It's a cold and grey Sunday afternoon, quite a change from the last few weeks of beautiful summer weather, but nevertheless we've been having a lovely day. We all find that Sundays can be 'dead' days - because nothing's open, nothing's going on and we don't always get together leaving Sundays for boring things like work and cleaning - essential things, but not necessarily fun ones. And even when you've done those jobs the hours can still stretch out before you endlessly. So we decided to change things, and yesterday, we went to the supermarket to get things to make a [View Full Entry]

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After the weekend in Leon, we were all absolutely shattered, and the weather meant we spent a lot of long, lazy days sunbathing in the park, broken only by the odd lecture. It really did feel like we were on holiday, only with lectures! We didn't even have a night out, which is very unusual, but which suited me down to the ground. Instead, we spent Friday and Saturday evening at Jo and Sarah's; on Friday we got chinese, and on Saturday we made fajitas. It was really lovely, just to sit, chat, watch films and pig out! It does mean [View Full Entry]

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The weather this week has been incredible - I don't think there has been a day where it has not reached at least 22 degrees C. A shopping trip has been necessary today to get flipflops, a summer skirt and a couple of light tops, because all my summer clothes are still at home in Britain, and the heat is just too much to be wearing shoes, jeans and jumpers. I spent a very contented day on Friday sitting in the park and reading a book in the sun, and it was clearly my day, because when I got there, i [View Full Entry]

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And miraculously, touch wood, the rain has gone away! Sitting here now, the sun is streaming through my window - it is a truly joyous sight after a solid week of rain! It did mean, however, that we got to see the truly impressive sight of Oviedo's umbrellas. The sky turns grey, and suddenly everyone, and I mean everyone is carrying an umbrella. I don't mean those flimsy, fold-up ones that slot neatly into your bag - I felt like a second-class citizen with mine, and the wind soon beat it. They have proper, sturdy brollies, in as many colours and [View Full Entry]

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Right, it's got to be a quick one, as I'm sitting here typing fast, hoping that my laptop battery doesn't run out because the power's gone in the flat this morning, I don't know why, but it's a pain as I'd just put a load of washing on. No-one else is up yet, and as it's a Sunday I don't really want to call my landlord, but if it goes on for muh longer, I think I'll have to. Anyway, yesterday was amazing, because Carnaval finally hit Oviedo. The week-long celebrations for Mardi Gras travel around the country, with parades and [View Full Entry]

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Here goes part 2, another country, another uni, another experience! After a lovely month at home recharging my batteries (and writing my French year abroad project), I arrived in Oviedo on Wed 18th Feb. I was sort of looking forward to it, but also sort of not, but travelling with Rosy made it much better than it would have been alone. Literally the moment we landed, as we were waiting at the luggage carousel, we bumped into Andy, a fellow sheffielder, who had been on our flight! he introduced us to another Andy, this one from Leeds, who was returning to [View Full Entry]

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So the time has come: tomorrow I'm leaving Perpignan for good, with a whole load of mixed feelings! I've been back here for two weeks following the Christmas holidays, in order to sit the January exams. The first week was more or less exam-packed, leaving little time for anything else, but the second week has been much more of a whirlwind of packing, doing lots of 'last...' things and generally tying up loose ends and saying goodbyes. Oh and another exam, just for good measure. And as sod's law would predict, we've found some gems tucked away in this small city, [View Full Entry]

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So, here we are, the 20th December 2008, which has arrived impossibly quickly, and tomorrow I'm flying home for Christmas. To all intents and purposes, my time in Perpignan is done. All that remains is to return for two weeks in January to sit my exams. It's kind of strange. I can't wait to go home, I'm so excited about seeing my family and friends again, but for all its irritations, I will miss Perpignan, especially all the wonderful people I've met here. This week feels like it's gone quickly, but yet Monday seems like a long time ago. It's just [View Full Entry]

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With a somewhat half-hearted attitude, we made it through the last of our lectures this week, which was a relief! My Wednesday was saved by Rosy, Katie and Franzi; after an unsuccessful meeting for my year abroad project, a lack of decent birthday cards for a ten-year-old boy, too many people in town and queues at the post office, I was in a pretty bad mood. But when Rosy texted to say they were going for a hot chocolate, my mood picked up. We sat cosily inside drinking hot chocolate in one cafe and then moved on to our new favourite [View Full Entry]

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The end is in sight! With less than two weeks before I fly home for Christmas, and only a few lectures left to go, my time in France is nearly over, apart from two weeks of exams in January. That's just crazy! Although at the moment I can't wait to go home and I'm constantly playing Christmas songs that make me nostalgic and emotional, I can't believe how quickly time has flown here. Still, there's a bit of time left, Vicky's coming for a couple of days, and we've got some Christmas baking to do. As well as the last few [View Full Entry]

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