Valencia

¡Feliz año nuevo!

Posted on by Hannah Kitching

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year to everyone! Technically it is still Christmas here in Spain because on 6th January the Spanish celebrate their Christmas, otherwise known as Los Reyes Magos. For those of you who don’t know, this is when the Spanish are more likely to give presents as to many of them, the 25th December is just another day off work to spend with their families, eating copious amounts of food. For me this is perfect timing as not only do we get Wednesday off work, but one of my oldest friends is coming to visit me so I can spend much more time with her as opposed to working! The only downside to this late Christmas is that the sales haven’t yet started as people are still buying their Christmas presents – so not only did I miss all the sales in England, but I have to wait for them here! (That’s a first world problem right there).

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Cute selfie with my mum!

For the first time in 6 months I went home on 23rd December for a short but sweet 5 days with my family! I was so determined to make the most of this as being away from home for so long really makes you appreciate home comforts. Take carpet, for example – in Spain most places have wooden or tiled floors which, although easier to clean, is not the same as a warm, cosy carpet. The minute I walked into my house, I ran straight for the carpet. (Disclaimer: I know this makes me very weird, but carpet is now a luxury!).

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An afternoon with Megan

Being home for 5 days meant that I definitely did not see everyone that I wanted to see but very soon I’m home for 2 entire weeks which means that I can definitely have more catch-ups! After a VERY long time without seeing her, I got a long afternoon with my best friend when we exchanged presents and just caught up on life in general – yes we Skype A LOT, but it’s never the same as seeing someone in person.

One exciting/scary thing that happened while I was home was my annual visit to audiology to get my hearing checked. Nothing has changed as per, however as I have now have my amazing purple hearing aids for 5 years, I’m due an upgrade! So in February I will be getting brand spanking new ones which is super exciting – however… THEY AREN’T PURPLE! The specialist gave me the option of beige (ew), black (no) or silver and as the latter is probably the least conspicuous I chose that. In my head I’m trying to tell myself that I need to be more mature and have a grown-up colour – but where’s the fun in that?!

I got to spend NYE in Valencia which was super cool. This year the local council tried to make it more like NYE in Madrid with a big outdoor event. This took place in the main square and there was a DJ on the town hall balcony with confetti cannons (amazing, right?!). At midnight, the Spanish did their traditional thing of eating 12 grapes on each chime of the bell to represent each month of the year. This was really funny as we saw many people struggling to keep eating – it is much harder than it looks apparently! Normally I don’t do much for NYE but this year was so much fun and I can definitely see why people make such a big deal of it when there are events like the one in Valencia.

Nibbles on NYE
CONFETTI CANNONS!!
Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Valencia

For now, it’s back to work for my last month in Spain. I can’t believe that soon I’ll have finished my 7 month stint here and it’ll be time to move to Portugal! However, I’m not doing that before a quick trip back home and to Nottingham to see many of my favourite people in Musicality’s production of ‘Anything Goes’ (sorry not sorry for that bit of promo!).

Hasta luego

xxx

Christmas countdown!!

Posted on by Hannah Kitching

Well this is a first – I am writing a blog less than a month after I published the last one! This is mainly due to the lack of work I have which means 10 hours day to fill with Facebook stalking, writing and reading all the news articles the BBC has to offer.

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Who’d have guessed it is November?

The countdown to Christmas has finally started! An interesting comparison between here and England is the lack of Christmassy things in shops until after Halloween, even in the big department stores. Whilst in England the Christmas countdown can start as early as August, Spaniards don’t really acknowledge it until 1st November. Whilst I absolutely love being in Spain (particularly whilst it is 20 degrees in November – well, until this morning that is), I cannot wait to go home for Christmas as the Spaniards don´t celebrate until 6th January. I do miss England, and I know that spending a whole 5 days at home will be lovely after 6 months away.

So despite being here to practice my Spanish, I now have to speak a lot more French than I ever thought I would. As our French-speaking colleague left last month, all the French calls get passed to me. Surprisingly it has come back to me fairly quickly but every time I have to speak in French, I get that pre-speaking exam feeling of dread in my stomach! It’s fair to say that Google Translate has become my best friend when dealing with French clients. With the Italian clients it is not so easy – on several occasions I have attempted to speak to them in a mix of Spanish, English and the few Italian words I can remember, before giving up and just sending them a Google Translated email instead! So it would turn out that the Spanish side of my year abroad is very beneficial for the other languages I used to speak! I just need some more Portuguese clients to shock me into preparing for my semester in Portugal!

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Girly night with my Belgian flatmate!

On the topic of Portugal, I have now received official confirmation of my place at the University of Porto for next semester which is super exciting! Honestly though, I’ve got so used to not being a proper student with working 9-7 each day, that I’m not sure how quickly I’ll get used to having a lack of things to do! Even though I know my language skills will be very sketchy, I cannot wait to explore the beautiful city of Porto!

I now have a huge amount of respect for people who work full time – being out of the house for nearly 12 hours a day, 5 days a week really does take its toll! I completely get why people become boring once they leave uni because working can be so tiring! I think next year I will definitely try to make the most of my time as a student because I’ve seen how quickly life can change when you have a proper job. If I’ve learnt one thing from my job in Spain, it is that I NEVER want to work in tourism again… however that only narrows down my career choices by one sector so it hasn’t really helped me all that much in deciding what I want to do!

Anyway, that’s enough of my musings for now as I should probably get back to doing nothing at work.

¡Hasta la próxima!

Is it November? It still feels like summer!

Posted on by Hannah Kitching

November and still 26 degrees!

November and still 26 degrees!

Time really needs to slow down! I am into the fifth month of my year abroad and even though we have reached November already, it definitely does not feel like it! This week in Spain we are still reaching temperatures of 25-26°C which is much better than what I’m used to in England. In the past month I have really settled into life in Valencia and it feels so much like home – it will be so hard to leave in January. I’ve explored new areas, made fabulous friends and I turned 21. So here is a little recap of what I’ve done…

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Little Venice

Earlier this month I went on a day trip with my flatmates to two small towns near Valencia. The first one we went to was Sagunto which is famous for its beautiful architecture and historic castle. To boost tourism, an amphitheatre has been installed into the ruins and here there are a huge variety of shows for both the tourists and the locals. The only problem with Sagunto was the hills… I have not had to climb any hills since being in Spain because where I am is extremely flat and so, having to climb what felt like a mountain to see this castle was challenging but so rewarding at the end. However, I definitely need to prepare for the hills for when I return home!

After Sagunto we went to a place known as Little Venice which is exactly how it sounds. The centre of the town is built around a water network and all of the houses are painted in gorgeous pastel colours giving the town a truly picturesque look. Although my job is very rewarding, I do wish I had more free time to explore places like these because Spain has some beautiful scenery that I’d love to see.

12122604_10205145500452479_4856017939092691256_nBy far the best part of October was my family visiting me for my birthday! It had been four months since I had seen them and whilst I did miss them during the summer, I did not realise just how much I had missed them until they were here. I did not expect any presents as they were already paying to come out here but I got some very special presents, including a signed John McGuinness autobiography – for anyone who knows me, the motorsport geek inside definitely came out! I had a wonderful day with them as we went to the Bioparc zoo in Valencia which is one of the best zoos in the world as many of the animals are allowed to wander around freely so that the visitors can get up close and personal with them. I would fully recommend this to anyone visiting Valencia.12191958_787574061372388_8360928558188342149_n

This past week has been extremely exciting for me as we have the final round of MotoGP in Cheste, Valencia this weekend and so over the past 7 days there have been more and more motorbikes around the city. At work we have been fully booked as so many people have come to see the final round – so as I was in charge of arrivals, it was perfect for me! For those of you who don’t know about MotoGP, this final round decides whether Valentino Rossi or Jorge Lorenzo wins the 2015 championship. Being a very strong Rossi fan is fantastic as no matter where the races are in the world, there are always thousands of his fans present, even here in Lorenzo’s homeland. I have definitely bonded with a lot of people about this! The city just feels so alive with so many people here all for one thing – MotoGP – so I really do feel like I’m in the right place!

Anyway, as the race is just about to start I am going to stop with my ramblings and let you all get on with your day!

Hasta luego!
xxx