About uncertainty

It is incredible how much things can change from one day to the next one… And how curious it may be. Two days ago I was updating my blog, even yesterday I was editing a couple of things. Although things have changed since then, I can’t say that I do know anything right now.

Well, I DO know something… though it doesn’t make anything firm.

Thing is, I won’t be going to Durham, because they had no vacancy for me. Bye Kingsbridge… They are now looking for something in Cardiff, Wales. Hello, Ken Follet, author of The Pillars of the Earth, born in that city.

Bye Geordie Shore, hello The Valleys. If it’s not Cardiff in the end, next change will be Gandia Shore (Spanish version of MTV’s Jersey and Geordie Shore).

Goodbye, Geordie English, hello Welsh.

To be honest, it doesn’t matter to me where I’ll be working. I mean, Durham seemed great, Cardiff seems great, and if they had to look up for something in Dublin, I’d find that great too. The coordinator has told me that I don’t need to worry, that I will go. Only that we don’t know yet where.  But, although that does not really matter to me… it does not being able to buy the plane tickets (which are more expensive as days go by). And it does as well not being able to book accommodation. My coordinator also told me that there were girls who had been told where were they going a week before leaving.  In a way, that makes me feel calmer. If they could find accommodation, why wouln’t I? (Accommodation is an issue that worries me… I talked a lot in Manzanas Alemanas).

But well… I hope next update is steadier.

And there you go, Cardiff’s Bay:

De http://www.housesittersuk.co.uk

About Preparations and stress.

No, I have not forgotten this blog, neither my intention of keeping it updated. But there’s been little to say. Ok, it’s only been 8 days since I was told I had received the grant… But I’ll be leaving in about a month. Problem is, English coordinator is on holidays until May 30^th, so we haven’t been able to make a huge progress regarding her part. Which means, we haven’t make any firm progress.

 To start with, Carolina and I, we have been trying to prepare everything –as much as possible- we can, without having the arrival date or the place where we will be working. We have already written a couple of e-mails to landlords in Durham and it seems we won’t have much problems there.

And while I wait to receive confirmation, I’m familiarizing myself with Durham. That means, I have a walk through it via Google Maps. I have to say that there  are some breathtaking views from some points of the city. The cathedral is simply amazing, for example.

Indeed, I’m posting a picture. It’ll be like living in Kingsbridge*!

By Carcharoth (Commons) (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

*Kingsbridge is the name of the village where The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet, takes place.

About Surprise Grants

Just like every time when the course is coming to an end, you start wondering what will you do when it finishes. I had already started thinking about it even before I started realizing the course was finishing. Actually, even before this whole story started.

A little before Easter break, we were told about the possibility of becoming a couple of Leonardo grants, so we could go to Durham (UK) for 3 months to work there. Almost all of us thought that would be a great idea and an awesome opportunity. Still, we had to wait for a while until we received further information about this topic.

Then, after Easter, we were told that there was finally an extra grant (although it was possible that it the end there were 2). The decision would be simple: the one with the highest average would receive it. In case she did not accepted the grant, it would be given to the 2^nd highest and so on until someone accepted it. But there was no need to ask a lot, and the grant was given to Carolina, who was really happy.

This would have been the end of the story… but if it had been like that, there would be no point in me opening this blog.

On Monday, May 20^th, I got to the school. I was late, because there had been a problem with the subway. When I walked in, I saw Susan making some copies. I hadn’t almost walked through the door, when she told me “Inés, there’s finally a second grant for UK. Your colleagues have told me that you are interested. Tell me as soon as possible if you want it, because otherwise, it’ll pass to the next person”. Susan… You made my day.

Right now, this is basically all the information I have. But there’s one thing I know for sure and that is that I’m really looking forward to making the best of this opportunity.

Stay tuned!