Week 3

Hello,

So I have now been here for 3 weeks!! The first half of the week was fairly quiet, but we have had a busy weekend so its been nice to go out and about.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we had a few lectures at uni (those are our busiest days). One of our Wednesday classes were cancelled so Niamh and I went to 10y10 (the bar and café) with our friends Aine, Nathan and Callum. Callum then came back to our flat and we sat in chatting and playing the game where you have to guess the celebrity...

On Tuesday I received my first letters from home which really made my day - they were from my grandma and my aunty Kerry. I then got some more on Thursday so I have been very lucky. Its really lovely to get letters from home, there's just something really exciting about getting letters in the post!

On Friday morning, after our translation class, we walked towards the language centre to confirm our timetable for a few of our classes. We walked a bit further on than normal and found a massive Carrefour that really reminded me of a Walmart! It had even had a gym and a pet shop inside! Niamh is obsessed with animals so, as soon as she saw the pet shop, she was straight over there! There were these really cute dogs in the window. After we had been inside the pet shop we wandered around the rest of the shop, before going back. The walk was really nice too as there were loads of really pretty house which were really colourful.

On Friday afternoon we also joined the gym! We had to get some certificates to get the student price but once we got there it was really easy, and the man working there was really nice to us! I was really excited that we got a membership card too!

On Saturday we got the bus to Rio shopping centre, which only takes 15-20 minutes to get to. It has a massive Ikea, lots of clothes shops, shoe shops, make up shops and gift shops so I was in my element, haha! Also, we found a Starbucks which we were VERY excited about! On the way home we walked through Campo Grande, the big park, which is really pretty, especially when its so sunny!

Whilst we were waiting for the bus, we saw a really cute dog that came over to us - Niamh was in her element! It was so cute.

Last night, we went out for an Italian meal with Nathan, Hannah, and Aine, who are Erasmus students from Ireland. We had planned to go the Bistro, but it was full, as was another restaurant we tried as a Plan B! So we have learnt now that we need to book before going out on a Saturday! We went out quite late as that's what the Spanish do - a lot of places don't open until 9pm - but it was very busy.

Today we have been to the gym, for the first time since we got here. I'm not normally a big gym user as I dance so much, but I really enjoyed it once I figured out how to use the machines. I very nearly fell off the treadmill but I stayed on, haha!

We came back for lunch and then went for a drink at 10y10, before walking to Campo Grande.

So that's everything for this week! We have a quiet week coming up uni wise - we have dias festivos which are the Spanish version of bank holidays, and no norma y uso classes as the teacher is on a conference, so we are only in on Monday and Wednesday!

Grace xx