Words of Wisdom

There will always be shoulda, coulda, wouldvas when reflecting on the past. Nevertheless, I have very few regrets from my semester abroad. I really got everything out of it I wanted and it was amazing (if the last four months of exuberant blog posts didn't convey that). So to end, I want to offer my advice on studying abroad to anyone out there who finds it relevant:

(1) Take as many classes at local universities
(2) Take ALL your classes in Spanish (they are actually easier than the English ones and they help your listening, reading and writing IMMENSELY)
(3) Live in a residencia, it may not be glamorous but there is no better way to meet and become close friends with international students (my one mini regret was that I didn't, although I still was really lucky with my living situation)
(4) Really try and stay away from American scene. You didn't spend all that time and money to hang out with other Americans, there is plenty of time for that when you get back.
(5) Take advantage of your new environment to let yourself go. Be as friendly and open minded as possible and don't be afraid to take risks and make a conscience effort to get out of your comfort zone.
(6) Do an intercambio program. Its awkward at first but really rewarding in the end.
(7) Respect the local norms and customs. May sound obvious, but you would be amazed at how disrespectful and arrogant many american students are (and then they complain that Spainards are mean or rude, ugh)
(8) Try to fight the inevitable deterioration of your Spanish when you return by finding channels of immersion, like spanish-language television, music, the language social networking site, Palabea. 
(9) Keep a blog ; ) not only is it an easy way to keep everyone at home updated, it gives you a great time capsule of your experiences that will always be with you.

Back to Reality

Looking back on the whirlwind semester in Barcelona is like looking back on a dream. Did it really happen? Did I really visit all those amazing places, meet all those interesting people and have all those memorable adventures? I still vividly remember the surreal feeling of getting off the L7, walking up to my apartment, and packing the last of my clothes before catching a cab to the airport to go home. I still remember the heart wrenching moment when I saw Barcelona fade into the distance from my window seat. It was exactly a month ago today.

Was it too good to be true? Being back in central New York makes Barcelona seem even more like a figment of my imagination. How did I survive going from a one stop light town to living in Barcelona? And how am I able to survive my return. Barcelona has spoiled me. Never again will life be that carefree, exciting and mind-opening all at once. Whether it was trying a new night spot, wandering through a new part of town, or meeting a new friend, everyday offered something unique. But life is not like that in upstate New York. Coming home brought me back to reality. The problem is what I used to be content with, just isn't enough anymore. I have not stopped feeling restless since my return from a life of constant activity to the doldrums of home.

What I have to thank Barcelona for most is my new sense of adventure. I discovered through various travels that I love finding my way around a city. Its like putting a puzzle together and every time you piece together a new section you begin to see the whole picture. While I have always dreamed of moving to a city after graduation, Barcelona has given me the confidence to know I can do it. So will it be Boston, NYC or Philly? I have heard good things about Chicago? Also, I have never been to the west coast. Who knows, maybe I'll find myself back over the pond? As the chapter of my life that this blog captured comes to a close, my hope now is to find my Barcelona again. What I mean is I hope to find a place and a life that not only offers me adventure and excitement but also that inspires me and leaves me feeling content. Not to much to ask for, right? Let's hope not.

To Have & To Have Not

At this time next week I will be back in the states. It's crazy to think about. I have been told everything will feel strange and somewhat foreign going back home. Although, I can't really imagine that being true. Leaving Barcelona is going to be so tough. I have said that studying abroad is somewhat like going away to freshman year of college, except you don't get to come back. However, at the same time there are somethings I am gonna be happy to go home to. Besides the biggies, like family and friends, here are some of the things I am looking forward to coming home to and the things I am going to miss the most.

Things I will be looking forward to coming home to:
>Good tap water
>The dollar
>12hour clocks
>American clothing sizes
>English speaking men
>normal sized beds and pillows
>having a cell phone
>saran wrap in sturdy cardboard

Things that I am going to miss dearly:
>The sun
>The metro, L7
>Plaça Joaquim Folguera
>Spanish tortilla
>Spanish men
>Legally being able to go to bars
>Hearing Spanish everyday
>Being able to use Spanish phrases all day and people not thinking its annoying
>City life & being able to do something new, fun and exciting everyday
>Everything...

"You can sleep in four months"

This quote was a little piece of advice my mom gave me in the first week. After all, adjusting to the nights that literally last until sunrise was no small feat. But with the start of classes and weekend trips, this concept has become a rule to live by. This weekend, in particular, proved just how much one can do while suffering from sleep debt.

Pierce, my friend from Cazenovia, is studying in Florence this semester and decided to take a trip to Barcelona this past weekend. He didn't think to check with me first, because I had already booked a trip to Ireland. I was so mad at him because I would have loved showing him around Barcelona. But anyway,  his plane was supposed to arrive Thursday evening, and my flight didn't leave until Friday morning, so at least we had one night to hangout. Problem was, his flight was delayed six hours and we weren't able to meet up until around 1:30am. Nevertheless, it was still great to see him. I gave him a cheat sheet of places to go and things to do in the city. Then I walked him and his friends around Las Ramblas and gave them a overview of the sights. They were particularly surprised by the amount of prostitutes out and the men walking around selling cans of Estrella Damm. Ah, Barcelona.

After dropping Pierce off at his hostel, I headed home and got to bed around 4am. Two hours later, I was up and getting ready to leave. We caught the metro at 6:30am and then the bus to the airport at 7:30am. We flew Ryanair which is a discount airline (our flight there was listed as 1 euro before the plethora of taxes). The catch is, you have to fly out of smaller airports outside of the major city, in our case Girona which is a little more than an hour northeast of Barcelona. We arrived in Shannon airport around 12:30pm and boarded the Bus Eireann to Galway at 1pm. There was standing room only for the first half hour of the bus ride, but slowing people got off so we could take seats. Finally, we got to our hostel, which was conveniently located right next to the bus station (we didn't plan it), at around 3ish.

We stayed at the Galway City Hostel, which was located right on Eyre Square in the center of town. The staff were extremely nice and marked up a map for us with all the sights to see as soon as we checked in. As my first hostel experience, it wasn't to bad (although I could just imagine my mother's reaction, haha). There was free computers with internet, towels and breakfast were complimentary, and the showers had hot water and doors.

One thing we noticed right away was our Spanish mindset. We kept thinking "now how would I say this is Spanish?" and saying "gracias and lo siento," despite being in an English speaking country. Although at times I thought it might actually be easier to understand spanish than the Irish accents. Also surprisingly, there were a lot of Spainsh college students around. I had a conversation with a few of them and apparently Galway is a popular place for Spaniards to study abroad. Who knew?!

First order of business was to eat the best fish & chips in Galway at McDonogh's (or chips and beans for Kelsey and I, cause we don't really like fish). We learned that Emily's absolutely favorite food is fish and chips, and I am pretty sure she lived off the them while were were in Ireland. After that we had our first of many Guinness' at the Quay. These two stops took us down the main pedestrian street of Galway called Shop St/High St/Quay St, depending on which section you were on. (Although, street signs in Galway are even harder to locate than in Barcelona, and there are no crosswalks anywhere. It's like a free for all). It was pretty much an Irish version of las Rambles.

For dinner on the first night we were picked up by Marissa's dad's receptionist's niece, who lives in Galway. I know, random connection, but I guess the Irish are just that hospitable. She had never even met Marissa or Marissa's Dad, let alone us, and she drove us to her house and made us dinner. Her husband and her gave us tips on what to do and her mother-in-law, who literally lives right next store, brought us over a box of fingers (twix without the caramel, but still good) to take with us. They were so incredibly nice and it was very interesting talking to them (and trying to understand their accents!).

After dinner she dropped us off at our hostel and we went out to a bar. While we were sitting at this bar I glanced up and saw Duffy Hartnett, a fellow Cazenovian who I probably hadn't seen since I graduated! I called his name and waved at him until he recognized who I was. A couple of his friends were from Buffalo and knew Kelsey too, so we ended up hanging out with them both nights we were in Galway. Small, small, small world! They took us to the one club in Galway, and while it was laughable compared to the ones in Barcelona it was still a good time.

The following day, Saturday, we walked around the entire town in one afternoon. We took a nice long walk out to salt hill, saw the cathedral, walked through the farmers market, bought Claddagh rings, watched some six nation rugby and of course enjoyed a pub crawl at all the best pubs in Galway (thanks to the advice from Jen, the Irish couple and the hostel folk). We meet a group of welsh men away for a weekend bachelor party, dressed as pimps (jewelry, fur coats, chains & all), who were pretty funny. Also, there was another group who we laughed about Will Farrel youtube favorites with. We were amazed how long we lasted but I supposed Barcelona had prepared us well. 

On Sunday, we once again had to wake up after only a few hours asleep to catch the Bus Erinann to Dublin. We had definitely lucked out with the weather on our trip. Both days the temperature was only about five degrees colder than Barcelona and sunny! Which we assumed is a rarity in winter Ireland. So I was looking forward to watching the sunrise over the Irish country side and taking pictures of sheep, but I completely passed out for the whole four hours (yes, it only takes 4 hours to drive across Ireland). It was probably a good thing that I got the extra sleep because once we got off the bus we went straight to the Guinness Storehouse. The customer service women was very nice and let us put our bags in their office for no cost while we toured the 7-floor shrine to Guinness. At the very top we got our complementary pint of Guinness and sat in the gravity bar overlooking the entire Dublin skyline. We still had a couple hours to kill before out flight left, so we went to the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head Inn, which was within walking distance from the Guinness Storehouse and our bus stop. There was live Irish music playing and the food was delicious (Emily got fish and chips...again).

There was a slight delay on the flight home, but if you take into account just how much traveling we did over the weekend, it all went very smoothly. Despite all of us feeling exhausted and like we gained twenty pounds from all the rich, fried food and filling pints, the weekend was absolutely amazing. If anything, it just made me want to go back again. I still have not seen the Cliffs Jen had recommended, the Joyce landmarks, and the sheep on the hills that Jessie was so fascinated with. Plus, this is definitely a place I would want to come back with my family. So, so long for now Ireland, I will be back!

Carneval: Living up to the hype!

So Carneval is like Halloween...but crazier.

We went to Sitges, a little beach town about 40min south of Barcelona that has a relatively famous Carneval celebration (think of it as the Spanish equivalent to Provincetown). Once we were dressed and ready (see photo album), we headed to Sants Estació to catch the train. We knew we were in the right place when we started to blend in with the crowd. People were dressed up in all different types of costumes. We went for classic carneval attire- masks, wigs, etc. Others were dressed up as superheros, matadors, lady bugs, rubix cubes, gladiators, etc. The train ride was absolutely free which was nice, except it was so crowded we had to stand shoulder to shoulder for the whole 40mins! (It went by quick though). Also, on the train ride it started raining. Now I have been in Spain for almost a full month now, and this was the first time it rained...murphy's law. But it stopped by the time we got to Sitges and only drizzled a little on and off throughout the night.

We had been told that when you go to Sitges for Carneval, expect to lose your friends and belongings. Although we definitely did not come back with all the same people we left with, I think we did a pretty good job. Collectively, we lost two cameras, a wallet and three masks (I only lost my mask, thank god). But I am pretty sure the consensus is, the experience was well worth it. We went in a couple bars/clubs, but the real party was on the street. (One of the hardest things to get used to is how drinking in public is perfectly acceptable. I constantly feel like I am breaking the law and am gonna get in trouble, but I am not!) This celebration also wasn't just for young adults, there were people dressed up ages 10 to 60! The whole town had such a festive atmosphere. Random people would come up and take pictures with you, there was one street were a group of matadors were pretending everyone was a bull, and music was playing from every corner. It was definitely a place, an event, and a night to remember.

Alive and Well

I received some complaints about not updating my blog recently, which I actually appreciated very much. I usually assume no one really read it, so its good to hear! Anyway, the reason its been over a week since I added anything was because classes have started. So this new thing called tarea (homework) is cutting into my free time. Here are the classes I am taking:

Advanced Grammar & Usage:
My mandatory Spanish language course. The teacher reminds me of a Galician Señora Ryan and the class even feels like I am back in middle school (we play games and/or listen to canciones (songs) every day).

Barcelona: Cuidad & Historia (City & History):
Self-explanatory. This is one of my classes a UPF, a local university. The class is taught entirely in castellano (what most spanish speakers refer to as Spanish I guess?). I decided to take it pass/fail.

Images of Spain in Contemporary Cinema:
This class will probably be my favorite. It is my second course at UPF. We watch a movie during our Wednesday class and talk about it on Monday, thats it. The only catch is that it is in Spanish (although subtitles were in English, whew!)

Sport & Society in Spain:
This is a sports sociology class. The teacher is British and very funny. I have this class with Julia and it is my earliest (10:15am). So we can help each other get there on time. This is my one course taught in English.

Language, Culture & Communication: Hispanic Perspectives
This is the class I picked up after dropping my third, extremely difficult UPF course. We just discuss language, culture and communication... regarding Hispanic peoples. Can be fun but is mostly boring, thank god Marissa is in the class. 

Right now the classes in Spanish require a LOT of concentration, but I am excited because I know my comprehension will improve immensely due to them. Also, after convincing my department head to let Language, Culture & Communication count towards my Spanish minor, I will be able to complete my minor over here.

The classes are only M-Th which leaves plenty of room for weekend trip. So far I have planned trips to Galway, Granada, San Sebastian/Bilbao, and Berlin/Prague/Amsterdam (spring break). My roommate also has family in a small town in France, so we might go there for a weekend in March. All very exciting!

P.S. I put up two new photo albums, check them out! >>>

Tidbits II:

>School supplies are different here. There is no lined paper or folders. Notebooks have graph papers and are much longer than in the US (Although, they do have Bic four-color pens!)

>To say chubby in Spain you say hermoso, which also means beautiful!

>Taxi drivers in Valencia are A LOT friendlier and talkative than in Barcelona.

>Kids get out of school at 5pm (the bus stop is right outside my apartment window) and they take normal city buses, not school buses.

>If you talk to a European for more than a minute the chances of them asking you "who is going to win, Obama or Hilary" is VERY high

>Spaniards are very defensive about their siesta break. They adamantly insist they do no actually nap during the day. (Nevertheless, I still find the mid-day siesta break very inefficient. I see stores bring in all their stuff off the sidewalk and close their shops around 1:30, then have to put everything back out around 3:30 only to put it all away at 6:30.)

Valencia & Tarragona

Part of IES orientation includes a weekend trip. Ours was to Valencia. The third largest city in Spain is known for its oranges and paella (neither of which we ended up eating) and is located three hours south of Barcelona. When we heard we were going to Valencia, we were all a little bummed. Past semesters had gone to places like San Sebastian, Granada, Sevilla. All much more well known destinations in Spain. Our Spanish friends and even a Spanish guide book made it seem like Valencia was the city to skip.

Nevertheless, as we discovered Valencia is very much a city on the rise. The Ayuntamiento de Valencia (city hall), has developed various project to revive the city including a beautifully designed, Gaudi-inspired arts and sciences compound (see pictures!), a Formula 1 race track, and a renovated port area that is home to the America's Cup (big sailing competition). Also, after a devastating flood, the city redirected the river the city was built around to an outlying area. This created a large river bed, now turned into a leisure park, that cuts through the entire city (I didn't get a picture of it, but it was very cool). All of this on top a rich and extensive cultural history (which is hard not to have in Europe). My bet is that in a few years Valencia will have a much better reputation.

The guide books of Spain mentioned Valencia had a vibrant nightlife, which we were looking forward to. Our tour guide told us Calle Caballeros was the place to go. It was one of those quintessential, curvy, European streets complete with one-person sidewalks and room for a car no bigger than a mini cooper. While in a cab navigating through the seas of pedestrians the driver explained the key was patience. There were a few fun bars we found, including one where we Kelsey ran into an acquaintance from Ithaca who is studying in Valencia (small world), and one jam packed with people salsa dancing. But perhaps we are spoiled by Barcelona.

On the way home to Barcelona, we stopped by Tarragona. Tarragona was the richest roman settlement on the Iberian peninsula and is located only an hour south of Barcelona. It was the summer residence of Augustus and contains ruins of an amphitheater, aqueducts, and ancient city walls and streets. The city felt more like an Italian than Spanish, for obvious reasons. But just like in Valencia, the weather is absolutely GORGEOUS! Around 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. No wonder they call it Costa del Sol (I even came home with some new freckles). Our guides said that Barcelona will be having the same weather in about a month (not that its much worse, just about 10 degress colder).

Overall, we had a very good time. Waking up around 7:30 every morning took its toll (I was able to sleep on the bus like never before) but it also allowed us to make the most out of the weekend. This might sound bad, but perhaps my favorite thing about Valencia was the hotel room. IES put us in a 4star hotel with big, soft beds, clean, nice bathrooms and the best breakfast buffet I have ever had. Not that my apartment in Barcelona is horrible, it is just no 4 star hotel. Nevertheless, seeing another Spanish city made us all very glad Barcelona is our home, and it never felt more like home than when we were away.

Tidbits:

(For Pierce)

>Spaniards do not eat peanut butter (you have to pay 4 euros at El Corte Ingles for it, as Kelsey discovered)

>Pillow cases are abnormally long, with openings at both sides

>Kissing on the cheek is VERY prevalent (which is something I find very awkward)

>Hijo de puta (son of a whore) is a strong insult, but puta madre (whore motherish) means great or fantastic

>There are no late night places to eat or order from, unless you go to McDonald's (which is surprising because they really do go out until dawn)

Hippies are the same everywhere

This weekend we decided to do some cultural sightseeing. Our theory is to see as much as we can before classes start to know what is worth going back to. On Saturday we visited Montjuïc and on Sunday Parc de la Ciutadella (slideshows below!). Both these places are definitely worth a second visit.

To get to the top of Montjuïc we took the funicular railroad to Montjuic and then the gondola lift up to the castle. It was during the gondola lift that we discovered Emily, my roommate, is terrified of heights. I was scared she was going to throw up or pass out or both. But she just gave me her camera and put her head down. It probably didn't help that the entirely glass gondola was swinging a little more that usual due to the wind. The highlight of the visit was definitely the views. If you look at the slide show you will see eight panoramic pictures of the city in a row. They start at the port, then the old town, l'Exiample and so on until the outskirts. It was quite impressive. After a walk around the castle we went to the Joan Miro museum just a little bit down the mountain. From the rooftop terrace of the museum we could see the sun set on Barcelona, giving all the buildings a beautiful Mediterranean glow (see slideshow).

Parc de la Ciutadella, as our RA Paula had told us, is a great place to go on Sundays. As we walked through the park we saw the zoological museum, the lake and the Cascada fountain (under constuction). Apparently, the park was home to a large citadel used to control subversive Catalyunians by force. This much hated symbol was demolished as soon as it was recovered by the Catalynians and made into a park. Perhaps the park's representation of nature over 'the man' explains why it is such a draw for the hippy population of Barcelona. The grassy avenue inside the park becomes a festival of sorts on Sundays when dread-locked, guitar-playing, ribbon-dancing Barcelonians congregate. We passed the entire afternoon admiring the spectacle. The scene was reminiscent of the Commons in Ithaca. To prove to Kelsey once and for all that I can juggle, I went up for one of the performers and asked if I could try (learning that pelota does in fact mean ball in Spanish, just not in the context I used it). The same performer also tried to teach my apartment-mate, Niki, how to baton twirl.

The only thing that drove us away from these sights was the temperature that occurs at sunset. When we first arrived in Barcelona, we were confused by the amount of down jackets, hats and scarfs worn by the locals. Especially when we were hot in just our fall coats. However, our upstate New York tolerance is fading and while the weather is still averaging mid 50s, we are beginning to feel the chill. But don't get my wrong, I am definitely NOT complaining!

"Your not going to learn any spanish in Barcelona"

Before leaving for Barcelona, several people said that very phrase to me. My Spanish adviser and the modern languages department chair were both visibly angry at my choice of abroad location. This made me question my decision, despite knowing Barcelona was such a unique, exciting city.

However, they were very wrong. In fact, while having drinks with a bunch of native university student I mentioned this, to their shock and incomprehension. They explained that Catalán is mainly spoken in the household or between close native cataluynians friends. If they were to meet someone of the street, they said they would always start with Spanish. Well this was so nice to hear, I had already noticed its truth. In just six days, I feel my Spanish improving, my confident rising, and my accent having more of a lisp (When pronouncing certain sounds, like a 'C', Spainards make the 'th' sound and it sounds lispy. For example, they say gra-th-ias instead of gracias).

This isn't to say Catalán, the other official language of Catalunya (the state of which Barcelona is the capital) is not prevalent. We arrived on the Ephipany, January 6th, which is essentially Christmas day for the Spanish (the children receive gifts from three wize men, los tres reyes, on the night of the twleveth day of Christmas). The city was filled with Christmas decorations and signs saying Bon Nadal (merry Christmas) all over town. This still remains the only Catalán word I have retained, and probably because it reminds me of Rafa Nadal (the tennis player). But I hope to learn a few basic phrases to show the native Barcelonians my appreciation of their culture. I hear they like that.

How many blondes does it take to...

...figure out the wireless internet in the Hotel Gran Ducat-Barcelona? Apparently three. So now I can update you all on our first two days of living in Barcelona!

All of us made it in one piece, although Kelsey's luggage is still MIA. The hotel is very nice, minus the receptionist speaking about as much English as Brian speaks Spanish and the odd earthquake sensation that occurs about every half hour. To celebrate our first night, we treated ourselves to a pizza and a bottle of cava (Catalunyan champagne) in a restaurant over looking Las Rambles (the central pedestrian street of old Barcelona).

Today, the first full day, was full of educational opportunities. After I checked in, we bought our metro tickets and went exploring. Our plan was to check out everyone's apartment as a way of learning the metro. Mine, being the furthest from the city center, was first. We thought we found it, but my key wouldn't work. With neither cell phones or a working pay phone (it just ate my two euros), we decided to move on to Kelsey's. (Don't worry, after meeting up with my RA I figured out that we were looking at Plaza St. Joaquim instead of Plaza Joaquim Folguera. Oops!). Kelsey's apartment is within walking distance and one metro stop away from mine and borders a beautiful park. Hayley's is in Eixample, the more centralized barrio, where we had our first menu del día (three courses for a fixed priced, muy barato y delicioso!)

After dinner, we headed to our first class, international strategic management. The course is a regular course at the Universidad Pompeu Fabra's business school, ESCI, so it started today, but the rest of the classes don't start for a few weeks. The course is offically taught in english, but the professor and about half of the students are Spanish. Let's just say there should be some interesting stories.

Well, we are off to get something to eat for dinner. Yes, it is 11pm, but we are trying to get in the swing of la vida Español. Adios for now!

Four days & counting

In four days I will arrive in Barcelona, Spain for my semester abroad.

For those of you interested in my exploits overseas, I thought a blog would be an easy way to keep you updated. I will be posting anecdotes and tidbits as the semester goes on. Pictures, slide shows and possibly videos will also be available. Feel free to comment and ask me questions!