Still Planning

Despite trying to believe otherwise for the past few months, the year abroad is really close now, and my shocking lack of definite plans is becoming a slight concern. I do have an idea of what I want to do, and I have backup plans, but nothing is actually confirmed. Great.

At the moment I've split the Year Abroad into two sections, roughly governed by Spanish university semesters. The first section I intend to spend in Chile, teaching English at a British School called Redland School in Santiago, the capital. The second section I intend to head off to a Spanish university as an Erasmus student, to "get me back into the university mindset".

There are a couple of problems. The Chile phase is proving to be pretty damn costly, with flights nearly £1000 return, and visa costs anywhere between £160 and £700. However, the placement does have the advantage of providing me with all meals, board, and organising my life before I actually arrive, as well as being in South America. The second phase in Spain is also problematic, given that the Erasmus placement I was given (and accepted) is actually not that great. It's in Lugo, which is a pretty small city in the Galician region of Spain. Lonely Planet describes the town as being dull and uninteresting, which I'm not sure I fancy for a whole semester!