Day 12 – a visit to the chocolate factory, need I say more? Actually I really do!
I should start by saying that our very nice Catalan teacher brought turrónes, something I don’t remember the name of, and a third thing I can’t remember the name of. The turrònes was a traditional one and not the tourist pack I got. It tasted like peanut butter, sort of. Really sweet, but yummy. Oh, we started with a salty one though. It was with fish, and reeeeeeeeeeeeeally salty! But oh so good! And we had what is a Mona cake, well, it’s a Mona cake when you have a hard boiled egg on top, without it it has a different name, (sorry, can’t remember)! This was like a cake that had a hint of lemon and ginger, without it maybe being any of them, really sweet as well. But nice!
We went by tram to Benidorm, here we had a half hour wait until our connection to Altea. In Altea we walked up through a part of the city, mostly in the sun (this was midday, and yes, very hot) until we were at the top. Here we took some photos of a church before turning our noses in the direction of the way home, or the town in which we were tasting chocolate, we thought. Turns out we were going to the library. Here we saw a lot of costumes the moors used. From here we went back to the train station to catch the train back to Villajoyosa.
This is where we were getting our tour of the chocolate factory. First we were taken in the completely wrong direction to have a look at a side of the old castle, a fancy street, and what we could see of the beach. We were finally on the way back towards the factory. Now I don’t know what I was expecting, but it must have been a few things, because I didn’t think the trip was that good to be honest. Maybe they assume they make up for it by giving us chocolate samples? Who knows. We were watching a film to start us of, and to be honest I had expected a lot more as we were seeing the history of the factory and chocolate. It was basically just a PR movie for the company. All their ads had somehow managed to get their way in the movie at odd intervals. So there was a little bit of history and then a few ads, then a little bit about chocolate and an ad, and so it went on. Until it finished and we were taken to the museum, this part was ok. There were a lot of things to show either what it was like or the actually equipment they used.
We went to the factory, and here we were just led through a passageway, where we could see down into the factory, and there were people checking equipment and packing chocolate. Here there were some posters for us to read (by this time we were tired from the heat, walking and lack of food, there was no break to get food, and what we had with us – ran out) so we might not have read them, properly, or at all… There were also a few sculptures here made by a Mexican who worked in the factory to celebrate their 125 year anniversary in 2006. We walked along and found the shop, here there were some samples on the table. We tried milk chocolate with almonds, dark chocolate with almonds, and there was one that was just plain dark chocolate, I didn’t even dare. Then there was a new one, a dark chocolate type, but a lot thinner, and no, I shouldn’t have! Well I thought I took a lot, but I heard others who had had a lot more than one of each type, so I shouldn’t feel bad. Like one of the girls in the group said, “we need to make sure we really want to buy it”.
I think the movie could have been better, there wasn’t a lot of informative information, and the ads were too much. Like we get it, and you really want us to buy your chocolate. The museum part was ok, it wasn’t big or anything, but it was also a man who started making chocolate in his own home and didn’t have a lot of equipment, so… The factory tour could have been done differently, we just walked past everything and looked at it, there could have been a few explanations, and descriptions about the equipment, which machine did what, that sort of thing. It’s one thing to see it in a movie, but when you’re actually faced with a lot of machines, you have no idea. Keeping the secret in the business, maybe? It was a short visit, both to the factory and to the city of Altea. But it was a very fun afternoon, and we got good quality chocolate! (Or so we think).
Day 11 – a long walk and crap shutes
Wednesday 31.08 and it was a long day! It was tiresome to some extent, but it was also very good! After out Catalan course, which I’m not going to describe again, as it was a lot like yesterday, I went home to get something to eat.
After a little rest my roommate came with me to get a sim card for my phone. I wasn’t aware that you needed a passport to be able to get a sim card. So we went back to the apartment to get it and then returned to the shopping centre. And after ages, I finally got a new sim card. The number I don’t know yet.
After that I went to meet my Catalan course in Alicante as we were going for a walk/tour with our class. We had a guide from the university and she spoke both in English and Valencian which helped a lot. We started out at a modern fountain in Spain in ‘Plaza de Luceros’ or ‘Plaza de cavallas’ which some call it because of the horses on the statue. The statue had horses turning the same way as the earth’s rotation, dragons, birds, people probably something else as well. It’s a large obelisk with all these sculptures on it. It was designed by a 25 year old guy in the start of the 20th century.
We made our way along to the market in town, where they sell all types of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. And it’s really big. The building was built in 1911 and is made from part of the wall surrounding Alicante that was knocked down. It is a magnificent building.
From there we made our way to a little sidewalk café. Here we had the traditional ‘horchata’ drink. It’s typical for the Valencian region. It is ground ‘chufas’ which is a ‘tigernut’, which they add water and sugar to. It tasted sort of like a weak coconut, milky thing. A lot of the girls took one or two sips and then left it, one of the guys however was thirsty and liked it, so he finished his own, mine, and then got a few others to drink. Which was a very funny thing at the time.
There is a bonfire museum in Alicante, which is where we went next. They had a meeting there this morning, so now they’ve decided which statues they’re going to make for next years bonfire, so now they start working on them and building them. They make different models whatever their ideas are, they work on them for a year. When they’re finished they have a big show, they one that wins gets a place in the museum, the others, the people who don’t win get their statues burnt in a big bonfire. There is a weeklong celebration, and they have girls ages 19-20 and 8-10 who compete to be given the title ‘belleses del foc’, they will then be the queen of the feast at the end of the celebration. They wear traditional skirts and shirts and have pretty head caps, which might be made of lace. The museum was a very interesting place to visit. It is a very traditional thing in Alicante, and there is a lot of culture present. It’s very different from things I’ve seen at home or in other cities.
‘The marching route’ was the next thing on our way, we basically just walked down the street where people go out to drink during the school year. I think however we went that route because we were looking at some old buildings in that part of the town.
We made our way to a cathedral, which was made in a baroque style; it was very simple on the outside, with two columns and no carvings or decorations of any kind. We were told that inside it is very nice and decorated, so that’s where all the money went.
We were in a queue for the castle lift for a little while; it was very loud in the corridor outside the lift, so when we finally got in, it was a relief. We looked at the medieval stalls that sold different foods, tiles, creams and handmade jewelry. We had a look at the view and were told about the prisoners who had to sit in toilets that were like the old style holes you would find in an outhouse, here, they were made an offspring from the castle wall, and had a huge drop to the ground below. So they did their business of the side of the castle wall. We got a few good pictures with two people dressed up in medieval clothes and a group photo of people in the course. It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon.
Day 10 – bloopers and Germans
Right so bloopers usually refers to the out-takes you might find in a movie, right, so, here they will refer to what I did not tell you about yesterday. I was walking along behind a row of Italians, and I didn’t see them step aside as we were quite close, and I walked in to this pole in the ground as tall as my knee. Of course I thought it was really funny, and I might just have been the only one. But it’s sort of an embarrassing thing to do on your first day of school. I had another one, but of course I’ve forgotten what it was. From today, however, there are a lot more of them.
Today in our Catalan course I got laughed at twice (at least). This wasn’t very nice. Well once the teacher looked at me and had obviously asked me a question, and I just told him I didn’t understand the question. He looked at me as if I told him a joke (weird sense of humour?). The other time was when I managed to incorrectly answer another question, as I thought I was being asked when I needed to charge my computer (yes I know, that’s a totally random thing for a teacher to ask, but the verbs sounded similar), my answer was just in ‘two hours’, nothing more. What he had asked me was, when I was going to do my studying or work on the computer (I still think you can say in two hours as an answer to this question), but the correct answer was of course afternoon or evening.
The thing about this teacher was that he only spoke Catalan, and didn’t explain it in English afterwards, so I just heard a lot of words being spoken after each other. Some I knew, some I didn’t. And as he didn’t say what he meant, I only got some of the words and not the ones I didn’t know at all. Ah, I was also asked how we say hello in the morning in Norway, and I thought he was asking me what we ate for breakfast. Luckily I didn’t answer, just sort of looked confused until someone told me what he meant. He wrote ‘com es diu’ and I just thought ‘com’ and ‘comer’ (which is the Spanish verb for eating). Earlier we talked about the different times of day, morning, daytime, afternoon, night. It sounds totally ridiculous now, but at the time it made a lot of sense! It’s not easy to keep up with someone you don’t understand, when he speaks quickly and when he doesn’t speak clearly. The first teacher would say the sentences loudly and slowly as well as the fact that each word would be very clear……
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand then I went to the beach! Isabel had invited me along. And I thought it was with her au pair family so I was unsure if I should go or not. I went anyway, made my way to the tram station and on to the tram. Luckily the trams had screens inside to tell us where they were stopping; because there were some kids making so much noise that I couldn’t hear the person on the loudspeakers. Finally there I met a person from my Catalan course and her friend who also works as an au pair. So they’re both Germans, and I know German, so you know, we ended up speaking German. And I loved it. It was so much fun to hear them speak German, and be able to join the conversation in German. Two of us though, are slightly “confused”, we would mix up the languages a little, some German and English in the same sentence, and answer a question with a ‘sí’. But it was all great fun. And I have to tell you, it’s my first time in the sea this year, (probably in a few years), and it was really nice and warm! It was great fun.
Day 9 – another anniversary and Catalan
Today I can say that Hansi and I have our 2 year and four month anniversary. I know you don’t celebrate and it’s nothing special, especially since it’s just four months, and not six months or a whole year, but because of the distance it will today be recognized that it’s our anniversary!
I am really glad Hansi is supportive of me being in Spain and doing this exchange. It is sort of difficult coming back to the apartment here and not being able to tell him everything that happened or about things I did or people I met. That is something I did every day at home. I can eat whatever I want though, so maybe there’s an upside? Now, though, I miss his homemade hamburgers. I bought a hamburger at an Islamic butchers shop today, and while it was filled with spices and you know, a new taste and everything, it’s not the same as when you get them homemade from Hansi. (Missing Hansi? Right here <———->!)
On to a different topic entirely – Catalan, my course started today. While the language isn’t spoken in Alicante the surrounding villages use it to a greater extent. It’s a combination of French and Spanish. The thing is though that some words will seem Spanish, but have little differences in them and make them Catalonian. So it gets sort of confusing when you want to use something like ‘where are you from’ and not write ‘de dónde eres?’ but ‘D´on eres?’ And instead of the Spanish ‘cuántos años tienes?’ you would in catalan say ‘Quants anys tens? It might be easier for someone who actually speaks Spanish or French, to me; it’s a little confusing as I’m just trying to learn Spanish as well (my fault entirely).
Now you will say, like all family and friends at home, ‘why didn’t I do a Spanish intensive course’? and I will give the same reply here as I gave them, that they didn’t have intensive courses in Spanish in Alicante. I could have gone to a different university, but I didn’t want the back and forth and trying to find somewhere to stay in a different city for two weeks. I can see the people in my course here that are going to other cities after the course have problems finding places to stay for only two weeks, and some have been staying in hotels for almost a week.
The teacher is enthusiastic, which is great. There are seven Italians, two Polish, two Czech, four Finnish, a German, a Swiss and me. So we’re a nice little group. Only two of them are guys.
The one thing about learning something new, especially a language, is that everyone has different ways of learning. Some need to read, some will write, some want to listen, some watch and others practice it in everyday situations. Thing is that in a group like we have, you have to follow the pace the teacher sets, and you have to do it the way he wants. So there’s a lot of repetition and practicing little phrases with another person and doing it a few times. Some of the class will be able to go out and use it in daily life, I however find it harder to go out and use it straight away afterwards. I couldn’t tell you which teaching method I think is best suited for me, as I haven’t quite figured it out myself, and I know that the teacher can’t just know that sort of thing. Hopefully it will stick with a little more practice (I know I can’t expect to know a language after a day, but 10days seems a little unrealistic too).
I tried to get registered at the mobility office, and as I’m a EILC student, which is my language course – through Erasmus, I can’t register as a student (of the Erasmus program) see the kicker? One should think that I was already registered, but no, it’s two entirely different things! So I can’t get schedules or information. But I will try and ask again tomorrow, and see if the person can help me a little.
Day 8 – laundry, bad service and other short comings
Laundry day – Sunday, doesn’t matter what you say, to me it means the same thing! So guess what I did today! My laundry! Yes, thankfully, after that we were going to do something fun. What did we do? Have another guess, if you have been paying attention, you should now. We went to the ‘Castillo de Santa Barbara’.
We thought we were smart, going a shorter way that the long zigzag way, turns out we just walked up a ‘western walk way’. Which meant exercise, yay! It was a steep climb however and the steps were really tall, it was more of a climbing exercise, than a walking one. Well, we were getting there, slowly, but with very good views along the way it all seemed like it was worth it.
We walked around to see what there was to see. I would say tourist come for the view and the fact that it is a tourist attraction. There are a lot of things lacking. We went in to what used to be the hospital, and there were some text, a few old things like bowls and jugs, and little carved things. We went on and found a movie showing the storyline of the castle. There was a lot of good information, although the audio wasn’t the best, which probably had to do with the fact it was a very large stone chamber. There were a few other items on display here as well. We went on to the “dungeon” which was a tiny room with a few posters we could read (if you read Spanish or Catalan). There was another room, I’m not sure what it was, but it had a little movie clip and an awful smell, so I just had to leave.
Apart from that, we saw an exhibition by an artist, something that isn’t usually there. There is also a festival now, so we saw the stalls opening for evening business.
I would say overall it’s a nice walk both up and down, and there are different routes to take, and the view is amazing, you can see all over Alicante in every direction! As far as history and tradition and information there could have been more. There wasn’t anything to touch, not a lot to read, nothing to hear, no recreations of people who might have lived there, or actually did. It was a nice trip, but a bit disappointing as well. Now, we should probably have gone to the museum, but I saw no signs or information about a museum at all. And was only told on the way up that there was a museum at all. I didn’t even remember it on the way down. That will be my next trip there, and I might be able to shine a better light on the castle.
So, tomorrow I start my Catalan course, wish me luck!
Day 7 – an anniversary and magic monsters
Congratulation! I’ve been here a week 
It’s my one week anniversary! And to celebrate I took it easy and just stayed in!
It was a cooler day than the previous days, and for some reason a lot people where on facebook, msn and skype. Well, I had a skype-date with one of my friends, so we talked for while, and then afterwards there were a lot of people online, so I ended up talking to different people for a while. And the time just flew by!
Then came the hunger! Oh no, it attacks! Well, it might sound weird, and I didn’t think I was going to eat it myself until I actually did. I heated the ready made tortilla in the microwave, had a can of tuna and mayonnaise as a side dish. potatoes, eggs and tuna, with mayonnaise, it’s a unique flavour! but it was nice! It was a fine meal for one person to eat while celebrating her first week in Alicante!
Now for these magic monsters, it refers to the children, but I will tell you about the old guys as well. Outside the apartment there is a square, where there are trees, a fountain, benches and a playground for children. The children stay out all night and scream and yell, and during the day? They’re doing the exact same thing, although they might be screaming something different it sounds the same to me. The point – when do they sleep? They’re out way into the night like after midnight and 1a.m. and are out in the mornings as well, usually they’re out when I look out for the first time, and that can be anywhere from between 8a.m. or 10a.m. I will call them magic monsters. They make it difficult to sleep and enjoy your breakfast! The worst thing though, are the two old guys. There were two old guys sitting outside with guitars, not singing but shouting and screaming their songs, and apparently you have artist who make music like that, but my goodness! I am five floors up, with windows closed and shutters down and I can still hear them as if they’re right outside my window! They will not let you sleep! They are gypsies with ‘no worries, no school, no work and no problems’ apparently! The live one flat down from us, and the mother will scream for a child, call him fat and use obesity as his name ‘Obesity, Obesity, come!’ who does that? And it’s not like she would think he’s the only person who can hear her. You could hear her like 4-5 blocks away! Her voice, it’s loud, too loud.
So, my room mates and I were sitting outside, I was mostly just listening to them speak Spanish, trying to catch words and phrases and understand the gist of it. I understood some, and spoke a little bit. And today it was a ‘teach-mona-swear-words-day’. Which was fun enough, I will never use any of those words though! I am almost certain of that!
Well it’s bed time! Tomorrow adventures like doing the laundry, cleaning my assigned part of the apartment, going to the ‘Castillo de Santa Barbara’ and the beach awaits.
Day 6 – forgotten churros and really cute tops
I feel so ashamed! I tried something new yesterday and forgot to write about it. In the marked they had a little cart/van thingy that sold ‘churros’, now, have I said I love Spanish food yet? Well, ‘I gotta tell ya!’ I love it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churro Well these ‘churros’ are put in oil to be deep fried. It’s fried dough, and usually they would eat it for breakfast with hot chocolate or coffee. For me it was a mid-day snack sort of, and they put sugar over it and how am I going to describe the taste? It’s like a doughnut, but without all the grease, it was crisper in a way, like the proper Norwegian doughnut you would buy of a cart and not in the shop with icing over them.
Today is supposed to be the hottest day since my arrival. It’s been around 28, 30, 31 degrees, and today we’re looking at 35degrees. One thing I hadn’t really realized is that there hasn’t been a lot of wind; there has been a few little breezes the other days, but not a lot. Today however it’s windy. And by windy I mean there is a current of air. It’s not like it’s cold or anything, I’m in the shade, in a bikini writing this, and the wind is quite strong, but it’s just the right temperature.
Shopping! We decided to use the very hot day indoors, where there is air conditioning systems. So big shopping centre? Jupp! We went into every shoe shop, almost every clothes shop, had baguettes for lunch and got our food shopping done! So these baguettes right, you ordered different fillings for €1 – €2. The beer cost €1 and it was a pint, and the pepsi was €2, but it was big enough, so it was money well spent! There were so many different fillings to choose from that it took a few minutes, and there were four different types of baguettes as well. I had chicken with a sauce made of ketchup and mayonnaise, and while that should be really disgusting, don’t knock it till you try it! The other one was tuna and a semi coleslaw salad. The salad was okay, it didn’t taste of much, well, sort of potatoes?
I sort of went crazy today. I haven’t bought anything in H&M in somewhere between 6-8 years. Today I got 3tops and a knitted jacket. Then I got a top from Springfield and Mango. I can’t say it was very enjoyable. Well, it was a nice trip and everything, but the trying on part, I mean I tried a looooooot of clothes, that didn’t fit me, at all! And I’m stealing this idea for showing you my new wardrobe from a friend! I do still need to get some shoes to fit and I might need some trousers. Oh, I had to buy a bowl, there are no bowls in our kitchen. So now I better eat cereal so that it was all worth it! And here you have my trusted teddy taking care of it, so that no one runs away with my food! :p
Day 5 – a trip to the market and an Italian girl
Today’s first thing to do was exercise. I went for a jog, and you’re thinking – wasn’t it hot? And yes it was. Yet, it felt really good. I can’t remember ever sweating that much though, you’re thinking ‘euuuw’, believe me I thought ‘eeuw’ a little bit at first, but I have to tell you, it was really satisfying.
After a little rest on the balcony my roommate and I went to the market. It was a large parking lot, I think, that they just put a lot of stalls in. I bought some more Spanish sweets called ‘turrónes’ which are different things made with nuts in them, like chocolate and something and then I got a few pieces of liquorice. Now my weekend is definitely taken care of. I also bought a pineapple and tried on some shoes. There is a thing they tell you in Norway before you go away on your holiday if it’s your first time somewhere. If they are willing to lower the price it’s not worth the first price, and if they go down a lot, it might not be worth the actual price they give you either. They seem desperate to make a sale. The salesman started at €25, went down to €20 and €15. I came back to try both on at the same time, and they weren’t the best fit. Next time I come back I will have to pay €25 he said.
So, next thing on the agenda was making myself a fruit salad and waiting for a text message from an Italian girl that I know is doing the same Erasmus course that I’m doing. I asked everyone in the group if they were coming to Alicante before the course and if they wanted to meet up. So she answered and said she wanted to. She came to Alicante today and we decided to meet up. I can tell you, I was very anxious. I asked my two roommates to come with me, as she was bringing her boyfriend. And thank goodness for them. She didn’t speak a lot of English, she had troubles understanding, and she didn’t understand a lot of Spanish. She basically just spoke Italian. So her boyfriend translated, and then he would speak Spanish with my roommates, and I would understand some and need a translation for the rest. Overall it was a very good get together; we had some beer and wine at a pub located on a street corner. Cars driving past us like two meters away! We gave the name of what we thought was the pub to the Italian girl, turns out we gave her the name of a hairdresser. But they found it. After we had our first drink, we went to do pub crawl. Well, we went past a lot of pubs and found a place to do shots, big €2,00 shots!! (We only did one shot, I feel I need to mention it now before I go on). And we walked around a little, to see were the good clubs are, and where we can go out with Erasmus students. We ended up outside a place where we can dance, as I need to know a good place for when my friend comes in October. We ended up going inside. It was empty, there were four people along the bar and no one on the dance floor. Who would have thought it, but I was the first person to go out on the dance floor and actually pulling someone with me! It was a lot of fun. We did a little dancing before we decided to call it a night and turn our noses homewards. It was a very good evening.
Buenos Noches a todos!
Day 4 – tostadas and official paper work done! (I hope)
Lie-ins, they are amazing, if they actually work, and not if you have to get up to talk to your bank. Anyway I had a semi lie-in today. It works. I started my day by reading Spanish words from the dictionary, I was thinking it would be good for my vocabulary. I realized it was a weird thing to do and that I didn’t have anything better to do at that time.
After a slow start my roommate and I went out to get youth cards, with the little person on it. These we got for €8,16 each. Afterwards we went to get our bus cards. We got photocopies of our youth cards, which we didn’t need, misinformation again. We filled out a form and paid €4,00. Were you go for information and these forms, the bus and tram station office was so tiny, the waiting area had 8 people in it and it was full! And you top up your bus card for how many trips you want, you can get 10 and 30 trips. In Norway we would have youth cards and student cards that you pay a sum for and you can travel as much as you like for 30 days. There are little differences.
We had enough time, so we decided to walk to the police station to get the NIE certificate, on the way there we passed the little stall that sells the Spanish sweets I have to try. So I got a packet of them, it was a mixed box of 5 sweets and 3 of each. So I have my weekend sweets taken care of.
book for 8year olds, is a French story they give children, for easy reading. Luckily mine is in Spanish, as I really don’t speak French! The man in the shop didn’t much want to sell me a book though. My roommate asked for easy reading for children, so the sales man asked if I knew Spanish, and my roommate answered that I know a little. And the man didn’t want to sell me anything because he was convinced that I didn’t know any grammar, and that I needed a course before I did any sort of reading. Oh well, in the end I got something 
Day 3 – Bureaucracy and my experimental dinner
Today I got up at 07:00 (or there about) to have a shower. The reason for this is that we wanted to be out of the apartment and on our way to the police station at around 08:00. We got the bus today to save time, as it is quite a distance from the apartment. What we were going to do was apply for the NIE number. So we arrived at 08:27 got a ticket and sat down to wait, all of 21 persons in front of us. It took seriously like 1,5 – 2 min in front of the guy at the counter, after waiting 1 hour and 40 minutes, (1 hour and 10 min, because they don’t open until 9:00, but as you can get numbers at 08:00 we wanted to be early in the queue). The police man gave me two forms and told me I had to pay the fee in a bank and get a picture when I came back. He stamped my ticket and told me to hold on to that as he would call that number later when he was done with the other tickets up to number 40.
We went to pay the fee and have coffee. My roommate told me that it cost like €60, so I was wondering whether to take money out of an ATM or if I was going to be able to pay it over the counter by transfer, (paying by using you bank card isn’t popular here). My fee however was €10.20, so there was no need to even think about it!
We ended up in a really good-looking pastry place for our coffee. I was told I had to get a ‘Napolitana’ (hope I spelled it correctly), so it was a pastry with a fair bit of dark chocolate inside. Here I filled out the second form that I had to take back to the police station, whilst doing this I got a red liquidy thing that I thought was a ‘slushie’, turns out, it really wasn’t. There was a major lack of ice, it was more like a lot of syrup with red colour in it rather than anything else and awfully sweet. But it was cold, which was like the most important point.
When returning to the police station we had numbers 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 18 and 19 called before it was our turn. We were standing next to some poor souls who didn’t have numbers, which meant ‘we serve you when we get to you’. And people were just waiting, no queue formed or anything. I am glad I got a number in the morning! So this time he took one part of the receipt of payment, the form I filled out, a copy of my passport and a passport sized photograph. This was all he needed and told us to come back at 1p.m. tomorrow for the number. (After all that waiting, 2-3 min in front of the police man, and we have to come back, bureaucracy much?)
The most amazing, awesome, best, most incredible news ever (and he better be right about this), is that I don’t need to get a letter to say I’m living here, I don’t need a NIE card (because they have to make them, and it takes an extra month) and I don’t need a residence permit. I will receive a certificate and a NIE number tomorrow and that will be all that I need. Thank goodness!
So now for the university! We just took the bus, as no one answered (again), which should have been our biggest clue. We arrived and walked towards the wrong building, before going back towards the map and turning around and talking to some people, and finally we were going the right way. There are bars on the windows. Just thought I’d mention it there. Of course the mobility office is closed! From 05th-28th of August, which it shouldn’t be, as I was told it would be open in August!! Well, we found the library, and a nice building used for lectures. Nice trip though. I am feeling bad for my roommate though, as he is taking time out from his studying to take me to all these official places and does my translation and everything. And so he doesn’t get as many hours over the books as he should. Ops?! Luckily we’re done with this paperwork business now, so he has just missed a few hours yesterday and today, maybe it’s not that bad? We all need a little break sometimes.
So at this point it’s lunch time (thank goodness, because I was hungry). We walk past a ‘Carrefour’ so I get detergent for my laundry and we find a nice place which turned out to be really cheap, ‘Bombom Boss’ (or maybe it was BonBon, or BonBom? You get the idea), we had a baguette each filled with pieces of chicken, tomatoes, salad and mayonnaise and with a coke, and you will not guess the cost of that fine afternoon meal! €3,95! I’m thinking as the baguette was of a reasonable size and was filled with so much chicken it would be around 60-80 kroner which is somewhere in the area of €7,50 – €10 and that is not including the drink. I am fascinated.
The white building, in my blog from day 1, you were thinking ‘hm, what’s that’ whilst reading it? Well it turns out it’s a theatre, I thought it would be, but there’s one in the city centre as well, so I thought it might be something else artsy. There will be a music festival there in September, with a lot of different composers being played by a lot of different musicians. I’m thinking I might go, and give the Norwegians my moral support! Even if they don’t know I’m there, it’s the thought that counts
So, I’m making dinner, wish me good luck!
I fried chicken in a pan, removed it, then I fried broccoli, and squash, tomatoes, peppers, and with a little help to fry the mushrooms. After which I added all the vegetables in a pan, that was juuuuust big enough, and to it I also added ‘Nata’, which is a Spanish cooking cream. I worked it up to a boil and mixed it together. So it was chicken served with a side of vegetables, lightly salted and peppered. I was told it had a sort of Mediterranean type taste to it. I was given five out five stars. And it did have a nice flavour, and yes I did make it, and I would probably say so anyway, but there were no weird faces, and they did have seconds! It took a long time to cook though, the pan was quite small and I had to do it in turns, and the chicken took a while. Mea culpa, I didn’t mean to take an age, it just kinda happened that way.
Awkward moment alert! One of my roommates had a friend over, who is Spanish. He didn’t give me time to shake hands, he went for the two kisses, one on each cheek. The awkward moment was that I wasn’t prepared, because I thought that the first time, you would shake hands anyway, but that’s only between guys. So he felt awkward because he did do it, and I felt awkward because it was really apparent that I was clueless. It was a total misunderstanding of the big culture lesson from yesterday. Live and learn!
Day 2 – Cultural differences
It’s day two, but already on my first day, yesterday, I learned so much about how different our cultures are.
My roommate is from Mexico and is a medical doctor with his education finished in Mexico. He is now living in Spain doing a few exams before he is starting his education for his specialized field. In Mexico fully education, working as a doctor and having two extra jobs working a lot of hours every month he was making roughly 10 000kr. He was working a lot and saving money to come to Spain, so he could go to school without working. He needed to do a lot of hours before getting that amount of money though. This is hard for me to comprehend, as I am not finished with my degree, was a part-time employee at a clothing shop in Norway, making around 8 000kr – 9 000kr a month working 18-23 hours a week.
So while I am living of my wages from July and waiting for my wages from August to be deposited in my account, and not really thinking about how far the money is going to get me, he is using his savings and not spending money on restaurant trips very often as he can eat in for three or four days instead of one night out. There really is something wrong when I am making more than a medical doctor working two or three jobs, and I’m not working fulltime. This is a new perspective for me and it makes me realize that while I’ve worked for what I’ve got, I don’t have a student loan, just my wages and a scholarship, he was really worse of than me from the start. And while I’m wondering if I will have enough money for that extra Christmas present when all my shopping is finished, he has actually experienced having to earn the money going home to his mum and giving it to her, and then having her buy him a Christmas present. I was proud of being able to come here and live of the money that I earned, now, however, it doesn’t seem quite as hard for me to get from where I was to here. Of course in Norway the cost of living is higher, but you have to wonder, how much higher?
As for my other roommate who doesn’t speak a lot of English (but really actually speaks well enough for you to understand what he is saying), was trying to get me to speak Spanish as he said he didn’t speak English very well. There story behind that you may ask? I asked him about learning English in school when he was a child. And where he’s from they don’t learn English. They were taught French! He speaks Arabic too, so he knows Spanish, French and Arabic which I think is amazing. I just didn’t know that when you were from Morocco and lived in Spain that you wouldn’t learn English, and I did not know that English wasn’t a language taught to every child who attended primary school. This is news to me! Of course we learned English in primary school and then had to have it in secondary school and had a choice of German or French. Who knew some countries don’t need English as a first second language. We were talking about English being an international language, but although a lot of people learn English at an early age, it’s maybe not as international as they would have us believe?!
I never thought of Norway has having its own specific culture, I sort of just saw Norway as floating along, doing its thing. Turns out when we meet and greet new people, we will put our hand out for a handshake and introduce ourselves by our first name. Luckily for me my roommate had read a little about Norwegian culture and shook my hand. Spanish people kiss first on the right and then the left cheek for people they know, and Mexicans kiss the left cheek once. When they introduce each other though they will shake hands the first time, and say their last name, then first and last name. So apparently I was a bit weird just using my first name when I introduced myself. So he told me he didn’t even know my last name as I hadn’t said, and I answered why would you need to know my last name? Of course he was prepared for these customs, which I haven’t though much of, ever. These are only little things, there are a lot of other things as well. OH! They have both been intrigued at the fact that I don’t always wear shoes inside, and I told them we would leave our shoes next to the door and wear socks inside. And they wonder about the floor, is it different from here as we don’t wear shoes? Some have carpets, some have linoleum and wooden floors, there are variations. Something so natural to me – going bare foot or wearing socks inside, they found odd.
You just have to love these cultural differences and what they can teach you, if you’re willing to explain to others and be taught something in return.
Day 2 – official paper work and a mexican home cooked meal
Today has been a long day, and it’s only 15:46. So you’re wondering; what have I been up to on this very warm day in Spain?
After getting my appetite back yesterday (which was a yay) I decided to have bread for breakfast. Marmalade from strawberries without sugar is better than I had expected, which is a wuup! My roommate was taking me to get different pieces of official papers that I needed. This however was not an easy thing to do!
First of we asked about getting a youth ticket for the bus, but you need to have a special Spanish card with a person on it to be able to get this type of bus card. Then we tried to get the youth card, they needed passport sized pictures, so we got these taken. Then of course they were out of the cards they need to make the youth card when we came back, so we need to go back another day!
We found a tourist information to ask were the Norwegian consulate and the Sjømannskirke was. Of course there is no church in Alicante, only in Benidorm and Torrevieja. Now we know!
And on goes our little walk:
I need to have a form that says I’m living in Alicante, however the office was so full instead of waiting we went to get a drink along the beach. We had a big drink each and walked a little to see an old ship that is combined as a museum, pub and disco at night. After which we went back to the office to apply for the letter that they give you. They, of course, could not give me this letter without a NIE number. This we had to go to another office to get, which is actually a police station. And they jolly good news they could give us was that we had to be there at 08:00 to get a ticket to wait for a number!!! And when we arrived at around 1p.m. it was closed. Don’t you just love it?!
Somewhere between the rejection in the office and rejection at the police station we found the consulate. Here I just filled out a form to say I am living here basically. And there I was expecting a little chit-chat or “how do you? what are you studying?”, but no, all formal and uninterested. You even have to speak through a window pane, and when they give you the paper, it’s through a little slot in the counter.
So, I still need a NIE number, a letter to say I am living here, a residence permit for when my 90 days in the country are up, a youth card and a bus card. So basically today, I got nothing, just a lot of rejection and information on how to go about getting what I need.
We tried calling the university to see if I can register there, no one answered the phone of course, so I don’t know when they are open. There is still a lot of uncertainty about how long the semester is and which dates are important and things like that.
Other than that I am waiting for a home cooked meal, Mexican style.
Right so, we ate: minced meat, potatoes, carrots and paprika mixed and made in a Moroccan pan called a ‘tajiane’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine that has a lid that looks like a magician’s hat (awesome)! The food had a very nice texture and felt almost steamed and boiled. There was rice with garlic as a side dish and tortillas heated in a pan with melted cheese in the middle. I like when men cook, when they do it well and when food is really good. I like when vegetables are involved and the flavours mix well together. Therefore this was a very, very good meal. My first home cooked meal since I’ve been here, and it was perfect! Now I am not looking forward to tomorrow, as I said I would cook for the two of them (both roommates), and I am planning to cook chicken and vegetables and have cooking cream as a sort of sauce over the vegetables and having them as a side to the chicken. I am thinking it’s not enough and that I should have a proper side dish?! What to do! Massive dilemma, well it’s still early, so if I do mess up, I have four months to make up for it!
Oh! And breakthrough, today I have spoken a little spanish (no, I haven’t really done that the two previous days), and I’m not very good, but I try. I will say something, I will be corrected and try again. It’s a bit humiliating, but it’s just something I have to do!! Baby steps! Other part of the breakthrough, is that I have been talking a bit to the other roommate, it’s a bit spanish, a bit english, a bit of help from the third roommate :p It’s working, we understand each other, and if not, we try to explain before we get too much help.
Weather report: 33degrees celsius, humidity of roughly 80% and sunny!
Day 1 – the parque and tapas!
I have to admit I am not good at ‘alone’. I enjoy spending time with other people and don’t much like to be alone. So getting out of bed and knowing I had to do whatever I wanted to do today by myself, was a little difficult. After showering and eating an orange, which took me forever, as I was deciding what do to, I finally packed my bag with a camera, a banana, a plum and my water bottle. I started walking towards the Parque Castillo de San Fernando. It is a nice park where you can exercise and do a minimalistic version of mini golf. There is also exercise equipment outside that you can use. There is a little kiosk that sells drinks and ice cream, and the ruins of the fort that used to be there. Unfortunately there was a lot of graffiti everywhere, which wasn’t that nice and did not fit in.
After about an hour I was back in the apartment and by that time one of my room mates was up. I sat outside enjoying the shade, the warmth and the view a little while before he joined me. We sat talking about languages, cultures and universities.
He offered to take me to the shopping centre so I could get a spanish sim card. When we arrived however, the shops were closed. The food court wasn’t, I am amazed at how genius it is to collect all the different restaurants in one place, it works here, in the US and in Poland. In Norway though, you need to think it through a little more before you actually go.
Anyway, what did we eat, I am sure you are wondering! Well, I was told that I was eating real spanish tapas! Tortillas made of egg and potatoes and one with tuna and mayonnaise in the middle, and then some kind of chicken roll, all of which where on their own little piece of baguette bread with tooth picks through them. There were three different types of tooth picks, these decided the price. They counted them up and according to the size they gave you the price. It was very good and filling, after which I had to have a Ben&Jerrys ice cream. I had to try something new as they were tiny boxes and they didn’t have my flavour in the tiny box. Who would have ever thought of banana flavour, dark chocolate bits, walnuts and vanilla ice cream in one type of ice cream? The only thing I did not enjoy were the walnuts.
After a walk home and some more talk about cultures and different ways of doing things I ended up sunbathing on the tiny little balcony. I am now worried that I have marks left on my front and back from the rails that always seemed to be across my body no matter which way I turned and tried to sit.
There is always a strong smell of man in the flat, it comes and goes a little, but there is no doubt that I am living with someone who enjoys a good strong manly smell! Which brings me to the bathroom, it has all you basics, a sink, a toilet and a shower. What it lacks is privacy! The window out is kind of right on top of the washing machine, which is right outside the kitchen! Which is really close to the bathroom, and while you can shut the thing looking like a window it doesn’t really shut! So you can hear when people are in the kitchen, everything they are doing. Which makes me think, it’s not very sound proof at all! I want to say awkward, but it’s not even awkward it’s just weird and kinda uncomfortable.
I’m in Spain!
The flight down was quite quick I thought, although I thought they were saying 55min. left. In reality it was 2hours 55 min left. Which suddenly made the trip extremely long. It was a comfortable enough ride and the kids didn’t scream, so I was quite content! As a going away gift I received two magazines from my work, which were just the thing on my flight. Great! waiting for the luggage in Alicante took forever, seriously, a really long time, and I don’t know how many belts we walked past before we finally got to the one we were using. Afterwards I went outside to try and find the flat owner picking me up, no, he was not standing outside with a sign in the arrivals area, and yes, I managed to go out the wrong level and end up looking at a lot of taxis. Luckily the guy can text and in english, so I managed to get onto the right level and find the guy.
Alicante, I have arrived! As I said I got picked up at the airport, which was very good! As the flat owner didn’t have to wait for me at the flat for ages. A few language difficulties of course, but we managed quite well. When we finally got to the flat we had my two big heavy suit cases to carry up four floors. The flat owner took one on his back and one with both hands on his front! Thank goodness for him, as they were heavy, it was roasting and it was four floors up! I met my two room mates. One of which I have not spoken a lot with, the other one is very eager to help! So, I’ve seen the flat, the do’s and don’ts and gotten connected to the internet! I was taken to a shop quite close by so I could get a little food as everything’s closed on Sundays (practically).
It’s been around 30-33 degrees celsius in the shade, and in the sun its even warmer! It’s nice outside, although it could be chillier inside. There is an aircondition in the hall, which is on all the time, so the hall is cool, and you just leave your door open if you want it to cool your room. Which does work to some exctent.
The toilet is semi-broken, you have to flush by using the leaver inside the big box part of the toilet. Apparently it is getting fixed, and the flat owner seems to be a nice guy, so here’s to hoping it’ll happen soon.
You can hear people outside quite well, luckily I’m on the fourth floor. It is Saturday so you can’t really say anything, you will hear people outside on satursdays wherever you are, I think!
My room is quite big! There is a reasonable sized king size bed, two night stands, a desk, a chair, a wardrobe with two double door sections (one of which holds a bed), and a little chest of drawers. All that one would need in a room which is for sleeping and skype-ing.
So now I’ve got roughly a week of exploring to do before my catalonian language course starts.
Getting ready to leave Stavanger
I’m getting there, I’m nearing the end of my process. I’ve gotten the final paper signed and sendt of, most of my stuff is back at my parents house and I am trying to figure out what to expect, how high or low should my expectations be? I mean most of us have high expectations going in and end up being dissappointed, I know I have been several times. Is not just easier to take the easy way out and expect the worst (within limits, of course) and then be plesantly surprised? Then again we are taking the easy way out and not really being open to everything that might happen. Let’s try realistic. Realistic is better than shooting too high or too low. How can you be realistic in a totally new situation, where you have no experience and nothing really to work with except what everyone else keeps throwing at you. And although one values the input from family and friends, of course, there will always be different views, and that’s great, sure, but will they help to be realistic, or steer you away from that goal?
Some people like being surprised, and others plan everything to the smallest detail. What happens when you have to combine them? You have to plan things like; where will you live? What will you study? And what has to be done for it all to be approved? Then again you can be totally surprised when you find out who your room-mates are, or what the courses are like and what the lecturers are like. You just don’t know. So you have to figure out what is more comfortable for you.
I have most of the paper work figured out. I still need to apply for a recidence permit in Spain. I have a place to stay. I have my camera, dictionary and a few other essentials ready to be packed and I am really excited. I don’t know what I’ll do the first few days there, I don’t know who I’ll meet or what I want to see. All I do know is that I have to register at the university and that it’s warm in Alicante right now. So hopefully all goes well upon my arrival
I am leaving familiar Stavanger on saturday to go to Alicante and stay untill christmas. I am excited, worried and so looking forward to every experience. I will miss coming home to Hansi almost every day, but he will come visit and I’ll be home in no time really, when you think about it. It’s all good !
Many chefs in the kitchen makes for a bigger mess..
The chronology of these events goes something like this : From person A to B, C, D, B, E, and you’re thinking where does it end? It’s not even finished yet! Oh, one just has to love it.
Starting out I was getting help and info from person A, this person was overworked and had a lot of other exchanges to consider before mine, as people were leaving in May and June, and I wasn’t leaving until August. No problem, can understand that.
Then I tried talking to B, who didn’t know anything about exchanges to Spain and told me to go back to A.
Now I was getting emails from C, giving me links and I was asking if we could have a meeting so we could discuss my questions and I could get some proper feedback, as I was feeling like I didn’t have any sort of information, just sort of loose ends here and there. Of course this meeting didn’t happen, and then I was bumped to D, and told that this was my new ‘International Coordinator’ (i.c.) at UIS.
My i.c. did help a little, did things like online forms that had to be signed by myself and filled out by my university, things that were supposed to ‘go through the proper channels’, that channel being the university. Which was okay I suppose.
Then something really nice happened (not), my i.c. was a substitute for someone, this I knew. I didn’t know how long she was staying for. What I did find out one afternoon as I tried to call the office several times, was that C had the last day in the office the day after. Which left me no time to hand in other papers to be signed. I had not been told that C was leaving so soon, I thought at least I would be helped along the way and that C would finish my ‘case’ before packing the bags and leaving.
Apparently B had been given my ‘situation’ and knew of my ‘case’, so B was going to help me from then on. Problem was, B didn’t know anything about exchanges in Spain as noted earlier. And the best part, B is away on holiday! Gotta love it! So I get this automatic out of office reply with another email address I can use, of course I email this person, being person E, and this person has had nothing to do with the Erasmus-exchange, which is the exchange I am doing. This person was of no help what-so-ever, so I am more or less just going to try and get some subjects approved and then I will try to fix everything else that needs fixing when I finally get to Spain.
Another most lovely, brilliant thing, D had a fair amout of knowledge to what was happening with proceedures with applying and such, however to my horror today I discovered I had to fill out an online form and choose the subjects I wanted. I had no idea. I had not been told I needed to fill it out. I had already filled out something similar at my home university, however the courses to choose from were on this form. I found it as I was looking for timetables and courseinformation.
No, they can’t hold your hand the whole way through everything. However they are supposed to know a lot more about this sort of thing, and what to expect. And they should by now be familiar with applications and prceedures and tell the students what to look out for and what to concider.
I think I was bumped to the back because the semester in Spain starts late, the most urgent got help first, which I understand and have no problem with, but then as we approach the summer holidays people want to go away and have their holiday, also understandable. But what about the people left that have no one to contact? And the people they can contact don’t actually know what they are doing and aren’t usefull at all??
I was pleased with the help I was getting in the start, however that was when all the ‘hustle and bustle’ was all around, as we progressed through the semester it all went downhill and then there was just me. I feel as though they just ‘up-and-left’, abandoned everything. Of course there are a few days in August when I have to hand in the final approval for subjects, things take time, though, and I need the approval before I leave, if not there isn’t any point in going. I have ten subjects to choose from, one has been denied, six are approved, and the last three I don’t know about because they changed the subjects from last year. (I don’t know why they wanted me to get subjects approved when they knew that they would be changed this year, maybe not all the subjects, some). Then I could have done it all in one go! If these last three aren’t approved, this whole semester in Spain won’t be valid in my degree when I come home! Oh joy!
Rule of the week: If you want something done right, do it yourself!
Camera – check!
We were looking at cameras for a little while and had semi-decided on a compact digital camera, and then we changed our minds and decided on an SLR camera. And then it was sort of a spur of the moment kind of thing. Because we ended up buying a camera that we’d looked a little at one day after work. So camera is taken care of
The subjects at the university in Alicante has changed from last year, so now I need to get new classes approved, (this approving, I am having done for the third time now!)
Apart from this there isn’t much to say, everything has sort of hushed down a little..
I am still trying to improve my spanish before I go down, however it is becoming very aparant to me that I really need to learn a lot more. And that I would not have a chance in H*** of getting through classes in spanish!
Accepted!!
I got accepted!!! Not only to the university which is a major relief, of course, I also got accepted to the language course. I didn’t know there are only 10-20 places in each class and I didn’t know there is a waiting list! Which reminds me that I really do need to reply and confirm my attendance to the course, or they’ll give my spot away. 
So now, I can’t wait, like really, I was excited before, now, I’m super-duper excited It’s “official” I’m really going.. Of course my tickets booked, the deposit has been paid for the room in the apartment, the repetition of spanish started quite a while ago and now I’m psyked!
All I have to do now is buy a decent camera to take all the pictures I’ve promised to send home or post on my blog and facebook.
Spanish or Catalonian?
Everything in Europe is a beaurocracy. So I am told very often. And it is extremely obvious. There are a lot of papers to be sent in, a lot of signatures to give and a lot of things to keep track of. So I can imagine the process is a lot more dull for those actually handling all of this paper work. I mean I have it easy, all I have to do is quickly read through the information and sign my name at the dotted line. Then my coordinator has to send the papers and wait for responeses and continuously check for updates. And every so often she will tell me to come to her office. And the folks on the other end? I suppose there is checking and other dull things to do.
We sent in some papers about a language course I want to attend. And apparently some of the dates of the semester and the course are the same. Which ment we had to make changes to the application and send it in again. Apparently you have to be present for most of the classes, which makes sense, but I would rather attend most of it, than nothing at all. That is apparently difficult to do. But we are still waiting to see what the decicion-making-people decide.
The language course starts on the 29th of August and ends on the 09th of September. Orientation week starts on the 6th of September. So those three days seem to be a problem.
OH! I haven’t told you the best part of all this hassle with dates and papers and everything! -> The language course, you might think it’s in Spanish..? Which seems logical and all that! Oh no, it’s a Catalonian language course. Which is weird as you’d think it’d be Spanish all the way south there, and that it’d be Catalonian nearer Barcelona or something like that. They don’t actually offer a Spanish language course for me at the University of Alicante. It’s all very exciting though, I think! Catalan has a lot of French and Italian or something like that. It looks a little like French anyway. I think this is a win-win-win! When I get home I’ll have learnt a fair bit of Catalonian, I might be able to see a few similarities with French and I’ll have done it while in Spanish, trying my hardest to learn Spanish at the same time!
Unfortunantely, if something seems to good to be true, it ALWAYS is! So stay tuned to find out what goes wrong.. Or what could end up going extremely well !
The waiting:
I am no different from everyone else who HATES waiting! And because the semester starts later in Spain than other countries the acceptance process also starts later, and sends out responses later! GRRR..
I was talking to some people who were going to Australia and their school actually started in JUNE!!! Two days after my final exam I think. So their deadlines were a lot earlier than mine. The information meetings I was told we were going to be given also took a long time for me, because they had to prioritize the people who were going abroad earlier. So I sat patiently waiting for an email. Some people are starting their new adventure in June, I am only receiving the acceptance (or rejection) letter in the end of June or maybe even in JULY!! The waiting is nerve-wracking!
When you decide to go abroad for your education, if you don’t get a response from your coordinator straight away, remember, they are prioritizing those leaving two months before you are! Which is only fair. And when they focus on a couple of people at a time the follow-up is really good. You get your meeting, response to emails and all that you need. When you’ve had your meeting things go quite quickly, all the forms and signing everything is easy enough and done in no-time.
