Hannah-Mai Jones

Now: 

Hi, my name is Hannah-Mai Jones and I am currently studying Nursing and midwifery studies. I enjoy this course very much as this is the vocational area I would like to work in in the future. In my spare time when I am not in college or work, I like to spend time with my friends and family. Staying active is especially important to me, I play rugby, and this is my way of relieving any stress or worries that I have. Once I step onto the pitch, they all seem to disappear.

Monday 4th of April: 

I have prepared myself by packing all the clothes that I will need and making sure I have my Uniform for work placement. I have made sure that I have packed the documents that the workplace will need. I have made sure that I have my passport, European health insurance card, Digital covid certificate, Digital locator form and a negative antigen test before flying.

Friday 8th of April: 

We are lucky with our accommodation; it is called Calle Constancia 6. It is in the centre of Málaga and is within walking distance of anywhere we want to go. I am sharing an apartment with two girls from my course. The apartment is a big open plan room with two single beds and a pull-out sofa bed. The kitchen is small but has everything we need.

Monday 11th of April: 

Today is my birthday!! Two of the girls from the trip brought me out of the house to go to the shopping centre and when we got back everyone was in my room and sang happy birthday, had a cake for me and decorated the room with balloons and banners. I thought that I was going to be sad, but they made my day incredibly special. The nursing home that I am working in is called Residencia Pinares De San Anton. It is about 45 minutes away from the apartment including the bus and walking a little bit. My role in the nursing home is a health care assistant. The nursing home is quite different to the way we work at home. I feel as though I am not using any of the skills that I have learned in college in this setting. There is no infection, prevention control measures put in place, the nurses do not change their gloves after each resident, I have not seen any hand sanitizers around the home, nor have I seen the sluice room. The risk waste and sanitary items with bodily fluids get put into the same bin. They do not use any sliding sheets or hoists to move the patients and the beds do not raise so you must bend down and lift them to put them into the chair/ wheelchair etc. The residents do not have call bells and must shout if they need help. These factors made me unhappy in the workplace and I would not recommend any group to go there in the future. I was disappointed that I only found out the day before going to Málaga. I thought we would have been placed into an antenatal clinic, but I understand why we could not with covid still being serious.

Thursday 14th of April:

I have adjusted to the culture in Spain very well, I try to use as much Spanish as I can when in restaurants and I have tried many new foods. I respect their culture very much and it was amazing to see the Samana Santa while over there. The translation of Semana is week and Santa is holy. Semana Santa is also called La Madruga, which is the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and it is the most important religious celebration in Spain. There were huge crowds each day of the parade. There are some language barriers in the workplace as we may not be able to understand them at some points and that may not be able to understand me. Google translate became my best friend over there but before I knew it, I was saying phrases and was able to communicate more.

Tuesday 19th of April:

In my free time I like to spend my time outdoors, most of the time we go to the beach and swim. I really enjoyed going on the boat trip, the sun was shining, and it was 26 degrees. Everyone's spirits were bright, and we enjoyed the views very much. We made the most of this day, we went along the port and went to the markets along the way.

On this day we went to the Alcazaba and the views were out of this world. In this picture we went to the top of a mountain to look at the sunset over the city of Málaga. It was hot walking up the mountain but when I look back it was worth it. I will always remember this day.

Sunday 24th of April: 

Throughout the mobility I have learned many things about myself, I have learned how lucky I am to have been privileged to go on this trip. I learned that the people who I was surrounded by care about me very much and I have gained some incredibly special friends for life. I have learned that I would like to travel and learn about more cultures

because I really enjoyed surrounding myself in the Spanish culture. This mobility has given me confidence and has made me look at things from different perspectives.

Thursday 28th of April:

If I were to give advice to the next Erasmus+ group it would be to go there with an open mind, try to immerse yourself in the culture and make the most out of each day. Try new foods, meet new people, and enjoy yourself as much as you can. The European era people and all the Bife teachers who go with you are all so kind and supportive throughout the trip so there is nothing to worry about. It is the trip of a lifetime, and it has changed my perspective on life completely. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed myself, I have one hundred percent met my soulmates and I hadn't even spoken to them before the mobility.