¿Aventuras? ¡No me gustan nada! (Aventures? Don't like them at all!)

It was worst when I was still a child. During puberty it didn't really get any better. As a young adult things started changing and now I can say I can handle it. What am I talking about? The unknown!

New things have always freaked me out. As a baby I didn't dare to sit upright once I was awake, nor clime out of bed as a toddler. As a child I didn't dare to pick up a ringing phone. I was always stressed out (and thus sick) on the first day of school after the summer break. I didn't want to go to camp and when I did my parents had to come pick me up a few days later because I was lying in bed sick, homesick. As a teenagers I was scared to enter shops I hadn't been in before. I never took any form of public transport. I refused to do a vacation job. I didn't go out on weekends until my mom forced me. The first six months at uni where horrific. Never had I been away from home for more than say, 8 hours. So yes, it was a real problem.

Once I started making a couple of friends at uni (also a rather new experience to me) and met my partner, things got better, bit by bit. I was forced to get out of my dorm because subjects were taught in several different buildings all around town, whereas the school I went to until I was 17 was literally next door. I wouldn't say I was carefree, but at least I had people to share my fears with. Now, as an adult I know fully where my weaknesses lie so... I always come prepared to minimize the unknown.

So yes, going on a trip for TWO WEEKS (the longest I'll ever have been from home) to a place I've never been before scares THE HELL out of me. So what did I do?

• I walked around town using Google street view
• Mailed the hotel and car rental shop to make specific arrangements
• Mailed the tourist information service of the province of Valladolid, which resulted in me reading through a heap of leaflets, folders and brochures including information that a teacher provided. (Si te interesa: Folletos con información sobre la provincia Valladolid y su capitaldel mismo nombre).
• Printed out street plans of every town and village I want to visit, with indication of all the buildings, squares and shops I want to see or visit.
• Looked at thousands of pictures using Google images
• Figured out exactly how to get from my hotel to class.
• Figured out how to use VallaBici (a network of city bicycles to get around town easily). I definitely still won’t use public transport…
• Figured out where the public swimming pools are, when they open and how much a swim costs.
• Read the online newspapers: ElDía de Valladolid and Tribuna Valladolid
• Looked up which festivities will take place where, who is the current mayor, … you name it!

You could say I’ve already been there for the last couple of weeks. 

So to sum up: "Mantén la calma y vamos a España" (Keep calm and let’s go to Spain) really does apply!

*Making final arrangements and preparations*

¿Habla español? (Do you speak Spanish?)

The majority of tourists heading for Spain stick to the "playa's" or the Andalusian south of Spain. Valladolid is not a main tourist attraction, although it has much to offer in terms of culture, art, architecture, nature and food. So why am I going there? 'Castilia y León' is the region of Spain where the purest Spanish ('castellano') is spoken. Hence it is a great place to learn the language. Valladolid is renowned for its language institutes.

I've been taking Spanish classes for the last four years now at a School for Adult Education (CVO-Het Perspectief) in Ghent. I find this to be an excellent school with dedicated and enthusiastic teachers.

Our fourth year teacher Elvira offered us a great opportunity to take part in a summer school of one or two weeks at the Foundation of the Spanish Language (Fundación de la Lengua Española) in Valladolid, on a grant that remits the fee for taking 20 hours worth of classes (=510 EUR)!! 
I immediately jumped at the occasion and booked myself 2 weeks at the end of the summer holiday.

After almost ten months of looking forward to it 'D-day' is finally drawing near. This is promising to become a great adventure. For a start I've never been away from home for so long. I'm planning on blogging during my stay, depending on how much time we get off. :-) I hope you enjoy the richness of Spain as seen through my eyes as much as I do!

I've just been informed that right at the beginning of the first day we'll all get a language test (ie-iek!!) so I guess I'd better hit the books and freshen up some vocabulary and grammar... Oh joy! :-)

¡Vámonos! (Let's go!)

These are truly exciting times. In less than a fortnight we'll be hopping onto a plane to Madrid. From there it will be a more than 2 hour drive (at least according to Google Maps) to our final destination: Valladolid. (/ˌbæjədəˈlɪd/ Click to hear how it's pronounced!)

The city is located in the upper left hand quadrant of Spain. It's the capital of the Province of the same name, and also the capital of the Autonomous Region of 'Castilla y León' (dark green area on map below).

With little over 300.000 inhabitants, 197 km² and a university, it's quite similar to Ghent (>250.000, 156 km², UGent).

If you want to know more about the city of Valladolid, choose your language and go for it!
That's all for me for now. :-)

Valladolid: NL - FR - EN - ES