Disclaimer: All those with strong aversions to clichés, stop reading now.
Looking back at May and June, and thinking of how nervous and worried I was - it feels like years ago. After a second year of worry and seemingly endless meetings of "How not to die on your Year Abroad", it still took quite a while to sink in that I was finally here. No matter how many teachers, friends and fourth year returners told me "It will be the best year of your life", I (like many of my pre-YA peers, I imagine) felt almost certain this would not be so in my case, but I was determined to give it a go all the same. And now, 4 months down the line, I feel I have started to understand what they were all talking about. I will admit I have been extremely lucky so far: bar a few dull housemates over the summer, my flat situation is perfect. While not ideal for weekend lie-ins, living with a family has been perfect for my Spanish. The children are certainly not afraid to point out my mistakes, and as I have no "au-pair like" responsibilities, I have the luxury of being able to choose (more or less) when I want to play Monster High with them. Furthermore, the family have 4 spare rooms, which they rent out to students. Here I have struck gold again; in September, two Spanish girls arrived (Victoria, from Asturias, and Fátima from Lanzarote) and as well as helping me learn to speak, I don't think I could have chosen nicer housemates, and we get along really well. I am already well on the way to converting them into Brits, after I bought a teapot and have been generous with my imports of Tetley. In fact, to celebrate the arrival of my Bisto (thanks Mum!) today we are going to make a Sunday dinner. On my birthday, when I returned home after work, Vicky, Fátima and Angela (our other flatmate from the US) met me at the door with a birthday cheesecake - and I hadn't even told them about my love for desserts! It must be fate...
Here I am with Fátima and Vicky on my birthday
My job also has its advantages - as well as receiving a renumeration from the company, I am gaining valuable work experience everyday. My colleagues are friendly, and although interns come and go every few months, they still made the effort to welcome me, and are happy to help when I ask a question. With the arrival of my Erasmus friends from Durham last month, I was starting to wish I didn't have a 9-5 job, as I always have to leave gatherings early in order to not show my sleep-deprived face to my colleagues the next morning. But, on the positive side, I have been able to experience life as part of a Sales team, and I have learnt to value my evenings and weekends, instead of continuing with the typical student lifestyle and its bizarre, nocturnal timetable.
This month has been the hardest so far; the thought of spending my 21st birthday away from home and knowing that all my friends have gone back to Durham, Paul and I spending our longest time apart to date, as well as the departure of Caterina (my best friend since our first day here), I would be lying if I said I hadn't had any blue moments. However, luckily my parents were able to visit me for my birthday and it was great to be able to show them what I have been up to for the last few months. Although I still don't know everything there is to know about the city, as I carry out my daily routine and fight off tourists as I walk the familiar route to and from work, or go for coffee with my new friends, Salamanca now feels like home. I am already wishing I could stay all year, and I am certain that when I leave in December, it won't be for the last time.
