time vomit

I have now been living in Spain for a month but time has decided to go all experimental on me because it feels like I've been here for a long, long time. So much has been packed into these weeks that it's been difficult to find moments of peace wherein I can reflect a little on my time here. 

When I started working at the primary school that I had been placed in by British Council it all came as a bit of a shock; the Spanish education system - its organisation and the culture within it - is very different to what I remember from my own experience as a primary school kid; initially I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. After three weeks I can safely say that I am truly enjoying working as a language assistant. The teachers are super nice to me but what makes it really great is the children! They are the most welcoming 77 children I have ever met; I walk down the corridors every day to be met by kids shouting 'HALLO EEEmEEE!', hugging me and drawing hearts on my arm. That's not to say they're all sweethearts and there are moments when I want to tear my hair out from pure frustration/annoyance. Nevertheless, each day I find myself more interested in the progress of individual students; I can see myself missing this place by the end of the year.

Many of my experiences outside of work deserve their own post however, as I've been rather useless at updating this blog (so far!), I shall give a short summary of a few instead:

Santillana del Mar

One of the first 'tourist trips' I made here in Cantabria was to Santillana Del Mar, a small village close to Torrelavega itself. Oddly enough, the village neither has a patron saint nor is it anyway near to the sea, making its name a fairly misleading one. Regardless, it was a beautiful old town full of historical buildings and little trinket shops. We also got to experience some rare Cantabrian cider, a personal highlight seeing as they don't serve cider in NINGÚN café/bar/restaurante (despite being situated right next to Asturias, Spain's cider capital)!! This involved both the tasting and the pouring from a large wooden contraption, the functionality of which being about 50%...!

Laredo
Whilst I promise that it hasn't been all about alcohol during my stay in Cantabria, Spain definitely love a drink. Doesn't matter what time or where - mid-day beers for lunch before returning to work, celebratory sherry in the staff room at break time - the attitude here is pretty distinct but arguably healthier to that of Britain. Anyway, a group of us headed to Laredo, a small town about an hour and a half away from Torrelavega by bus, where we'd heard a beer festival was taking place. It was there that we discovered a delicious raspberry cerveza, 'Mort Subite', that I could've happily taken a few crates back had I sufficient physical strength/man power.

We also explored the old part of the city that was riddled with pretty little cafés and yellow cobbled streets that eventually lead us up a very steep hill. Our climb was finally rewarded with beautiful views of Laredo its shoreline which seemed strangely reminiscent of the Devonshire/Cornish coastline.

I have so much more to write about including an incredible venture up Peña Sagra (but I think that that deserves its own post), my experiences and insights of Torrelavega itself and more! For now, I shall leave it at this and say 'hasta luego', or, as they say here in Cantanbria, ''sta logo'!