the first month in Palma de Mallorca

Hi all!

Here’s my first blog about the first month here in Palma de Mallorca. I have already had an amazing month and I’m  sure the rest of my time here is going to be awesome. I arrived at the 31st of January and the introduction week started  the 1st of February. The introduction week was really a good thing to do! You’ll get to know all the Erasmus people and a bit more about the Island. We did lots of amazing things. One day we went hiking up a mountain, which took us about 2 hours, but the view was amazing. We had lots of fun nights, including a tapas night which was really great.

In the second week the classes started already and we had to make sure that we could follow the classes we wanted to follow. It took me about a week to sort my classes out, as you have to make your own schedule. I am following this classes: Business English, English language, Introduction to translation studies and Culture and Gender in the English speaking world. Next to this classes I am also following a Spanish language course. The classes at school are not that difficult. The English level here is below ours, which makes it a lot easier to follow the classes. But, however, I find my classes interesting. I think, for me, it adds some value to the study International Business and Languages. Here they tend to have more exams than in the Netherlands, but I think it’s actually quite nice. They have a mid-term exam that counts for some percentage of the total and then you  have an exam at the end of the course and they make your final grade out of these 2 exams. You’ll pass the exam when you get a 5.  Which is different from the Netherlands and feels weird to me, but it’s better!

Then my house. I live with 5 other Erasmus students in one big apartment. I found this apartment with the help of an old classmate of mine. She was here in Mallorca last year and she got me in contact with the landlord. He then emailed me and  asked me if I wanted to live in this apartment. That went quite easy! The apartment is nice, we have a big living room, kitchen and balcony. Because we live with 6 people, we also have 2 bathrooms which is really great! My room itself is not that big, but I do have a big walk-in closet! Yay! For me it wasn’t  that important to have a big room, since I am not planning to be in this room much. The price is absolutely okay, I only pay 280euros per month. The only thing is that you can  hear everyone and everything here, so that’s something I have to get used to. The apartment is only 10 minutes walking from Plaza España, which is the main meeting point but also where the bars/café’s and shopping  starts.

What I really come to find here, is that everything you hear about Spanish people being relaxed and all, is true! Sometimes my teachers come in 20 minutes late and no one thinks this is weird. They tend to be really okay with everything and it’s no problem being late at all. Everything here is about being ‘tranquilo’ and having ‘fiesta’. For example, the international office closes at 2PM. So everything you want to handle, you have to do it before 2 PM. Sometimes they open again at 4PM, but never assume that they do! Because when they don’t feel like it, they won’t do it. Something I really have to get used to, but liking it already. Furthermore, the Spanish people are really nice, but their English is bad. Almost all the time when you go out for shopping, when you drink something at a bar or even when you ask your teacher something, they won’t understand you when you ask it in English. And when they do understand you a little bit, they have no idea how to answer you so they answer in Spanish. In the beginning this is something that will irritate you as you just want your answer and you want to be sure. But later on this is something that actually helps you to learn Spanish, as you’ll have to speak Spanish and listen very good to the answers to be able to get your answers. After 4 weeks I already come to learn that I absolutely love the Spanish way. I can always sleep a bit longer in the morning, and I never have to hurry when I have a meeting. It’s never a big deal if you can’t make it, or if you’re a little bit late. At first I thought I could never get used to this, but I come to find that’s relaxed to live like this and just never worry about these sort of things.

Living here is really cheap. We found a bar where you pay only 1 euro for beer, and even snacks won’t cost more than 4 euro! Going out is about the same as in the Netherlands, you always pay a bit more than when you drink at home. It’s actually way better to be drinking at home, since a bottle of wine is only 1 euro!! Also, if you like sangria, 1,5 liter is only 1,50 euros and if you’re more into beer, the price is about the same. Everything in the grocery shops is cheaper than what you’re used to pay at the AH.  I always go to Mercadona, which is a big grocery shop where you can buy almost anything for nothing. There’s fresh fish and nice meat, it’s a great shop!

This was only the first month here, but I find Palma de Mallorca amazing and I’m sure there’s a lot more awesome things coming in the next 4 months!

Speak to you next time!

Cynthia Steffens
Palma de Mallorca