Important decision: gap year, yes or no?

Have you ever got to that point in life that you don't know what to do, literally. You may have a no-end list of options and possibilites but you don't know which one to choose.
Most of these decisions comes up when you finish a period or stage or call it whatever you like and you are about to enter in a new one. Example: you finish highschool and you don't know whether you should continue studying, start working or travel or whatever. Right now I am at this point but my situation is a bit more complicated than that. 

It goes like this, this next year should be my 4th and last year in my bachelor degree at the university of Girona, but due to bad structure, organisation and understanding the subjects I will be able to choose for my next student year are most awfull and I really don't try to offend any professor of my university if they read this(which I doubt) but there are a few subjects that are just better not to do.

Due to this situation I have reached the point that I am seriously considering on going on a gap year or sabatical or "half sabatical" or call it a break if you want to. But is this really a good option? And what should I do? Work, study, travel...?

PROS on going on a gap year:

1- I would probably have more freedom and would not be attached to one place do to the studying and I could travel more without counting the classes I've missed in order not to fail.
2- I am 21 for god's sake! I can take a break from whatever I am doing, it is the time to make mistakes and fail. Because if I don't do it now when will it be? When I am 35 with probably a child or two, is it going to be then when I realise that I could've tried to see more the world or try to reach some of my dreams but I didn't?
3- I would sign in for a couple of subjects to keep track on the university, but it would be  subjects such as languages that it would be not so strictly necessary to atend the lessons as I guess and hope I would/will pass them with no problem.

4- I could maybe in this gap year try to find out my real passion, give a year for me. Try new things, get to know new people. Just give it all and not think with my brain but with my heart.

Cons on going on gap year:

1- Even though I would sign up for a couple of subjects I would probably end up loosing track on the university.

This is right now the only and main reason that keeps me away from going on a gap year. 

And then comes the second and probably most important question: 

What to do during the gap year?

Because it is easy to want to go away, but with no plans or thoughts it would end up being a year thrown in to the trash, because one thing I don't like, is to waste my time. 

So at this point there are a few options that have been coming up on my mind

 lately:

Añadir leyenda

The first and most probable one is to go to Germany(for everybody who knows me and usually reads this blog know my girlfriend is German and that she lives there), probably to the capital city, Berlin. And there try to learn as much German as I can, write and blog a lot, maybe find a job, get to know how it is to live in a big city, get out of my comfort zone and maybe make a course that would allow me to be a teacher of Spanish in any foreign country in the world.

The second one(less probable one) is to try to convince my girlfriend to fly a couple of months or six to New Zealand to collect fruits, which at least as far as I have been informed it is a very hard job but well paid, which is exactly what I need: a life changing adventure with the person I love the most in the world and to earn some money. I am writing this here because as far as I am concerned, my girlfriend doesn not read this blog so that is nothing I would have to worry about.

So now my last but not least question is: What should I do? Opinions? Gap year or not? Where? Any answer is more than welcome.

I like Ryanair and you?

Lately, more than ever it has been a lot of fuzz about Ryanair, at least here in Spain. Mostly because of the fact that they have doubled the prices to go to Santiago de Compostela since the train accident that occured a couple of weeks ago. That, in my opinion is inhuman, to take advantage of tragedies. On the other hand though, all those people that don't do more than just complain about Ryanair and its services, just drives me crazy. And here are some of my reasons:

Landing in with Ryanair in Girona

1- Thanks to Ryanair, it has allowed our generation to discover places we would not even thought of ten years ago. Or to travel as much as we do nowadays. I'll give a example: I was born in Sweden and moves to Spain in 2001 and each and every summer I used to travel back home to see my family and friends, when there was no such think as low-cost or at least it hadn't had gotten the trust we have in it now I guess. Prices for a ticket was then around 300-400 Euros. Now, thanks to low-cost airlines such as Ryanair I can fly to Sweden for 50, 60, 70...100. And when it costs 100, we even think, that is expensive. ARE WE CRAZY? If it wasn't for Ryanair non of this would even be possible.

2- As I said, thanks to Ryanair a big part of our generation could start flying, to start fulfilling dreams and to discover places 10 or 20 years ago they would have even thought of.

3- In the last year I have start traveling more than ever and that is thanks to Ryanair. Since past september I have been to Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Germany, Spain and other places thanks to Ryanair. I met my girlfriend while living in Denmark, she is German and lives in Germany and we are still together. But lets be honest, without Ryanair, long distance relationship like mine, would not be possible. But now due to its low cost prices, I can visit her once a month(at least), with back and forth flight for 25 Euros TOTAL!

There are many other reason why Ryanair is a great airline and why in my opinion people should be more grateful of its service.

The problem with society nowadays is that it is full of hypocrites, people that complain about everything and don't even realize how much it has helped us. And at the end, they still end up using the airline. 

Flying with Ryanair over French Alps on my way to Frankfurt Hahn

If you use Ryanair, you just have to accept is politics. You know that you are buying a plane ticket with a insanely cheap price and that if you want check-in and extra luggage on the plane, you will have to pay a big amount for it, that if you don't have printed your ticket you will have to pay for it or that they don't accept more than one bag as hand baggage, it is just that simple and you have to deal with it. With plane tickets that cheap, they have to earn some extra money somehow, right?

A other possitive thing about Ryanair compared to other airlines it is the one with most arrivals on-time. Of course there are better and more on-time airlines, but for christ's sake, I think I have almost never been late with a Ryanair flight.

For those and many other reasons, I am a fan of Ryanair and I will keep on using it.

IMPORTANT: plaasee click on the following link and like this picture. It is for a contest to fly to Iceland! It would mean the world to me and its just 5 seconds of your time. Thanks:)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151535816076374&set=o.116659125186127&type=1&relevant_count=1

Fuerteventura: bigger than I thought

So I had the weekend off and took the opportunity to visit Fuerteventura for a couple of days. What to say about the island? Even though Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are extreamly close, the only thing they have in common is that non of them has so much flora to explore. Besides some weird and at the same time curious cactuses and palm trees. Lanzarote on the one hand is full of volcanic stones all over the island and with not so many beaches and on the other hand, Fuerteventura has a uncountable number of beaches(some pretty awesome ones) and the rest of the island is just desert and mountains.

Enough said, here is what my friend and I did on the island. As we only had two days, we decided to rent a car(TIP: if you decide to visit the island, rent a car otherwise you will end up  like a cactus, bored and in the middle of nowhere) and we headed direction south in order to see the whole island in one day.
Being honest the island has not so much sights and not so many things to see and most of the places can be seen just by driving by them with the car. On our way down to the south, to the beach of Cofete, which telling from the pictures and recommendations was a place we couldn't miss. Even though what we hadn't been told was that to get there we had to cross the whole island plus I sand, curvy and up and down road for 40 minutes. I have to tell you though, totally worth it. The views from the mountain over the beach were spectacular. 

Panoramic view from Mirador Morra Velosa

But before arriving to Cofete beach we passed through and stopped in some places. Our first stop was in Mirador Morra Velosa, from where we had a amazing view over the mountains and the see at the end. After a few pictures and a breath of the fresh air that was blowing in the top of the moutains we countinued on the road passing by the villages of Betancuria and Pajara before arriving to our next stop: Ajuy, a place totally different from the rest of the island. Why? because here you will meet the most wonderful black sand beach, with the most terrific views from the top of the cliffs feeling the wind of the Atlantic see blowing as well as the smell of the waves that smashes into the cliffs. Unfourunely though, most of the part in Ajuy has been privatitzed and now to see the caves you have to pay 7 euros, which is insane, knowing that it has been for free for the past 20 years.

Playa de Ajuy

After Ajuy the road took us to Costa Calma where a beach near, it was the worldcup of Windsurf. Which was pretty awesome, because even though no one was surfing the time we spent on the beach, the atmosphere around the beach was amazing. Music, drinks, food, tents and people a lot of people having a good time. We took a beer and sat down enjoying the company of probably 500 people in the tent which was pretty great.

But as the time is gold and we did not have much of it, we continued on the road heading to Cofete. After 200km and some really bad secundary roads, we reached the beach. And decided to eat there at the only resturant that existed in the area. In fact, it was the only building in probably 20 square km around. We were surrounded by the beach and mountains and that was it, which was the beauty of the place.

Playa de Cofete

After a really long morning, we decided to head back to Corralejo but on the southside road to see the other part of the island.
We finished the day eating a pizza in a pizzeria called Pizzeria Da Enzo, and I am not kidding when I am saying this, but it was probably the best pizza I have ever tried, it was just totally amazing. The dough was thin and delicious, and the ingredients was so well put on and so amazing. My dad is a chef and his pizzas are woderful, but this pizza was just mind-blowing. So that is my top recommendation of Corralejo, if you want to get a pizza, go two roads away from the main road with the resturants and go to this pizzeria, it won't dissapoint you and if in some weird case it does, I will personally refund the money!

Day 2 started and tired of the almost 400 km from the first day we decided to stay in the north to see the dunes in the desert in the National Park of Corralejo which is a must-go in the island and for the rest of the day we went to the search for the best beach in Cotillo. There we found one called  Caleta del Río and it was a pretty awesome beach. Crystal clear water and white sand beach. I could not have asked for more to finish the weekend like this.

Feeling really small in the middle of the desert in Dunas de Corralejo

Playa de Cotillo

Sun hiding behing Montana Roja in Lanzarote

Lanzarote: more than just sun and beach

As the title says, Lanzarote is not just sun and beach tourism, it has obviously a lot of great beaches but those are not(in my opinion), the best things of the island.

Before talking tourism and sights I will give you some basic tips that can help you out while you visit the island. First of all, rent a car. It is the best option to move around and in the long term, the cheapest. Why? In comparison, for example to organised tours, you can move around and go wherever you want, you don't depend on a timetable and you can take more time visiting what you really like. It is really nice to move around in the island and by car, you will see local villages and resturants you would not do if you'd go by bus or in a tour. Second tip, don't rush to see it all in a day. It is possible as the island is small, but you won't enjoy everything as much as if you would separate your visits in different days. Third and last tip, don't visit Arrecife. For you who don't know, Arrecife is the capital city of Lanzarote and in my opinion that is the most "interesting" thing it has. It is quite dirty, has not sights and the beach is nothing special either. Everybody is different though and maybe what I hated, you would love, but at least that is my opinion. 

A other tip I forgot to mention is, if you are planning to go to the Canary Islands to live for a while, get the residence card. It is just advantages. You will get great discounts in almost everything. A example of its great discount is on the 5 main tourist attractions with paid entrance, instead of paying 9 euros, with the residence card you only pay 2. Not bad huh? And for what I've been told, anybody that belongs to the EU can apply for a residence card in the Canary Islands.

I have been here for more or less a month and I have almost seen the whole island, even though I have almost been most of my time working. Here are in my opinion the top 5 places to go and visit in Lanzarote in no specific order of preference:

1- El lago verde de el golfo (the green lake of the gulf)

2- Timanfaya National Park

3- Playa Papagayo


4- Playa de Famara


5- Cueva de los verdes

Portugal, Germany... no excuses for its tardiness, just lazyness.

The title speaks by itself. It has been almost a month and a half since the last time that I posted and the truth is, I have been quite busy but also more lazy than usual. What have I done or better, where have I been since I last posted. 

First of all, I went to Braga to visit some friends and at the same time to go to Enterro da Gata (burial of the cat). Yes, I know. What kind of name is that right? Unfourtunely I can't answer it but what I can tell though is that it was awesome. Enterro da gata is the party of the University of Minho of Braga, a party that gathers a uncountable number of students of Braga and its surroundings to have fun, drink and of course sing. I think portugese people was just born with rythm in their blood and that's what is cool and awesome about them. Definitely Braga I will be back and hopefully during Enterro.

This picture just showed probably half of what enterro was, or probably just a 3rd part. It is a 100% recommend.

Then, after these amazing days in Portugal covered in alcohol ( maybe that's the enterro(burial) means?), I went home for 2 days, made a final exam from the university and left for a 10 day trip to Germany.

This trip can be summerized in one word: rain. Rain, rain and more rain. And floods all over the place, which was pretty cool though. Also, when the sun finally decided to come out after the clouds, my girlfriend and I decided to take a big tour in the surroundings of her home village, which was beautiful. There is very few more beautiful things than a extreme green landscape, with fresh air and the sun shining over you.

German forest

Comparing both trips I would say both were more than great but completely different. Totally recommend both though, whether to get to know the real portugese people which are awesome or to get to know the more countryside part of Germany, they are both totally worth it.

Same as before, left a country to come back home, stayed for 2 days and then to embark on a 3 month journey  in Lanzarote, where is where I am located at this moment working (which is maybe the main reason I have been to lazy to writing). Soon though I will make my first post of my time here, because even though the island is not the biggest, it has lots of things to see and to do.
Which means, a lot to write about. ;)

PS: If you are on facebook, go on this page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151535816076374&set=o.116659125186127&type=1&theater
and like my picture. Just by a little click you could make this poor, young student happy. Thanks

Wine tasting, flower festival and beaches: Costa Brava at its best

Last week I've been fully occupied, which I can not complain about.
First, last monday, thanks to a contest I won held by Costa brava Pirineu de Girona(FB page: https://www.facebook.com/costabravapirineudegirona?fref=ts), I had the opportunity to go wine tasting for the first time in my life and I've got to say it was pretty nice. The price consisted of a guided tour to the old oil mill, which produces the current oil of the enterprise Empordàlia and then to the cellar. After that, a visit to the "Agrobotiga Vilajuïga" where we tasted 3 different types of wine(white, red and garnatxa) and each type of wine were accompained by a tapa.        
  

I have never been the biggest wine fan, but after making the tour and the tasting, I wouldn't mind at all doing it again. Good thing about the visit, is that between the wine tasting and lunch we had and hour more or less andthe cellar is located   is near Sant Pere de Rodes, a beautifully located monastery due to its unique views over the northern part of Costa Brava. So my buddy Albert and I decided to go and check it out.

The weekend arrived and even though the weather wasn't the best, I had decided to spend a weekend in the coast and Platja d'aro was the destination. This place is a perfect tourism located village with everything you need as a tourist you can find, from resorts to small rural houses, big and crowded beaches to the most lovely and beautiful "cales"(small and hidden beaches). 

My recommendations on this village is to walk a bit further away from the big and main beach the see the small ones such as Caval Bernat or Cala del pi, which with 5 minutes of walking, you will feel yourself lost in paradise and almost having the beaches for yourself.
For the evening, if the weather allows it, I recommend to take a walk in the seafront and have a lovely dinner at the seaside in one of its lovely resturants.

Weekend was finished and Girona temps de flors had started, I had early in this month dedicated a whole post talking about the this flower festival, which is why, due to its importance I couldn't finish this post in a better way than by mentioning it. This year, at least from my point of view I have just one word to describe the festival: PEOPLE. I don't know if it is just that I got really lucky the previous years of the festival, but I had the feeling this year it was extreamly crowded, even in the middle of the day when everybody supposedly are eating... Still though, as every year, the city of Girona is full of life during the festival and the streets of the old town dresses up in a beautifully and colorful way that it is worth to see.

 

Next post will be about Braga and its Enterro da Gata, which I will be visiting tomorrow.

Why go abroad?

Before I make a new post about my time as erasmus I would like to make a small reflection about going abroad.

On most of my posts so far I am talking about how good my time was a Erasmus, how good it was as a finding myself experience, etc. The point I want to get to is not that by going on erasmus you will be a new person, that it is the best you can do, I mean probably a big part of my readers aren't university students and don't have the chance to make this type of programmes. The point I want to get to is, go abroad, experience to live in a other country, with a other culture, way of living, food... It can be nothing but good for you because it will help you to either improve a language or to learn a new one, you will make contacts from all over the world, I have no doubt at all that it will be a rewarding experience. And of all people I've talked to about going abroad whether it is to go studying or working, most of the time I hear answers like "but my English is not that good", "what if nobody there speaks English?", "I am scared to be alone and so far from home"...And I tell them, of course you are scared, but that is part of the experience, the fear of the unknown and as soon as you arrive to your destination, you will make it work because it will end up being a need.

Quoting my father again, he left Spain when he was 18 years old to move to Sweden, did he know Swedish? NO, not even English. What the hell, he hadn't even finished school, but he moved because of the need to get a job and the opportunity was in Sweden. So, basically what he had to do is to work hard, interact with locals and study. After have lived around 30 years in Sweden, my dad had learned a new language, had made lifetime long friends and had met the love of his life with whom he built a family. Do you think that is what he had expected when he was 18, lost and moved to Sweden?

So what I am trying to say is, whether it is by fear, need, curiosity or whatever, DO IT, move around and don't dream it or say what if, because some day you will regret not having done it.


For all of you who are students and read this post, I recommend you to read the article on the link, which re-states all I've mentioned and gives you more reasons to do it:
http://www.moneycrashers.com/reasons-why-study-abroad-benefits/