So the time to head off for my year discovering Europe came about a lot more quickly than I could ever imagine, probably because out of nowhere the company I was going to work for asked for me to arrive 3 weeks earlier than I expected, not ideal. However, having just finished my exams, and caught up with family and friends, it seemed a good time to move abroad.
The act of packing up and moving was an absolute nightmare, a pesadilla they would say in my soon to be home city of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, Spain. Packing for a holiday can actually be enjoyable, but for 6 months?! What to take, what to leave, what to buy was too much for me to handle, still in my post-exam relaxation stage. That is probably why I left my packing to complete only 18 hours before my flight took off, clever.
Nethertheless, once packed up and finally on the beautiful island with my Mum, we could explore the city.
Staying in Vegueta, an older part of the city, we could enjoy the culture without bucket loads of tourists. Most head south to the beaches, and the other handful venture to the port in the north-eastern tip of the island. Therefore, my Mum and I had to rely on my poor level of Spanish to get us around. Being the horrendously fussy eater I am, tapas was a real struggle. I tried Gran Canaria’s famous ‘papas con mojo’, supposedly one of their traditional dishes. It turned out to be salty potatoes with a curry sauce, not my cup of tea at all. Within 24 hours I was dying for English food, hating on the sleazy Spanish men, and had accidentally done the welcome 2 kisses on the cheek thing to someone I thought was someone I should know, but it turned out to be a random resident’s son of the house we were waiting to view. (Needless to say, I didn’t choose the apartment – however this was mostly due to the cockroaches on the kitchen floor). Luckily I managed to find a really cute little piso in Triana, a quiet but student friendly town with the university close by. I can’t understand a thing my housemates are saying, but they’re all lovely and around my age. And we have a fish tank which is super cool.
