Viva España!

Hooolaaa! Qué tal? How are you? I am fine, and today I want to share my semester abroad experience with you!

Last year I spent my summer working in a five star hotel in Lanzarote, as most of you might know. Afterwards I enjoyed my holidays in the Lake District, just before starting my semester abroad in Spain. From September till February I called Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia my home. I lived with a lovely young family with two little girls aged 3 and 5. I had the upper floor including a huge roof terrace completely to myself and I really enjoyed it! The apartment was right next to the zoo, here's the view from my terrace:

 

As you can see, I had a beautiful sun-flooded terrace and I very much enjoyed it and spent a lot of my free time reading outside. Jerez has a really Mediterranean and sunny climate, when I arrived at the end of September we still had over 30°C and that didn't change till mid-October. Even around Christmas it was still incredibly sunny and over 20°C. But I also have to say, in autumn there were two weeks in which it didn't stop raining, all of Jerez was flooded with the huge rubbish containers floating around.

But obviously this was not the usual weather, normally it was hot and dry.

Jerez is famous for its sherry. The word sherry derives from Jerez and is ONLY produced in the city. Sherry is both a wine and a brandy.

Tio Pepe / Byass Gonzalez is one of the big producers. If you are from the UK you should really try their cream sherry Croft, it is delicious and can only be bought in Spain and the UK. If you are in the city I recommend you go to one of the bodegas for a "cata de vinos", a sherry tasting.

From left to right:
Néctar         -           a very thick and sweet wine, but at the same time very
                                strong because it is made from raisins instead of
                                grapes. It almost tastes a bit like plums.
Croft            -           a cream sherry.
Viña AB       -           an amber coloured dry to medium dry sherry wine,
                                very acetous, medium to long ripening with a little
                                bit of oxygen.
Tio Pepe      -           a fine dry and at the same time smooth white sherry
                                wine.

At the bottom you can see an assortment of tapas to go with the sherry tasting: Picos (small bread sticks similar to the Italian Grissini), cold roast pork, crispy garlic bread, lomo (smoked pork loin) and Manchego cheese.

Jerez de la Frontera is in the south of Spain, half way between Portugal and Gibraltar. You can do many excursions. I for example went on a day trip to Vejer de la Frontera, Bolonia, Tarifa and Gibraltar, on one to Seville and another one to Gibraltar. You can also go to Portugal or Morocco or visit Malaga for example. On the first very long and very exhausting excursion I went with Funtaste Spain, for the other two my boyfriend who came to visit me for a week and I rented a car.

Vejer de la Frontera

 

 Bolonia

Tarifa

Gibraltar

 

Seville

Whilst living in Spain I went to university to continue my tourism studies in Spanish, which of course improved my language skills incredibly. I got to know some really nice people and experience a different culture. As you might know from my entry about Lanzarote the hot Spanish climate as well as the spirited and passionate whilst at the same time very laid-back and relaxed mentality of the Spanish were not always easy for me. But I learned to live with it and maybe even adapt to it. One of the most popular cultural differences is the siesta. In Spain lunchtime is usually between 2PM and 3PM, and afterwards it's time for a nap or simply some relaxation on the sofa, in the dark, air-conditioned apartment. If you happen to be like me and go outside during those hours, you might at first be happy about the dead silence and entirely empty streets, but then face some problems. Siesta is for everybody. Market stands are packed away, most shops are closed and busses don't run. But in turn they are usually open till nine o'clock, the streets are absolutely cramped in the later evening hours, with kids playing outside till long after dark.
Another big cultural difference is Christmas. In the south of Spain it is not Santa Claus or Christ Child who brings the presents on Christmas, but it is the three Magi that come on the 6th of January.

So in December the family and I went to the zoo, where the royal page arrived on his camel, and handed in our letters including wish lists.

And look what they brought me:

All in all I can say that Spain still isn't my favourite country due to its climate and temperament. But I very much enjoyed my stay there and am really thankful for the experience!

Have you made similar experiences? What is your opinion about Spain? Did you spent time abroad, where?

Adios amigos!

Jen