Strikes, visits and new roommates!
With only one more week to go, my first two months here in Spain are almost a fact! I won't say there have happened a huge number of things since the last time I wrote something (I mean, what's new about going to school) but I thought it was about time to give an update!
I'm still enjoying my time here! I had a great week when my boyfriend was visiting me here and I'm expecting a lot more visits from friends and family the coming months, which I will fully enjoy! This week all my roommates in the house have left, which means there are new ones coming as well! Today, I met the first two new roommates. David, an Erasmus student from Slovenia and Marga, a Spanish girl who's studying her master her. This weekend the other two will move in and then it's about getting used to each other again, but I'm sure it will work out.
At school, all is fine! Where we usually have one big group project that connects all the subjects of a block in Groningen, here we have per subject a lot of either group or individual practices. And today I had my first exam! This exam was for the subject of Catering and was about the first three chapters that we have discussed so far. The teacher was quick with checking and my first pass was a fact! :-D.
Another remarkable thing to mention about school is the strike that happened a week ago. The campus location of my university is pretty small and includes study programmes that are related to fashion, art, events, etc. However, the university wants to move these degrees to another location outside of Madrid. As a result, a lot of students would need to travel for 1 up to 2 hours (!!) to school, which is why they have been striking the whole week to prevent this from happening. As far as I got notice of this strike, there were a lot of banners around school and while the teachers were present to give their lectures, I think about half the class did not attend the lectures that week.
About strikes, there was one day where I stepped out of the gym after a work-out and saw a huge number of people on the street with Spanish flags. This turned out to be another strike, against Sanchez. Around 50.000 people joined at Plaza Colon to speak up against prime minister Pedro Sanchez over his negotiations with Catalan separatists. It was interesting to experience a political demonstration in a big city like Madrid.
Outside of school and the gym, I'm enjoying my time here by reading books in the sun, strolling through the city, drinking coffees & wines and enjoying the best Spanish tapas in a nice bar!
