ERASMUS CONTINUES

From now, this blog should not be called the Irish Trip anymore. My stay in Madrid is great: I have met couple of funny spanish people who are my girlfriend´s flatmates. Erasmus continue for me, now I´m learning spannish & I start from nothing. As I don't understand most of the conversations, I miss a bit of the craic, but it's allright.

Maria Jesus (another spannish girl from the 1st semester Erasmus) came from Alicante to visit us the last week end.

With 38°C, it has nothing to do with the Irish weather. I'm almost melting down sometime. Fresh water, icecream fan and snoozes are compulsory.

Madrid is quite empty on summer time so that´s even better. It is probably not the nicest city in the world however there are loads of monuments and plenty of stuffs to do. My life is great down there. Unfortunately, I won't be able to come again in Northern Ireland after mid-August. Hope you have a great summer as well.

PRE-CONCLUSION:

Already almost finished! Almost, because of the 2 exams I have to resit during a week in mid-August. Now after a week at home, my feelings are a strange mix of pleasure and sadness. Even if I came back 2 times, a lot of wee things have changed here in 10 months! I still feel a bit strange dephased when I'm speaking french or driving my car...Then I'm heading to Madrid in couple of days for a month.

Now I think I’ve seen most of the places in the isle of Ireland. I even start to know Belfast city centre by car. To be honest, as I was getting used to, it was less exciting for me to live there so I think it was time for me to move back home and discover some other places. I’m still convinced that Northern Ireland is maybe the most interesting place the have live in, because of its historical and political background. Moreover, as Silvia lives in Spain, it seems to be the next destination for me to be discovered.

- Almost fluent in English.
- I've met loads of people from all around the world:
Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Suede, Netherland, Portugal, Bangladesh, India, USA, China, Taiwan, Mexico, etc... A pure melting pot!
- Such fantastic moments that I will always remember
- About 17Go of pictures and films so far to remember the craic I had
- I’ve seen every different kind of the green colour
- I’ve experienced all different types of shitty weather
- I've met 2 VIP:
+ Michael Jordan (a housemate)

+ Neil Armstrong (a classmate)

I’ll miss:
-The craic I had with some Erasmus people and couple of Irish/Northern Irish
-The sea air from the coasts
-The glens, beaches and all the green landscape
-Fish`n Chips, Roasted Lambs
-Pints & Binge drinking
-The wee house in Balfour avenue I lived in for June
-Some pubs
-The cut and shut stuffs I’ve found/repaired: bike, fridge and spare bed
-The beard I grew for 3 months & 1/2

I’ll not miss:
-The shitty weather
-The cost of living there
-The strong Northern Irish Accent
-The English keyboard
-The English units such as Miles, Gallons, Foots, Inches, Pounds, Ounces, Stones, Kelvin degrees, gave me a hard time
-To queue for ages to get a drink on some busy night in a pub/club
-Fervour of some people to attract you in their religion
-The British junk food and shitty TV programs (especially 7 advertising breaks in a movie)

If I would have stayed longer, I’d probably have appreciated to:
-Try different other wee jobs
-See how the 12th of July is (Protestant March day=lot of tensions)
-Continue to visit a bit of some countryside I haven’t seen


+ + Thanks for reading me so far but this blog isn't finished yet! + +

French:
Je viens tout juste de rentrer dans mon Alsace natale le 5 juillet. Tellement de choses qui ont bougé ces 4 derniers mois où je ne suis pas rentré et d'autres, au contraire, pas du tout; Bref ca fait a la fois un sentiment de plaisir, c'est bizarre et c'est triste a la fois. Je me sens encore décallé, en particulier concernant les expressions françaises, le côté de la route où je suis sensé rouler, enfin plein de petites choses. Je repars donc pour Madrid le 17 pour passer un mois avec ma copine (vive Erasmus! Pour mon master, j'hésite à la faire soit dans le Nord à Valenciennes, soit à Mulhouse. Je dois décider cela mtn...