El fin

This is my last blog post! I want to thank everyone who read my posts and has been a part of my study abroad experience. I am forever grateful and I will never forget these last few months.

Para mi última entrada me gustaría dar las gracias a todos los que han sido parte de mi experiencia en el extranjero. Estoy eternamente agradecido y nunca voy a olvidar estos últimos meses.

To my parents-

Thank you for supporting me in my study abroad adventure and allowing me to explore the world. I promise I'll come home!

Gracias por apoyarme en mi aventura en la extranjera y permitirme explorar el mundo. ¡Yo prometo que voy a volver a casa!

A mi familia española-
Mar, Nando, Tata, Luis y Miguel - thank you for the roof over my head, the Spanish conversations, the laughs, and for making me feel at home.

Gracias por el techo sobre mi cabeza, las conversaciones en español, las risas, y por hacerme sentir como en casa mía.

A mis profesores, especialmente Angeles - 

Thanks for the life lessons, classroom lessons, and for reminding me that I am here to study too. I really have learned so much this semester.

Gracias por las lecciones de la vida, lecciones de la clase, y por recordarme que estoy aquí para estudiar también. En verdad, he aprendido muchisimo este semestre.

To my friends and travel companions - 

We will never forget these trips and I am so happy we have been able to experience Spain and Europe together. I can't wait to look back and remember this semester (even when everyone else is sick of hearing our stories).

Nunca olvidamos esos viajes y estoy tan alegre que hemos podido experimentar España y Europa juntas. No puedo esperar para recordar este semestre (incluso cuando todos los demás están hartos de oír nuestras historias)

And to my roomates - 

Stephanie, Liz, Dani, and Anna - I know the part I will miss the most is the time after dinner, laughing about anything and everything. Thank you for the laughs and the memories. It wouldn't have been the same without you, I love you guys!

La parte que mas echo de menos es el tiempo después de la cena, sentándonos y riendo de cualquier cosa. Gracias por las risas y las memoras. No habría sido lo mismo sin vosotras, ¡Las amo!

If I could rewind back to January 9th, my first day in Madrid, and start this whole thing all over again I would do it in a heartbeat.


Back to the U.S. I go, full of bittersweet emotions. But this gringa's adventures aren't over yet and I hope to return to Spain one day soon. As for now, it's on to the next chapter and off to Mallorca and Greece. Thanks for reading!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Time to Americanize

When I woke up this morning I signed on to Facebook and saw that just about everyone had updated his or her status with the news of Osama Bin Laden's capture. For the first time this semester I wished that I was in the U.S. today. With class over and finals underway it is beginning to sink in that I will be home in a very short time. It seems like I just arrived and have so much left to do! Just as I begin to feel like I live here it is time to pick up and move back to Minnesota.

Almost 4 months ago: my first day in Madrid with my roommates!

I am sad to leave the land of tortilla espanola and spanish speakers. I will miss the travel adventures, meeting new people and even staying in hostels. I will have to re-train myself to say "thank you" instead of "gracias" and "what's up" instead of "que tal." I am leaving the hustle and bustle of Madrid for the lazy summer days on Lilac Lane. Most of all, I will miss sitting around the dinner table with my roommates and laughing about our days.

But I am excited to see my family and friends and taste the glory of Chipotle again. I will attempt to drive a car again after months of riding the metro. The ease of reaching people via cell phones has become a foreign concept, I have almost forgotten that you can simply call someone in the U.S. to get a hold of them! Even though I know people will get annoyed with all of my "this one time in Spain..." stories I am still excited to tell them. It is going to be a challenge to "re-americanize" myself but I think I will fall right back into the swing of things.

All of the places I have been lucky enough to travel to this semester! (And the ones I will travel to before heading home)

I am coming home with many new friends from all over the world, a perspective of world politics from outside of America, and a great appreciation for Shakira and cold milk that is not from a box. This semester has been the most educational semester of my life and a majority of the learning took place outside of the classroom.

After my last final, I am taking off for Mallorca and Mykonos with my roommates Stephanie and Anna. It will be our last hoo-rah of our semester abroad. After our last jaunt around the Mediterranean its time to head back to the good ole U.S. of A. Here I come America!

¡Hasta la próxima! 

Cuando me desperté esta mañana y me accedí en Facebook yo vi que todos mis amigos habían escrito  sobre las noticias de la captura de Osama Bin Laden. Por la primera vez este semestre deseaba estar en los EEUU hoy. Con clases terminadas y el inicio de los exámenes finales, me doy cuenta de que voy a estar en casa en un tiempo muy corto. Parece que acabo de llegar y todavía tengo tan mucho para hacer aquí.

Estoy triste para irme del mundo de tortilla española y los españoles. Le echaré de menos las aventuras y viajes, encontrar amigos nuevos y quedarme en hostales. Necesito practicar diciendo “thank you” en vez de “gracias.” Pero más que todo, voy a extrañarle el tiempo después de la cena con mis compañeras de cuarto. Estoy emocionado ver mi familia y mis amigos y comer Chipotle. Va a ser difícil entrar en mi vida americana pero puedo hacerlo. 

The best of times and the wurst of times

This blog title is misleading because Munich really was the best of times and not at all the worst of times! But there was a lot of wurst involved. Liz and I arrived Thursday afternoon and headed to our hostel to meet up with Stephanie (who had spent the last few days in Budapest). It felt great to be reunited!

Prost!

We spent all of Thursday exploring the city and eating currywursts in a beer garden. Currywursts are one of my new favorite foods, it is a sausage in a kaiser roll with curry powder and ketchup and mustard, DELISH! The beer garden consisted of a counter where you could buy beer and picnic tables everywhere. Everyone was sitting and enjoying an afternoon beer. We finally found some space on the end of a picnic table and of course we happened to sit down next to four Americans, two of whom were from Edina! Small world.

Later that night at our hostel we witnessed a very strange game played by a group of big British men in suits. They filed in and dispersed themselves around the common room. One of the men would say something and the rest would all do something in unison. And it was usually something weird like laying on the ground face down or jumping in a man pile or sticking your legs in the air and kicking. But it was pretty entertaining!

Liz in the British man pile

Fun fact: a Munich breakfast really is 2 sausages and a half liter of beer! Our hostel workers told us this and we didn't believe them. But sure enough the beer gardens and tables are filled with locals chugging beer bright and early in the morning.

On Friday everything was closed because it was Holy Friday. There is a law in Munich that you cannot dance on the streets from midnight the night before until midnight on Friday or you will be arrested and fined. Not much space for a girl to get her groove on!

English Gardens

My favorite part of the city was the English Gardens. They were so beautiful and teeming with people relaxing by the river. One of the rivers is also known for being the sight of many nudist colonies. We didn't see any "colonies" but we did see quite a few groups of old men sitting in a circle and reading the newspaper naked. This was some of the ugliest scenery I've seen all semester so we walked past pretty quickly. The rest of the park was beautiful! There was a part of the river with rapids that happened to collide in just the right way and create a place to surf! It reminded me of the surfing rides that are popular in waterparks except this one was au naturale.

Surfin' Munich style

Munich was one of my favorite cities so far. It was beautiful, full of history, and the people were so welcoming. I even looked sort of like I fit in! We met lots of new friends and had a great time in Deutschland. I think if I had the opportunity to study abroad in another European country I would pick Germany indefinitely.

Now I'm back to the hustle and bustle of Madrid and trying to remember what it feels like to speak Spanish! I will add more pictures from spring break to my Flickr at the beginning of next week. This weekend I will be trying to soak up Madrid life and study for finals at the same time. I can't believe I have so little time left!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Anoche fui al espectáculo de las clases de baile de SLU Madrid. Mi compañera de cuarto que se llama Liz toma la clase de ritmos latinos. Ella aprendió el merengue, la bachata y la salsa. Parece que todos los estudiantes de SLU están en una clase de baile y por eso estaba emocionada ver los bailes porque he oído sobre ellos todo el semestre. También en el espectáculo había estudiantes que tocaron instrumentos y cantaron. Mis compañeros de clase tienen muchos talentos. Fue entretenido y me divertí mucho. Mi parte favorito fue la salsa y el merengue. Los chicos son cómicos y a ellos les gusta actuar mucho. Para representar España, había muchos bailadores de flamenco. Fue divertido ver mis amigos de los EEUU bailando el flamenco en un espectáculo y Liz bailó hermosamente. ¡Después del espectáculo yo deseaba que hubiera tomado una clase de baile porque se veía tan divertido!

Czech it out

We arrived in Prague early Monday morning after a very cozy night on a train. Prague is the most beautiful city I have ever visited and there is striking architecture everywhere you look. Our hostel in Prague was a bit quieter than the one in Krakow which made for three relaxing days.

 

The first day we spent exploring he city. We saw another Easter Market, had some bratwursts for lunch, saw the Astronomical Clock and wandered around by the river. That night we headed to a fountain show. I loved the fountain show in Barcelona so I was pretty pumped for a Dirty Dancing themed show in Prague. We got there and were greeted by a carnival. Except it was a sort of creepy and deserted carnival, not exactly what we were looking for. We finally found the show and bought our tickets. At this point we realized the sun would not have set by the beginning of the show...and the effect of the lighted fountain would be lost. So it would have been a really cool fountain show except we couldn't see any of the movie clips. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

The Prague Castle is one of the biggest in the world and it showcases quite a mishmash of architectural styles. There are museums, churches, plazas, fountains, other palaces and even cafes inside the castle compound. We crossed St. Charles' Bridge and climbed a huge hill to get there. We almost saw the changing of the guards but got lost and only saw the backs of the guards as they marched off. Then we ventured over to the John Lennon wall to take some hippie pictures.

 

We spent our last day exploring and relaxing by the river. We listened to a man sing some Beatles' songs on an outdoor patio (they love the Beatles in Prague!) and found a great bagel place that even sold hummus! I'm so glad I was able to go to Prague because so many of my friends loved it. And now I know why! More from spring break to come soon.

This week is my last week of classes in Madrid. I can hardly believe the time has flown by so quickly and I know the last few weeks will go even faster. Time to buckle down and get ready for final exams!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Un aspecto muy importante de la cultura española es futbol. Anoche un partido entre Madrid y Barcelona ocurrió y yo pude ver las señales de una gran rivalidad. Parece como un partido de futbol americano entre los Wisconsin Packers y los Minnesota Vikings. La rivalidad entre Madrid y Barcelona es una de las rivalidades más fuertes en España. Una chica española en una de mis clases me dijo que el estadio de Real Madrid no toca la música de Shakira porque ella está saliendo con Pique, el que es el jugador mejor del equipo de Barcelona. ¡Sabes que es una rivalidad fuerte cuando una persona puede negar Shakira! En el partido anoche el equipo de Barcelona gano 2-0, una pérdida grande para Madrid. La familia con que vivo estuvo en frente de la televisión toda la noche y todas sus parientes estuvieron en la casa para ver el partido también. Ellos estaban gritando mucha de la noche. Cuando alguien metió un gol, pude oír los gritos de la calle y los restaurantes cerca. Es muy divertido cuando una ciudad o una comunidad puede unir para apoyar su equipo. La experiencia es divertida y me siento como soy parte de la comunidad también.  A la misma vez, le extraño los partidos de beisbol con mi familia y mis amigos en Minnesota. Pero he hablado con mi padre y él dice que tenemos billetes para ver un partido muy pronto este verano.

Krak Attack

Spring break began with an early morning flight to Krakow! I set off with my roommates Stephanie, Liz and Anna and another friend named Kyle from SLU. We also had a huge suitcase filled with everyone's clothes and that became our 6th travel companion. When we arrived there was a bit of a temperature shock. We had been used to the hot and sunny Madrid days but Krakow was cooler and a bit gloomy but still a very quaint and beautiful city.

After checking in we were informed that the hostel was having a toga party the following night. So we headed to the second hand store to pick up some toga making materials. Who woulda thunk I would end up at a toga party in Krakow? After stocking up on supplies we went to the market square to meet up with our friends Leah and Paul. The market was awesome and we enjoyed some Polish delicacies - like bratwurst and spicy mustard, pierogis, and smoked cheese. The smoked cheese was the most interesting because it had the texture of meat...but it was cheese! It came in all shapes and sizes and it was one of the stranger things that I have seen.

Easter Market

Market Square

The toga party at the hostel was quite an adventure. We met some great new friends from Australia, Canada, America, and Poland. It was pretty funny and the Polish people probably thought we were crazy parading around in sheets.

On a more solemn note, we took a day trip to Auschwitz to tour the camps. It was about an hour away from Krakow. First we toured Auschwitz and then we walked through Auschwitz II-Birkenau (there were multiple sites to the Auschwitz complex). Auschwitz was the original Nazi work camp outside Krakow where many Polish prisoners were held. It was smaller than Auschwitz II and consisted of rows of brick buildings. The buildings showcased pictures and mementos of many of the prisoners. It was very eerie to see walls covered with the faces of people who had died in the camp. The Nazis kept everything from the prisoners so there were rooms filled with suitcases, shoes, clothing, pots and pans, hairbrushes, and even the hair from the heads of all the prisoners. Next we moved to Auschwitz II-Birkenau which was a death camp for many categories of prisoners. This camp is where the majority of prisoners died. It seemed to go on forever and I cannot even begin to imagine how many people were imprisoned there. I was really glad I had the chance to tour Auschwitz and I learned a lot about Nazi control in Poland.

into the Salt Mine

We ended our trip in Krakow with a tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mines which involved climbing down 52 flights of stairs just to get there (thank God there was an elevator to get back up). We walked for over a mile and didn't even see 1% of the whole mine! It was unbelievable, there were churches and reception halls and statues and lakes and chapels and every sort of thing you could ever imagine. And it was all made out of salt! They told us we could lick all the walls and floors because they tasted like salt. Pretty crazy and a great way to increase your sodium intake!

through the salt tunnels

Krakow was also the city of coincidences for us. In our hostel we had a roommate named Marjie from the US. We hung out with her and her friends and soon discovered that they were all traveling to Prague on the same train as us. And then we discovered we were all staying at the same hostel in Prague. On the train we had a sleeper compartment and we were snuggling into bed when someone knocked. It was Marjie...the train company had double booked one bed on the train and it just so happened to be Liz and Marjie's bed. I guess we were meant to be roommates. I also met some guys from BC and one of them happened to be roommates with my old co-worker. And then things got really weird. As we were checking out of the hostel there was a man in the lobby who looked a lot like a teacher from my high school. As he turned around I did a serious double take because it was Mr. Lally himself in the lobby of a hostel in Krakow. Talk about a small world!

Stay tuned for a post about leg two of the spring break shenanigans in Prague. Hopefully this week I will be able to post all of the stories and pictures. Hope everyone had a good Easter and safe travels!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Tuve mi primera Semana Santa española ayer. Usualmente en mi casa en los EEUU mi familia y yo comemos un desayuno grande, decoramos huevos, y vamos a la misa. Llegué en Madrid en la tarde y mi señora me dijo sobre las tradiciones de Semana Santa en España. No vi una procesión pero ella dijo que ellas son muy impresionantes e importantes en la ciudad. Para cenar, mi compañera de cuarto Dani compró unas torrijas para nostras. Torrijas son una comida muy común durante Semana Santa en España y son tan deliciosas. Aquí escribo una receta para ellas y sugiero que todos pruébenlas.

TORRIJAS INGREDIENTES:

• 1 barra de pan (mejor del día anterior)
• 1 litro de leche
• 1 rama de canela
• 1 corteza de limón
• azúcar al gusto (unas 6 cucharadas soperas)
• 2 huevos para rebozar
• aceite de oliva para freír
  

DIRECCIONES:
Se pone a cocer la leche con la canela y la corteza de limón durante unos 5 o 10 minutos, se añade el azúcar y se disuelve bien. Hay que tener en cuenta que el pan admite bastante dulce. Se corta la barra de pan en rodajas de unos 3 o 4 cm. de grosor y se colocan en una fuente un poco honda. Se cubren con la leche hasta que se empapen bien (esto es importante, porque si no quedan secas). Se rebozan con huevo (con ayuda de una cuchara) y se fríen en aceite bien caliente en una sartén honda. Hay que tener cuidado al darles la vuelta (con ayuda de una espumadera y una cuchara) para que no se desmoronen. Yo prefiero no freír más de dos cada vez. Se sacan cuando estén doradas y se colocan en una fuente. Se pueden espolvorear con azúcar y canela o cubrir con almíbar o miel aclarada.

An Artsy Afternoon

This afternoon I ventured to the Reina Sofia Museum with my roommate Stephanie. I had hoped to go all semester and this was the first afternoon I actually made it there!

Esta tarde me aventuré al Museo Reina Sofía con mi compañera de cuarto que se llama Stephanie. He esperado todo el semestre y esta tarde fue la primera tarde en que podía ir.

This is a video called "The Serpentine Dance" by the Lumière brothers and it was mesmerizing! It was projected on a huge screen and Steph and I stood and watched for quite some time. Check out the smaller, yet still entertaining, Youtube version! It was one of my favorite pieces.

Esto es un video que se llama “La Baile Serpentina” por los hermanos Lumiere y fue fascinante. Fue proyectado en una pantalla enorme y Stephanie y yo la miraron por un rato largo. Mira la versión más pequeña de Youtube aquí. Fue una de mis obras favoritas.

Francesc Català-Roca Monumento a Colón

My favorite room in the Reina Sofia was called Neo-Realism in Spanish Photography. It featured walls and walls of black and white photographs taken in Spain during the 50s and 60s. It was a nice contrast to all of the contemporary and abstract pieces in the museum. The photos depicted many Spanish cities and people. They were interesting and beautiful. We especially liked one of a very excited man with a very bored woman in the background.

Mi sala favorita en el Museo Reina Sofía se llamaba El neorrealismo en la fotografía española. Mostró muchas paredes con fotos en blanco y negro tomadas en España durante los años 50 y 60. Era un buen contraste con las obras contemporáneas y abstractas en el museo. Las fotos representaban muchas ciudades españolas y gente española. Eran interesantes y bonitas. Particularmente a nosotros nos gusta una foto de un hombre muy emocionada con una mujer muy aburrida en el fondo.

Picasso's Guernica

We saw lots of risque art as well as many modern and abstract pieces. Of course, Picasso's famous Guernica was a highlight. The fourth floor was devoted entirely to post-war art and was called "Is the War Over? Art in a Divided World." There were many political pieces that dealt with Franco's regime in Spain. One of the displays showed scantily dressed women denouncing Franco and his followers. One of the women had a speech bubble that said, "Prefiero masturbarme toda mi vida más que joder un franquisto." Type that one into a translator (WARNING: before you translate please know that it is an R rated phrase). If that doesn't get the message across to Franco I don't know what does.

I was sad that I didn't get to see more of the Reina Sofia but I will definitely be making a return trip soon to see the rest of the museum.

One more day of classes and it is officially spring break! Tomorrow afternoon we are going to celebrate with a trip to El Tigre, our favorite tapas bar, to celebrate with some tapas and sangria. Friday morning we are off - first stop Krakow, followed by a day trip to Auschwitz, three days in Prague, and the grand finale in Munich. It will be fun to experience the history and culture of Eastern Europe and attempt to communicate... Our Krakow hostel has even invited us to a toga party on Saturday night. Blog posts to come following spring break but in the meantime, feliz Semana Santa a todos!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Sandy Candy

Friday morning I was westward bound to Lisbon, Portugal!

Costa do Caparica

Once we got to the airport we realized we had made a bit of an error somewhere in the booking process because Megan was staying at a completely different hostel than we were. This caused a few problems but the workers at our hostel were really nice and sort of adopted her. They knew we were doing some sneakin' around and pushing our beds together to get her in the hostel every night but they always looked the other way. The hostel was GREAT! The workers were so fun and had lots of suggestions for us. And the breakfast included eggs, fresh baked bread, cereal and yogurt! (which is a huge step up from the typical hostel breakfast of wonder bread toast). I was a happy camper.

Praca do Comercio

Friday afternoon was hot and sunny and we walked around downtown Lisbon. We bought a kilo of fresh picked strawberries and enjoyed the sunshine. My favorite part was finding a scenic overlook of the city. But there are a lot of hills in Lisbon and that meant a whole lotta stairs. That afternoon we were lucky enough to find a free wine tasting! This was my first wine tasting and we were pretty excited that it was completely free.

overlooking Lisbon

Saturday morning we had booked an all day tour with a company called We Hate Tourism Tours. Many of our friends had done it on their trips to Portugal and it was their favorite part. Right before leaving for the tour at 10am we called to double check the location of the meeting point. At this point we were informed that the tour left at 9, without us, and the website we booked through had incorrect information. This prompted a few less than kind phone calls and 6 very disappointed girls. We had planned our whole weekend around the tour. But there was nothing we could do so we went to Caiscais, a beautiful beach, to soak up the sun and go swimming. We had quite a ball. It turned out to be one of the most fun days this semester! And I am still finding sand everywhere, including in the sandwich I ate for lunch today and the pockets of all my clothes...

beautiful Caiscais

Saturday night we had a delicious meal called chicken piri-piri at the hostel. Then we made some British friends, one of whom had lived in Lisbon before and wanted to show us the fun places to go in Lisbon. We went to a street that was filled with people. And when I say filled I mean filled. We were shoulder to shoulder and could hardly walk. I was holding my purse to my chest the whole time! It was like a big outdoor street festival except there was no special occasion.

It feels good to be back in Madrid but I am already leaving again in 3 days! This week is all about the homework and the sleep, playing major catch up before a whirlwind trip to eastern Europe.

¡Hasta la próxima!

Antes de irme a Portugal, no sabía mucho sobre las relaciones entre Portugal e España. Obviamente los dos países comparten una frontera y probablemente hay tensiones, acuerdos y cambios. Muchas personas me han dicho que no es buena hablar español en Portugal. No sabía por qué, a mí me parece que español sería más común que ingles. En Portugal yo no hablé español, solo ingles. Pero una noche un hombre me dijo que es común para hablar español en Portugal. Entonces estoy confundida y no sé si está bien hablar español. Rey Felipe II se incorpora Portugal en el año 1585 y permaneció parte de España hasta 1640. En 1585 la familia real en España no tenía ningún heredero. Entonces el rey de España también se convierte en rey de Portugal. Bajo la reina de España, Portugal luchó mucho por las causas políticas de España y más tarde por su independencia de España. Hoy Portugal es una republica democrática.

Hace tres días que hablo español y hoy es muy extraño hablar el idioma. Fui al tabaco para comprar un billete de autobús y estaba tartamudeando con el cajero. ¡Espero que mi conocimiento se vuelva muy pronto! 

Holy Toledo...a month late

Spring has sprung in Madrid! I have spent all week studying on the patios around campus and soaking up the beautiful weather. I am beginning to scramble to finish projects and papers before spring break arrives so I don’t have much to update this week. Only one more week until Spring Break! In the next three weeks I will travel to four European countries, oy. Talk about a marathon. Tomorrow morning I am headed for Lisbon, Portugal!

Dad and me by the river in Toledo

I didn't have the chance to write much about my day trip to Toledo with my parents. So here it is! (Only a month late, and in Spanish.)

Pasé toda la semana estudiando y trabajando en presentaciones entonces no tuve mucho tiempo para salir de mi apartamiento. Entonces voy a escribir sobre mi experiencia en Toledo. Hace un mes que mis padres y yo vamos a Toledo pero no he tenido la oportunidad para escribir una entrada sobre la experiencia. ¡Más vale tarde que nunca!

Toledo es muy cerca a Madrid. Los Visigodos ocupaban la ciudad en los siglos VI y VII después del Imperio Romana en España. Había una mezcla del derecho Romano y derecho Germania. La ciudad está encima de una colina grande con muchos sillares alrededores de la ciudad. También hay un rio alrededor de la colina. Hay un puente grande e impresionante para entrar. Me parece un lugar perfecto para defender la reina porque es difícil entrar y fácil para vigilar las regiones cercas.

Mi parte favorito es la Catedral. ¡Es enorme! Parece continuar para siempre. La arquitectura es fantástica y a mí me encanta el detalle en todas las paredes, pinturas y esculturas. Las salas con las obras de El Greco son muy interesantes. Estudié El Greco en instituto y reconocí muchas características de sus obras. Por ejemplo las manos y miembros alargados y el fondo oscuro. El Greco vivía en Toledo durante el renacimiento en el siglo XVI.

También en la catedral hay un capillo mozárabe. A mí me interesa mucho porque antes de esa clase no he oído sobre la cultura mozárabe. No pudimos entrar en el capillo pero a ciertas horas durante la semana hay una misa mozárabe en la catedral.

La ciudad de Toledo es preciosa y las vistas son espectaculares. Mis padres y yo nos disfrutamos la ciudad pero después de ver toda la ciudad nos duelen los pies.

¡Hasta la próxima!

¡Vámonos a la playa!

I love the city of Valencia! My friend Megan and I just spent a glorious weekend there. We experienced the paella, the parks, and the beach. To top it all off we had great weather and met some new friends at our hostel. Upon arrival, we were even greeted by some young, drunk French boys who asked us to sleep in their beds and later got in trouble with the police for spitting on passersby outside the hostel. Definitely a recipe for an interesting weekend!

Touring so many cities and going to museum after museum can get a bit repetitive. Lucky for us, we were able to spend the whole weekend laying in the grass and on the beach. There used to be a big river in Valencia but every year it would flood the city and so they decided to dry it up. Now it is a massive park that stretches from one side of the city to the other. The best part about the park is that there were no couples making out! I feel like every public place in Madrid is covered with people draped across each other in very passionate lip locks. Valencia was more family oriented with lots of small kids and dogs running around, definitely a breath of fresh air.

Speaking of fresh air, the weather in Valencia was beautiful. We spent Saturday exploring the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies, or the City of Arts and Sciences, designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela. There is a Music Museum, Aquarium, Science Museum, IMAX theater and so much more. We sat in a plaza with a fountain that was choreographed to Disney music! We felt like we were in Disney World! We continued through the city and marveled at the architecture of the museums and the water features.

We stopped to have a picnic near a little pond where there were tons of dogs swimming! It was pretty entertaining to watch them chase balls and a little 2 year old boy even pulled off his shorts and waded in.

little boy "playing" with his dog

After admiring Calatrava's work, we headed for the beach! I was excited to wade in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, but dipping one toe in was plenty for me because it was pretty chilly. So we plopped down in the sand and let the warm breeze wash over us.

¡Hasta la próxima!

¡A mí me encanta Valencia! Es una ciudad hermosa y acogedora. Subimos los Torres Serranos para ver una vista panorámica de la ciudad. Podía ver algunos aspectos en la arquitectura de las torres que hemos estudiado en clase. Por ejemplo son hechos de sillares, piedras grandes y fuertes. También, las ventanas son muy estrechas. Nadie afuera puede ver dentro de la torre pero todos dentro pueden ver afuera. Las torres son cerca del rio para proteger y defender la ciudad.

Otra cosa interesante de Valencia es el español. Es diferente del español castellano pero en mi opinión el español castellano es muy común allí. Algunas señales y nombres de lugares son escritos en valenciana pero podía entender mucho de la lengua. En Barcelona no tenía tanta suerte y no podía entender casi nada de catalán.

A class field trip: part II

Fun's not over yet!! The field trip continued as we arrived in Cordoba late Saturday night after a busy day and a half in Granada. 

Class photo in a patio in Cordoba

I was lucky enough to enjoy an Arabic dinner with a group of classmates. Two of the students, Ayub and Ahmed, are Muslim and we spent dinner talking about cultural differences and our families back home...and devouring cous-cous with lamb and hummus. Ayub and Ahmed both come from families of 13 kids but Ahmed's father has three wives. So naturally I began asking many prying questions about his family and culture and I learned a lot.

Spanish guitar player at the flamenco show

 One of my classmates, Jen, used to be a dancer and had been telling us the whole time how great the flamenco in Cordoba was. When we arrived she went to her favorite flamenco place and asked for a group discount and luckily they obliged! So we all headed to El Cardenal to watch flamenco Saturday night. Some of the dancers were national prize winners in Spain and I was blown away. Nothing like having flamenco connections in Cordoba!

Gran Mezquita

We began Sunday morning with a bang, seeing the Gran Mezquita. Cordoba was the first city to be ruled by a Muslim Caliphate in Spain. I have learned in my Spanish class that this was a prosperous and beautiful age in the city. More recently, the Great Mosque has been converted into a Cathedral and it was one of the strangest religious buildings I have ever seen. When you enter the Mosque you are greeted with rows upon rows of beautiful red and white arches, these are preserved from the originals in the 12th century. But if you step farther inside you find a Catholic Cathedral, with typical wood carvings, religious paintings and a giant altar. The extravagant Catholic decoration is plopped down right in the middle of the simple, streamlined Moorish architecture. A very strange combination. But I was happy the Catholic church respected the period of Muslim rule and built around the original architecture because it was a pretty breathtaking building.

Calle de las flores in the Jewish Quarter

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Jewish quarter and seeing the traditional Arab baths where they used to bathe the Caliphate. Let me tell ya, that guy had a serious spa routine. The class I traveled to Andalucia with is the very same class for which I keep this blog. It was really fun getting to know everyone better and seeing the architecture firsthand. (So much more interesting than when it is in books!)

I only have 47 days left of my study abroad experience. The fact that my experience is winding down has begun to kick in. I am nervous to return to the United States and get back to my old life that doesn't involve frolicking around Spain and Europe every weekend (but excited to eat Chipotle upon arrival). The hardest part will be getting rid of my new "spanish instincts," like slipping spanish words into English sentences and expecting everyone to know what I'm talking about.

On Friday I will be on the road again, this time to Valencia! I'm excited to see another autonomy of Spain but mostly I am pumped to eat some serious paella (after all, it did originate in Valencia). That's it for now, I'm currently sitting under a giant palm tree outside the library and it is 70 degrees and sunny. ¡Que bonito!

¡Hasta la próxima!

En Córdoba, vimos flamenco. He visto flamenco en Madrid con mis padres pero el flamenco en Córdoba fue completamente diferente (y un poco mejor). A nuestra compañera de clase, Jennifer, le encanta flamenco y ella nos dijo que el flamenco mejor es en Córdoba. Cuando llegamos, ella fue a su lugar favorito de flamenco y le preguntó si nosotros pudiéramos asistir por un precio reducido. ¡Tuvimos suerte porque ellos dijeron si! Estaba emocionada ver las diferencias entre el flamenco en Madrid y Córdoba. En Madrid, solo había dos bailarines y seis personas tocando instrumentos. Parecía más un concierto pero a mí me gustaba la cantidad grande de guitarra española en la obra. En Córdoba, había siete bailarines y ellos usan accesorios, por ejemplo abanicos, chales, y castañuelas. El nivel de drama era igual entre las dos ciudades. Pero los bailarines en Córdoba son ganadores de premios nacionales y tienen mucha fama. Mi favorita bailarina fue la segunda y ella bailó con tanta pasión y movió maravillosamente. Fue una noche espectacular. 

A class field trip

At the Alhambra with my classmate (and roommate) Anna

Over the weekend I took my first college field trip! My Spanish class loaded up the bus and headed for Andalucia, first stop Granada. Definitely beats St. Joe's annual trips to the Minnesota Institute of Art!

We spent Friday afternoon touring the city. We saw the Cathedral and many other landmarks in Granada. But my favorite part was wandering down a skinny little alley to do some shopping. The alley was covered in little stores selling Moroccan handicrafts and tea sets. Everything was so beautiful and different from things I had seen before!

Saturday morning we took a tour of the Albaicin, which is a neighborhood of winding streets built into the side of the mountain. Granada was the last city to be ruled by Muslims in Spain and the Moorish evidence was everywhere in this part of the city. On our tour we ran into a group of Asian tourists all wearing the same blue track suit. We thought it was pretty funny and were trying to take pictures without them noticing, but of course they did, and decided they wanted to pose with us. So we took the stereotypical yet quintessential "Asian peace sign" picture with our new friends!

The Alhambra was definitely the highlight of the weekend for me. The Alhambra was constructed in the 14th century by Moorish rulers and it is gorgeous. The flowers were budding and the panoramic views of Granada were breathtaking. I couldn't believe the amount of detail in the tiles and carvings on all of the walls and ceilings. We spent a few hours exploring the gardens, ruins, buildings and palaces of the Alhambra. We even saw a wedding party!

Alhambra

View of Granada from the Alhambra

At a restaurant on Friday night, there was a wall filled with photos of places around the world. I was excited that I was able to say I had been to a good number of places on the wall! Sometimes I forget how much I have seen and learned since I came to Spain. At the same time this semester has been a reminder that there is so much of the USA that I haven't seen.

After exploring Granada we headed toward Cordoba. I loved the city of Granada because it was so full of character and culture, I only wish we could have spent more time there. Pictures and a post about Cordoba coming soon!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Cuando salimos para Córdoba y Granada, estaba emocionada para pasar tiempo con mis compañeros y ver las cosas que hemos estudiado en clase. El viaje empecé sin Adam (porque él estaba durmiendo…) pero fuimos a Granada de todos modos. ¡Me encanta la ciudad! Tiene mucho carácter y cultura. No sabía que Granada tenía una mezcla tan grande de culturas pero fue divertido verlas y crean un ambiente acogedor y diferente de otras ciudades que he visitado en España. Disfruté tiempo con mis compañeros y fui a comer en un restaurante multicultural con algunas chicas. Mi parte favorito fue la Alhambra porque a mí me encanta el estilo de arquitectura y los mosaicos que cubren las paredes. Aprendí mucho porque entiendo mejor cuando puedo ver las estructuras de los musulmanes en vez de leer sobre ellas.