Spring

I haven’t written here in SOOO long but I have a good excuse.

This past month and a half has been so amazing I haven’t had time!

That may seem like an exaggeration but really, because our residence doesn’t have internet It is REALLY boring to stay home unless you get the bean bags outside for a chat in the sun or play badminton. So because of this we are always out of the residence. 

Just a 30 min walk or 5 min cycle you have the beaches and the same distance you have the town centre with the port. I have done so much since we have last spoken but if you have followed my facebook photos you can see most of the stuff I have done. Also I do not even know which order of which Im going to talk about in this blog but go with it.

The weather for easter was horrid. Deffo the wettest its been here. I remember leaving to walk to town one night and thinking “hmm the clouds look a bit dark, Ill take a coat”. And it started to drizzle but I kept on going and thought “ill walk along the sea” (It’s the same route, depends on how you’re feeling). And soon as I reached the sea I had the spray from the sea and the skies opened and I got proper soaked. But anyway, a week later it got warm and has been mid 20’s here since, I’m still convinced the weather is very strange here how it can rain with no clouds in the sky, or be so sticky hot when theres blanket of clouds above. Being the very end of May now though it is hot for me.

With most of my assessments done studying does not take a lot of time up so after morning lectures usually we would go to a café by the sea for beer/coffee or go to the public library for their internet.

 Many weeks ago now we had an earthquake here. I believe it was 4.9 and it was my first ever earthquake, such is living on an active volcanic island.

I have been a few times to this great coastal village (I say village its about 3 houses, of which all goods are transported by a pony by a rickety steep coastal path) and it is truly beautiful.

Coastal village. Knocking on one of the houses. 

Tesco home delivery anyone?

A few weeks ago we rented a car and went on a road trip of the island for the weekend in which you can see every corner of this small (but the biggest in Azores) island. Locations included: a visit to my first ever tea plantation, hot ocean water heated by volcanic activity, Furnas, waterfalls, and viewpoints all over the island.

Furnas is a very touristic (if things can be touristy on this unknown island with few tourists) location on this island. It Is a tectonically active area that STINKS of sulphur. It has bubbling water, ground that burns to touch and the crown jewel being many thermal springs.

Views like this all around the road that goes around the coast. 

Furnas

Furnas

Furnas

I saw my first ever dolphin here, very close too! Only 1 meter away! Thing is, it was dead and in the biology lab. Haha. But since I have seen the wild dolphins jumping near the coast usually having fun (or intimidating) the wind surfers and I went whale and dolphin watching on a boat this week and saw common dolphins fin whales and others that I don't remember the name of. 

Someone push this idiot overboard please. 

Would ya look at those outfits. sexy. I'm top right. 

Last week there was a car rally here with some british drivers so I know Im not the only brit on this island! 

Check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjdCVJFAvIk 

I often say to my friend I don’t understand why there are no British people here when we know 5 Romanians (his nationality) many Spanish etc. The man at the uni who deals with all students says he has worked there for 4 years and im the first british person he knows so that’s just.. erm.

Everyone at home is CONVINCED my accent has changed so I really need to record myself and listen back later but I can’t tell the difference.

Oh and there was a festival here with flowers on the road and lights on the church. It was pretty but the actual thing they celebrated was rather dull I  found (a procession with no music and miserable looking people). 

Church with disney lights. :p

Photo from internet. Yes it was a mile or so of this stuff on the road.

In terms of the future, more time on the beach, cafes and as summer really gets going we can have even more fun. I have been in the sea a few times but it is a bit chilly haha so it has to be a clear day and I’m scared of the jellyfish of which there are MANY here recently. 

Thats all for now. See you!

O mar nunca mente. (The sea never lies)

Olá tudos!

So this is a quick update because I thought it would be nice to show some pictures of where I live. I first started doing this once I moved house 5 years ago because I was surprised how quick the interior was lost from my memory. So since then I have taken photos of where I have lived, from my student dorm in exeter, my two houses in exeter and my flat in seville. So here is the student accommodation block from azores.

I am too lazy to go outside and take a photo so these photos are from the web. The bottom photo is where I live. (the windows are bordered up for some reason, all which is bordered up should be glass).

My view from my room. To left are tea plantations, to the right is the village/port and infront are some ugly buildings, BUT infront of them is the seaaa! 

All of this for €150 eur a month (everything included) which makes my university of exeter dorm seem sooo expensive when it was the cheapest option, and don't even mention to me exeter's house prices for students. So I like my room and in general the place but especially being able to lie in bed and turn my head in the morning poke my head out the curtains and look at the sea, for to make a good estimation of that days weather you only need to look at the sea for the sea never lies. 

Also on a side note I can't remember if I mentioned I went to a large water fight in town. Here are some photos.  

Trucks full of men would come along and war began. However we also had water fights within ourselves as it was just as much fun. In our group 3 people broke their glasses/sunglasses but was a fun sunny day! 

Finally, I feel a bit out of the loop from being from the UK for so long so its nice when I hear little updates like everyone enjoying the sunny weather this weekend, wish I was there with you guys! #PimsOclock. I also hear more news about my friends and feel like everyone is turning into adult adults too fast. Miss everyone!

That's all for now folks! Obrigado. 

Tom

Um galão para mim

Hey all!

Sorry I haven’t written, I've been busy here in the Azores and the internet here is really unreliable. So you’re probably been wondering hows island life? and has tom cheered up a bit since the last post?

Well island life is great and yes I'm feeling much better now and settled in. I like my room now I have made it mine with my wee little balcony looking out over the sea where I stay watching the boats big and small making their way into the port where I live.

So my classes started this week and I believe it will be a bit tougher than Seville but since my stressful days at Exeter I never let studying get in the way living. We (my Seville classmates and new friends) have been on 2 excursions here. Both to extinct volcano craters which have now been filled with water to make spectacular lakes.

The lake/crater taken from the internet.

And what it the looks like in real life. ahha 

The one thing that really surprised me here is the weather. I didn't know if it was hyperbole or not but everyone and the internet told me to expect rain. So far it has rained maybe 30% of the time which is a lot I suppose, and when it rains, it RAINS, but when it doesn't oh my is it gloriously sunny and warm. I don’t think anyone can tire of siting in a cafeteria for hours having a coffee in the sun be it a Galão (some Portuguese frofy coffee with milk) or a pingo (a shot of coffee with milk), I particularly like the latter when I want to pretend to be Portuguese. *raises sunglasses*  “Minha amiga quer um café com leite e um Galão para mim, por favor”

Um Galão

um pingo (or Café pingado) I'm not sure if this photo expresses the small size.

Olá !

I remember first taking coffee frequently when trying to stay awake doing dissertations gritting teeth with the horrid taste of Nescafé. How times have changed, where, since Seville I enjoy having a coffee anywhere and at any time. At home I enjoy tea still and there is Azorean tea but it is nothing special.

Enough about hot beverages! This blog is just to say that I'm happy to be in such a beautiful set of islands and am not missing Seville (Ok, that’s a lie :p).

Até logo!

Lisbon and leaving mainland Europe.

Bom dia e bem-vindo para o Português.

So I left Seville rather sad but had a wonderful sunny last few days. I took this very small plane which was definitely an experience. I enjoyed that I could see the cockpit and the pilots the whole way, the plane only held 10 people. At one point the pilot literally turned in his seat to face us and tell us there was to be slight turbulence ahead which is a tad different to the norm.

The plane that held 10 people

As well as this I spent a few hours in Lisbon. My impressions on Lisbon were firstly hampered by the rain but the place seemed very old and at sometimes not in a good way. Rundown buildings and stained walls aren’t my kind of old ‘charm’ but I see how people could like the city with its trams and sea theme everywhere.  But walking around everywhere I could not help but feel that this was no Seville and that I missed it. (Also I was offered drugs about 10 times in a few hours in seville. Crazy city)

I ended up sleeping in Lisbon airport which at first I was a tad worried about but in the end I found a nice bed like sofa and a partner who was coincidently going to be on the same flight as me. Waking up at 5am with many people hurrying to catch some flight at some gate however was not appreciated. And so I boarded plane numero dois for Ponta Delgada, Azores.

My "bed" in lisbon airport

I had a nice view of the island as I landed, being very green and picturesque. Portuguese is a challenge here but knowing Spanish is a huge benefit shown best in the airport lounge how I managed to talk to a Brazilian girl for hours with me knowing VERY little Portuguese and her knowing no English or Portuguese. Some words or phrases just seem to link.

I am living in the residence for €150 a month with bills and included and an en suite with a view of the sea. Although my shower at the moment points to the corner so I will need to ask to get this fixed tomorrow. We are placed in an ‘Erasmus’ building  so it contains those on my course as well as those who are on normal Erasmus which totals no more than 20 people.

With only 1 day in it is hard to say much about Azores or Ponta Delgada but the people seem friendly and compared to Seville it seems more like the UK. Nether the less despite many people around me I seems lonelier than Seville. But there are many months ahead to look forward to. But the azores is definitely going to be made up with the nature rather than the urban city itself. 

Até logo! 

¡ Voy a echar de menos sevilla !

Hola chicos! 

Qué tal? Disculpa que no he escrito aquí para muchas semanas.

So it is with great sadness that I must say my time in Seville is ending and as the title says ‘I am going to miss Seville’. I was anxious about arriving in a country where I knew no one and was not familiar with many things. Quickly however I met great people, and to these I thank for making my Seville experience truly great.

I took my exams in January and I received good results. The weather seems to be reflecting the rest of Europe with lots of rain, but maybe not as much in the UK Gracias a dio. I had a great birthday with friends and really experienced how friendly strangers were, as they were coming up and wishing me feliz cumpleanos. 

Now 22

And this brings me to the first point that I am going to miss about Seville. It is generally known that Mediterranean cultures are very friendly and extraverted and I can see this is definitely the case for Seville. People in the street are very social and will try to communicate to you and people are not reserved when going out compared to Uk (maybe specifically London,devon).

Also in January here the oranges have started to fall from the trees and some streets are awash of oranges and you can smell the scent of orange when you walk around. It also makes good fun to kick them when on a walk home with amigos from a night out. Mi madre sent me mc vities biscuits which was possibly the best birthday present ever! (Thank you to those who were kind enough to post something :) )

The main thing that voy a echar de menos is that I have felt settled in Seville and been comfortable with it since late October and It feels a bit of a hassle to be uprooted to another country/culture/language and those first few weeks of settling down can be difficult.

I also went to Ronda which was incredible and was on my list to see in spain list.

Ronda

Entonces bienvenido a February! So with the ring of the bell at 00:01 on the first of feb It seems I have stepped back in time. Our WIFI has been cancled and I haven’t had any credit on my phone. On a non-erasmus mundus note this has showed me how much our culture is addicted to the internet :p .

The word on everyones lips in our group at the moment is azores with the first batch of people leaving a few days ago. I have managed to nearly half the number of tshirts and socks/underwear because I had a stupid amount for me and the idea of lugging them along in a suitcase with me to azores does not sound appealing.

I alos visited the cathedral, alcazar and Giralda (Tower) in my last week. (Something I should have done early, but on the plus side, as I am now a spanish resident it was freeee)

Hasta luego todos!

This will be the last blog written in spain so I hope you haven’t got too attached to español because its time to start my Portuguese island adventure. (I leave Seville on 17^th, I leave Lisbon for azores on 18^th).

I Hope you are all surviving the rain in the UK and take relief in that I am going to an island that has more annual rainfall than the Devon. 

Location location ubicación

Hola todos

I'm on the national express coach back to London as I write this with my flight back to seville tomorrow and a presentation I have hardly worked on the day after that.

I just had a few days in Exeter, my uni town. Once I realised that from tomorrow I'm not going to be back in the UK until late July /August and that I hadn't been to Exeter since the summer I decided to return. Once there I realised I'm so glad I did. Some uni students away from home will know, your university town is where you can be free and do what you want. Add to this that unlike some students I often stayed in the holiday breaks and worked in Exeter I am very fond of Exeter. I know people living and working in Exeter now who I saw over these days and I'm jealous they have this city to call home.

I was frequently asked 2 questions over my Christmas break in the UK. The classic 'so what are you ACTUALLY studying?' and 'do you want to live in the UK?' . When dealing with the latter I always say I don't know but I am pretty sure I don't want to live where I'm from (London south) because I've lived there most my life and want something new. But when living in Exeter I was genuinely sad to leave which is not surprising as apart from the awful rainy weather (Açores should be a piece of cake) Exeter is an amazing city. With its great size being not to be big/small but having all your city needs, countryside seen from most places and having old cider-filled-devonian-charm.  Probably though, the most influential factor in my Exeter love would be the people I met there, the freedom and the fun times and stories which can no doubt be repeated in any a city.  (except maybe for the freedom part in Pyongyang.

And the thing is, by being fortunate as I am to live in these cities for around 6 months on my masters, I can, just like Exeter, value up the positives and negatives. Seville for example constantly has me going "I love this, why don't we have this in the UK" and contradictorily "I miss___ in the UK".

So my question probing friends and family, let me reach the end of my 2 year masters where by then I will have lived in 6 places in my life and I can give you more of an informed answer. That's all for now. Wish me luck packing my suitcase tonight which is going to be some task due to the clothes and stuff I have accumulated here. Ciao!

I'm not slating London off btw, I love aspects of the city and will ALWAYS come back for friends, family and theme parks.

Possibly the real Andalusia?

Hola todos!

So in november our lovely coursemate who lives in a village outside of seville welcomed us into her house and town an it was a great day. Her friends offered to drive us to the village around 40 mins away. Here I show some generic photos of this great little village, estepa.

My mug

So we walked up hill/mountain to see the overview of estepa and it was beautiful and such a nice change to have hills to walk up as seville is completely flat. You could even see the snow peaks of sierra nevada in the distance which is a skiing resort I MAY visit. It is still strange to me that this is the warmest place I have ever lived and a ski resort is so near and I saw it!

One such hill with steps (friends photo)

LOOK SNOW! Put your glasses on if you can't see the snow peaks. Its just left of the boulder hill on the right. 

SO we also went to an olive oil factory located in estepa. Olives are hugely popular here (obviously) and even me who didn't like olives can't stop going back to the olive bowl (I think they marinate them in a sauce to make them nice or something, Every one I have had in the UK made me vom). We see vine yards everywhere in the fields by the road so we finally got to see how they process them for olive oil. The truck empties the olives into the factory and they are washed and crushed to make olive juice! The oil is subsequently made from the olive juice with more time making the oil nicer (apparently). We tried shots (not LMFAO style) of the oil from different ages and olive, Its fair to say drinking olive oil on its own like that is NOT nice however much the guide said it was... I'l take my own bread with it next time. 

In go the olives! 

Everywhere is a photo opportunity! #FactoryStyle

After the olive factory we went to my friends house which was very nice indeed. Where we had paella and more cooked by the three generation in her family. All in all it was a very Spanish lunch where obviously her family were showcasing their food, culture and themselves to all of us.

Part of the house 

JUST LOOK  AT THIS KITCHEN TABLE! The jamon

What does one call this room?

Such a nice house. 

Right so estepa is famous for creating and being the origin these mantecados (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polvor%C3%B3n) and have MANY factories. These sweets are very famous all round spain at christmas time and my friends' family is relate to the buisness somehow.

Mantecados

So we went to one of the factories and saw them being made and packaged. It made me feel like charlie and the chocolate factory haha.

It very much felt like a christmas evening trip for the spanish people. So although I have mentioned christmas in spain. Again Feliz Navidad!