Vall de Núria

Tomorrow I will have been here for a month, and this weekend I had the chance to go to the Pyrenees with my friend Íngrid! We set off early to make the most of the day, and despite it being a bit chilly at first, the weather couldn't have been better! I'm still getting over the fact that it's October and the temperature's still in the 20s! After the train, we got another train - the cremallera - up to Vall de Núria, and then a cable car a little bit further up the mountain. The scenery was absolutely stunning!!

We walked down Via Crocis, a path that goes down the mountain back to Núria, and which has lots of crosses down the side. On the way down, we met some friendly nuns on the way down who enthusiastically greeted us and asked us where we were from. They told us they called themselves "Café con Leche" (Coffee with Milk) nuns because of the colour of their robes! Once we were down in Núria again we walked round the lake and then we had our picnic lunch at the side of the lake!



In my last post I wrote about how I was now getting used to the Spanish/Catalan timetable. I now take that back. On Saturday night I went out for a delicious supper with Íngrid, Maite and two other friends, Sílvia and Bruna, in their town. Just as we were paying and about to leave I checked the time and it was 1am. Although I am getting more used to doing things at Catalan times, I think deep down the English part of me will always struggle to understand how supper can last until 1am... 

I have finally succeeded in signing up for the local swimming pool. When I went to register a few weeks ago, I was told I needed a Spanish bank account in order to become a member. I was still quite keen, so I popped over to the bank to get a bank account, only to find out banks are closed in the afternoons. Brilliant. The next day the bank was open, but they told me they couldn't make me an account unless I had an NIE (National Insurance Number). I had been told about the horrendous queues one has to face to get an NIE so at this point I half gave up.

A week later a friend of mine from Leeds told me he'd managed to get a bank account without an NIE so I decided to go back to the bank and check. I waited an hour to be told yet again (and in English) that "No", I needed an NIE number and that I'd have to come back. I told the lady that my friend hadn't needed one, to which she replied: "You're right, you don't". As she beckoned me into her office, I was left wondering bewilderedly whether this was a city-wide conspiracy to prevent foreigners - except from the select few - from getting a bank account here. My state of utter confusion continued as the lady, still stubbornly sticking to English, asked me why I wanted an account. I explained in Catalan that it was because I wanted to sign up for the pool and she looked at me baffled and said in an exasperated voice: "Why didn't you tell me at the beginning you spoke Catalan? There I was trying my hardest to remember some English"... 

This Thursday there is a student strike in my faculty, protesting against the increased university fees. One of my classmates was indignantly explaining to me that now the fees were quite a bit over 1,000€ per year. I couldn't help mentioning that in English the fees have just been raised to £9,000... Anyway, for me this strike couldn't be at a better time as this weekend I'm leaving Catalunya for the first time since I arrived! I'm off to Ciudad Real on Thursday morning for "Encuentro", a conference with my church! ...I'm so excited!!