April 19, 2014, by Guest blog

I’ve suddenly developed a new case of FOMO

As I am approaching the end of my year abroad with only a bit less than two months to go I’ve suddenly developed a new case of FOMO (fear of missing out) which is strange to say as I’ve never experienced it before. All of a sudden I want to do everything, be everywhere at the same time. Sometimes at the expense of lectures but hey, when else will I be able to take a road trip to Seville and Granada.

Speaking of which, we did just that two weekends ago. Well, to begin with, we had booked ourselves on a trip organized by ‘Tripsitude’, an independent body that for just 100 euros promised us an excursion to Seville, Granada and Cordoba including accommodation and a whole lot of fun. However on the day of travelling, after hearing nothing from the actual company, we received a letter saying that they were unable to find sufficient space on the coach for us! After a few minutes of us fuming and badmouthing them we got our money back and had already rented out a car for ourselves and booked two nights at a couple of hostels. We experienced a bit of drama along the way, naturally, that involved us having to change our tyre (a very well-intentioned, albeit slightly creepy man named Ishmael helped us) and then calling Sixt up to ask them to replace the car but we had opted for insurance last minute so thank the lord for that. Otherwise Seville was incredible and all I can say is it’s a shame we only had a day there because I’m telling everyone to go back and hopefully they’ll pick me along the way!

The weather has been absolutely incredible too the past week- it’s almost a shame I’m going back home for Easter week. And there’s something about Madrid that just comes alive in the sunshine. Apart from the streets becoming more busier (which is a pain especially around sol where I live when you’re rushing to lectures), the buildings become nicer to look at and everyone’s out on the plazas drinking their tinto verranos. No wonder the economy is doing so well when you’re this relaxed.

Regarding the title of this entry I can say with confidence that my spanish has improved and I may be making connections with general phrases and spanish colloquialisms, something that I feel I would have no way of knowing if I hadn’t spent time in the country. For example, there are a few words that seem to fit seamlessly into spanish conversation like ‘entonces’, ‘haber’, ‘hombre’, ‘venga’ and perhaps the more rude one ‘joder’. Leah, my American flatmate who is doing an assistantship in a Spanish primary school once told me that when her school kids are speaking English they almost always manage to fit in one of those spanish ones as a means of filling the gap. I suppose it’s the equivalent to ‘um’ in english or American conversations, which is something my mum used to point out to me when I was younger.

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