Señor Moo Cow

Well it's happened, I'm here! This is going to take a while so you might want to get a mug of tea and bring the biscuit barrel over to the PC!

The Cow touched down on Monday afternoon with Mrs Moo in tow to help out and lend monetary assistance. Taxi to the new abode, met landlady. Crazy, old, four foot high, gold teeth, couldn't understand half of what she said through her accent, you know the drill. Confirmed the rent is a mindblowing €150 a month which is just awesome. For those too lazy to check that works out at a ridiculous 100 pounds a month which is what I was paying for the flat in London per week!

The flat is not a hovel as I was dreading, it is actually pretty sweet! 5 minutes from Santander 'town centre', 10 minutes from the uni, 15 minutes from the beaches. That's right: beach plural. Brilliant. Plus sea views and a balcony, combined with a room that's double the size of my rooms in London or Kent. Well done, Señor Moo.

There was one student who had already moved in two weeks before: Finnish bloke called Antti. He's sound as a pound, in addition to being a completely fluent English speaker which is just smashing. He has only been studying Spanish for 1 year but learning fast. Apparently this Saturday we have the third and final addition of the team flying in from Czech Republic or Germany. Watch this space.

The first two days involved sorting out my gear, exploration of the immediate locale of the flat and sampling local cafés. Mother Moo kindly provided financial backing before flying back to Blighty on Tuesday afternoon.

That evening I discovered how cheap the grub is here; €10 for a 3 course meal and half a bottle of wine. It was all edible but I must say I did pick something at random and ended up with pork and chips for main course. Imagine travelling hundreds of miles to a country reknowned for the quality of its alimentation only to be chucked a plate of chips. Not happy. Just as well the rest of it was scrummy or else fracas would have undoubtedly ensued.

Wednesday was my first day at the University of Cantabria! The first of three Orientation days, we had a big presentation in the main hall, a guided tour of campus and got given the usual continual stream of paperwork. Met with all the other Erasmus dudes and dudettes and went on a coach tour of the town/city. Saw the palaces, beaches, had a boat cruise along the coast. I forget how much I adore being on water, living in London does that do you. The subtle back and forth motion of the boat and the rhythmic drone of the engine is so relaxing, combined with the sense of perspective that being so small in comparison to something so huge. Joining the uni sailing class for beginners is an idea on my mind at the moment

Compared to a lot of the Erasmus students my Spanish is pretty good. However, after eight years you would expect it to be, wouldn't you? All, and I really do mean all, of them speak English. Fluently, even the French. Convenient but does make you think about how we (or is it the US?) has 'culturally invaded' the world as a whole. Food for thought.

Aah yes and if it wasn't enough that I work for two French companies in London, now the majority of the social crowd just happen to be French as well. It must be a sign that I shouldn't have given up français at 16 and that I was born to learn it as well as castellano (Spanish). I'm going to give in and just start trying to get involved again.

Before I arrived the weather was terribly dull with rain and the like. In the four days that I've been here it's been nothing but glorious sunshine and clear blue skies. Very welcome and the tan is developing, unfortunately albeit forearms and face. If it is still the same this weekend I'll sort out the rest.

My timetable is already coming into line with the Spanish norm, I'm eating at about 9-10 and then go out at about 10.30-11. Wednesday night we all headed down to one of the main Plazas (public squares surrounding by cafés for those unaware) and had a few beers ouside whilst mingling with the Erasmus exchange crowd. Very interesting situation to have so many cultures and languages exchanged at the same time in such a manner, in addition to everyone trying to make headway with the target language and trying to make friends. Language overload will probably occur in about a fortnight and I will just crave language being effortless and comfortable instead of being at the forefront of my attention all of my waking day.

There is only one other English person in the group, a girl from Birmingham who studies at Nottingham Trent. She is providing a welcome rest from the pressures of having to make myself understood as well as providing me with a comical Brummie accent which cheers me up no end.

Today (Thursday) has consisted of an extended coach trip to Los Picos de Europa, a mountain range on the Cantabria/Asturias border. Beautiful place; despite the fact that I have seen it before during the Sixth Form school trip it is still mesmerising being up there. We proceded to travel around Cantabria stopping at certain villages with nice churches/palaces/general tourist malarkey. Passed some beaches with some pretty decent size waves and there is a lot of talk about some of the blokes that surf teaching the rest of us this weekend. Exciting developments.

That's pretty much it so far. Pretty long entry but I haven't had access to a PC/ any time to myself since being here until now. This has taken ages to write as well so I'm off to have dinner and maybe a beer too.

MC