Settling in and Seville

That all happened a week ago.

I've been living here since last weekend and things, I have to say, are going pretty well. I've been getting to know Yann and Tony, my new housemates, and I've had my first week of lectures.

Yesterday Yann and I went on a trip to Seville. It had been organised by the Association for Foreign Students and we had been promised "a day trip to the capital of Andalucia including a luxury bus, tourist insurance, a cultural dossier of what we'll see in Seville, a map of Seville, a tour of all the local landmarks with our guide... all for just 25 euros". The idea of a deluxe bus did spark my imagination - I envisaged us travelling as if we were a football team or rock group. As it happens, it was just (what I woud call) an ordinary bus. And the map of Seville was a free version from the local tourist office. Still, it was a good day and our guide (Jorge, just a student at the Uni) was actually very interesting.

We stepped off the bus at a rather overcast Seville. The weather forecast had predicted rain and it wasn't long before we felt a few drops. Then the first shower. And then it really rained, and rained, and rained all day.

Undeterred we saw all the sights of the city - the Cathedral, la Giralda, the Rea Alcazar, la Plaza Espana, etc. etc. - and got drenched in the process. And along the way I met a number of interesting people. On the (luxury) bus journey I had sat next to and had a good chin wag with Peter, an economics student from Slovakia. Later on, we also came across two girls from Bratislava, making it 3 Slovaks in one day for me - quite an achievement, I say. I also met a French girl studying pharmacy, a Swiss economist and a couple of chaps who were half Polish, half Canadian.

My personal favourite was a girl from the Cech Republic who is in Granada to study English and, back home, is a drummer for a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band. You just couldn't make it up.

House search

I spent the next couple of days, in and out of Internet cafes, researching available accommodation in Granada. I sent some emails, I made some calls, I made some visits to flats across the city.

One potential candidate was a house on the opposite side of town from the university. Their online post said that students from France, Greece, Finland and Poland already shared it. This had to be worth a visit…

It was, although it was pretty hard to find. In fact, it took me an hour to get there, despite having a map with me and calling them three times to work out how to get there. When I finally arrived they said that they had had quite a bit of interest (“Funnily enough, more people call than actually make it here to visit…” Really?).

Anyway, after a few other flat visits and a bit of consideration, I plumped for the first house I had seen shared by the two French guys. It’s in Albaicyn – the oldest region of the city dating back to before the 15^th century reconquest. Best of all, it has a terrace which overlooks the city (see photo) and a sofa bed in the lounge should people want to visit (hint hint).

Weighing things up

“Bienvenidos a Granada”.

That’s what the lady at the Office for International Relations told me (she said it, strangely enough, on my way out of her office, but still). They were only three words, but I felt properly welcomed. It also helped that she had spent the previous 10 minutes explaining clearly and - in - a - nice - speak-slow-for-the-dumb-Englishman - voice everything that I need to know about: registering at the Uni, signing up for modules, etc.

It had been a bit of an effort to find her though. First I went to the main Office for International Relations, who sent me to the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (my department). I went there and asked successively at the ‘Help Desk’, ‘Advice Desk’ and ‘Secretary’, each time being passed on to the next desk. It was very much a you’re not my problem, try this guy sort of thing. I did feel I was getting slightly closer with each desk, however, and I’ve perfected my “Hola. Soy estudiante de Erasmus” so that it now sounds almost apologetic.

According to Wikipedia (and who wouldn't believe Wikipedia?), Granada University is the most popular in Europe for foreign students to attend, so they must be used to people (like me) wandering round aimlessly, lost and confused most the time.

I finally made it to the Facultad’s Office for International Relations and met Dr. Marta, a.k.a. my favourite person, my best friend, my saviour, whatever. I walked into her office aimless, lost and confused. I left registered, informed and officially welcomed.

Well, now that the University side of things is all in hand, what I need to do now is find somewhere to live. This is a priority. What am I looking for? Well, some friendly Spanish-speaking housemates, a nice room and preferably walking distance from the Uni.

The first (and only, so far) room that I saw today is in the Albaicin region. It’s a very old, Moorish part of the city. Thin, cobbled streets. Plenty of Arabic shops and restaurants. It’s also very steep, which meant I was actually panting after the walk up to the house. I was shown around by Yann and Tony - two French economics students who (on the plus side) are my age and seem friendly but (on the down side) have heavy French accents which I did struggle to decipher. As for the room, it was alright - nothing too special. But, my word, the view from their terrace is stunning.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll have a look at a couple more houses tomorrow so I’ll be able to compare with how it stands up to the competition.

This evening I bought a panini for dinner at a local panaderia. The lady at the till weighed it to find out how to charge me - a la Pic & Mix! Very strange. The strangest thing is, though, the more I think about it, being charged according to the food’s weight does seem to make sense. Tomorrow I’ll have to go and by a bag full of light pastries ;-)

Day 1

A bright and early start this morning in order to get my 7.30am flight. I bought The Times at the airport which kept me entertained for most of the journey between Heathrow and Malaga. (For those interested in such things, I completed the Mild, Difficult and even Killer Su Doku puzzles, but it was a poor show on the crossword.)

Malaga? I thought you were going to Granada, Simon... Yes, I know. From Malaga I got a bus from the aiport to the bus station and from there I was to get a bus to Granada. Unfortunately I had a bit of a muddle at Malaga bus station:

The ticket seller had just sold me a ticket for the next bus to Granada. "You're on the one o'clock bus", he said. (I looked at my watch. 12.58. I would have to run for it.) "You'll have to run for it," he said, helpfully.

He then explained to me, "Something something something platform something something something 1." I gave my best puzzled look, but he just said, "Quick, you'll have to run for it!"

So I ran for it. I had no idea what he was gibbering about so I just ran to platform one. No bus. Damn. Now what?

I stood looking alternately at my ticket and the empty bay, as if in hope that a bus would materialise. It didn't. Fortunately, a bus driver from another bus did.

Simon [pitifully]: "Granada?"

Bus driver [shouting across bus station]: "Granada!"

A shout came back: "24! But he'll have to be quick about it and run."

Bus driver [to me]: "24! But you'll have to be quick about it and run."

So I was quick about it and I ran.

I got to the bus which was sitting, waiting, at bay 24. Breathing heavily, I got on, took a seat and soon we were off. I was on my way to Granada.

On last week's episode...

For those of you who missed out on the first blog: where were you?! Boy, you missed out. Bolivia Simon included a snake, a couple of trucks, a dead cow, Joaquin the horse and plenty of singing and dancing.

Oh, and lots of top quality nun moments too (see photo: Simon being beaten up by a nun).

Can I promise you more of the same from this blog which, for continuity's sake, has been christened Granada Simon?

The simple answer to that is, well, no. But who knows what lies around the corner this time round. I certainly don't. And you never will if you don't read this blog. And none of us ever will if I don't crack on with it. So enough of the suspense building!

Here we go.