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.