sashay with sasha

I'm about to start my final year of my degree in Spanish and Portuguese and having finished my year abroad, I thought it would be useful to write down some advice and also to reflect on things I wish I had known before my year away. 1. Pack wisely I struggled massively with how I was going to pack my whole life into one 25 kilo suitcase and how I would manage to take everything I needed from my room to sustain me for five months. Turns out I didn't need that much stuff. I packed way too many unnecessary things which resulted in a struggle with my suitcase and having to throw out many things at the end of my placement. Here are three categories you should LIMIT in your case: - Toiletries - as much as I thought I couldn't live without my Argan hair oil and body butter, you really can find equivalents for your favourite products in Spain and Portugal, so don't waste valuabe packing space on shampoo, moisturiser etc.  - Makeup - I am a self-confessed ma...

In this week's blog post, I'll be writing about my two-weeks travels around Andalucía, Southern Spain. Before I began my year abroad, I had a bucket list of Spanish destinations to visit while I was there. Granada, Málaga, Seville and Córdoba had been at the top of the list. I'd never visited Andalucía before, so I was very excited to experience another region of Spain. I travelled by bus through Andalucía, starting in Murcia and travelling to Granada, then Málaga, then Seville, then Córdoba and finally, back to Murcia, spending three or four nights in Airbnbs in each destination. Arriving in Granada, we instantly noticed the temperature rise that people back in Murcia had warned me about!  Granada is such a beautiful city. Go if you want to see a traditional part of Spain as it is very old and bohemian. The city is also very green, not really what you expect when Andalucía has a very dry climate. The architecture in Granada is visually stunning. The Cathe...