Hello again readers! Thank you to everyone that has been following along, somehow it is already one week into October. This month will be exceptionally busy between the school schedule and multiple trips, but that will just make it all the more memorable. Speaking of trips, this past weekend, my friends and I went on our first one! We visited the beautiful and buzzing city of Barcelona!
Traveling outside of your host city on an independent excursion is scary that first time. No matter the confidence you have in your Spanish, trying to figure out signs, schedules, directions, and maps remains intimidating. Thankfully, the friends you’re traveling with are either there to help where you may fault and/or to commiserate with you over the confusion. Either way, traveling around with the new friends you make abroad is exciting and a perfect bonding experience. Our trip to Barcelona was decided fairly last minute, about a week out, and we purchased train tickets and an AirBnB all together. Although that brought some stress because train tickets to Barcelona are pricey, every dollar was worth it and we were all in it together. The train station in Alicante is pretty small and straightforward, with under 10 platforms all in one line. We were grateful for the lack of packing restrictions for a train so that we could stuff our bags full of snacks bought from the supermarket under a department store here in the city! Now, although train rides are very picturesque and more spacious than a plane, this did not do much to distract from the length of the ride. A train from Alicante to Barcelona takes 5 hours, which is especially not very fun after the day of class and exams we each had. However, transport like that is just part of the journey, so make sure to enjoy that as well! Once in Barcelona for the weekend, we did a lot of walking, ooh-ing and ah-ing, and a few classic tourist locations. We took the metro to the center of the city to start our Saturday morning, which I highly recommend if possible rather than taxis all the time. We took taxis at night since it was a bit of a walk between the metro station and our AirBnB and we did not want to make that walk in the dark, but the metro is the cheapest and most straightforward way to get around in a populous city like Barcelona. Since we all use the public bus or tram day in and out here in Alicante, it was an easy choice for us. But getting back to our experiences once in the city; on Saturday, we visited La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a very famous basilica that has been under construction for hundreds of years because in 1926, Antoni Gaudí died suddenly and the project was suddenly without an architect. Since his death and a major instance of destruction between 1936 and 1940, restoration to the Basilica has moved slowly under the leadership of collaborating architects and Gaudí’s disciples. Inside was gorgeous and incredibly tall, filled with towering stained glass windows that made soft rainbow beams of sunlight cover the walls and floor. I personally have lost my connection to faith in a higher power since leaving high school, but La Sagrada Familia was quite obviously an incredible place to feel connected to something bigger than yourself. Our Barcelona Sunday was spent at Parque Güell, another location that Gaudí was a part of. Park Güell is an urban park that is a World Heritage Site, and it has classic Barcelona mosaic works. There are sculptures of different animals or large fairytale-inspired houses all covered with mosaic pieces of different colors and patterns. The mosaic art was beautiful and the tree-covered pathways felt like a strange little sanctuary within the craziness of Barcelona. Between this place and La Sagrada Familia, our group definitely felt like we saw some of the most important and beautiful locations of the city. Our first non-mandated excursion outside of Alicante was an important experience of international travel and traveling together as a group of girls that have only known each other for four weeks. With the bigger trips we have coming up soon, Barcelona was definitely a perfect step to feel confident in our abilities to plan a trip, get around a new city, and have a great time together. I would definitely recommend to any study-abroad students reading this to not be afraid to visit somewhere outside of your host city, especially if you are in Europe. And if you’re specifically studying in Spain, get yourself over to Barcelona!
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The last week of September 2021. This week was important for a few reasons. First off, it was the week of my first exams here in Spain. Second, it was the first week of two new classes, and finally, this week marked the end of my first month abroad. A third of my semester completed. Some days, it has felt like the month creeped along and that I’ve been here for ages. Other days have shown me that time moves very quickly, especially when you’re not counting how long it has been. September 4th, the day I arrived in Spain, simultaneously seems like a different life and a day from last week. Although I ache many days for the comforts and loved ones of home, FaceTime is a wonderful invention and the ending of this month proves that our time abroad is very temporary (even when it doesn’t feel that way). And what a whirlwind these next eight weeks will be.
However, the focus of my post this week is not philosophical musings about the passage of time. With the ending and beginning of multiple courses this week, it seems fitting for me to talk about what school has been like while abroad. As it says in my About page, I am a double major of Environmental Studies and Spanish Studies at Susquehanna University, a university that requires time abroad from all of its students. The Spanish Studies major specifically requires an entire semester abroad in a Spanish-speaking country and includes course requirements that can only be achieved abroad within its curriculum. Here at the University of Alicante, I am enrolled in two Spanish Language/Grammar intensive courses and three Cultural Content courses. The two language courses and one of the cultural courses are each only 4 weeks long, so I only take a maximum of 4 classes at one time (October will be that 4-class month). The week is the ending of my first Spanish language course. Partaking in a 4-week course was strange after fourteen years of half-year or full-year classes, but it proved to be beneficial for my adjustment here. Up until the start of this week, my Spanish language class was the only one I was taking, which was a blessing after the typical summer brain deterioration. The class size was small, with the majority being from my American program. There was another girl from a different American program, three international students from Russia that all were in their mid-twenties or older, and a Brazilian mother of two. A strange combination of stories and lives, but all with the same common interest of learning Spanish at a higher level. Our professor was very friendly and energetic, always making sure everyone understood the topic before moving on. A strange custom we all were introduced to on our first day was that professors in Spain introduce themselves by their first name, and the students all refer to them by their first name all the time! Calling your professor Señor (last name) seemed just completely unheard of. After so many years in the American school system, I think most of us American students just avoided referring to the professor to avoid the peculiarity of it all. With four weeks of learning behind me and a flurry of studying these last couple days before our exams, I can say with certainty my Spanish has improved. All the grammar we learned was review but seemed to be presented with a new sense of assurance than most of us could get from American language teachers. We were loaded with lots of new vocabulary, a majority of which will probably be out of our heads by the end of next month, but there is a tingle of self-pride when you remember the perfect random word for a random conversation. Studying Spanish here feels more like a connection to a culture rather than picking up a hobby. This week also began two of my new Culture Content courses; one about Gender and Language and the other Tourism and Gastronomic Culture. It is exciting to begin classes where we will discuss cultural issues or themes within Spain and very often compare them to the United States. The gastronomy class will include practical learning as well, such as learning to make a Spanish dish and trying Spanish wines and visiting a big market. I know, a very strenuous education I am partaking in here, right? This practical learning, though, will most likely end up being some of the most fulfilling lessons because they will provide me with skills to return home with and connect back to the daily skills or activities of my host mother. Learning the language is one of the most important parts of being enrolled here in Spain, but gaining a better understanding of Spanish concepts of sexism, equality, tourism, and more will provide a clearer connection to what being a Spaniard really means. Taking exams is not fun in any country and neither is beginning new classes with different people, but this opportunity to learn about Spanish culture will be endlessly important both for my degree and my future life, even just having empathy for another culture. This week has been pivotal in all these ways and even though the daydreams of home have occupied my mind while thinking about one month ending, there is a strong sense of excitement for these next two months and all that my classes will teach me. Until next time! Hi everyone! Thanks so much to those friends and family and anyone else that has been keeping up with my Spain blog. It means a lot to know that everyone is so interested in my travels! I may be a bit later this week, but here is this week’s discussion!
This week involved my first excursion to another city in Spain! Last weekend, my friends and I took a boat to the nearby island of Tabarca, but that was a small island for the afternoon. This Saturday, my program went to Valencia for the day! Valencia, Spain is a city about 2 hours away from Alicante and is the third largest city in the country. Valencia is filled with futuristic architecture, including the “City of Arts and Sciences”, and is the native home of paella. Within the modern areas of the city, Valencia has an old part of town where historic, glorious buildings are maintained and flooded with visitors. On our walking tour of the antique city area, we visited La Lonja, a true civil Gothic building that used to be the city’s silk and commodity exchange, the Mercado Central, which is basically a giant indoor farmer’s market, and The Museum of Bellas Artes, an art museum that hosts works mostly dating back to the 14th- 17th century. All of these buildings showcased the history and culture housed within Valencia. Besides visiting these grand locations, our day in Valencia was also spent bonding as a program group and enjoying the people-watching among the streets. Here we learned that there is a Spanish wedding tradition of bursting loud firecrackers when the newly-married comes out of the church. These loud bangs scared us unassuming Americans hoping it wasn’t guns coming out of a church, but our tour guide quickly and jovially explained the tradition just told the town square that two people just finished their wedding! The streets of Valencia also were filled with the buzz and clinks of many dining locations; the city is known for its fantastic food and dining. We passed many small tapas restaurants and an entire paella stand at the Central Market. Finally, Valencia’s ancient architecture boasted intricate marble carvings on many buildings. These carvings were of figures such as babies with serpent lower halves, religious figures, fruit, and angels. It was fascinating to see works such as these up close and realizing how incredibly long ago they were created by hand. Our first full-day excursion to another area of Spain gave us a greater appreciation for historic architecture, the bright building colors, famous artworks, and memories with a growing group of friends. Can’t forget the ice cream either, another famous popular dish of Valencia! Although we still have many cities left to see both here in Spain and beyond, our day trip to Valencia this weekend helped us feel more connected to the rich history and beauty of the country we are spending our autumn in. I look forward to learning more about so many other European cities! Check my photo galley for pictures from the city! One of the things I was most looking forward to from this time in Spain was the food. Food and making meals from it holds a special place in my heart. Although I don’t cook very often, it is a fascination of mine and I’ve saved many recipe videos, majority of which are pasta dishes which won’t come as a surprise to anyone that knows me. I find cooking exciting and rewarding, and food represents love and comfort. Making a meal of fresh ingredients feels like an appreciation of the Earth and its resources as well as an appreciation of your own capabilities. With this interest in cooking settled in my heart, living in Spain seemed like a fantastic gift for my stomach and my recipe book. These past two weeks eating and dining in Alicante have both met my expectations and brought surprises! The first thing we had to get accustomed to was the meal schedule. Spaniards eat very little breakfast, typically just a toast or pastry with a coffee. Every morning, my housemate Haley, another student from Susquehanna, and I eat a piece of buttered toast and a bowl of cereal with a small glass of orange juice, and an espresso with milk for Haley. Although eating the exact same thing for breakfast everyday is a little strange on paper, we are typically sleepy enough from our 7am wake-up to not mind. Eating out for breakfast is still an activity here, but the dishes are not nearly as large or as savory as you would find among the clinking dishes of an American diner. Next on the meal schedule is lunch, which is such an important meal that comida, the Spanish word for food, also translates to mean lunch in Spain and Mexico. As a part of the siesta tradition I mentioned last time, most people return home for lunch midday and eat as a group. This is the meal with the biggest portions and is typically eaten between 2 and 3:30pm. In my experience, most lunches focus on a pasta or rice dish with fruit as a dessert. Haley and I have often eaten rice with meatballs, pasta dishes, or paella. For anyone that cannot return home for a home-cooked lunch, a packed lunch is prepared, a phrase that strangely has no Spanish translation. A packed lunch almost always consists of a bocadillo, a sandwich made from fresh bread that can contain any ingredients, but ham and cheese, sometimes with tomato, are one of the most popular versions. Personally, I have never been much of a lunch person because I always had an aversion to the typical school lunch sandwiches (peanut butter, deli meat, etc.), so it was always a difficult meal for me. As the days have passed and the pasta has been consumed, however, I have grown to enjoy the bigger lunches, even the bocadillos! The dinner meal provided the biggest need for adjustment, at the very least because of the timing. Dinner in Spain does not hold nearly the same importance as it does in America as a time for a family meal and big plates; lunch takes its place. This is especially true in the summer months because the heat keeps people from wanting to eat heavy, warm meals. Our host mother told us a day or two into our stay that our 8:30pm dinner time is actually early solely for our benefit; dinnertime in Spain usually may not take place until 9:30, 10, even 10:30pm because the food just usually isn’t in large portions and lunch takes place later than Americans are used to. This was shocking to a girl used to the American suburban tradition of a family dinner taking place around 6 or 7pm. Although Haley and I still sometimes sit around with growling stomachs the hour before dinner, we have grown used to the dinner time and greedily enjoy the meal, which also seems to be bigger for our benefit since our host mother typically eats something very small for dinner. Dinner usually consists of a meat and a vegetable dish, occasionally with a third dish but this is rare. This is also the meal when we have a sweet treat for dinner, though the fruit always comes out too. I appreciate the Spanish traditions and eating schedule and am growing used to them, but the American family dinner is hard to forget and I do look forward to returning to that tradition of ours. Another food tradition that has been fascinating to learn about is tapas or pinchos, which are essentially a Spanish version of appetizers. It is not a daily tradition for everyone, but many people go out for tapas and a couple drinks in between lunch and dinner, typically around 5 or 6pm when places reopen after siesta. There are many different kinds of tapas, but a few of the most common are croquetas (fried dough balls filled cheese, potato, etc.), mini fried chicken or calamari bites, or cured ham with cheese. The tradition of after-work drinks and appetizers is definitely not unique to Spain, but drinks are rarely ever had without food and the types of tapas available are not likely to be found at a millennial happy hour. The tapas part of the Spanish eating schedule is also another reason why dinner is eaten so late; with all of the nice weather, people want to stay out with friends and split dishes and only return home to eat a small dinner so that they don’t wake up overly hungry. Our group of abroad students here have definitely been enjoying the tapas period of time to reunite after siesta and bond over drinks and strange little fried foods. Although I have not yet encountered many recipes to bring home yet, the food of Spain has been interesting and delicious and strange and fun all at once. The food is fresher than in America, though still not always straight-from-the-farmers-market type of fresh. They eat packaged deli meat and cheese, desserts, and frozen vegetables just as we do. Even though my meals abroad have not always been quite what I expected, it has so far still been the appreciation of ingredients and labor of love I have always admired about food and cooking. Also as a quick P.S.- sorry my photo gallery has not been updated! Importing photos from phone to computer is proving difficult and there are too many to AirDrop, but they will be there once I figure it out! Thanks for all your interest! Hola amigos! My first blog post written in Spain is finally here. Currently I am writing during the siesta time of day, which is a Spanish tradition of resting, generally between the afternoon hours of 2pm and 5pm. Many stores close for a few hours, most classes end, and people return to their homes to unwind. A siesta can involve reading, watching tv, getting homework done, scrolling through TikTok, or sometimes an actual nap. The siesta tradition is a year-round thing, but the midday summer heat makes it even more necessary than during any other season. If there’s anything from this semester that I want to take back with me, it’s the siesta.
A week ago today, our flight journey began to come to Spain. That time went by quickly, and yet at the same time I feel like I’ve been here for longer. It seems that will be a similarity between my time here and my semesters at Susquehanna: the days drag but you look up and suddenly the week is over. I have been making an effort not to count my remaining days here in order to not make the time seem slow, because soon enough I will look up again and will be in a taxi with Alicante fading away behind me. So, with week one completed, I am determined to work at remaining present and grateful before these 12 weeks are finished for good. Connecting to these lessons, my blog this week will focus on homesickness. A bittersweet curse-blessing that plagues all of us fortunate enough to have lovely home lives. Personally, my life in Baltimore, MD involves a very close-knit family, a loving boyfriend, kind friends, and an area that never leaves me bored or wanting. Not quite an easy thing to leave behind for 3 months. It is likely obvious to anyone traveling for a long period of time that you will miss the people you love and are used to seeing everyday. The unexpected difficulty is coping with being uncomfortable. Although I have desired expanded experiences and a more assured sense of self-sufficiency and these were reasons I decided to go in the first place, I knew who I was at home and who loved me. Coming to this country to make new friends in a new city with my comfort mechanisms far away in the United States has been a difficult transition from the life I love and understand. However, if you feel this way too, not all hope and happiness is lost. My main tip was mentioned before: don’t count how many days or weeks you have left with each one that passes. Do you ever notice how time moves so much slower at work or school when you check the clock every three minutes? It’s the same idea. I am a planner and like to know what is ahead, so at first it would make me feel better to understand how many more days are left or how many weekends there are to fill. Though in the next moment when I had that number and it seemed so high, all I brought to myself was nervousness and sadness because it seemed like this would take forever. As the days became filled with a school routine and fun activities, hours going by turned into days going by which turned into the first week ending. It may seem like a comfort at first to know exactly when you will be reunited with home, but knowing the number doesn’t make time move quicker; only enjoying yourself does. My other tip for homesickness is to not be afraid to want to talk to people from home. You may feel silly for having a moment of missing people from home while sunning on la playa, but you aren’t- you’re loved! Set up times to call people from home as often as you want, or even just call unexpectedly. Write emails, buy postcards, send pictures. You aren’t wasting time in this new life, you’re balancing and maintaining the one you’ve curated for so long. Instant technology is a miraculous thing and is at your disposal. Don’t be afraid to take those hours of self-care and talk to your loved ones. You will feel better for it. This brings me to the end of my post for this week, and I can’t end it without giving a bit of credit to my grandma that gave me these pieces of advice before I ever gave them to the Internet. Being homesick doesn’t mean you aren’t grateful or ecstatic to be abroad, it just means you are blessed with a life full of love and people worth missing. Just don’t forget to be as present as possible because, at least for me, this experience is only 12 weeks long and home is forever. Soak it all in! And remember to check out my photo gallery page for pictures from this week in Alicante! Hi everyone! First blog post of the semester! I really am excited to be running this blog and keeping up with updates on how this semester abroad is going to go. This week, starting with August 30th, I am spending most of it at home here in Baltimore, MD because my program in Alicante does not begin until this Saturday. My flight departs Friday afternoon (New York time) and I will arrive in Alicante on Saturday afternoon (Madrid time). Since I cannot yet make posts about my Spanish experiences, this week’s post will be about my journey choosing to study abroad! In all honesty, the program in Alicante was not my first choice; however, what happened over time to lead me into being part of this program solidified my belief in the saying, “Everything happens for a reason”. Last school year during the GO Long application period, I chose Salamanca, Spain as my first program choice- and I got in! I chose Salamanca because it is a smaller, quieter area of Spain, which is more akin to the surroundings I am used to, and it had lower program costs due to being in less of an urban area. With my acceptance to Salamanca flagged in my email inbox, I spent the rest of my sophomore school year set to go there come fall. However, those plans got severely changed when the SUNY school running the Salamanca program cancelled it less than the two weeks after I had come home for the summer. My feelings in reaction to the Salamanca program were confusing. I felt sad because the excitement about going abroad had begun to bubble. I felt nervous because I had nowhere and no one to live with if my fall semester was to be spent in Selinsgrove. The most surprising emotion I felt, though, was relief. Even though going abroad and spending the autumn months sunning in Spain and practicing Spanish sounded amazing, my homebody tendencies had often kept me up with anxiety about my decision to leave for 4 months. Then, all of a sudden, the decision was off my shoulders and the door was opened for me to stay close by my family and friends and everywhere I was comfortable. Despite this relief flooding my heart during the first read-through of that cancellation email, I couldn’t quite get myself to jump through that door into staying in my well-worn in life here in the States. In the days following while grappling with the decision to either stay or go to another program, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would be disappointed in myself if I gave up on the idea of studying abroad for a whole semester. It had been a big leap for me to make that decision to leave for so long, and resigning to a shorter, though still potentially incredible, trip felt like it would be a big step backward on my progress. With all these thoughts swirling around, I made the choice to join the program going to Alicante, Spain for the fall! Going back to that “everything happens for a reason” idea, Salamanca being cancelled and my risk taking choosing to go to Alicante ended up being the best course of action that could have happened for me. Although Salamanca’s romantic and historic buildings and the quieter country atmosphere would have been a very valuable and enjoyable experience, Alicante is a Spanish town right on the beach- who doesn’t love the clear blue waters of a Spanish beach? The Alicante program was also made shorter so that the participants did not have to go through the arduous visa process, which also means coming home to family sooner! I also have a friend that will be participating in this program with me, all the way through our flights there right down to coincidentally getting placed in the same apartment together for our host stay! Salamanca is a lovely city that I hope to be able to visit while abroad in the coming months, but the benefits I will experience with being a part of this new program demonstrates that endings are usually beginnings, even if we can’t see that at the time. If anyone has an experience that relates to this lesson, please comment below! Soon you will be seeing pictures and reading stories from my days in Alicante. Until Saturday, hasta pronto! |
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