Ahora en Alemán

Hallo ihr Lieben,

ich habe wohl ausversehen meinen letzten Blog geloescht und da ich nun scheinbar doch den Stereotyp Frau (mit Technik koennen nur wenige umgehen) hin und wieder erfuelle, bin ich nicht im Stande, den Blog wieder herzustellen. Na ja, macht ja nichts. So lange ich meine Erinnerungen nicht ausversehen loesche, bin ich sicher in der Lage, den Blog in veraenderter, aktueller Form noch einmal zu schreiben!

Inzwischen habe ich mich in Palma schon etwas eingelebt. Die taegliche Busfahrt zur Uni wird zur Routine, im Supermercado um die Ecke kennt man mich bereits (Brot und Aepfel wurden mir geschenkt), in der Stadt trifft man stets Freunde und Bekannte und der Umgang in der WG wirkt taeglich vertrauter. Ich fuehle mich wohl hier und bin begeistert von der Herzlichkeit der Menschen.

Ich bin nun offiziell Studentin an der UIB und konnte heute frueh meinen Studentenausweis abholen. Zwar fehlt das letzte "n" bei meinem Nachnamen, aber ich schliesse mich einfach mal der spanischen Gelassenheit an und belasse es dabei, macht ja nichts!
Die erste Uniwoche verlief ein bisschen chaotich, aber eigentlich kennt man das auch von Berlin, also nichts neues. Mit meinen Kursen hier bin ich zufrieden. Ich denke, ich werde hier auch fuer mein Englischstudium einige hilfreiche Dinge lernen. Darueber hinaus habe ich durch Zufall ein Praktikum an einer katholischen Privatschule in Palma bekommen. Naechste Woche geht es los. Was genau ich machen werde? Unter anderem werde ich die Moeglichkeit haben, Deutsch und Englisch zu unterrichten. Auch den Bereich Sozialwissenschaften darf ich mir anschauen und dem Schulpsychologen ueber die Schultern gucken.

Freitag war ich auf meiner zweiten ERASMUS-Party. Was zeichnet so eine eigentlich Party aus? In erster Linie trifft man ERASMUS-Studenten aus vielen Teilen Europas, aber auch Einheimische sind in geringerer Zahl anzutreffen. Es herrscht eine grosse Vielfalt von Sprachen, was mich immer wieder aufs Neue begeistert. Die Menschen sind gut gelaunt und gluecklich. Enden tun die meisten Partys dann, wenn die Polizei unten vor der Haustuer steht. Das ist nicht weiter tragisch. Ich glaube, es geht einfach nur darum, dass im Haus Ruhe einkehrt, damit die anderen Bewohner wenigstens noch ein bisschen Schlaf bekommen. Hinterher geht man oft noch runter ans Meer, dort wo die meisten Clubs von Palma sind. Ich muss gestehen, zu diesem Teil der Geschichte kann ich mich noch nicht aeussern, aber eine Fortsetzung folgt bestimmt! ERASMUS-Partys finden zu genuege statt. Um nicht zu schnell muede davon zu werden, habe ich daher einen ruhigen Samstag abend im Kreise meiner Mitbewohner vorgezogen.

Der Sonntag war verregnet, also keine Anreize, vor die Tuer zu gehen. Statt dessen haben wir uns die Zeit mit Essen vertrieben. Zwischendrin einige Partien Schach (aufgrund meiner geringen Kenntnisse habe ich es hier jedoch vorgezogen, ein Buch in die Hand zu nehmen), ein gutes Buch, ein guter Film, ... und am Ende gabs selbst gemachte Tortillas, mmmhhh.

Heute beginnt eine neue Woche mit hoffentlich reichlich neuen Erlebnissen, um bald wieder zu schreiben!

Adiós amigos! Hasta luego.
Eure Conny

A first impression of Palma de Mallorca

Hola Amigos,

finally I can continue my blog. So far I have been running around a lot and no chance to get internet access. Anyway, now I am online.
What has happened so far. Thanks to the explanations of one of my flatmates (Alfredo) it was pretty easy for me to find the appartment. At first I chose the wrong way, but then there was this really nice señor who probably saw the searching expression on my face. So he asked me which road I was looking for and then I had no problems what so ever finding my way. Iñigo, the other roommate who studies tourism and works in a pizzaria part time showed me everthing and then left me alone. All that came into my mind then was: "let´s walk and get to know this place a little". I walked for two days (no, not continuously!) The pavement looked familiar right away. It reminded me a lot of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. But then Palma is not really like Santa Cruz. It is still very European and because it attracts so many tourists from central Europe, especially Germany and England ("well, one can debate on that whether England can be considered central Europe"), the place is much pricier than in most other corners of Spain. Something which makes Palma also different from some of the places I have seen in South America: not every plaza has a church next to it.
Like in all the big cities in Spain there is also a Plaza de Espanya in Palma. Most students live around here including me. It is the central meeting point and basically the city center. But most clubs are down by the beach. Now you are probably wondering (especially those who know Palma and who know Mallorca´s image): "Has she been partying every night?" Well, I can tell you, no I haven´t. I was only out on Saturday with one of my roommates to go to a friend´s place. That was really nice though after running around all day I started feeling really tired and by the end I could hardly follow any of the conversations.
Then there was my first ERASMUS party last night which I also could not stand longer than two hours. Not so much because I was tired but mainly because there was so much smoke, uuuhhh.
University has been a little chaotic these first days but that´s exactly how I thought it would be so I stayed calm all this time. People here are really nice. The professors are very supportive . In general I find Spanish people "muy simpático" which is what I like most about this place.
But there is one thing which I have to criticise: there is just no news about the Olympic Games. what a shame. Some people even don´t know they are going on right now, isn´t that horrible!? As I am a big fan of winter sports especially Biathlon I feel I am really missing out on something. Luckily there is internet :-)
In the streets of Palma you will find many people speaking either German or English but still the atmosphere is wonderful. There is a huge zone only open to pedestrians which is great because you don´t really find that in Berlin. Fashion is great, shoes are all over the place and people are generally dressed well, also something I like.
What I have also been enjoying so far is to go jogging along the beach. You can keep on running for ever and hopefully some visitor will bring my inline skates along so that I can also go skating.

I think I should stop right now. But do ask me questions, I will be happy to answer them in my next blogs!

To Jane: Yes, I came to Palma to study and I think by next week my schedule will be all set. I am taking some English courses but also a pedagogy course which involves a project at a High School in Palma ("I am really exited about that!") and a Spanish course together with other ERASMUS students. For those of you who don´t know what ERASMUS is: it is an exchange programme for European university students. If you really want to know more about it I suggest (for those of you who haven´t already watched the movie) to see "L'auberge espagnole". It definitely reflects perfectly realistic on the ERASMUS experience.

Hasta luego. Adios amigos.

Yours,
Conny

Hola amigos!
Just one more night in Berlin before I am leaving for Spain.
I must admit, I am a little nervous. I know, it's not the first time I am leaving for abroad and I will probably be fine by tomorrow, as soon as I will have arrived and found the appartment. I will be living with two Spanish guys, that much I know.
No, I am not taking too many expectations with me on my way as I believe that might just lead to disappointment. I won't think ahead. Whichever way things will turn out, I am sure it will be okay.
After this little preface I hope that I will be able to keep up this online diary. You are all welcome to post your comments and greetings! I am sorry if some of you don't like the fact that this in English but as I know some people who don't speak German whereas most of my friends speak English I thought this would be the easiest way.
My flight is tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. from Tegel. Goodbye for now and "hasta luego".

Conny