Y2-7: Christmas break!

These past few weeks at home have been fairly relaxed despite the exams looming over. I’ve managed to meet up with a few people, enjoy the holidays and the sun, and get some sleep and rest at home with my family.

The first week of holidays, my friends still had class so my plan was to work during the week to get most of the essay and reading for the exams done before they were free. Well, considering I had been struggling and stressing out at the end of the year with the deadlines, I got home to the sun and it was only a matter of taking a day off, I didn’t really recover (nor have I yet to be honest…).

On the first day I went for a run in the morning, in an attempt to get up and be efficient, which didn’t really happen. It was great to go for a jog though, the weather was lovely and the waves were amazing! A lot of surfers had come round to ride the waves; I just wished I had my own board! I then decided to sort out my wardrobe and stuff back home, because after being away for so long I’d again forgot about what I had lying around… And then I napped. I said I wasn’t efficient. I just slept. Nothing better than a good sleep on one’s own mattress…

On Tuesday I decided to watch some of ‘El Debate’ because Spanish elections were on Sunday and I didn’t really have an idea of who I was going to vote. Not that it particularly helped, but I feel like watching how politicians react to each other’s challenges is somehow useful. Maybe I’m wrong. I then spent a couple of hours updating my blog; you’d be amazed of the amount of time running a blog requires. I would not imagine what posting regular updates would involve; I can barely deal with one or two a month! Not that my life is that interesting anyway, but I have seen the support of the blog grow since I’ve turned it into my personal diary for you all nosy people! Jk, I’m so glad for all of you who take the time to click and give my blog a read!

That night, I went over to Lara’s to spend the night, as I’d agreed to go to University with her the next day and that meant waking up at around five, which wasn’t going to happen for me unless I actually spent the night at her place. So I went there. She had to finish up some coursework so we didn’t do anything interesting, I pretty much made myself comfortable and went to sleep haha The next day was a pretty long day. I cannot believe she has to wake up so early to go to class, makes me realize how not-so-bad the U1 is, we live practically on campus compared to the bus and then tram that Lara has to take to get to class! She’s studying Law so I went with her to a couple of her seminars and just worked on my laptop. It was alright, except with the Geography teacher who kept standing uncomfortably close to me and my laptop and forced me to try to pay attention to his class unless I wanted to rub in his face that I was reading about French laïcité and that I didn’t give a f*** about what he was saying… We had a couple of trips to the cafeteria for coffee and lunch, and I got to meet a couple of her classmates. I’m glad that I went, not just because I did get some work done, but also because now I can put a face on the teachers and course mates that she talks about. After lunch, we headed to Santa Cruz for her Italian lesson. She is taking B2 level classes and had an oral exam, so she spoke to the teacher and I joined the class. They just corrected some homework, nothing too special, but then they did an online team quiz about congiuntivo. Our team, MarHaba, started from the bottom and then decisively made its way to the top. We obvs won B) After her oral test, we went back to La Laguna to shop for some things I needed to get before going back home. Long day, but a nice change. Makes me value British University too!

On Thursday morning I did some more essay reading and in the afternoon I went to the hairdresser’s. My haircut was long overdue! It is funny because Amélie always says that when her Spanish co-workers come to work with a haircut, it’s because they’ve been back home, and she couldn’t be more right! Hairdressers are so insanely expensive in the UK, I managed to go three months after summer without trimming my ends, but I really needed a cut. I actually got it chopped a lot less than I originally intended, but I might cut it again in Easter, so no worries. I got it layered so now my hair has so much volume!

On Friday, my brother Sebas arrived. He’d had his flights delayed and so arrived a day later than planned, but he came home for lunch. It was great to see him again because I hadn’t done so in over a year. I also got my new timetable, which is pretty good aside from the fact that now, in order to fence and do Arabic, I’m stuck 5-9pm on Thursdays up on campus, which is going to be exhausting… And then I procrastinated by starting to watch the Star Wars saga with Sebas. I wasn’t very into Star Wars but since the new film had come out, I figured it would be good to give them another chance. It so happens that after watching all episodes throughout the holidays (except the II, because I wasn’t home when the rest of the family watched it), I’m still not that much of a fan. Must be the space stuff, I’m more of a LOTR girl.

On Saturday morning we all went to La Laguna to finish our Christmas shopping. I managed to find the presents I had left, but wasn’t too successful with the things I needed to get before going back to the UK. In fact, I still haven’t been successful with all of it, so I might need to go shopping in Bath in the near future… In the afternoon, we headed over to Los Rodeos airport because Sofia was coming from the Netherlands. It was supposed to be a surprise for everybody, including us and her family, but we turned it around and made it a surprise for her to go and pick her up. Well, her flight was delayed for over two hours but when she finally made it, she was definitely surprised! A bunch of us were hidden waiting for her round the corner with balloons and signs. So cute, she even cried! Then we went back to Tegueste to have dinner at the hamburger place Cristina and David work at, and then chilled around the town and ended up, as always, in the square. Some things never change.

On Sunday the 20^th of December, it was general elections day in Spain, so we went to vote in the morning. Exercising your rights! It is the one direct chance we, as citizens, get to change the future of the country so it was so important to get as many people voting as possible, because if people don’t vote, the future is not decided by everybody, but only by the minority who do value the rights we have. Don’t end up complaining afterwards if you were lazy enough to not go and vote. That was the one efficient thing I did that day, because what was left of it I spent procrastinating quite a bit, although I did do some work mind you.

On Monday I went with Sofia to my old high school to visit the teachers. I’d assume they’d already be sick of us going back to say hi, but it turns out they aren’t. It was nice to see most of my old teachers, I quite miss high school, and it was such a different experience from University. It just felt like a big family. I guess that’s also why teachers also like us to go back and tell them what we’re up to in with our lives. After all, they did have a big role in educating us for adulthood. In the afternoon, I went with Jorge to the cinema to watch ‘Suffragette’. It was a good movie, the kind of film I’d put in class to educate students about the fight for women’s vote. Not that I learned anything new, but it was a good film nonetheless.

The following day Sebas came round again in the morning and did some work in the garden, and then dropped me off in La Laguna because I was meeting with Sofia, Cris, the Marías, Nau and David for lunch – de guachincheo por La Laguna. Lunch was soooooo good and we ate so much Canarian food. Sofi and I were in heaven- we stuffed ourselves in culinary goodies until we couldn’t cope with anything else! We then went for a walk around La Laguna and some hot chocolate. Once back home, I decided to watch some Modern Family and I ended up watching eight episodes in a row. Oops.

On Wednesday 23^rd we left for Gran Canaria as we were going to spend Christmas Eve and Day there with the family. The sick pills literally knocked me off and I spent the rest of the day napping off. Literally K.O. until the evening, when I went to Mesa y López for a stroll around the shops. Las Palmas is the place to do shopping and have family meetings and go to the cinema. We went shopping in Las Arenas and Triana (slightly unsuccessfully for me), I pretty much managed to finish my essay and do some reading,…  We also met with Sofia for coffee before she went back to Holland, and also met up with other friends of my grandma’s and relatives (including the massive annual gathering for Christmas involving family gossip and hot chocolate and lots of food that will make you fat- it was hilarious). This year we also met with the British side of the family and I got to meet my cousin Charlotte and her family, who I hadn’t “seen” since I was a baby. It was lovely to meet them. And after that we went to watch a late run of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. I found it was a good film, but a weird combo because it was the same universe and characters but with a totally different style of film. The Disney influence I guess, although the jokes were good, and so was having a strong female protagonist.

Christmas Eve was also nice this year. I don’t know if it’s because of all the deadlines or because of the good weather, but I haven’t really felt too festive this year. In Spain, we celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Day, so we had a lovely dinner at home with the family and opened up some presents afterwards (the other half were waiting for us back home in Tenerife, to be opened on the Monday once back). It was just a nice evening with good food and a moment to share gifts with the loved ones. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas too!

On Tuesday 29^th, once back home, my sense of time was already messed up and I did not feel like there were only a few days left of 2015. I got up and reluctantly went for a morning run (it takes me a lot of will force to get up and go out to run, but once I come back it is so worth it). I then read a bit and procrastinated until Sebas arrived. We went to Casa Pepe for lunch and had amazing fresh fish and food at an incredible price. These are the things you can only do here… I’m going to miss the weather and the fish. Honestly, for England being an island too, its fish is quite poor… Oh, and Sebas brought me his SURFBOARDS! Oh yeah! He’d had them in his garage all this time so he agreed to leave them with us so I can use them when I’m back. In the afternoon we exchanged presents with Sebas (I got a lovely mustard wool hat) and then said goodbye as he was leaving for Galicia for NYE. That night I got a small cold and so went to sleep quite early and the next morning I slept in rather than go to La Laguna to finish up the shopping. 

I spent the last two days of 2015 procrastinating and doing work. I managed to finish the essay and half of my contents for one of the two exams I have in January, and started to get the holiday blues, but I still had New Year’s Eve to go and welcome 2016!

This time, we had a relaxed New Year’s Eve. It was just the four of us at home, so we basically had a fancier dinner and watched some Modern Family until it was midnight. As always, Erin and I were responsible for peeling and preparing the grapes for the 12 chimes of the bells. Such a hard job! Fortunately, this time all of Spain got the counting right… After that, I got ready to go out as I was going to go to Santa Cruz with my friends to celebrate. Mum drove María and me, and we waited for Gema, Cris and David to join us near the TEA. Once we were all together, we headed to the Guimerá area, where we joined David’s friends. We had a good time drinking and chatting until we thought it was time to move further to the Plaza de España where there was some music. We lasted there until nearly seven in the morning, and then decided to go to La Laguna for churros and chocolate. María and I walked over to the bus station but no buses were working so we took a cab – expensive- to La Laguna and joined Cris and David and another couple at the churrería in El Cristo. It was a good end to a great night: having churros and hot chocolate for breakfast while we saw the sun rise before heading home to sleep. 2016, hope you’ll be a good year!

As I’d arrived home at like half eight in the morning, I slept through the whole morning and woke up for lunch at two. As every first of January, I spent most of the day lazing around, watching some youtube and lying on the couch. However, in the evening I forced myself to do some reading. Exams are near and I’m kind of starting to panic.

On Saturday morning, Mum took Erin and me to the shopping centre in La Orotava. Again, not too successful on my part, but I did manage to get a few things I needed, including some new Nikes. The queues were insanely long and slow in every shop, which was so annoying. After lunch, I finished some more reading because I had to give Lara some books back. I’m nearly done with my notes for the first exam, so it’s not as bad as it could be going.

On Sunday morning, the last official day of the holidays, I slept in. I’m going to miss my bed. Dad made paella for lunch and Lara came over. It was a tasty lunch: paella, Shandy and apple pie, yum! Then, Lara and I got ready, took one of the surfboards, and headed to the beach to try it out. The tide was low but rising, and there was a lot of wind, meaning that the shore was quite far in and the waves quite big until they reached the part of the beach which was sort of shielded off. First we went to the normal beach near the pools, but the waves were not promising, so we trekked to El Arenal, down the cliff near the abandoned hotel. It’s a nice beach but the current is very strong. The sun was shining when we got there and the waves were alright, especially in the beginning because afterwards they started coming a bit untidily and we finally decided to leave before the tide rose more and the sun finally set. We spent a couple of hours in the water. It was so nice! I thought the water was going to be colder and that we wouldn’t last long with our shorts and Lycras, but we did. We took turns with the board and managed to catch a couple of waves, but mostly fell or slid off the board. Still trying to get used to the fibre board but mostly the length, as we are used to a 7’/8’ and the board is a 5’. Honestly, it felt so good to go to the beach, it reminded me of summer and it was a nice break from real life. Now I have a good recent memory to pull me through the winter back in Bath.

Today has been my last day in Tenerife for this lot of holidays. Technically, it is Monday of revision week so many people are back in Bath already. I have my first exam on the 12^th and definitely need to get a move on my revision, so I need to go back even through I’m dreading it. I’m dreading the cold, dreading the exams, dreading the lack of sun and dreading having to take care of myself again. But at the same time, I know it will just be for a short while. I have ISB to look forward to, and then my sister Erin will come over for a week, so that should be fun. For now, I’ve packed my suitcase and am trying to get some stuff done before I finish off the day. Tomorrow will be a long one as my flight leaves at 11:30 from TFS to Amsterdam, and I then have the connection flight to Bristol from Amsterdam in the evening. I will get to Bath late at night. Wish me luck. I like travelling but it’s so tiring!

These have been some good holidays. I’m already feeling the holiday blues as you can tell, and will miss my family and friends, the sun and the food and my bed as always. I believe returning back from the Christmas holidays is always the hardest, as there is nothing really nice to look forward to. But, oh well, the exam season is only two weeks and then we’ll be free to enjoy ourselves again. Any motivation that can be offered will be deeply appreciated.

Cheerio!