So I’ve officially been Spanish for over a month… MIERDA (Damn/Sh*t). With every day of my knowledge of the city and the language growing, I couldn’t be happier with where I am now. The meals are still absolutely amazing and the trips I’ve taken – absolutely breathtaking. I really am truly, truly blessed to be where I am sitting right now – vacation. It really is a vacation here (sorry Mom + Dad). Sure, I wake up and go to class 4 days a week for roughly 3 hours, but I have 3-day weekends every single weekend.

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to go to Cadiz (beach town about a Jersey shore’s distance from Yardley) with my host parents on their sailboat and even able to bring my buddy Josh Sklar. We sat back and enjoyed the sun (and a bit of the cold air) on a boat while Juan Carlos and Paloma took care of batting down the hatches. If there is one thing that I have never really gotten any good at in my life, it’s boating. I have had two significant others with in my life, both with boats. My knowledge of boating has remained, as it was when I first stepped on the first boat. Now, imagine having to try and help prepare for departure to sail the great sea – only in Spanish. I was completely useless. Still had a blast though and Carlos and Paloma were worthy sailors with or without me.

This weekend, I just got back from my first of three trips to Granada. After arriving a wee bit late Friday morning, me and 5 of my friends departed in a BLAH BLAH Car from Seville on about a 2.5 hour car ride to Granada for only 10 Euro. It was definitely a cool experience leaving our lives up to someone that we didn’t know/didn’t speak the same language with. We then arrived in Granada and got situated in our super amazing hostel that was on a hill overlooking Alhambra which is like the 2^nd most visited monument or something in the world (don’t quote me on that please…).  10 euros a night I believe which was a steal when we got great Wi-Fi, hot water, bunk beds, and a common area that we all chilled in and got free breakfast in.

After getting situated, we departed for Alhambra for probably my first of three times and I’m definitely looking forward to going back another two. Amazing Moorish palace situated on a hillside in Granada with amazing views, architecture, monuments, etc. A 15 Euro ticket got us inside for one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to. Spent about 4 hours there, blindly exploring the site. WARNING: If you buy tickets in advance, make sure you get to your assigned palace time on time or else you won’t be admitted (happened to my buddy – Sorry Jake).

We departed Alhambra around 5…? And headed to one of the greatest parts of Granada – FREE TAPAS! When you buy a drink in Granda (beer, coke, cocktail, wine, etc.) you are also given a free tapa to go with it. It was so freaking awesome. Had these awesome mini bagel sandwiches that were absolutely delicious and that ended up being our dinner before we went back to the hostel, planning on going out, only to end up staying in. Our hostel hosts were super duper cool, teachers from Australia and the US, and when we went in there to hang before going out we were entrapped in song and spirits.

The next morning we were up at 6:30 (believe that?) and headed off for a taxi ride to the bus station and then a 40 minute bus ride to the Sierra Nevada to ski. So after only returning from the Swiss Alps about 2 weeks ago, I was in a bit of a shock at the Spanish efficiency compared to that of the Swiss. The laid-back stereotype isn’t really something I have experienced here in Spain that I was supposed to be prepared for, but I felt it for about 3 hours on Saturday morning. Got our ski gear relatively quick but when we got in line for a 40-minute wait for lift tickets, I started to get a little bit antsy. Finally after getting our tickets we headed to the main gondola to head up to the summit, another 15 minutes. Then we prepared to finally ski, right?! Wrong, waited probably the longest I have ever in my life to get on a chairlift (35 minutes). Picture a toll booth exchange and how after all of the lanes emerge from their toll booths they have to converge into way, way fewer lanes – that was my chairlift experience in the morning. Luckily, made the decision to head off to the far left and right sides in the morning and afternoon which was far less crowded and had some really awesome long runs with awesome views. After the morning it really was an amazing skiing experience, not the Swiss Alps but definitely not the Poconos either. A bit icy at times but still probably the second best ski-day I have had in my life.

Returned to the hostel around 8 and got ready to go out for some more tapas and experience more of the night life only to kind of fail, ending up in a Burger King at about 1 am. Headed out of our hostel around 9:30 am Sunday and got back into Seville in another BLAH BLAH Car (I don’t even know if its supposed to be in all caps but I kinda like it) and got to Seville around 1. Had an amazing time and can’t wait to go back in two weeks with my parents and again in about a month with my program.

Here are some pics of my trip to Cadiz Below

Captions listed as follows… (Uploading pictures here has been one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever done)

1. The boat

2. Cpt. Juan Carlos

3. 1st Mate – Curro

Location: Cadiz, Spain and Granada, Spain

I went to Switzerland this past weekend and here’s a little guide I’ve made for anyone thinking about going. Sorry I’ve been out of it for a bit here. Pretty confident that I officially have my bearings here…

1.     If you’re not into extreme sports (skiing/snowboarding, sky diving, cliff jumping, paragliding, etc.) you are most likely going to be wasting your time/money there.

2.     I found a relatively cheap flight from Seville to Geneva for around $180 round trip which is a pretty good deal considering Seville is a hard airport to fly out of.

3.     I booked my trip with Bus2Alps and am pretty confident you got the most bang for your buck with this program. Arrived Thursday night around 6, took a quick free train into Geneva (spent 3 hours there), and got back to the airport in time for our 2.5 hour bus ride to Interlaken provided by Bus2Alps where our guides were helpful. The Bus2Alps trip gets you transportation to and from the airport, a hostel for 3 nights (Balmer’s Herberge), a few discounts on activities in Interlaken (not two day ski package though), and free breakfast. They were also really helpful with my group in particular because we needed to get back to the airport earlier than the normal time to catch our flight so they got us another bus free of charge, which saved us an expensive train ticket.

4.    If you are a big skier/snowboarder, book the two-day ski package with Bus2Alps. It was like 180 euro for 2 days of lift tickets, rentals, and transportation from the hostel to the summit of Jungfrau peaks. The first day we had a ton of snow and visibility was super tricky and we had zero depth perception but it was cool because it didn’t feel like we were on planet earth. The second day it was clear and we could actually see the amazing area we were in so I’m definitely glad I got the best of both worlds in that. IF YOU LOVE TO SKI, DO THE TWO DAY PACKAGE. PERIOD.

5.     We went night sledding Saturday night, which was pretty surreal. We took a gondola up and about a 45-minute sleigh ride down that was very similar to Mario Kart. I have to be honest, we probably could’ve done without the night sledding because it was a little pricey (78 euro) and we all kind of felt pretty shitty after indulging in a plethora of Swiss cheese…

6.     Where we ate: One thing about Switzerland is everything is pretty expensive so be prepared to splurge on your food purchases. There was a supermarket around the corner from our hostel that had reasonably priced goods so if you’re trying to save money I suggest buying some food to make a sandwich to bring on the mountain or something when skiing.

The first night we ate in Geneva at this little shop that made soft pretzel sandwiches. I had Brie pretzel sandwich (8 Swiss Franc) that was absolutely incredible. If you have time, definitely go into Geneva from the airport – the river area is SO awesome.

The second night we ate at a place next to our hostel called Little Thai which was real good and reasonably priced ($20). It’s a tiny place so make sure you go earlier in the day to make reservations.

The last night we had our fondue meal through the Bus2Alps sleighing trip that I mentioned before

If you have any other questions about the trip, send me an email at dqm5213@psu.edu and I’d be glad to answer them. Stay tuned for more guides like this for my other trips!

Location: Interlaken, Switzerland

Hey friends. Sorry it’s been a bit since my last blog but I have good news… PICTURES! Had some pretty awesome couple of days since my last post. Mother Nature has been trying to make up for the incredibly dreary first couple of days here with tons and tons of sun so I have some pretty neat ones.

I went on a group tour to the infamous Catedral y Giralda on… Wednesday? Tuesday? someday this past week and was in pure awe at the incredible structure and the history within it. Christopher Columbus is believed to be entombed there (don’t say anything bad about him in Spain btw). Class has been time consuming but we did get to play Spanish Guess-Who, which was super fun. I had an exam in class on Friday that I thought wasn’t super easy but was fair.

Booked my first official Euro-trip to Lagos, Portugal in April that I’m super pumped for. Trying to finish my Spring-break plans to Italy by the end of this week which is exciting. I’m extremely blessed that the biggest problem I’m having right now is deciding where I want to travel to while I’m here. I’m lucky to have some great friends that have done the abroad experience before to help weigh in on my decisions so I’m so stoked for that.

This weekend I spent alone because my host parents headed to their house in the Sierra Nevada Saturday and Sunday but I kept busy visiting La Plaza de Espa�a and watching a power-walking competition, which was absolutely hilarious. Also enjoyed a really nice view from the river on Friday night (shout out to my girl Trinity), which was incredibly beautiful.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting my host sister for the first time. She just finished up her master’s degree and speaks three languages and is going to be incredibly smarterer than. Other than that, I got a week filled with some projects and an exam before I wrap it up and go into my first week of real classes. Enjoy some of these pictures below and I’ll be posting again real soon.

Location: Seville, Spain

As I write this post, it is crazy to think that I’ve been in Seville for less than four days. I’ve never done so much in that amount of time in my entire life. I’ve decided that filling you all in on my first day would be more beneficial than describing every day since my arrival so… here we go! Tuesday night I departed from Newark airport with my new friend Marni and we shared a lovely 6-hour flight filled with a solid hour and a half of uncomfortable turbulence and zero hours of sleep. Landed in Lisbon, Portugal in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Spent about three more hours in the airport before our departure for Seville on a plane no bigger than a school bus, which was definitely an experience. We came out of the plane and no sooner than getting our luggage did Spanish hit Marni and I right in the face.

We were greeted by our new Spanish guides and program coordinator of CIEE speaking only in Spanish which was overwhelming at first and then kind of cool when I didn’t actually sh*t the bed and was able to speak back to them. Shortly after I was given some things for orientation I was placed in a cab alone with nothing from America but my luggage.

On my way to my new home for the next 4 months, I sat in silence with a million thoughts racing through my mind. This wasn’t ideal because I made the mistake of thinking that riding shotgun was the right call – it’s not the write call in America, why would it be the right call in Spain Dan? But, there was a light at the end of the tunnel on this cab ride. An elderly woman was on the side of the road kneeling down and looked like she was in serious pain. The first thing that popped in my mind was “Oh my God, these crazy Sevillanos will run me over the moment I step off the sidewalk!” The taxi driver could clearly see my thoughts written all over my face and said something along the lines of “Esa mujer esta enferma” which means that that woman is sick, confirming that my fear of deadly Sevillen drivers was as silly as it sounds as I write this now. Thought this was an important tale to tell because it was the first time, and most likely not the last, a complete stranger was going out of his way to be kind to an overwhelmed American student. I mean, sure, the people from my program (which is called CIEE by the way if I haven’t already mentioned it) were very kind to me too but I kind of paid for that kindness. This guy had no obligation to do anything else than drive me to my homestay and maybe help me get a bag out of the car. Loved that.

Ok, now let me try to speed up things a bit. So I arrived at my new home running words and sentences through my head about what my first conversation with my new host parents would be like. Unfortunately, it was a bit anti-climatic because it turned out that CIEE sent me to my homestay a little earlier than I was supposed to arrive. Luckily, my new host-dad Carlos arrived at the house about five minutes after I got there and I was in, it was real. Carlos is a doctor and left work briefly to let me in.

The house is beautiful – four floors and I basically have a floor to myself on the fourth floor, equipped with an awesome bedroom and bathroom. After getting settled in with unpacking I needed to take a little bit of a nap while my host parents were out. I awoke to the wonderful smells of Paloma’s (host-mom) cooking and I introduced myself and enjoyed a delicious meal similar to a hamburger with out the bread.

After my meal and some small talk with Paloma, she walked me to my groups meeting point called La Iglesia de San Roman which was super nice of her since I was a bit nervous that I would get forever lost in the streets of Seville. Met my awesome group and group leader Pablo and we were off to orientation at the CIEE Center. After a brief orientation about our program we were off for tapas (small plates) for dinner at a really cool outside bar/caf�. Got to know my group better and couldn’t be happier with such an awesome crew. We went out for a few drinks after but called it a night pretty early because we were all pretty beat. 

I want to apologize for any grammar or spelling errors in this blog. As most of us in my group are finding out, our English knowledge deteriorates as our Spanish knowledge improves. I’ll fill you guys in on my first week of classes next week. Sending love to my family and friends and thanks for reading!

Location: Seville, Spain