Y1-10: Weeks 15, 16 & 17, exams, revision and adventures!

I know this is a long post because it, again, covers three weeks. But do not fret; this is not likely to happen again. I will need a whole post for what is coming up next week… Brussels, duh!... So I decided to write about three weeks instead of two in this post.

Week 5 was Revision Week, meaning that it was part of the term, but there weren’t any classes (at least for me, some people had revision lectures). The teachers were supposed to be on campus and everything was supposed to run as normal (which turned out to be wrong), but the whole point of the week was working on the assignments and studying for the two Exam Weeks that lied ahead. I had two assignments to give in, which I had done over the holidays so they were already finished and all I had to do was make some finishing touches, print them out and hand them in, something I did on Wednesday. It was a weight taken off my shoulders, because I had a whole week to study for my Italian History exam. 

Revision was martyrdom. Honestly, procrastination followed me everywhere. On Monday I did not study and instead I ran some errands: I went into town to the bank and to do some shopping, I attempted to write my CV… On Tuesday though, I did run some errands in the morning (after sleeping in), but then decided to start studying. I felt so overwhelmed I nearly wanted to cry, but I decided I would make a plan and follow it, so I would have enough time to study. I mean, I know I was lucky because I only had one exam and I don’t want to sound like I am complaining because I know many other people had four or even five exams, but that doesn’t make mine feel less to me. The amount of stuff I had to study (from scratch, it wasn’t like reviewing as if it was the PAU, it was having to learn everything as something new) felt too much for me. But I was determined after setting out my plan: three lecture contents per day in order to be finished by Saturday and have time to revise after that. I did actually manage it, although I had to catch up after falling behind at one point.

It took me ages to do the work, but my days basically consisted in waking up late at around ten or half ten, spending the morning and afternoon going through my notes and rewriting them while drinking coffee (a must) and then studying them in the evening and night. I feel like I concentrate better when it’s dark outside, so I’d rather sleep in in the mornings and go to bed at like, 1am. The thing is, I got distracted really easily (the phone, gosh, someone take it away from me!) and I tended to want a lot of breaks. I usually watched The Misfits in those breaks. I am really into it and I watched the first season in about three days although after that I have been limiting myself, but I am now in the third season and it is lacking Nathan’s presence…

The problem was, there was no credit on our cards. And most eateries were closed for the first three or five days. Like, literally, at night there would not be anywhere we could go to have dinner. But, anyway, what would we pay with? I had around fifteen pounds on my card when I came back, left from my first instalment, and that money disappeared in a matter of days. I found myself having to cook, which I hate. But I must say, even though I hate it, it provided me with an excuse to take a break from the study. During the week, I tried to buy as little as possible so as to finish it before they put our new credit in (which we though was on the 12^th, but ended up being the 15^th, what pissed me off incredibly because nobody even sent an email to inform us – the catered students- neither about the credit nor about the unusual eateries’ timetable). I cooked Spanish and French tortilla, salad, fried eggs, couscous with chicken or couscous with tuna,… and had a lot of canned soup and soup in a cup. Plus, I still spent a lot of money in the eateries, because at some point I couldn’t be bothered to cook and just decided to eat out and socialize.

Sunday was slightly different, as it usually is. I cleaned my room after waking up late, did some sport and then took a shower and got ready for the Charlie Hebdo gathering on campus to show support to the victims of the attack. Around 150 students gathered. There were different speeches and a moment of silence. Here is a link to the article, in case you are interested: https://bathimpactblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/scores-of-bath-students-display-solidarity-with-paris/ Other than that, I considerably procrastinated.

Week 16 was exam week. My exam was on Thursday morning, so my anxiousness built up towards it. I still ran some errands, especially when I had some problems with the Medical Centre. And on Monday I was so fed up of study I decided to go into town and do some leisure shopping. It was drizzling all day, but that did not stop me. My two great finds were a 50s style long vintage stripped skirt, and some black wellies. My wellies were a find: the last ones I had owned were pink with glitter and I was seven years old, but the new ones are black and I was able to use them right away because over the next few days it rained…and SNOWED! On Tuesday afternoon there was a weather forecast of strong snow during the night and Wednesday morning, so the Wednesday exams were delayed half an hour so students would be able to arrive safely on campus. On Tuesday afternoon sleet fell and, later, it snowed! It wasn’t really proper snow though. It was kind of pathetic because it didn’t even stay on the ground, it just melted, but it was snow nonetheless, so I was pretty excited. The next morning, everything was covered in a thin layer of snow dust, and it was gorgeous! But, of course, it soon melted and turned to slush, which is not that nice. But at least we got snow.

On Wednesday I was nervous for my exam. I mean, I was fed up of studying but could not stop revising in case I missed something or forgot a date or something like that. But it got to the point where all I wanted was to shout “ne me frego!” (see Fascist reference there, if you please). It took me ages to fall asleep, as per usual before an exam, but the strong wind and starlings outside did not help.

Thursday morning at 9:30 was the Italian History exam. I just wanted to get over and done with! The process reminded me a lot of the PAU, with a Cambridge English Exam twist… The room was packed! The exam itself went alright. At first they did not give me a dictionary but then they checked and gave me access to one, which was great to check spelling! The contents were so-so. I have some doubts about my answers, but I refuse to check on them. What is done is done and I don’t think I did a bad job, but the exam could’ve been easier… After the test, I was FINALLY FREE! Honestly, it felt so good to finally be able to enjoy the break, with no more exams or assignments! I could now employ my time on something more interesting, like reading or watching films or sleeping! Boyhood was my film session for the night, and then warmly tucked in bed to get plenty of sleep…as the next day I’d be going with Amélie to Thekla, in Bristol, to watch Box of Light live! 

So, on Friday all I really did was sleep and then go for lunch and get ready to go to Bristol. We took the train at a quarter to four, because it was delayed for about a quarter of an hour, and then arrived in Bristol at four. We walked to Thekla, just to learn the way in case the gig ended late and we had to make a run for the last train back. Thekla Bristol is a club on a boat. Yes, a boat. It was awesome! And then we walked to Broadsmead Shopping area and visited a couple of shops (Primark is huge!). I bought myself a new black Jeep backpack to use in Brussels which was on sale, because my lovely patched backpack is not strong enough for the trip. We certainly need to go to Bristol just for a shopping day at some point…And then we had dinner at Prêt-À-Manger and walked to the club. It was only half full (mainly of teen fangirls), which was great because it wasn’t boiling hot inside. There was a merch stand in front of the bar and we wandered around and got closer to the stage. Suddenly, we we’re waiting and I turned around and there was Helen! (https://www.youtube.com/user/snakebitesparkles) Helen Anderson is one of my fav youtubers and it was so awkward but cool to see her in real life! The sensation was: fangirling with a touch of “you are a real persooooooon!” I bought a shirt and chatted to her for a little bit. Matthew and Box of Light were around too. I took some pictures with her and she was amazed when I told her we came from Spain and France, and that she had other fans in Tenerife (shout-out to Cris!). She is such a babe! Just as in her videos, really funny and nice. The concert went great too. First, Dodie Clark perfomed with her ukulele (https://www.youtube.com/user/doddleoddle), then Box of Light took over the stage and played some awesome originals (https://www.youtube.com/user/Boxoflightband) and, finally, Bethan Leadley played some originals and covers (https://www.youtube.com/user/musicalbethan). It was finished at a quarter to ten, so we had plenty of time to go back to Bath without rushing. The night was awesome, definitely a day to remember!

Another thing we did on Saturday was visit Bath Spa University, the rival. I had been curious because I didn’t really know where it was. Well, apparently it is in the middle of the countryside between Bath and Bristol. Jenny, Alex, Begoña and I took the bus and arrived at the University and wandered around. We went inside every open building: the Library, the music rooms, the Main Building,… It is quite small and isolated, but the scenery is amazing and it is a University for Arts, which has always been appealing to me. Anyway, it was a nice little adventure.

Sunday was pretty efficient. I woke up early, did the laundry, watched Misfits, cleaned my room and took a shower. All before having Sunday roast. Then, after lunch I got coffee and started house-hunting. Gosh, it is too much responsibility and too many things that I don’t understand, but I found some options. I guess it is just taking it slowly… I wish my parents were here to help me, this is way too grown-up-things…I’m only 18! The next Saturday was our first house viewing, which went pretty well, but the house was taken before we made a final decision. Now we must keep looking. Always a first time for everything, right?

On Thursday the 22^nd, I got up at 8 to get ready and took the 9:30 train to Portsmouth. In 2004, I lived in Southsea with my family for a year to learn English. I hadn’t really been back since and wanted to make a visit when I had some free time. So, after a two-hour train ride, I arrived at Fratton Station and then walked down towards the seafront, stopping at Southsea Infant School – the school I went to – and Albert Road. It was cold, but sunny, and seeing all the places I used to go to was quite nostalgic but nice at the same time: Lennox Mansions (where I lived), the Pyramids, the beach with its pebbles and seaweed and shells, Canoe Lake and the swans, Blue Reef Aquarium, the tanks we used to climb, the “secret” garden, Francisco’s house,… Memories rushed back, eleven years later. It hasn’t changed much: the Pier and Model Village are now closed and some new buildings and leisure areas have been built, but it remains mostly the same (although everything seemed smaller because in my mind I remembered everything from a seven-year-old’s perspective…). I was lucky enough to be able to meet Demi, who used to be my best friend back then, and with whom I had got into contact about two years ago through Facebook (it does come handy sometimes, doesn’t it?). We had lunch together and then walked along the seafront until we got to Gunwharf Quays. It was a lovely day and I am so happy I was able to go there, I remember so many stories. It was a good time, 2004. And it was also great to catch up with my bestie. Definitely have to do it again sometime.

Friday night, all exams were over for all of us what meant…PARTYY TIMEEE! We went out into town and went to Forever Fridays at Second Bridge. It was a great night, I missed going out with the girls. And then after the club we got some food at McDonalds and came back to campus and sleeeeeeeept.

After packing on Saturday, Sunday was chill. I did a few things I had to get done, Skyped with Lara and then in the evening we had a film night in. Quite relaxed before going to bed early…because the next day we left for Brussels!

Y1-9: Weeks 12, 13 & 14, Christmas holidays!

Here goes an extremely late and long post. This is because it describes my whole Christmas break. Entirely. Completely. It honestly took me ages to write, so I will understand it if you don’t read it, but it talks about good times, so you should.

As I said in my previous post, on Saturday, I arrived in Tenerife! Back home to the little sunny island again! My dad and sister came to pick me up at the airport and drove me home. The first thing I noticed was: it was hot. From being less than ten degrees, a plane-ride away and I was at about twenty. Other things were the fact that everybody speaks Spanish, the sea is actually there (the presence of gulls is, at last, logical) and, most of all, you drive on the right. That was awkward. It was great to be back home, see my family, sleep in my dear bed and watch TV. Wonders of home.

On Sunday, Lara came over to visit. It had been ages since I’d seen her, so it was great to be reunited again. We hanged out and did teeny stuff like taking selfies. We also went out for a walk. It was so good to see the sea again and smell the coast air. That is certainly something that someone who doesn’t live with it every day can understand, but it makes a big difference.

On Monday I went to La Laguna with Dad to do some shopping. As the first week of my break my friends and sister still had class, I basically dedicated my time to getting the stuff that I needed to bring with me back to England, and I also worked. My idea was to finish my two essays before leaving to Switzerland, but that obviously didn’t happen. I should start setting myself lower goals, otherwise it will end up being depressive… Anyway, I started my reading and note-taking for the essays, which took me a couple of days to finish. The bloody books were so heavy I had to take them in the hand luggage with me because if I left them in the suitcase, I was over the weight limit…

Tuesday morning I went to the hairdresser’s after a long time. My idea was to cut my bleached tips off because my hair was so damaged and then get them re-bleached and dye my whole head purple. I took my Directions Plum hair dye as per usual, but it was a total fail. The hairdresser used a 10vol developer which didn’t make my ends light enough, only a little bit brassy. At least they didn’t mess the hydration up too much. Then, the colour. Oh, gosh. The dye stuck to the roots and tips, but it was sooooo patchy! First, some strands of the parts of my hair that had been bleached for over a year hadn’t been cut off, those turned blue. Then, my tips went cerise and my roots purple-bluish. My middles were the worst. The hair didn’t catch the dye properly so it just ended up being brown with a purple sheen. A total mess. Never dying my hair at the hairdresser’s again, my mum does it better. I left the dye to wash off the next week and then dyed it back to brown with a purple streak two weeks later.

On Wednesday I had a blood test done at the hospital which took up the entire morning. After that Dad took me to La Laguna to do some more shopping and then I kept working on my essays. It also rained, but it wasn’t real rain. Not after what we get in the UK. I’ve learnt to differentiate between drizzle-that-is-nothing and rain-give-me-the-umbrella-or-else. The first kind is Canary rain.

Thursday I kept working, but Sebas came over to visit. It was great to see my big bro again after all this time. He has to cut his hair though… In the afternoon I also packed my suitcase to go to the land of the Swiss.

Friday morning was the last class day for the Spanish students, so a couple of friends  and I went to visit our ex-teachers. It was great to go back, I miss high school. Everything was so much easier. I was lucky to see all the teachers I was looking forward to seeing and then we had a coffee at the bar. In the evening, the girls and I went for dinner in La Laguna. We had pizzas and an awfully nice time together, catching up. Afterwards we went out for a bit, there was party going on so we joined until they came to pick me up because the next day we were leaving early to catch our flight.

On the 20^th morning, we caught the plane from the airport in the South to Geneva, in Switzerland. We saw the Alps and Mont Blanc from the plane, which was awesome! Then Bill picked us up from the airport and took us to Trélex. The children were so excited to see us and they have grown so much!

On Sunday the whole family took the train around the Léman Lake to visit a Village de Noël in the mountain over Montreux. We went up in a zipper train that was really cute and the views were absolutely stunning. The village was nice, but there wasn’t snow so it had something missing… I had a nice time all the same. Plus, there was a boarding school right next to the village that looked like a building stripped right out of a fairy-tale. Wouldn’t mind living there… After lunch we went to Montreux and walked around the Christmas market, it was similar to the one in Bath, except for all the raclettes!

On Monday we went to Nyon, again taking the train. I liked that city, it wasn’t too big but it was quite nice. I bought a jumper (everything is so expensive there…) and then we walked around. We saw amazing views from a castle and then from the harbour, I am in love with the lake and the mountains. The good weather was a plus, it didn’t rain or snow, and the temperatures were high for December weather. We had crêpes for lunch in a fancy crêperie. I ate so many crêpes whilst being in Switzerland… but never mind. My idea was to “gain fat over the holidays to spend winter”. The exam period in January requires a bear-tactic during the holidays, and nothing was going to stop me from eating as much fish, home-made food and Christmas goodies as I could!

On Tuesday we did paper cut-out Christmas decorations with the toddlers. Custom garlands and coloured-in drawings that we hung up on the living-room window. All you need is paper and kids, no more money spent on decorations needed… Afterwards we went to Nyon to visit the museums, but apparently they were closed until Friday, so we just walked around the bank of the lake instead. Later, Josie’s friends came over for a little party and after hanging out for a little bit I decided to keep working on my essays. I had managed to finish my Introduction to European Studies before leaving, but was less than half-way through the Révolutions one…

On Wednesday the four of us went to Geneva. We walked around the main parts of the city and visited a museum. It was quite a long morning but it was also a pleasant day. There was a big contrast between the high-street avenues near the fountain were you could find Cartier or Chanel stores and the old part of the town, with small streets and alleys, which is a lot prettier. We also found a flea market where we bought a couple of things, and there was an awesome skate park with some guys doing some sick acrobatics with the skates, rollerblades and bikes! After coming back from Geneva to Trélex, we walked around the little town and saw the school the children go to. It is so strange to see troughs everywhere, but they are! And some of them are fairly pretty. That night, back home, we had a special Christmas dinner, in honour of our Spanish tradition. The children left some carrots for the reindeers and some whiskey and mince pies for Santa and went to sleep.

Christmas Day was hectic. The children had been up since half past seven and at about an hour later, we had to get up because they just had to open more presents. The amount of gifts that Santa “left” was insane, and they literally opened presents all day long. We ourselves got some nice bits and bobs from Josie and Bill. The Christmas lunch was also really good. We had turkey and parsnips and Brussels sprouts and potatoes and gravy… The Yorkshire puddings were the only thing missing, but everything else was so yummy! Congrats to the chef!

On Boxing Day we went for a family walk in the forest in the hauts-de-Trélex and then went back to Nyon to visit the museums. We saw the Roman museum, the Lac Léman museum and the castle museum with a really bizarre porcelain exhibition. Some parts were interesting and some not, but mostly it was enjoyable. That night we had to pack because we were leaving early on the following day, and we had to say good-bye to Bill and the children until next summer.

On Saturday really early in the morning we got up and… it was snowing! The snow was falling in the dark outside, which was great but also bad. The car slipped once on the journey to the airport and then our plane was delayed for an hour and a half because of the snow… But at least we got to see it. It would have been sad to go to Switzerland in winter and see no snow… After the long trip home we opened our presents under our tree in Bajamar –which were all we had asked for- and then I spent the rest of the day working on the French essay and managed to finish it!

Sunday was basically a waste of a day. I couldn’t get my new iPod touch to work so I wasted the whole day to figure out the problem and solve it. Apparently it was missing some Device Manager thingy that I had to install and then it worked fine. But to figure that out took me the whole day so I could not do anything else… I hate technology at times…

On Monday I went shopping in La Laguna, again, and then in the afternoon I went to Yaiza’s house and we Skyped with Katya for, like, two hours. That was great to catch up with them both; it had been ages since I’d talked to either of them aside from Whatsapp.

On Tuesday morning I slept until late in my dearest bed and then my mum fixed my hair with Cris’ bleach and Directions dye. Afterwards, I went to Santa Cruz with Lara and Erin. We had lunch at MacDonald’s and watched the last film of The Hobbit. I won’t get into details, but the book is pretty messed up. Let’s just say the films could be worse. That evening when we got home, my aunt, uncle and grandma and their dog had come over to Tenerife for New Year’s, so I got to see them too.

On the last day of 2014, I didn’t do much. I slept, tried to work out some insurance thing and failed, finished the essays and started looking for houses for next year. I slept for a while more because I was feeling quite tired and then took a shower and got ready. We had a nice New Year’s Eve dinner in family and opened the Christmas presents afterwards as I am not home for Reyes this year. Then my sister and I prepared the grapes and we welcomed the New Year together. At 1pm, my mum dropped Cris, David and me in La Laguna and we took the tram to Santa Cruz. There we met Annabella, María, Mara and some other people and hanged out together. I got home at about six o’clock after a great night.

Later that day, after sleeping a lot, I had to start preparing my stuff to take back to Bath with me. I felt so depressed that I cried a couple of times, the holidays had come and gone too fast and I certainly did not feel like coming back and having to be on my own in cold England again and to study. My family from Gran Canaria also left that afternoon. That night we watched Home Alone 2 together and I felt depressed a while more.

Friday was the last day I spent back home. I slept, read for a while and had quite a chilled morning, I was still sad but I tried not to think too much about it. That afternoon I went to Lara’s house to say good-bye and saw Jorge too. Then he drove me to La Laguna, where I met with some of the girls and we had dinner together. I had a nice fun night with them.

On Saturday morning I had to pack my stuff and deal with being over the weight limit, as always. It stresses me out. It is so annoying. Ended up having to leave things behind to get them mailed to me and carry heavy stuff in my hand-luggage. We also sorted out the Easter holidays. My family was going to come and visit but as I have two weeks off, it will be me who goes back home. I am looking forward to that too, although it won’t be for too long, but at least I won’t have to wait until the summer to be back. I cried a lot when I left. We had to do a massive queue to drop off my bag and then I cried a little more. The trip was alright though. They changed the gate from one end of the airport to the other end, so I had to walk a bit, but the flight was alright. The plane departed at sunset, and the view from my window was perfect. The silhouette of Tenerife and El Teide against the orange sky, with the little dots of light from the towns and, in the distance, the heights of La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma amidst a sea of clouds… I even think I might have caught a glimpse of San Borondón ;)

Once in Bristol, the rest went smoothly. I made it to the 23:00 A4 bus so I arrived an hour earlier than expected and then took the bus to the campus. Brendon Court was extremely quiet and empty. I cleaned a bit of my room, had some soup, made the bed and basically went to sleep.

Today is not really part of my holidays anymore, but it is not term time either so I will quickly add it here. I woke up late, cleaned my room, unpacked, took a shower and went to have pizza with Begoña and Khumbo. It was good to see them again. Then I did some work in my room, sorting out stuff, because everything else on campus was closed. I had some soup for dinner with Alex and Vidushi. It is weird that the residence is half empty, but people seemed to have arrive throughout the day, all silently. Now I will upload the post and watch some film or something and go to sleep. Tomorrow I have to run some errands.

Goodnight x