How Keri soon got the bug for Spain

Editorial Department • Published 28 Jul 2011 13:00 0 Comments

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By Keri Wilson, who is studying journalism and Spanish at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. She spent a year in Spain under the Erasmus programme, studying Spanish in Alicante. This is an account of the highlights of her year.

A great start to my first night, living in Spain.

Thirteen mosquito bites...and also to my horror two spider bites to top off their blood feast. I happened to find a typical old Spanish style house situated beside the plaza de toros, reasonably priced whilst house hunting in Alicante, Spain. With University starting within a week, I hadn't time to be fussy and settled for the house. The house came with the view of the castle from the roof top terrace (which was wonderful at night whilst sipping sangria) and just below was the bull ring, in which sometimes we were lucky enough to see them; however they unknowingly were they awaiting their death. And free of charge, which scent will never leave my nostrils, a fusty smell of antique.

Having lived in Ireland all my, life, daddy longlegs is probably the biggest insect we will find within our homes, therefore I was not prepared for the mosquitos and spiders Spain had to offer me.

The heat was dreadful the first few nights and with the age of the house, air conditioning was hardly an option. So the first purchase was an electric fan to enjoy the following night's sleep.

Besides getting used to the problems an old house brought, my time in Spain proved to be very fun and to say the least interesting.

So now it was time for my brain to switch and become a sponge, soaking up and absorbing everything around me. I had always loved Spanish at school and University so now was the time to start putting together what I had learned previously. I would agree that the only way to properly learn a language, is to take the bull by the horns (as they do here in Spain!) and plunge yourself in the country. What you learn in a class room, is only basic and teachers will not teach you street language, which I started to develop whilst living and socialising with Spanish people/Spaniards?

For me, the greatest difficulty I have with the actual language itself is the 'r' and the 'j.' No matter how much vocabulary I have or set phrases I've picked up over the months, it's a clear give away when I use both these letters that I am not Spanish and in actual fact, a foreigner.

The 'r' has to be rolled for a start, which takes time practising and makes me look ridiculous and well the 'j' is almost like your chewing a toffee sweet and getting it stuck in the back of your throat... you have to have that spitting sound. Therefore my objective is, by the end of the year I hope to master the spitting and rolling!

In the first few weeks I noticed and learned things about Spain that you don't see on your one week summer holiday visit. For example the first striking difference for me was the poverty. Spain and especially the South, has vast numbers of illegal emigrants coming up and through the country from the Mediterranean Sea, dividing Spain and Africa. Not only here but from South America and other countries around Europe also. With Spain's bigger population from that at home, there is a lot more poverty and it bombards our eyes almost every day. I have seen people lying in the streets with no limbs, ruled with infections, to blind people and gypsies with children begging outside our local supermarket. Something I would never witness at home, at least where I come from.

Surprisingly, the help from the government in Spain towards the unemployed and homeless isn't so generous like it is in the UK. For this reason the people when abandoned, really are homeless and have no benefits every week like we can claim. However like everywhere else, the country has its pros and cons.

I enjoyed the atmosphere when arriving in Spain and settled quickly. The air was warm, there was still life and people in the streets late at night, and for me, a clear distinction from home, was the sound of the crickets. What I certainly got used to quickly was the siesta every day. Between two o'clock and 5pm most shops close and everyone eats lunch, rests and sleeps. This was one of the benefits of living in Spain and no other country! Perhaps a combination of the Mediterranean diet, glorious sun and a siesta, is the answer as to why Spaniards have a glowing bronzed and healthy complexion. The Spanish also have a higher mortality rate and furthermore siestas have been proven to reduce stress and the risk of heart disease by 34 per cent. Bingo siestas it is!

With a Spanish boyfriend in the north, and Alicante 700 kilometres away both of us had to travel frequently to see each other. On the plus side for me, the journey up was so long I got to see most of country by the end of the year! An extra added bonus was also the fact that he knew the best places to visit, what was and wasn't a waste of money when sightseeing and we could avoid being ripped off by taxis having a native Spanish boyfriend.

As for disappointment he has two left feet and can't dance salsa!

This year I have covered a lot of Spain, seen its varieties and absolutely love its versatility. The north of the country is as green as fertile as Ireland. It is mountainous, with cold winters, snow although not so much like home, it has hot summers. However in the south the land is indeed more barren but there are beautiful palm trees and Spain's most beautiful beaches to be discovered. Spain can entertain us with both a skiing or beach holiday.

The country is rich with culture. I prize Seville for being the most Spanish city. I toured the city by bicycle, stayed in a funky backpacker's hostel and I went to see a flamenco show. The show opened with the Spanish guitar and a male vocalist singing typical flamenco songs before the gypsy woman appeared to perform. Her energy was incredible, so much so it was breathtaking and I was left stunned. The room was intimate with no more than thirty in the audience. It was so intimate that when she danced; her sweat speckled the front row spectators.

In Seville you will find horse and carts which bring you around the city, in an old fashioned Spanish manner. Sightseeing also around Valencia, Murcia, Madrid, Granada, Cadiz, Santander and much more, there is something in Spain for everyone. The Spanish people accommodate to a great extent for the English if you can't speak any Spanish, and cheap flights will get you there under three hours.

Next week, top tips for Spanish cuisine.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 28 Jul 11

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