DAY 1: 7th Sept 2011

Hola!!! Morning!! Woke up in the new flat for the first time a few hours ago, and I’m loving the sunshine already- must be in the 30's atleast! It made such a change to wake up with blue sky outside after a month of dull grey England! The journey here was a NIGHTMARE though- at times it’s a real pain living on the Isle of Wight! To catch my 10am flight from Gatwick, we (that’s mum and I) had to catch a 4am car ferry to Portsmouth, then wait for 2 hours for the first National Express of the morning to take us to the airport! Check in went smoothly... although I have to say my heart rate increased when getting the weight of my four cases checked! 2 of the large ones I made sure I had extra weight allowance on- 20Kg, and then the other 2 were cabin cases allowed up to 10Kg. The larger ones weighed in at 19.98 each approx! EEEK! And the cabin cases at 10.01 approx- so they let those go thank god! Thanks here to Dad’s luggage scales! – or I’d have been paying overweight luggage fees for sure! As we boarded the plane, the weather was so awful I just couldn’t wait to get to Spain! It was tipping it down, grey sky and hurricane-like winds! – Definitely weather I won’t miss! After arriving in España, we went to meet up with Lorena (my Spanish flat-mate) so she could give me the keys to the flat, and then we caught the direct bus to Salamanca by the skin of our teeth! It was so nice to sleep for a few hours with the sun beating through the windows! On arrival in Sala, we just decided to get in a taxi as lugging 5 suitcases along Spanish pavements wouldn’t have been a good idea! And besides, the taxi driver took us straight to my new home! Lorena definitely chose well with this flat as it’s in a mini complex with gardens, a fountain and a swimming pool! And the flat is really great! It’s got 3 bedrooms- Me, Lorena and Laurie who is a French Erasmus girl coming next week! I have the biggest room (Wow- this never happens to me!) and last night after arriving we unpacked everything and then I got to work on making it homely (Awwww)! Anyone who knows me will know I’m obsessed with posters/postcards/dream-catchers and things like pillows and fairy lights! So I managed to bring over quite a lot from England and get my room soooo homely! (see photos soon on facebook!) The only thing about the flat which is annoying is that there is currently no internet, so I’m having to sit in MaccyD’s to feel ‘’connected’’ hahahaha! I think Lorena will sort out the WiFi next week when she properly moves in! (Fingers crossed!). After unpacking etc.... we wandered the 15 minutes into the centre of Sala for a wander around! The city is gearing up for its annual fiestas, so the place was buzzing with people and life!! On the way back we called in at Carrefour and started to stock up! (Thank god mum is with me, or I would have one hell of an aching back and muscles now from carrying bags of shopping!) Good news is I’m now all stocked up with essentials like cereal, pasta, rice, jars and tinned foods, washing tablets etc.... so that’s a big help! I think today we’re going to do some of the touristy stuff and show mum the cathedral, my faculty in the centre, and also call into the Corte Ingles department store to get a duvet, as me being incredibly English NEEDS a duvet to snuggle into..... a sheet will just NOT suffice hahaa! (Especially in the winter months as Sala’s temperature does drop to under 10 degs!). Looking forward to the girls moving in though, and seeing Natasha Madden and Elizabeth Jefferys from Leicester who are also coming here for Erasmus! Aswell as meeting all the other Erasmus people next week! – it seems I’ve come out a week too early!  But then again it is really nice to have everything sorted, and be able to spend the week with mum! (I’ll miss her when she’s gone!!!) We have tomorrow here, then we’re heading south down to the historic city of Toledo for a day or so, then Madrid for a few days before Mum heads back to the UK and I start my Erasmus life properly on Tuesday! (Right now it just seems like I’m on holiday hahaa) Loveeeeeee xxxx