphin show.  Having never seen a dolphin show I didn't really know what to expect but what I saw was pretty impressive and what I loved was the fact that the trainers and the dolphins seemed to have a really good relationship.

Then we just kind of carried on walking around and looking at all the animals, I mean what else are you going to do if you go to a zoo?!!  Those of you that know me well will know that I particularly enjoyed the giraffes and when I found out there was an aquarium within the zoo.. well that just made my day!  I love fish and the sea and always have.  In a previous life I must have lived in the sea...

To better explain the day I feel some photos would do the job:

 The entrance to the zoo!  We were quite excited :)

 The Giraffes!!! Of course the BEST animals in the whole Zoo :P

 Fishy!!! My obsession continues...

 The team (Megan, me, Flossie and Elodie), minus Sam who is behind the camera.

 The cute baby panda.  There were two of them, twins, one was sleeping and this one was playing.. he was so funny :)

Well that is quite enough monkeying around ;) for this evening and I have photos from Ibiza to look through :)

Lessons I am learning (part one I am sure)

I haven't updated my blog in a while and aim to share all of my latest adventures shortly, however today had been a very quiet and therefore pensive day.  There have been a few things swimming around in my little head recently and it might be interesting to share.  Some of these thoughts are things I am learning thanks to this year and others are just little random ones provoked by songs, films, life around me etc.

My philosophy in life tends to be that everything happens for a reason, and this year seems to have highlighted why this (for me) is a good way of looking at things.  I used to think things that happened to me were unfair or somehow I was being punished for something I had done.  The only way to justify these things was that they were down to fate.   I could not believe that some things could happen without having another purpose.  Don't get me wrong I am not religious and do not really believe in a greater power, but sometimes I find myself half way down a path (a metaphorical path) and think wow how am I here and then realise it is thanks to a series of events.  When I was ill a couple of months ago I started writing a novel (I was bed ridden for four whole days... and watching three series of Gossip Girl just got a little too much) and the plot all stemmed from a decision I made a long time ago.  In the novel the protagonist chose the opposite of what I did and I guess the rest was just my imagination...  Sometimes I like to wonder what could have happened if.

This leads me on nicely to another lesson I have learnt from a good friend of mine.  She may not even realise she has helped me learn this, but I am who I am today because of what has happened to me and because of the decisions I have made.  And this is not something I should ever wish to change.  I like who I am today (most of the time) and if changing or removing things from my past would change that then no thank you!  This sounds simple and obvious but actually admitting it and realising it is a whole other kettle of fish.

Something else I have noticed particularly during my time in Spain is that I need structure and routine in my life for me to be the best I can be.  As someone recently reiterated to me 'laziness breeds laziness' and this is completely true.  Writing essays in Durham seems so much easier than writing just one here.  My life has always been strictly timetabled thanks to being busy at school, busy with dance and doing shows, so this year being so very not busy has shown me that this is not the way I work.  Having days...weeks...months to write one essay for uni has made it hard to write it, whilst in Durham fitting essays and work into my life feels easy.   I am excited about getting back to the business of life at uni, although I have also learnt to appreciate the benefits of having time off to relax and just be.

This is the fourth and final lesson I am going to talk about tonight... the fact that it is ok sometimes to just do nothing.  This is a concept I had to learn in Austria when I had long evenings with only myself for company, very limited internet and Austrian TV.  I have continued to learn about this here in Spain seeing as I only have 11 hours of lectures and 8 hours of teaching.  Some of you may be thinking that's a lot, but compared to last year's timetable that is nothing.  Actually when I consider second year I know I had a great year and loved it all, but sometimes I wonder if I had maybe done one less thing, or had one less responsibility, would I have enjoyed the things I did do slightly more.  Who knows? (coming back to lesson number one about not being able to change the past!) What I do know is I am looking forward to combining what I know works well for me (the busy busy lifestyle of last year) and what I now know is not so bad, time out.  I was always intimidated by silence and time to think but now I know that both of those things are necessary to process what has happened and also to maintain oneself as a sane and healthy person.

That is quite enough musing for one evening.  I will leave you on one note though... laughter is certainly good for the soul.  Having just laughed for an entire week with one of my closest friends I know that is exactly what I need in my life... time to laugh and giggle and gossip with my favourites :D

p.s feed the fish!!!! :P

An exciting few weeks :)

So, it has been a while since the last post so I thought it was about time to write a little.  I have been fairly busy the past few weeks...but not really doing anything exceptional.  I am now teaching 10 hours a week on top of lectures so am keeping myself busy, which is keeping me happy! Teaching in Austria was just the best so doing that again is cool :) Plus it means I am a bit busier, which you all know is the way I like my life to be.  I am also making the conscious effort to spend a lot more time with my housemates to get that all important Spanish practice in!

In March I made a couple of theatre trips with Sarah in Madrid.  We went to see Avenue Q one weekend and Les Mis the next.  Avenue Q was fabulous and was literally the London show exactly just translated into Spanish.  As it had been a while since I saw the show it was nice to go.  We thought it was hilarious, but the humour was generally pretty lost on the Spanish.  At times we were the only ones laughing!!  Ah well I guess some things just don't translate!  Les Mis was absolutely stunning and I loved getting to see it again :)  I absolutely LOVE the show so was really happy when I found out it was on.  I am also helping out with a youth production of it this summer so it was good to have a refresher.

We have had a couple of nights out here too.  For Katie's birthday we all dressed up as Katie and had an adult themed kids party.  The night was a good laugh and I loved doing fancy dress again :)  Dressing up is something I have missed this year and can't wait to get back to it next year!  We also went out for St Paddy's day and had a good night.  Then it was a meal at Buffalo Grill (an awesome steak house...mmmmmm steak) for Flossie's birthday before a trip home.

I went home for a long weekend to see the HLOS production of Carousel because lots of my friends were in it and Bianca and Sam were leads.  The show was really good (I watched it three times I should know :P) but the thing I loved most was being back home with la famille and getting to see all my shows friends from home.  It had been far too long since I had seen any of them and I even got to meet a few new friends too :D  Whilst at home I also managed to cram in a full wardrobe clear out, a shopping trip, 3 viewings of carousel, an after show party, two after show meals, a four hour long lunch with some of my favourite people and a trip to London to see The Wizard of Oz. 

I was a little disappointed by the show in London, maybe purely because it was so similar to the one we did in St Albans 10 years ago.  I mean yes they had an awesome set and costumes etc etc but I don't know it just didn't wow me.  Sophie Evans was lovely as Dorothy and the Wicked Witch was fabulous but I think the show is lacking in some big showbiz numbers with those big belty notes to get the show lifted?!  Who knows... I am planning another trip to see it in the summer to see Danielle Hope (the winner of the Over the Rainbow series on TV who is on every night but Tuesday.)

I had such a lovely time back home that coming back was difficult as adjusting back to la vida en Espana is not easy!!  I was wondering yesterday why I have found Spain harder than Austria.. and there are many many reasons.  The fact that Austria was first and so therefore I was all fresh and excited about the year, the fact that I loved my job, my colleagues and my friends over there and whilst I am loving teaching again here and have met some nice people it is not the same, and most importantly perhaps; during my first 3/4 months in Austria I only came back once to visit Durham.  I have realised it is in fact easier to actually just not go back to allow yourself the time to settle and get into life abroad.  Since being in Spain I have made two trips back (in two months) and each time I have to leave it makes it harder again.. ah well!! only three months of being abroad left.  Scary scary times as that means I am three months closer to next year...and scarier still three months closer to real life!!!

I shall leave on that note but will write again soon as I have more comical observations to report.  Things I am looking forward to:

- the zoo tomorrow :)

- La famille coming out next weekend

- Ibiza with Keri in only 14 days!!!

- Rachel coming to Madrid

- Sam coming out :)

- More days of 29 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!

Becoming more observant!

Living abroad has made me a much more observant person.  I suddenly notice people, what they are wearing, what they are saying and funny things that happen around me.  Maybe it is because I always feel a little out of place, I am not sure but the reality is that I have really opened my eyes to the world around me.  I have also found that I take a lot less for granted too... I really look at the things I walk past and take them in.  If you live in a place you tend to start taking the places you walk past every day for granted and I realised yesterday that I have stopped doing this as much.  I notice the beautiful flowers on Plaza Cervantes every time I go to Uni, and look up at the stalks nesting on the uni building roofs as I walk past.  This is a really positive thing to have come out of my year abroad.  So, now it is time to share some of these things that I have noticed or seen... they amused me so hopefully they will make you smile a little...

The Spanish seem to have a phobia of sitting backwards on the bus or train.  On many occasions I have seen people look at the bus, see that there is only one seat free, that seat is facing backwards so they choose to stand.  In the UK people will do everything to avoid sitting directly next to someone, however the Spanish would rather snuggle up close to you than have to face the wrong way.  Last week I travelled into Madrid and I was sitting in the train in the station waiting to go (Alcala is the end station) when a large group of women came into the train. They all spent a good two minutes looking at all the available seats before then spending 5 minutes debating which way the train was going to leave.  I mean I have only been here 6 weeks but I know which way the train goes out of the station, but that is beside the point.  They seemed filled with fear at the thought of having to go backwards! I find this so amusing and every time I am in a bus or train there is at least one person who hesitates about where to sit.. I mean come on! Is sitting the 'wrong' way really that bad!

Eating on the go as also apparently a big no go in Spain.  I was eating a chocolate bar (of course it was chocolate) on the way to class a couple of weeks ago and I got the dirtiest looks from the people around me.  Food is an important part of Spanish culture and I guess as a result they see it as something important, so you should sit down and appreciate it.  They also see food and drink as a very social affair.  I found this was the case in Austria too.  I was told on many occasions that they hate the 'Starbucks coffee to go' culture because they see coffee drinking as a social affair.  They meet up and as a consequence drink coffee.. much like they meet up and as a consequence drink alcohol...none of this drinking in order to be social business.  On that point I agree, I really like the completely social attitude in Spain.

Speaking of dirty looks, the Spanish love to stare.  If you are in the bus, sitting in a cafe, walking in the street, whatever you are doing people will stare at you.  And I don't mean just kind of look at you trying to figure you out, I mean full on STARING!  I have a few ideas about this...  Sometimes I go off into a complete daze and is looks like I am staring at someone or something but in reality I am probably tired and am just a bit out of it, so maybe that is the little bit of Spanish in me coming out.  Another theory is that I am a little confusing.  I have often been asked where I am from and when I say England people are surprised.  I think it is because I do not look 'typically' English.  But then I don't look 'typically' French or Spanish or anything else... therefore maybe the staring comes from people trying to figure me out?  The big one is obviously if I am speaking French or English on the phone or to the person I am with, then people stare because we aren't speaking Spanish.  Well, whatever the reason the Spanish stare. End of!

One last observation for this post is that of the Spanish way of draining their dishes.  In England we usually have a rack next to the sink to drain the dishes (this is of course if you don't have a dishwasher).  However here what they have is a bottomless cupboard above the sink where there is a draining board effectively.  So you put the wet plates up and then the water drips down and back into the sink...  I am not sure whether this is ridiculous or genius!

Anyway, that is enough observation for now.  This week has been a funny one with a whole range of events and emotions! I have managed a whole week without chocolate you will be glad to know :) That is an achievement in itself! I will write more about what I have been up to next time..

Adios!