1st February: A Busy Week

It’s ironic really that as soon as things start getting interesting I stop having time to write about it. But since Monday I haven’t really had time to stop and write down everything that’s been going on, it’s been so non-stop.

The social on Monday was a casual get-together at a Fosters pub (where they didn’t even sell wine!) The long, wide tables made it quite difficult to hold a conversation with more than a few people at a time, but although I only got talking to a Spanish girl when things were beginning to wind down, it was a good opportunity to get to know Lina and Ali a bit better – and it was definitely a comfort to be making some British friends. Since most of us had early starts the next day, we left not long after twelve, agreeing to meet up again the next night.

On Tuesday morning, Ali, Annalisa and I met outside the university at 10am to try and organise our modules and timetables. After taking pains to work out the computerized appointment-booking system, we managed to get me an immediate appointment which, after all that effort, turned out to be irrelevant to what we wanted to achieve. Luckily, the guy we did want to see was in his office – although he only referred me to the online timetables which I still couldn’t access due to my lack of Internet. So, that afternoon we went over to Alicia’s and Lina’s to take advantage of their Internet connection to take a look at the timetables and choose some modules to try out. The system is a bit of a nightmare because you have to look at about a million different timetables for different departments, and if your modules clash, there’s nothing you can do about it. Nevertheless, we ended the afternoon with a rough idea of module choices, and the three of us set off to try out a tourism translation module which was set to start at 6.

It being only 4pm, we decided to take another stop-off at Smöoy, the frozen yoghurt place which we are probably single-handedly keeping in business. Then we set off to try a tourism translation module, which that day turned out to consist only of an introductory presentation and the organising of groups for the weekly projects. The module seemed manageable and would have fitted into my timetable as it stood, but it hadn’t particularly sparked my interest so I decided to wait until I’d tried some other modules before I enrolled.

Although the lesson finished early that day, it was scheduled on Mondays and Tuesdays until 8pm – which is a normal lecture time here. It’s going to take me a while to adjust to this bizarre Spanish timetable, which can start at 8am and not finish until 9pm, with a siesta break in the middle. I’m hoping that none of my classes will start that early or end that late, as I may die of exhaustion or hunger.

That evening, we met Alicia and Lina again at a cerveceria selling five bottles of beer for 3 Euros. It’s times like these when I really regret not being a beer-drinker – but then again, the wine was reasonably-priced too, at 3 Euros for a bottle containing two-and-a-half glasses worth. It was a nice place too, with the relaxed feel more of a cafe than a bar. Tapas were served all night and I could imagine it being a great local haunt on a summer’s evening.

On Wednesday I decided it was time I really needed to get stuck in to trying out some more classes. However, when I turned up at 4 to try out a class, it turned out I had misread the confusing timetables and there wasn’t actually a class I wanted to try until 6. Even this turned out to be a waste of time, since the lecturer was very clear in pointing out that she wasn’t keen to have Erasmus students in her class. Exhausted after what seemed like another wasted day, I got back to the flat, cooked myself some dinner and whiled away the hours watching some quality Spanish MTV. It turns out, not only do they have dubbed-over versions of our sub-standard reality TV shows like Jersey Shore and Geordie Shore, but they’ve even got their own version called, very imaginatively, Gandia Shore. They’re also soon to get their own version of The Inbetweeners, with the same plotlines but with Spanish actors and set in Spain. As an Inbetweeners fan, I can’t imagine a worse concept. Luckily I didn’t have to endure too much Date My Mom and More than Friends before it was time to meet the others outside Smoöy at 11pm (which, incidentally, is the normal time to go out here). I think I’m going to have to invest in some more coffee or several hundred bottles of Lukazade.

That night was our first proper night out in Murcia, and we were lucky that Alicia and Lina already knew all the best places to go, having been here last term. We ended up at an Erasmus bar called Badulake, which offered free entry, free beer, free sangria and 1 Euro shots to all Erasmus students before 1am. This was too good an opportunity to miss.

It was a small place but it had a good atmosphere and all the people seemed really nice. One guy even ran to grab us some napkins when he heard us moaning about the lack of loo roll in the toilets. We met quite a few people that night and at 3am gathered outside to decide what to do next. I ended up going to another bar with some Italians we’d met, and at around 5 one of them walked me home only to find that when I turned on the lights, all the electricity blew! Thankfully I’m pretty good at the whole fuse box thing and we managed to get everything back on pretty quickly – apart from the one in the living room, where the bulb had gone too.

The next day, when the living room lights still didn’t work after I’d replaced the bulbs, I realised there was another kind of problem with the lights other than the fuse or the bulb. I couldn’t put it off any longer and gave my landlady a call, who said someone would come and repair it on Saturday. She also answered my long list of questions about rubbish disposal, Internet, and my mysterious flatmates. She told me my flatmates would be arriving sometime next week, and Internet should be set up very soon; I was thrilled.

That day I tried out three more lectures; German 10, Perspectives on Spanish Linguistics and Methodology of Translation. German 10, which is a fourth-year module and represents the highest level of German at the university, seemed ridiculously easy. They were working off the European framework of language, which works on a system of A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, C1 and C2 – and they were currently covering a B2 textbook. Since I already have a C2 certificate, this seems a complete waste of time – and although it would be a nice way to gain some easy credits, I’d much rather have a challenge and do something interesting. I’m going to give German Culture and German Translation a try next week.

The linguistics module, on the other hand, seems really interesting and would definitely be the challenge I’m after, as both the workload and the content seem demanding. Having been told by the lecturers that I can take the class and that it won’t be too difficult for me, I’m going to try it out next week and make a decision.

Methodology of Translation was my favourite class of the day. It involves translating texts from English into Spanish and analysing the best translation techniques for different audiences and styles. The lecturer has told us we need to do one of the set translations and give it to her next week to check if our level of Spanish is high enough to take the class; of course it’ll be a challenge for us, as we’re competing against native speakers of Spanish, but it would be an amazing way to improve. The class itself was really interesting as the students were working through a translation they’d done for homework and coming up with a final version in groups. Afterwards the lecturer went through the text, assessing individuals’ suggestions and explaining why certain translations were more appropriate for the context. I felt like I’d learnt so much from that one class that if I were to enrol my Spanish would improve miraculously.

After the class I went back to Alicia’s to use the Internet, which by now I was in desperate need of. I had time to send out a few emails and do all my essential admin before heading back to the flat to make dinner. Since I’d run out of matches, I decided to buy a lighter, which presented a new challenge – since I have no experience of using lighters, let alone starting a stove with them. However, after the initial shock of getting my thumb in the flame (which actually didn’t cause me any damage), I managed to light it without any problem. After eating in the dark I decided that the best thing to do was snuggle up in bed with a few episodes of The Vampire Diaries (which seems to be my new Gilmore Girls) and get an early night, having got only three hours sleep the night before.

Today I leapt out of bed at 10am thinking there was someone at the door, but it turned out only to be the neighbours being noisy. I had a relaxed breakfast and read my Spanish Harry Potter for a while before getting ready, doing some cleaning and figuring out (with the help of some baffled passers-by) where to dispose of my rubbish. Then it was time to nip down to the local bakery and grab a baguette for lunch. This afternoon I’m trying a lecture of Translation for Technology and Business, just in case the ones I try next week don’t work out. Then this evening we’re off for a bit of culture, watching Le Petit Prince (Spanish version, I hope) at the local theatre.