This recount is also just less than 2 weeks since it occurred.
I've left the airport and lined up to get a taxi. Still confused at how the line works I get gestured at to walk in front of one taxi to go to the other side road to get in another taxi. So I get in, the driver only speaks Spanish, I show him where I'm going on my phone, all is well. The driver seems quite nice, he even turned off the meter for a bit when he took a wrong turn. He explained that the smell in the air is from an olive oil factory nearby via gestures, the English word for "oil" and the Spanish word for "factory" - 'fabrica' - a word I actually remember from Duolingo! We take some very narrow streets and then a dirt road to the hostel I booked for this first night. I only booked 1 night here since it was cheap and the uni refused to pay my accommodation for 1 more night. Even though I found later they paid for a post-doc in my lab to have 6 nights instead of just 5. If you read some of my previous posts you could probably tell I was fed up with the admin, and just wanted the trip to be approved so I could go in the end.
Anyway, I had to call the owner of the accommodation as there was no clear reception area. I was also using my normal mobile plan just on roaming, so everything was costing me money at this point. The guy comes out, shows me around, records my details, etc, he seemed nice and welcoming, at first. The first thing I do is go have a shower, I felt so gross after almost 2 whole days on a plane or at an airport. I wasn't given a towel, and I didn't want to go and find the guy so I just used my t-shirt cause I really didn't care at this point. I just wanted to be clean, eat and sleep. Then I go to the kitchen where there was a vending machine with 2-minute/instant noodles. Then the guy approaches me making sure I can use the machine, yeah that's fine, but then he says I can cook it in this other room and not the main kitchen. I saw this other room previously and it was right near my dorm, so I thought sure why not. There I got offered any plates, cups, cutlery I needed and free bottled water to drink. I'm thinking, okay great maybe he just thought I wanted to be separate from all the young guys, I appeared to be the only female there at the time. Me being me I was still a bit sus, but I knew my exits, I had access to what I needed and some boiling hot noodles in broth, what more did I need, lol.
Then he comes and sits with me while I'm eating, and trying to converse, with his limited English and my obvious lack of Spanish. Now I'm wondering, is this a cultural thing, or is this just because I'm a young female. He also starts to compliment me, now this is extra sus to me. Eventually, a lady comes by and it turns out she's the one I'm sharing with, and shes British so we can actually talk to each other. I was so thankful to see another female. She had to go make her dinner in the common kitchen, so I stayed where I was to finish my food then I was going to head to bed. While she's gone they guy and some other guy (similar age) come and sit with me again and talk Spanish with references to me but not actually talking with me, which was creepy. So I washed up my plates and said I'm going to leave them to their business and head to bed.
The British lady soon joined me in the dorm, with a plate she had to take from the room I ate in, because it turns out there were no plates or cups in the common kitchen. Which was a bit unusual in my opinion. Then we get talking and it turns out her and the other guests never got offered anything that I did, so unfortunately it turns out the "niceness" was likely because I'm a young female thing.
In the late morning after some sleep the British lady offers me a lift to the hotel that the uni booked, and I gladly accepted. I was able to check in before midday, and the place was lovely! So much nicer!
If there hadn't been another female there I probably would have locked myself in a room much earlier. But then I would also have to find a way to book a taxi to get out of there which would have been challenging too. I count myself very lucky that she was there, and could speak English, and offered to give me a lift!
____________________________________________________________
Afterthoughts
I wouldn't have been in this situation if the uni would have just paid for one more nights accommodation. I even told them I was going a day early for medical reasons (migraine) and was completely dismissed. The administration staff I dealt with didn't even acknowledge my medical concerns and I was told "it's normal for our staff and students to arrive the day before and to arrive 2 days before is not permitted and has to be listed as "personal leave" in which the university will not cover any costs for.
Sure I could have booked somewhere else, but I'm a full time student who earns less than the minimum wage. I already had to pay for another weeks accommodation myself as meetings with other academics at research facilities and university are also considered personal leave and not to be covered by the university.
On top of all of this I could add that I'm autistic, from a low income family on welfare, and an inexperienced traveler, but should those factors even be important? Surely their staff and students health would be more important? Even if I didn't experience a foreign man trying to manipulate and take advantage that I was a young female tourist that didn't speak the language, why did the university give me such a hard time when I asked to go an extra day early for health reasons? Why do meetings with other researchers not count as work? I may not have been a 'victim' or abuse or assault, but I still feel like a victim as the university has taken advantage of me and put me in potential harms way.
Now that I have had time to reflect on everything, I feel quite angry with the university.
