:(

Before starting posts, I usually have a general idea of what I'm going to write about/how I'm going to say it. I've given this one a lot of thought, and still not got anywhere closer to knowing, so have decided to just start writing it and see what comes out.

Monday morning was the usual Monday morning routine, although I did feel pretty achy after skiing the day before. As I didn't have an e-mail address yet to start with my big project, I was again helping with the admin jobs, and getting to know their systems better. Tuesday's working day was much the same. I then started my proper project on Wednesday, which I will write more about next time.

On Tuesday my mum Skyped me as soon as I was home, and had to tell me that my grandad had passed away during the day, which was a huge shock.

I know that I've been very lucky as my grandad had been a huge part of my life. We saw him every weekend as children, he stayed with us at home a lot, and came on almost every trip to Ireland as well, so I've got lots of lovely memories with him. I realise that however long I think about it and however much I rephrase, nothing I write on here could really do justice to those years of memories, and I'm really just very glad that I got to spend as much time and have as much fun with him as I did.

The news was especially hard to deal with being in essentially completely new surroundings and so far away from home. I was very glad that I was staying with the family, as they were really nice to me when I was upset, and I can't even imagine how I would have felt if I was staying in a hotel by myself as was the original plan before moving in to my flat.

The rest of the week passed in a blur, with lots of biscuits and then baths in the evening. I carried on going to work, more to make sure I had a distraction during the day than anything else, and they were very accommodating with me organising to go home in a fortnights time as well. I could feel myself being withdrawn in the office, and ordinarily I would have given myself a hard time for not making the most of the opportunity and continue getting to know my colleagues, but I had to let myself off. The only other thing I remember about that week was opening a bank account on the Friday. My boss had been really helpful and not only set up an appointment for me, but also came with me. I managed to do the majority of it myself, and only had to ask him for clarification once or twice, which I was proud of. I did have an embarassing moment walking out of the bank though, where I went to thank them and "Gracias noch mal" came out...clearly the transition from German to Spanish wasn't going quite as smoothly as I thought.

It was a very tough week, but I suppose that's part and parcel of the Year Abroad, which is why I'm including it as a blog post, although it's a lot more personal than usual. I got through it, but at the end I wanted nothing more than a big hug from my family.