3 words- WINTER HAS ARRIVED!! It seems that since I came back from my long weekend at home in England, the weather has changed entirely here in Sala. I left what was 25 degrees during the day as a high- and returned on Monday to around 12 degrees as a high temperature- maybe I brought the English weather with me! Yesterday it was absolutely freezing here and there was a cold icy wind to make it worse! I think it's pretty cold now, but people keep telling me this is just the start of it! Apparently Sala in December/January is extremely cold and that what we have now is just the start! Well ok, I'd best just pack away my shorts & summer sandals now- ready to take back home at Xmas as they're not exactly needed anymore! Time for tights, hats, scarves & boots! Hola invierno! (hello winter!)
On the Internet front things have finally improved- this isn't to say we have the flat wifi working, but that I've now finally bought myself a USB Internet stick from Vodaphone to use in my laptop. I had some problems getting that working as well though- is nothing to do with Internet easy in Spain? I went along on Monday to the Vodaphone shop at the train station and asked for the USB dongle- it was all simple buying it- but as I said- a nightmare to get it working! As I was buying it aswell I asked the assistant if it was easy to use, and she was like yeah yeah it's just a series of clicking ok ok ok and then it connects! So when I get home I plugged it in & expected it to instantly give me Internet (a joke right!) but it said I needed a CD for installation. I tried other methods, but it just wouldn't work! So, frustrated, I marched right back to the shop- this time with my laptop and demanded they get it working as I was having no luck! But the lady who dealt with me was just packing up to leave & I thought she was closing the shop as it was 5, but luckily another lady came from around the back and was able to help me! It was a struggle though as all of the instructions on my laptop came up in English & she couldn't understand them! so I had to translate everything! Eventually she realised it wasn't working & said that there was no CD's involved normally & that my laptop was acting differently- perhaps because it wasnt Spanish. I didn't except this excuse to not help me though, and persisted as I'd paid for this and was at the end of my tether to do with all Internet matters in Spain! So the lady then changed over the dongle to a new one, followed the activation and installed the software from it again & it worked! So my first one was a faulty dongle, or it hadn't been activated properly! Either-way, 4/5 hours later after all this hassle I finally managed to connect to the Internet at home. There was still the problem of signal though as our flat has an incredibly poor signal everywhere and the only places you can use phones is by the lounge window or in my room by the window! So on my desk the dongle was getting 1 out of 5 bars signal.... And it kept cutting out which was incredibly annoying..... And taking a very long time to open just a simple web-page! So eventually I moved the laptop over to the window and now have 3 bars- which allows a sturdy connection- it's still slow though on opening web pages.... But it's better than nothing right! At least now I can check emails. Browse the net and use msn- although Skype won't work- nor YouTube! :( but as I said, better than nothing & hopefully will tide me over until the flat wifi gets fixed- which I don't suppose will be any time soon!
It's just been a series of problems since i got back though as Tuesday I started feeling unwell and realised I was coming down with a cold. The headache was starting up, and the sore throat too- so Tuesday evening I went to bed early & yesterday when I woke up I was so much worse. My whole body ached and my throat was swollen to twice the size & my head was pounding! I had Italian culture class 9-11 then literature & cinema 12-1 followed by Italian language 5-7, But I couldn't even think of going to any of it I felt that rough. So i slept until midday and then went to Carrefour around lunchtime to buy some Heinz tomato soup as I was craving it and my throat hurt so much! But they didn't have ANY soup- let alone Heinz! :( bad times. I ended up cooking pasta, and then spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping and reading. I feel a lot better today though- the headache has gone and my voice is starting to come back! Thank god ... As being unwell when you're abroad and not in your own home sucks!
Today's been much more productive though as I finally managed to get my registration sorted with the right amount of credits.... And the right module codes! Finally! I can't believe I've been here nearly 8 weeks and I'm only just a registered student! My god it's been a hassle getting it all sorted- but at least now all I have to do is post off my learning agreement to Leicester and collect my University of Salamanca student card. I tried to collect it today after sorting out the registration , but they wouldn't give it to me as I didn't have a photocopy of my passport with me! Ugh I'll have to go back tomorrow! Why is everything in Spain so complicated? Anyway I'm just in my new favourite tapas bar at the moment on Gran Via having a ración of tortilla and a goats cheese and caramelised onion tostada :) whilst robbing the wifi and writing this blog update! I'm seeing Elizabeth at 3.30 to go for a drink and then I have my Italian language class from 4-6 and then my beginners French from 7-9 :) so a busy busy rest of the day for me! Remember I was saying above how cold the weather has become? Well today it's been RAINING!!!! I heard it start at around 4am and its continued on and off since then! It's the first time I've seen rain here, but somehow Sala still looks pretty even when the sky is grey!
This weekend is going to be quite quiet- well from today really as I have tomorrow completely free, and then Lorena is going down to her parents home just east of Madrid for a long weekend, and Laurie and her boyfriend Morgan are going on a trip down to Madrid as well- so I think it'll just be me in the flat alone! Maybe I can actually start doing some Uni work as I can't believe it's nearly November and I haven't done ANYTHING!! Then on Saturday I'm going to a vegetarian restaurant with Kayleigh and some of her friends who are visiting :) that should be really nice! And I think Monday there is a huge Halloween party going on! Exciting times ahead! Then next week Kat is coming to visit from Bordeaux! I really can't wait to see her and show her Sala! :) loveeee xxx
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