Out of Routine

As I sit here listening to that powerful, vibrant and sensational Idlewild track, which I've used for the title to this entry, I realise that this song sums up my current situation in Córdoba- I'm 4 weeks in at university here, and they don't have an effing clue! I'm sitting here at my desk, and the site that greets me is one that suggests autumn is here. Leaves are falling, it's a bit cloudy, and the temperature has dropped significantly- to 24 degrees (and my flatmates are feeling cold) !! I've plugged in my speakers so the aforementioned song gives a high tempo start to a 55 track random Idlewild playlist that I'll be listening to as I write this. I've also come up with the idea that seeing as I've recommended a song for you to download in my last few blogs, I'll start to make these recommendations a recurring theme of my writing. So if you don't have it already, Idlewild's "Out of Routine" is available on iTunes and for 79p. You'll be downloading a top song for your hard file (although I would recommend you download the flawless remote part/Scottish fiction album that the song is taken from). My friend Craig Gallagher is living in Michigan, and reading his blog, I find parallels with my own adventures out here, just in terms of living in a different country etc, albeit about 4 weeks later as he's been out there a bit longer. However, the one blog I have not yet been able to compare my situation to is that where he speaks about finally getting into a routine after a few weeks of settling in. It was last Sunday when I first realised that things were not running as smoothly as I first though on the university front.....Actually, who am I kidding, things have never been run smoothly in ETEA. After accompanying my friend to two post offices’ today to collect a package, we came to a conclusion that the word logical does not exist in your English/Spanish dictionaries. Laughably, during this quest, we lived through a jobsworth scenario that's only seen on American sitcoms. Going into an empty post office, when we reached the desk, we were told to go to a machine behind us, take a ticket, and wait until the number had been called. The minute we got the sheet of paper with the number 61 written on it, the woman who had given us our orders hit a button at her desk calling....yes, number 61, your turn to get served now! Only in Spain! Back to last Sunday. As I logged onto the uni website to do a marketing test, I realised that everything in the site was completely different to the marketing class I'd been going to, lecture slides, online tests, passwords, oh, and the lecturer herself! Unable to complete the test, I emailed the lecturer whose classes I had been attending and the one whose classes I hadn't been attending (still awaiting reply 8 days later). After enjoying a national holiday on Monday, I was informed on Tuesday that the marketing class I'd been going to was in fact the wrong one, and I should have been going to another- an intensive 4 solid hours, 5 days a week class, lasting only for 2 more weeks. Seeing as I'd missed 60 out of the 100 or so hours on offer, I was surprised to be told that I could still attend the class and carry out the test if I wanted. That said, my surprise wore off quickly, as it was the air head (but ever so friendly) coordinator Africa Verdejo, so being that this all occurred at 11am or so, I just assumed that she was still feeling light headed from her breakfast of hash brownies. One class to change, no problem, I'll do that this week. My silver lining was finding out that I don't have to attend the piece of piss easy French classes that last for 2 hours on Tuesday and Thursday at 8am. Not to sound arrogant or big headed, but after 9 years of my life and 3 years in university studying French, learning how to order a baguette and letters of the alphabet were a bit above my level, and that of 3 other Erasmus students in our class. After a 2 hour snooze fest which ended with the teacher raging at the class for not printing our slides, I decided to bite the bullet, and go, accompanied with Roisin to ask her if it was possible for us to sit the exam without attending the class. After turning on a charm offensive and hitting her up with the chat (which was in French- I think I was being tested), she smiled and told us that it was fine for us to do the exam without attending class, and we'd just have one extra paper to make up for our absence. Result!!!! Feeling happy with myself, I went down and told the other two who had been two scared to ask that she had mauled me, and that I'd effectively dug my own grave by insulting her class. This lasted all of five minutes when I could no longer keep a straight face after looking at their expressions of shock and horror when I told them how angry I made the teacher. My next class, that day, distribución commercial, was one that was starting late, 2 weeks earlier, I had gone to it to be told that it started on the 13th of October....So imagine my fury when at 4pm, I'd gone into the distribución commercial class, and was then told that it in fact doesn't start until the 2nd semester!!!! Why didn't the idiots tell me that 2 weeks earlier, and allowed me to sort out my timetable then!? ETEA making an arse of it once again. As things currently stand, I've sorted one class out, and hopefully the 2nd one this week will be sorted if there is enough room in the class for me. Fingers crossed!!

Uni aside, it's been a fairly eventful 2 weeks. Birthdays, football, visitors, nights out, and fountains to name a few things that have been on the agenda. To start off from the day of my last blog, Carlos turned 30 on the Sunday that I was in Seville, and my other flatmate turned 23 the next Wednesday, therefore we made Thursday night 2 weeks ago extra special, it was the birthday sesh! Anna and I covered one of the other two for presents, with me buying Carlos a bottle of his favourite rum (which was quickly consumed before our night out), and Anna buying a cake for Laura and a voodoo doll key ring- which she quickly named James after sticking a pin in it! Nice to know she thinks highly of me! The night was spent with a few people round the flat playing drinking games, much to the expense of Roisin and Carlos, then we hit the club, not before getting the first pictures of the four flatmates together- oddly enough, despite that being the 6th week I was in the flat, it was the first time all four of us had been on a night out, all together. It's like what they say about two buses coming at once, as the same feat was achieved last Thursday also. The birthday night was the first time I'd managed to do a famous Spanish all nighter, and I only got back to the flat before 7am, after a walk home that involved posing with Carlos on top of one of the giant bins you get here, and attempting to take photos of the moon for five minutes! A new tradition is in swing here that after our wild Thursday's, Friday nights are for football, so an epic game was played out where I ran off our excess of the previous night, leaving me tired and satisfied with my hat-trick and teams win when I went to bed that night. That weekend also included a bike trip to the stunning ruins of the 10th century Moors city, Madinat Al-Zahar, which is located 8km from Córdoba. The bike ride in the sun was tiring but fun (well not the last 2km up hill), but the place itself was simply incredible! Those who know me will admit I'm not the type to be taken in by museums or constructions, as I normally just like to know the history of a place, take a few pictures and enjoy the experience. However, I was really taken in by this place, the size and the amazing condition it was in. The best thing was that it was free to the public, so I'm sure I'll be back there with future visitors before my year here is out.

My sister Laura arrived here last Sunday. It was great to see her, and the time flew by. Delighted with the newspapers, hair gel, and her presence of course, we had a great 4 days together in the sun (over 30 degrees every day she was here). Years ago, my dad had asked Laura to bring out a set of hoops for him when we lived in France. Laura obliged, going out to buy the Celtic shirt he'd asked for, but then to his dismay, realised that she'd bought him the away shirt that he already owned....without a single hoop on it!!! I hate to highlight this (who am I kidding, I'm loving it), but on Thursday, before going to the club, I went to put on my shoes that she'd brought out, and to my dismay, found in the bag a pair of Stephen's old, tattered school shoes!! Luckily they fitted, and I had new shoe laces, so they're going to do me just fine her, but I wish she was still out to see my reaction that had my flatmates in stitches when I was freaking out about how could she not spot the shoes I'd left in my cupboard at Barrhill Road. She had to hit the road on Wednesday to stay in Malaga in order to catch an early flight, but unfortunately, it was delayed for a day, so she didn't get back until Friday! Bad times indeed!! That said, it was great having my first visitor to Córdoba. As she wasn't here for a classic Thursday night, I managed to round up a few people to hit the Irish pub close to my house for a bevy or two.....Well, I say two, but by 3.30am, I was walking home with Laura with a stolen 'For Rent' sign and ended up taking a dip in a fountain, before coming in barefoot, dripping from the knees down and with a giant sign. Carlos and my flatmate Laura were still up, so they found the whole charade hilarious and laughed at us in our drunken state. Needless to say, Wednesday was a quiet one. A very quiet one!

My playlist has now reached track 17, Ghost in The Arcade (Do I really need to say- do it!), so I'll be wrapping things up from here. The Champions league is back, Europa league is back, so the next three nights will be football filled, much to the dismay of Laura and Anna, and based on Celtics recent form, much to the dismay of myself as we take on the German leaders Hamburg on Thursday evening! There's talk of a road trip to Granada this weekend, although these plans may be shelved due to the fact that Cheryl and Jen, who's flat I was hoping to crash at, will be away in Madrid. That said, there's always something on the go, so who knows where I'll end up, all I know is there will be stories as always, and most likely more problems from ETEA to tell you about, although I sincerely hope not. I want to get a routine. My football routine is sorted, my drinking night/hangover day routine is more than sorted. So fingers crossed that I'm soon listening to Idlewild and not cursing the buffoons who run my university.

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