New chapter, new blog

As many of my friends and family know, I have recently started a new chapter in my life. This chapter being: Erasmus in Spain. And therefore I have decided to document this, as – I have been told many times – it will be the best year of my life. The first point being, I moved to Spain. 

I moved to Santander about 3 weeks ago now, and I have been working at a school here for just about 2 weeks. But before I tell you about my time here, let’s back up a little and chat about before I left jolly ol’ England.

My summer was fantastic. I had many a’outing with many a’friend and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I had a lovely time doing next to nothing with my family, and I was thrilled when my friend Christie (from uni) came to stay. Not just once, but twice – the second time made doubly special as she was able to meet some of my ‘home friends’ at my going away party. Oh yeah, I had a going away get together, nicely split with one of my best friends, Lily (she is now in Vienna).

Anyway, it was great and it made it even more difficult to bugger off to a foreign country for a year, albeit a relatively close one. It was made even worse when we finally got to the airport and I said goodbye to my mum. Up until then, in all honesty, I had felt indifferent about the whole thing (I think excitement and nervousness cancelled each other out a bit). It was only in those few minutes that I actually realised that I would be entirely alone in a place that I didn’t know.

Not for the first week though – my Dad decided to come with. If not to be able to say he’d been to Spain but to help me to find somewhere to live. Fortunately that was sorted out pretty quickly. Maria Jesus, my mentor lady, happened to see an advertisement at the school where I now work. She even called on my behalf and arranged a viewing the very next day after my arrival and it was perfect for my situation. Good place in the centre of the city, good size room, very close to the school and not a bad price either. So, in a few minutes that was all signed and done with.

Which left the other paperwork to deal with: to be a resident in Spain, you need your NIE. That is, you ‘Numero de Identificacion de Extranjero’. With this you are able to open a bank account (or at least, you should be able to) and that it something that I really needed to do.

Unfortunately, even if you do wait in line for over an hour, on your first visit to the Oficina de Extrenjero, you’ll receive a form to fill in and return. When you return you will wait for another hour to be given another form and told to return on a certain date. When you return on that date with the form, they will stamp some paper and tell you to go to the bank and pay a tax of 10.50 euros and then return. Then, finally, when you return with the other newly bank-stamped form, you will receive your NIE: a very underwhelming, flimsy card with your details on.

It is of great importance though. As I said, you can open a bank account when you have your NIE and, not for want of trying, I have only just opened mine with Santander. You have to really commit if you want to get an account. Also, you must stand your ground, even if your Spanish if fractured like mine. You see, I went to a few different branches of the Santander bank, and they all told me that it was impossible to open an account with just my NIE – I would need a ‘tarjeta de residencia’ with a photo of myself. This is not what I had been previously told at the lang assistants meeting, and at the oficina (in fact, the man here specifically told me that the passport size photos that I had given him were ‘not necessary’ as, being British, I am part of the EU). Not only this, my french flatmate (Lea) had opened an account earlier in the week with no problems, and another friend (Arina) also opened an account with Santander without her NIE, just her passport – and she is from Canada! That’s not even part of the EU!

When I went back to the very first branch I visited (the lady remembered me), they told me again that it was impossible. When I told her of all the info that I had received that seemed to contradict what she said, she had a word with – I assume – her boss. She came back, and did not say a word. Not ‘oh my mistake’, not ‘oh you were right, sorry’. But, for all intents and purposes, she did, finally, open an account in my name. Yay!

So, that’s the story of the paperwork. I mean, there are still many more (uni stuff, Erasmus stuff) but I don’t want to bore you too much and I am sure they’ll come up at some other point.

Once Dad and I had completed everything that we could, we were left to do all sorts of tourist-y things! And by many modes of transport.

Walking – we did a lot of that! We walked through the city, popping into different shops and gazing at some stunning architecture (cathedral and the bank). I love wandering without a destination and I have found out that Santander is one of the best places to do it. The bay, in particular, is great for a casual stroll. The water is calming and the landscape is incredibly pretty. Not only that, a lot goes on at the bay. There are a number of art pieces and sculptures for one. For example, one of the most moving pieces, in my opinion, are some statues of not rich, well known historical figures. But, of some young children who scraped a living from the docks in Puertochico. They were paid to fetch things that had fallen in the water, as well as trying to grab any coins that were tossed into the sea by sailors. These are called ´Los Raqueros´.

There is also the Centro Botin which is currently being developed. But in this area of the bay, there is also a small concert space where there is occasionally live music that costs nothing to enjoy. There is also a fantastic amount of cafes and bars, as well as a carousel! You gotta love a good carousel!

From the bay you can also walk down to the beaches. Although in this case, Dad and I hopped on a tourist bus to see the beaches. I have never been on one of those tourist buses before, but y’know I have to admit, they are quite useful. Especially in a place that are really lost in. I got to know a lot about the history of the city in a short amount of time, as well as getting to know the area in general. And let me tell you that Santander is beautiful. The beaches are sandy and rocky so you get some amazing views. It’s quite a mountainous area too, so you can get different perspectives of one place depending on how high you fancy hiking. 

Another mode of transport was by boat! We took a rather rocky journey along the bay on the water which was lots of fun. We were able to see the Palacio de la Magdalena (which I am still yet to visit but want to) from far away, as well as being able to watch the experienced surfers braving the rougher waters. I like to watch the surfers during the day – it is something that I would love to do, but have never had the opportunity. I would also like to scuberdiver, and on the boat trip, we were able to go out to a lighthouse positioned on some rocks where there were many divers. I am not sure if it was a school or something (if so, I would like to know how I can join) but there were maybe 20 of them diving below the rocks and coves. At this point, we were also told to go to the deck of the boat and could look underwater. I am not sure if there was anything in particular that we were supposed to be seeing but I sure as hell couldn’t see anything.

Another thing that we enjoyed – food! The food is good here, especially the seafood (being by the sea, you can imagine…). And the pinchos here is delicious. Pinchos is a bit like the Northern equivalent of tapas – small dishes that you can have with a glass of wine or something. I like pinchos a lot: a small sandwich here or there, is perfect for me as someone who doesn’t really like great big meals.

The week went very quickly however, and soon Dad had to leave to. I really didn’t him want to, and I am actually quite glad that not one of my flatmates was in on my first night, as I cried in my bedroom whilst watching Fawlty Towers (already missing home and wanting some good british comedy). I am not that big on crying but I if do, I like to be alone. And Basil Fawlty really did cheer me up a bit, and I am pleased to say that I was a lot happier within only a couple of days! But more on that later. For now … goodnight.

¡Hasta luego!