So, two months after the end of the year abroad, I'm off again, this time just for a girlie holiday to the States. But that doesn't mean it will be a doing-nothing beach holiday, oh no. We will be spending 5 days in the City that never sleeps, otherwise known as the Big Apple, being total tourists, seeing the sites, eating, drinking and being merry! Then we're spending two days on the road, driving first to Niagara Falls and then to Chicago. There, we will stay with friends and explore the city for a few days, before heading back to New [View Full Entry]

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Last blog entry... I've just finished my last exam, I'm nearly packed (which is quite an accomplishment - several months' worth of stuff either ruthelessly chucked or squeezed into my suitcase!) and I'm leaving tomorrow. What an insane, brilliant, topsy-turvy year this has been. I've lived in two countries, in two languages, in two beautiful places. I have had moments of intense, gut-wrenching homesickness, and moments of intense, gut-wrenching happiness and never wanting to leave. I've learnt that even within Western Europe, there is a huge diversity of cultures and ways of life. I hav [View Full Entry]

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I arrived back in Oviedo last week for the final 17 days of my year abroad, and somehow, 11 of them have already disappeared! Time has mainly been taken up with revision and exams, and Oviedo, in its inimitable style, has provided us with mostly grey days, although it is just proving me wrong at this moment by bringing out the sunshine. I have my three final exams next week, and then it is all over. There's a lot to do apart from revision, not least cleaning the flat and packing up or getting rid of all our possessions. It does [View Full Entry]

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I'm taking a break from packing from my birthday trip home to write this, excitable and surrounded by clothes and general disorder! Finally, we've had a week of glorious sunshine. It's been so hot, 30 degrees every day. So all in all, Fiona chose a pretty good weekend to visit Oviedo. Rosy and I met her from the bus station on Friday, still getting used to the novelty that was hot, sunny weather. After squeals of excitement and hugs all round, we went back and spent a couple of hours eating snacks and watching the Mighty Boosh before going out for [View Full Entry]

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We had yet another damp week in Oviedo, but one lovely day of sunshine. Unfortunately, that was not the day we decided to go shopping. We started off at the market just inside the old town. I'd never been before, but Sarah, who lives opposite the market, was a trusty guide, and when I mentioned that I wanted a ring, she became a Woman on a Mission. we trawled all the jewellery stalls, before finally returning to, in her words, 'exhibit A', and I finally chose my Oviedo ring, to partner my Perpignan one. It's a simple design, which is what [View Full Entry]

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Well, they weren't wrong when they said it rained in Oviedo, and coming from Britain, you wouldn't think that would be too much of a problem. But what we don't get in Britain is the astounding unpredictability of weather. I know it's something I've mentioned before, but this week wins in the fickleness stakes hands down. Ever had all four seasons in one day? Brilliant sunshine, temperatures in the twenties, blue skies, turn in seconds to grey clouds and autumnal winds, which in turn give way to plummeting temperatures and rain. Oh the rain. It has been the most frequent and [View Full Entry]

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With 7 weeks left to go of my year abroad, time is flying. The workload is piling on in preparation for the exams, and that's what this week has mostly been about. I worked fiendishly to get all my creative writing pieces done for my Lengua Espanola class, and now it's all ready to hand in! So that's one thing out the way, but I have a LOT of Portuguese to get going on before the exam, and tons of reading for my literature classes. I'll be heading down to the library as soon as I've bashed this out to get [View Full Entry]

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Sitting here now, bathed in moisturiser, drinking copious amounts of water, it's hard to believe how changeable the weather was at the start of the week. One minute, it was raining and blowing a gale, and the next it was sunny, we didn't know if we were coming or going. The umbrellas were up and down, coats were on and off, flip-flops were put on and immediately regretted... April is the month of unpredictable weather, I know, but this was taking it to extremes. And then May arrived, and along with it, a full day of glorious sunshine. So we headed [View Full Entry]

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The first week back at lectures is always a bit of a drag, never mind when it's hot and sunny outside. It took a few days to get back into the swing of it, but luckily Rosy and I had a trip to Madrid to plan, which occupied our thoughts during the dull classes. We spent the time outside lectures sunbathing in the park, or on the sofa watching films. The Spanish people were just beginning to reflect some signs of the summery weather in their clothing; the winter coats were disappearing, and occasionally there was a flash of arm or [View Full Entry]

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I arrived back in Oviedo on Thursday after two wonderful weeks at home. The holidays absolutely flew by, and now that I'm back here and going to lectures again, it feels like I never really went away. It also feels like I have spent half my time over the last few months on planes or in airports. The journey home was something of a stressful one; getting to the aiport and the flight itself was fine, but then we had to run to catch our trains on time. Things were calm for the 40 minutes from Stansted into London, and then [View Full Entry]

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