Summer Sunshine

There is no denying that summer has arrived here in Andalucía, mainly because the Spaniards have taken off their coats and scarves and that's a pretty big deal. The sun is shining and everyday we are graced with 28-31 degrees. I do love the sun but I'm just not used to living in this heat. All you people at home reading this might be feeling jealous (which by all means you should be) however day to day life in this heat isn't quite what you think. It's not a holiday, there is no beach or swimming pool and it's sweaty, sticky and often just quite uncomfortable. It still trumps England though..

So, you may have noticed my blogs are becoming less frequent these days mainly because I'm not travelling quite as much (every weekend like I was doing at one time) and there are a few reasons for this:

• I can't be bothered. With this heat I just want to be a pool and a sea not traipsing round a city sweating my **** off
• I'm poor. I thought I was gonna be minted this year with an erasmus grant and more student loan than usual. However, with all the travelling, tapas and let's be honest...trips to Zara, it's kind of ran out. 
• You're never going to be able to visit every place you want to on your year abroad. It's impossible. There's still so many places I want to see but realistically they are always going to be there...use it as an excuse to come back in the future. 
• I want to make the most of Granada. Granada is such an amazing, beautiful and mesmerising city which sometimes I've neglected because of all the other places in Spain I've wanted to visit. There's no doubt so many nooks and crannies still do be discovered in Granada and I have exactly 57 days left to do this.

Yes, that's right. The dreaded flight has been booked (thanks Dad) and I now know when I'm officially leaving Spain and going back to England. I have mixed feelings. I love Spain so much it's going to be horrible to leave. There are very few things I dislike about Spain, I've fallen in love and now we have to go our separate ways. On the other hand, I haven't been home since 2013 (31st December 2013, but still) and I miss it. I never thought I'd say it but I do. I miss my family, my friends and English grub. It's also going to be about 40 degrees here come July 7th so if I stay I think my body might actually just give up. It makes me a bit teary to think about going home, my year abroad has been and still is such an amazing year and one which I don't want to end. I've learnt so much, not only in terms of Spanish but so much about myself and what I am capable of. If you don't finish your year abroad feeling independent, you haven't done it right, it's only upwards from here because knowing you are capable to move to a different country and start a new life on your own is pretty incredible. 

Anyway, enough of the soppy stuff, next weekend is going to be so exciting.  We're going to BARCELONA. We've had this booked since February so it's nice that it's all already been paid for etc. On Sunday we're doing the Colour Run (google it if you don't know what it is).  I can't wait to see Tara, Inigo and the recently Catalan converted Will (who is even doing the colour run with us girls!!). We don't really get that much time in Barcelona given our flight times but we'll make it a great weekend I'm sure.

Besos,

Ellie

.

Taken on El Día de la Cruz