Springtime

Let's see, how do I prepare for Easter? I love to decorate the house! From when I was a little kid I have painted eggs that I hang around some branches in a vase in the living room. Like for Christmas or Halloween we have some decorations, but not as many. Little eggs, rabbits, carrots, etc. I love little colourful details. And what I love the most about Easter is colouring the eggs. Here's a video of me painting Easter eggs, check it out! :)

Okedokes, last year around this time I was busy preparing everything for my internship and semester abroad. At my university we have a quite complicated process of choosing and applying for our host university, which is why I won't go into detail, let's just say, I ended up going to Spain. In order to prepare for being taught completely in Spanish I also wanted to do my internship in a Spanish speaking country. I had a look at all the possibilities and chose a 5 star hotel in Lanzarote. That was a big change for me as I am really a winter person and not made for a hot summer in the Canary islands, my body just really doesn't react well to heat. But I coped. But I admit I complained a lot. I really wasn't happy at the start. Not just the climate, but also sharing a flat with FIVE other girls and the Spanish mentality were really hard for me to adapt to. It is not just this laid-back, relaxed attitude, but their behaviour towards me. I lived 30 minutes away from work, and on my way walking there I got catcalled a gazillion times! Due to the high unemployment the men are sitting in the bars from morning till night, drinking a lot and if you happen to be a blond girl walking by, you better be prepared. Catcalling does not even describe it. They seem to never have seen a blonde before. They shout and whistle after you, honk their cars, slow down to drive right next to you, sometimes they even touch you. And none of it sounds like compliments. The way they shout "chica rubia" (blond girl) sounds like an insult, and judging from the looks the women give you, it is definitely meant like an insult. This scared me so much that most of the times I only dared to walk in broad daylight and took a taxi every single day.
At work, I wasn't really happy either because it kind of clashed my morals. But I didn't give up, and now, almost a year later, I can say I also had fun and definitely gained a lot of experience. Of course I also did all the fun, touristy things like going to the beach, shopping, dancing, drinking cocktails and sangria, eating the typical Spanish cuisine, sightseeing, going to the water park, singing at the karaoke place, relaxing, sunbathing, going on a boat trip to Fuerteventura, etc.... Although I have to tell you, that Lanzarote is a tiny island and you can do all the sightseeing in one or two days. I personally think it's a really dead island, but other people appreciate exactly that kind of nature and find it beautiful. It is a volcanic island with the largest lava field of the Earth, and hence there is no vegetation whatsoever. I probably won't ever return to the Canary islands, I've seen enough and I think there are so many more interesting places in the world I yet have to explore!

Let me resume my stay in Lanzarote in 5 positive experiences:

1.    I really improved my Spanish

2.    I met a lot of lovely people, two of which I definitely intend to stay in touch with and to keep in my life (just in case my Dutch soul sister and my lovely Italian friend still don't know I'm talking about them)

3.    I lived in an amazing international environment, I shared a room with a Dutch girl, in my flat we were completely international, Dutch, German, Spanish, French-Canadian, Italian, French, Polish.. and at work there were even more nationalities

4.    I learned a lot, about myself, about what I don't want in the future, what I do want, about the hospitality sector...

5.    I got to test my relationship with my boyfriend for the first time, and we definitely survived those three months apart. You have to see the positive in everything! It made our relationship stronger, it prepared us for my five months at university in mainland Spain. And my boyfriend also came to visit me for two weeks.

And now I have some photos for you to give you a short review of my stay and so that you can make up your mind what you think about the landscape of Lanzarote. Maybe you plan your summer vacation to the Canary islands. I don't know. Tell me all about your experiences!

Let's start with the Spanish cuisine:

 Pimientos de padrón, green peppers with seasalt, is one of the typical Tapas

Salmorejo, a cold tomato soup served with olive oil and bacon, is another Tapa

And the Spanish also eat a lot of bread with tomato chutney and Serrano ham

Sangria and more sangria

Cocktails

A frozen smoothie, because you can't imagine the heat and burning sun (without any shadows) in Lanzarote

Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote

El Charco, a small lagoon in Arrecife

El Charco at night-time, from the other side

Puerto del Carmen

Teguise

Timanfaya National Park,
the volcano and its massive lava field

Papagayo Beach, near Playa Blanca

Jardín de Cactus, the cactus garden

The cactus garden was designed by Manrique, the local artist who wanted to increase the number of incoming tourists with modern art.

Everywhere on the island you can find Manriques art, in forms of roundabouts, museums, his house or attractions like the cactus garden or another one you will see a little bit later.

The cactus garden was the attraction I preferred the most from Lanzarote. It's actually the only part I found truly beautiful.

Mirador del Rio, another of Manrique's creations. From this point they used to watch the strait "the river" between Lanzarote and La Graciosa for enemies.

El Golfo

Cuevas de los Verdes

So what do you think about Lanzarote and the Canary islands? Have you ever been there? How did you like it? Are you planning to go there on vacation?

After finishing my internship in Lanzarote I returned home for three weeks, but most of that time I used to go on vacation with my boyfriend. I showed him England and the Lake District in particular, because - believe it or not - he had never been to the UK before, but thought about doing his master over there. I think it convinced him quite well, because he applied for masters in the UK and I am looking for jobs over there as I already told you. And as I promised you before, I will go into more detail about the Lake District. So why not do that next week?

See you then, love you, bye bye