Coming to an end

---

So this is my last week at work! Can you believe it went by so fast?!?!? But I guess what they say is true; time flies when you´re having fun. My friend Emerson from Brazil left yesterday, so there were a few tears shed yesterday...poor mom, I called her at home on her birthday just to cry to her....but not too much sympathy for me, I am in Spain afterall 😉 And it turns out I´m extending my stay a little longer, thanks to some hard work on mom´s behalf and some birthday money cominhg my way! So the plan is to hit up what I can in Spain, stop in Portugal along my way back to London (I love it too much, I must go back!) before a few quick days in Switerland and Greece....or at least thats the plan for now...I have to actually book these trips now!

So seeing as how the whole point of this trip was to gain work experience I thought I´d make this entry about how I´ve found it. To be completely honest, it wasn´t what I was expecting. It lacked in the "engineering" part. I´ve described it to some people as what our 2nd year chem labs were like...pretty routine, pretty straighforward, definitely not what I want to do for the rest of my life. we do stuff like test for chromium, the iron content, magnesium, aluminum and calcium in the cement. And then lather, rinse, repeat. The tests are all the same, just depending on the day, we analyze a different type of cement. So its not quite the "foot in the door" I was hoping for, but I have absolutely no regrets about it. Its given me a chance to live and travel in Spain. I like the point Shanan made, it says something about the kind of person/worker you are to stick it out for 2 months in a place where you can't speak the language. And thats the one little thing I feel a little lazy about. I haven't picked up the language as much as I thought I would. I think thats largely due to the fact that I had English speaking people at home (I had a personal tour guide and translator acutally) and at work (well, one girl at work). But I'm hoping what I know will be enought to get me to and from during my travels. I successfully took an overnight trip to Zaragoza by myself last week since Wednesday was a holiday. Emerson was in France/Madrid, so I had to fly solo, and well, I survived! And I was damn proud! I even bought the ticket all in Spanish! 😊 Go me! I've finally started to use a grammar exercise book that I had at work when there's nothing to do, which is quite often (I got to work Friday and they were already done everything for the day!). Really I should have done the book before I came here, but well, I don't think I'll ever stop my procrastinating!

Bilbao's semana grande (big week) started yesterday and I went to the opening ceremonies for that and there will be activities on throughout the week so it should be a great way to end off my time here. Thanks to all of you who have made this trip possible, whether financially, or emotional support and some encouraging words, I couldn't have done it without you!

Stay tuned for more blogs to come during my travels!

---

Photos

Emerson's last night
Street festivals in Portugalette....like the head pieces I bought us?

Last night photos
Had to take as many photos as we can, courtesy of some strange guys on the street

Comments

[Erika]

It sounds like you've had an amazing time, Meg! How great it must be to travel to so many different places while you're over there! Your pictures are fabulous! Have a wonderful time for the rest of your stay. Paul and I are really looking forward to seeing you when you get back to Canada! I love you and miss you :)