Life in Murcia. New Season, New Episode

Murcia Cathedral
On the 19-th of February in the morning after a very long trip I finally arrived at the airport of Alicante or so called aeroport d’Alacant en Valenciano with sky-high mood and “Limbo” in my headphones. Although my trip was rather tiring I was a way too excited and full of enthusiasm, so once I stepped out of the plane, I went running to grab my luggage from the recogida de equpaje (baggage claim) and get out to the sunny city. At the exit I was warmly met by Sonia and Antonia, who were patiently waiting for my arrival, holding a big paper with my name on it.
Y, ahora, ¡Bienvenido a España! Land of contrasts, wine and olive, orange trees, corrida de toros, Spanish music and bailes de Flamenco,  Meditarrenean beaches, picturesque places and a lot more to add to the list, but now we are in Murcia, south-east of Spain, a university town with a great number of students.

My new life was awaiting me in Murcia, the city Antonia drove me to from Alicante airport. The first impressions were all about weather. Hoot !! Taking off my warm jacket I was getting ready to enter the capital city of la Comunidad de Murcia as they call it here. 

Centro Social Universitario de Voluntariado
In 40 minute drive I was already at the Social Center of the University of Murcia, located in the Campus of Espinardo, one of the 5 biggest Campuses of Murcia University where I am supposed to work and promote volunteering at the social university center called ADYV - Atención a la Diversidad y Voluntariado de la Universidad de Murcia. I was accompanied to the office by Sonia and Antonia where I met my mentor and supervisor of my project and the rest of the staff of ADyV and, surely, Iris, my roommate and co-worker from Holland. The university center, the office, the people around _everything was great, even greater than I had expected. Spanish people are so amiable and helpful with foreigners that you can sometimes forget you’re not in your own hometown.

My first two days, I should confess were really very intense, since I came a bit late than I was supposed to  and now I had to catch up with my new EVS life in a shorter time and get to know to the city and everyone around in less time frames.
But, Alvaro, my mentor did his best to make my first days interesting and easy to get along. He’s been my fave guide those days for he knew everything about the city from bottom to top, starting from the directions of all entertainment places to hard-to-remember historical facts about every cathedral and monument out there.
Murcia at night
In Murcia I live with Iris, la chica de Holanda and Jose Carlos, master of Flamenco_ a very nice guy from Lorca.
In first 2 days I even managed to take a language test of Spanish at the Language Centre and got B 1.2 level for the beginning. But, I will start up with my Spanish classes as soon as I come back from  Córdoba, a very beautiful and historical city in la Comunidad de Andalucia, where I will have my On-Arrival training course.
Yeah, too much information about Murcia, its sightseeing, University life, Erasmus network, volunteering perspectives and my future responsibilities in 2-3 days.
But, now  Córdoba is waiting for Iris and me, lot’s of new things to do, experience, see and… ah yes, excuse me for my Spanglish. This is the way we EVS volunteers talk in Spain at least at the beginning of our stay here, when we don’t have a very good command of the language.



So, see you soon ! ¡ Hasta la vista en Córdoba !

Aguilas

Article and Photos by Nelly Paytyan/Voluntaria Europea en el Centro Social de Voluntariado ADyV, Universidad de Murcia