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