Tag Archives: abroad

Pre-Departure Musings

Florence (n.) – the capital of Tuscany; the birthplace of the Renaissance; once named one of the world’s most beautiful cities by Forbes’ Magazine; my home for the first four months of 2016
Wrapping up winter break with a visit to Little Italy, NY

Wrapping up winter break with a visit to Little Italy, NY

Ciao, my name is Angela. I am a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in international studies at Penn State University, and I’ll be living and studying in Florence, Italy for a little while. I come from a little town about 20 minutes outside of the city of brotherly love. Although my hometown and my neighboring home-city are my two first loves, I’ve dreamed of travel ever since I was little—a much bolder and far more fearless dreamer—and nothing in this world (other than travel) has ever looked so exciting! I’m not sure how I’ll process all of the “new” once I arrive, but for now, I’m just preparing myself (the best I can) to be open, optimistic, and ready to embrace everything as much as humanly possible.

Why Florence, Italy?

To be quite frank, I actually didn’t know where to go. But, I had always heard stories about Italy’s beauty, charm, and of course, its gelato. Once when I was little, I stumbled upon the words, “You may have the universe if I may have Italy,” by Giuseppe Verdi, a composer of Italian operas. The sentiment fascinated me, and travel had my heart ever since. Growing up, I continued to come in contact with beautiful images of Italian sights and splendid stories from my friend Katie Mae, who was an au pair right outside of Rome.

When it became time to choose my host country, all I knew was that I had warm and homey feelings attached to central and southern Italy. I figured, I’ve got to start somewhere if I intend to see everything, and Florence seemed like a lovely place to begin.

Three Days Before Departure

In just three days, I’ll step foot onto a plane. This makes me a little bit nervous! Although, I have traveled before—adventuring through Eastern Europe for two weeks. It was Easter break of my junior year in high school, and twelve other girls and I set out to explore Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. A little, old, Austrian man named Norman accompanied us as our tour guide along with Chief, our chaperone. Norman would tell us stories about each place we visited, and everyday he’d let us go exploring on our own. Mind you, we went to an all girls high school, and we were all 16 or 17 at the time wandering about countries that were foreign to us (buddy system of course!) Needless to say, the quote of the trip was, “Norman is out of control!” Thankfully, getting stuck in an elevator with my lovely rommate, Megs, was the only bad thing that had happened, and probably the funniest, too.

The next four months will be my longest stay overseas yet. I feel little butterflies, and my tummy kind of does somersaults when I think about it. So, I have been trying not to think. The older I get, the easier it is to be fearful because I am little more aware.

Little Italy, NY

Little Italy, Mulberry Street, Brooklyn, New York

At this point, I’m just gathering last minute items like locks for my backpack zippers and other staple pieces of clothing so I can pack lightly and re-wear a lot of the same clothes in an array of creative pairings. I haven’t yet packed my suitcase, but that’s next on the list. I’m afraid I’ll forget things, but then again, I can always run to the markets once I get there in case anything imperative is left behind, (or so I tell myself). Compiling the travel playlist is also pretty exciting. I’ve got a stellar christian contemporary line-up for the plane.

 

Expectations

I think I’ll miss my family and my pup. I love them so much, but at the same time, I am so excited to get away for four whole months to see things, (and hopefully) grow, and change, and be a bit stronger when I return. I’m treating these next four months as a retreat from everything I have ever truly known.

I imagine living among the locals, studying, deepening my Catholic faith, visiting the Eternal City, exploring churches and other places of religious significance, admiring art and ancient architecture, enjoying Italian food and hospitality, and (most hopefully) blending in as a seasoned traveler and modeling the Italian ideal of fare bella figura—to have a beautiful figure.

Although these wishful reveries are true to Florence, there’s definitely a ton about this city that I do not know, and it’s already apparent that this could very well be an unforgettable experience…

Join me as I find my bearings and, explore lo stivale, the boot, the beautiful peninsula the Italians call home!

 


Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Top 5 Types of Things You’ll Notice in Spain

As it would be assumed, Spain and the US have their fair share of differences. While there are an unlimited number of them, there are a handful of things that stick out more than others.

1. Time
Everything is much more relaxed. In certain situations, it’s perfectly acceptable to say you’ll meet somewhere at 8:30 and not show up until 8:35/40. For example, social outings are much looser than things like the starting time of class. That being said, even class is more relaxed. We have a start time of 9 everyday but if someone doesn’t come until 9:05 it’s still seen as on time, not five minutes late.

Siesta takes place every day from about 2-5 and is both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to have a break to nap or get ahead on work, but it’s frustrating when I want to go shopping for groceries or whatever else I may need right after school. In the bigger cities that we went to, siesta is less common but still occurs with the smaller, non-touristy, family owned shops. In Ronda, almost everything closes except the hospitals (of course) and the few tourist shops and restaurants near the New Bridge.

2. Attire
EVERYONE WEARS PANTS. ALL. THE. TIME. It doesn’t matter what the temperature is, nor the time of day. ¾ of the people in Ronda are always in pants when you walk around town. In fact, only tourists wear shorts really so it becomes a dead giveaway. Every once in a while you’ll come across someone in shorts, but it’s definitely a rarity. It’s also frowned upon to wear sweatpants or athletic clothes out of the house unless you’re en route to the gym. To this day, I have yet to see any Spaniard wear any at all.

3. House Etiquette
One must not go barefoot in the host house. Wearing shoes is a sign of courtesy—typically they’re slippers, but for the most part I wear flip flops since the weather is warm which makes the house warm.

I have yet to see a window screen. The windows and the doors are almost always open, but without screens attached. I’ve made a game out of getting flies out of my room via the window. It’s been quite successful so far.

In the US, it’s a common thing to see showers that have a mount on the wall but can also be moved out of the holster. My host house has this kind of shower, but without the mount…I put it between my knees every day when I shampoo.

 

Toilets don’t have actual handles to flush, but rather buttons, which are the most common substitute. At my host house, it’s a metal piece on top of the water bowl that pulls upwards.

4. Eating Schedule and the Food Itself
Food hours are more spread out than ours at home. Breakfast is still in the morning around 8 or 9, but lunch happens during siesta (a break during the day where all shops close and reopen later, meant to be a rest for those who are working to go home and eat lunch and/or take a nap aka siesta) which is from 2-5. Dinner falls between 9 and 12 am. People at restaurants ate between 9-11, but my host family commonly eats around midnight. Meal size is also different. Breakfast is about the same, but lunch and dinner are switched. Dinner is smaller whereas lunch has a few courses. And of course, actual food eaten at each is different too. For breakfast, my host family eats toast with chopped tomatoes and olive oil. Lunch can be anything from tortilla de patatas to soup to sausage or fish or all of the above. Our host mom likes to feed us A LOT. Sometimes I skip dinner because I’m still full from the hours before.

The weirdest things I’ve eaten thus far have been pig cheek and bull tail, both very good and unlike any other type of meat I’ve had. The pig cheek is tender with a lot of flavor, but it’s mostly meat and not a lot of fat. The closest comparison I can give it is a cross between veal and filet mignon. I had the bull tail in a burger and it might be my favorite thing that I’ve tried to date here. It has more fat than the pig cheek but less fat still than an average steak. Bull tail is also very tender but not really comparable to other meats. It’s definitely one to try for yourself. Other people have eaten morcilla (mor-see-yuh) which is a type of sausage made of (get ready) cooked blood and fat. My friends have had mixed opinions of it. A few like it, but most can’t get past the composition or the aftertaste. I’m not brave enough to try it myself, so I can only go by what they say. I guess one can consider it to be an acquired taste.

MILK COMES IN A BOX! Think about a box that soup broth would come in at a grocery store, but a bit bigger. When you buy milk here, it’s on a refrigerate-after-opening basis which is so rare to me. It’s unheard of in the States to let milk sit out for more than a few minutes let alone indefinitely like a juice box. My host mom keeps a few boxes at a time lined up in the pantry. They blend in with the cereal boxes. Apparently it’s perfectly safe to do it the way that they do because it’s very pasteurized, but I don’t think it’s a custom I’ll adopt myself when I’m back home.

4. Atmosphere and Environment
The climate and geography are more similar to the southwest than the northeast where Penn State is. For the most part, the air here is dry with little humidity and greenness is to a minimum. There’s more brush than anything else. When we went to Marbella though, a beach on the south coast, the humidity increased because of the nearness to the water. The north is supposed to be very green as well, so my understanding is that the climate is overall varied just as the US happens to be. (I’m writing this in Madrid’s airport and looking out the window at the mountains and realizing that I probably won’t be here again for a very long time because I’m flying home in an hour and this is extra weird to be leaving after so long—I feel like this place is my second home and even though I’m starting to miss things at my actual home it’s weird to think that it’s all over and this is very sentimental and shall be reflected upon at a later date. TEARS)

5. Miscellaneous Observations
In the US, we pull doors open to enter a building and push them to exit. In Spain, most doors are push to enter and pull to exit. Strange stuff.

Festivities are more frequent and extravagant. There’s a parade at least once a week for a holiday.

Getting married earlier than 35 is considered very young. It’s also normal to live in your parents’ house around that age and older.

There is no set side of the street to walk on. While we walk on the right, Spanish walking has no structure and is more similar to that of pedestrian traffic in a city.

The strangest part to me about all of the things that I’ve noticed that are different than what I’ve been used to in the States is that they don’t seem too different to me anymore. As I wrote this post, I had to think about what wasn’t the same. And I feel like when I go home all of the things that I thought were normal before are going to seem strange. I don’t feel like I experienced a lot of culture shock when I arrived, but I think that the reverse will almost certainly happen. We shall see how it actually turns out.

The 6-week decline

Before arriving to their destinations, study abroad students are advised that homesickness (of varying degrees) is an inevitable part of the study abroad experience.  It makes sense: all of a sudden you are thrown into a new life with new people and, in my case, a language that you don’t speak very well.  It can be a difficult adjustment.

I really am enjoying myself here, but I’ve encountered in the last week or two a new kind of frustration regarding the language and culture barriers.  When I first arrived to Seville, it was a funny for me when I stumbled through conversations with my host parents and was able to share humorous misunderstandings with my American friends here.  But 6 weeks in, I often get tired of not being able to express myself in Spanish.  Even the simplest messages, like “I’m not feeling great today” or “I can’t finish all of this food,” lose the nuances of kindness and respect that I would be able to add in English.  I would hate to come off as rude to my host parents and I hope they can tell by my tone of voice and facial expressions that I appreciate what they do for me.

Other things are made difficult with my limited knowledge of the language.  What I affectionately refer to as my “stupid little phone,” the cell phone I have to make calls to people in Spain and which looks like it was yanked straight out of 2001, is testy and sometimes won’t make a call or send texts messages, even though I am pretty sure I paid for minutes.  When I went to the phone store once to recargar, or to recharge my minutes, I could not understand the employee who was trying to explain to me why I had depleted my phone credits so quickly.  The phone is working for now but it could go any day without notice.  Or maybe it is okay!  I truly have no idea.

My vocabulary in Spanish is limited, so I don’t feel like I can always express accurately how I feel about something or what my views on a particular topic are.  I find myself with often ending a sentence in the middle of a thought and telling my host parents “No tengo las palabras”–I don’t have the words.  I get frustrated because when I like something or think something is good, the only thing I really know how to say is “Esta bueno” or “Me gusta,” even when my feelings are more complex than that.

I write this not to scare off you potential study abroad students, but to tell you that there are times when you will feel down and to hopefully provide an example for how to work through the tough times when you are away from what is familiar and comfortable.  Muster up some of that Penn State pride you feel so strongly when you are at school, and use it to power through your frustration and confusion.  Keep doing things with people and living life the best you can.  I hope as I continue writing this blog I can share with you how I cope with some of the difficulties abroad.  It’s important to recognize that they do happen, but also that they don’t have to interfere with your international experience unless you let them.

To balance out the melancholia of this post, here’s a funny picture of a sign I found in Portugal.  “Approaching the sea can be dangerous.”

 

 

a sign in Portugal: "approaching the sea can be dangerous"

 

 


Location: Seville, Spain

Adventures inside and outside Sevilla: Part 1

Hola amigos y amigas!  This post is crazy overdue and I apologize for that.  I sit down every day at my desk and feel overwhelmed by the insane amount of things I have to do.  In addition to my new classes here (!), eating meals with my host family, and spending time with friends in my program here, I am also trying to balance preparing an application for a Discovery Grant this summer, considering topics for my thesis next year, worrying about scheduling for next year, and needing time to recharge, as usual.  Writing these blogs sometimes feels like a gargantuan task, but once I get going I remember how fun it is to reflect and write about the things that are happening here.  Especially since so many of you are friends and family from home!  Also, I am going to count this post as two posts since I am so far behind on my writing.  So that means I only have to write one more towards the end of this week.  Deal?

 

I have a lot that I want to include in this post, but my first priority is to fill you in on my Portugal trip like I promised more than two weeks ago!  I am going to make this a two-part blog post since it will be very long.  So I guess I am retracting on my earlier deal to count this as two posts since it will actually be two posts.

 

Portugal

Not Lisbon: Faro, on the coast.  We hopped on a bus Friday afternoon (January 23) after the last session of our intensive Spanish class.  (*Note: over the course of 10 days, we spent 30 hours in this intensive class.  Ridiculous right?  This trip to Portugal was well deserved, we thought.)  First off, navigating the bus station was hard.  We had to figure out which port, which bus, etc., was ours, until finally a bus pulled up that said FARO.  “That’s probably ours,” we said.  It was!  So, with surprising ease–especially considering that we would be crossing the border into an entirely different country, and they didn’t even ask to see our passports–we stowed our things away under the bus and took off!  We were treated to some great views of the incredible and almost exotic Portugal.

 

the view of Faro, Portugal as we drove in

The coolest ride into town.

 

We transferred buses in Faro–we were actually staying in Quarteira, 30 minutes outside of Faro–and drove into the smaller coastal town.  We found our hotel easily while on the bus because it was bright orange, but as we drove right past it we realized it was a little ways out of town.  “There it goes,” we said.  Eventually we made our way there in a taxi and settled in for the night.  Two of our friends went back to Faro to visit a restaurant they had learned about from someone they met on the bus called Tasca do Ricky (more about this below).  That night, those of us left wandered around a strangely empty Quarteira, writing off the silence of the town as a product of the off-season (55 degrees Fahrenheit is cold for these people!).

 

The next morning we decided to walk around Quarteira, planning mainly on visiting the beach.  We made it our first stop and was it incredible.  The sand, the water, a little bit of fog…I can’t put into words how nice it was.  Here are some pictures:

 

dunes on the Faro beach

a surfing lesson on the Faro beach

A surfing lesson on the beach

rocks on the beach in Faro a view of the beach, extending for miles

 

We ended up wandering a good bit, at some point making a hazy decision to find the port town of Vilamoura, which supposedly held a marina.  We made a few random turns, said hi to a dog who stared back at us, stopped to rest at a great little burger place (called Tuttapanna Artigianale).  After making one last stop in a McDonald’s (a very convenient WiFi spot, if you are ever in a foreign country and don’t have data), almost ready to give up (we had been searching for a good hour or two at this point), a man outside pointed us in the right direction and we found the port!

 

view of port in Vilamoura

check out that sun.

 

I considered it to be a really nice day, but again it was technically the “winter” season there, so many of the shops and restaurants were closed until February.  Regardless, the marina was gorgeous under the sun and we did find one place that we had heard about: Nougat Tea’n.  This was a pretty little tea and dessert place with outdoor seating that looked like the furniture of royalty (later we would discover that some of the seats were soaked with water.  You can probably guess how we figured this out).  This is the food we ate:

 

assorted macaroons

I had toast with ham, but it wasn’t as pretty as the macaroons.

 

The sun was starting to go down, so we took a taxi home and showered up.  The four of us who hadn’t gone to Tasca do Ricky the previous night decided to put on our nice clothes and go.  We took yet another taxi into Faro, despite having been told by our friends that Ricky’s is apparently a particularly difficult place for the taxi drivers to find.  Ours was not happy (maybe about having to drive 30 minutes outside of Quarteira?) and told us she thought we were in the right place.  Great!  But she had actually dropped us off right in front of Ricky’s…which was closed!

 

At this point, having spent close to 7 Euros per person on a taxi and also having eaten nothing very substantial since breakfast, I think we were all on the verge of tears.  (I was.)  Dejected, we stood there for a few minutes until a townie trudged up the otherwise deserted street and knocked on the door to Ricky’s.  Some hope?  The woman looked at us and I asked, “Aberto?”  Is it open?  She smiled and motioned for me to wait until someone came out of the restaurant; they exchanged a few words.  The person went back into the restaurant and the woman held up seven fingers–Ricky’s would be open at 7!  It was 6:45!  Thrilled, we walked around for a half hour and then came back.

 

This was the experience of a lifetime.  Ricky jumped up to greet us when we arrived, since we were the only ones there, and immediately sat us at a table and began to chat with us.  He is an outgoing, kind-hearted, and funny person who believes strongly in what he does and how he lives.  He told us how he believes in the small-restaurant business and in providing fresh, well-cooked food for his customers.  When I say well-cooked, I don’t mean well-done.  I mean that he pours tenderness and attention into his cooking to ensure that he is bringing out the best of the natural flavors that the food already has.  He is especially fond of making seafood, since Faro is right on the coast.  I ordered a salmon dish, which came paired with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a salad.  Of course, we decided to order some sangria to accompany our meal.

 

plate with salmon, potatoes, and salad

I think about that salmon every day.

 

Ricky also has a fantastic assortment of desserts.  There were four of us and just as many dessert choices so…why would we not get all of them?  We ordered one of each: flan, chocolate mousse, rice pudding, and a cookie-mousse thing.

 

4 different desserts at Ricky's

I know you’re eyeing that chocolate mousse.

They were all wonderful.  We finished with an almond liqueur, which Ricky told us was a digestive aid.  Honestly I was so full that the sweetness of the almond, which he mixed with fresh lemon juice, was too much for me.  I drank as much of it as I could.

Phew, this post is almost over.  I promise.  The next day, we had a leisurely breakfast (did I mention we were some of the only ones in the hotel?  We nearly had the breakfast room to ourselves both days).  It was even warmer on Sunday than it was Saturday.  We took the bus back to Faro, where we walked around town for a few hours until our return bus to Seville was scheduled to leave.  I’ll leave you with a few pictures from our adventure there!

street in Faro boat off the coast in Faro

Stay tuned for part 2!


Location: Faro, Portugal

IES French Studies

Bonjour! So I am sorry about not posting last week. I had a lot going on with class decision and IES took us on a four day long trip to the south of France where I had no internet in order to post. Speaking of IES, I am focusing this post on why IES has been such a great company to study with, at least thus far into the program. I am not going to go into much detail about my trip in this post, but I will post another time this week about my trip, so look out for that!

What is IES?

IES, The Company

IES is a company that specializes in sending students abroad. They began as the Institute of European Studies sending their first group of students to Vienna in 1950. The second center opened in Paris in 1961 (my center!!! as if I actually own it). Eventually, their programs expanded and the first program outside of Europe began in Mexico City in 1982. Now they offer programs in so many different countries that there is a place to study practically for everyone. Check out their website at iesabroad.org for more information on their history or their programs.

IES and Penn State

I am not sure about the history between Penn State and IES but Penn State accepts a lot of programs from IES and it is very easy to find a program. IES courses transfer easily to Penn State. Also, I am not sure about all programs, but IES always has a big showing at the Education Abroad Fair in the fall semester and they have a representative present to you about your program. Beyond that, IES also gives various webinars and supplies a lot of books with information which are available to you in the Peer Advising room on the fourth floor in Boucke!

French Studies Program

The Facilities

IES used to house the BIA (Business) and FS (French Studies) programs in the same center. Both of the programs have grown to a larger size and now the old center is used for the FS program and the BIA program has moved to another center. (I will tell you why that is a great thing in just a moment)

Our facilities are very nice. The center requires a code to enter in the front door so it is very safe. There are no signs that have IES on it because it would basically be saying “HELLO FRANCE, WE ARE FROM AMERICA!”

There are four classrooms at our center as well as a lounge. The classrooms all have a white board and a tv for powerpoints and showing movies, etc. The lounge has several couches, a few tables and chairs, as well as a microwave to heat up food. There are two vending machines with really cheap drinks from coffee, hot chocolate, and cappucinos to coke, water, and juice. There is also a piano in the lounge for people who want to play some music. Beyond that, there is also a library and a computer lab in the center for everyone to take advantage of (with free printing aussi!!).

Orientation

To start off our time at IES, there was an orientation program that was mandatory for all students. They gave us a lot of information about Paris and their ideals for the program. They also give paper copies of everything so that we can review it on our own later since it is all in French and everyone comes from different levels of French.

They were very helpful getting a cell phone and a Pass Navigo (metro pass) as well. They lead groups around to help you get past any language barriers to purchase these items. They also gave tours to various places around Paris that we will need to know how to get to for our time here.

Added Bonuses

So, we have a fantastic student activities coordinator. He is in charge of all the activities and programs that are for the students. Every month there is “Une question du mois” that we can answer and get a prize if we answer correctly. I was fortunate to win a brunch at Angelinas which is a very famous restaurant in Paris! I heard that later there will be a prize to win tickets to a soccer game!!

Beyond that, there is also a daily contest called “Où suis-je à Paris?” (Where am I in Paris?). You can win different French candies each day if you answer correctly.

Le défi

This is something started this semester. It translates as “the challenge” and it  is where someone says that they are going to speak only French for the entire week except when you talk to your parents back home of course. Beyond speaking, you must also turn your Facebook into French and change your home page to a French website. You also have to write a paragraph about your week.

If you do le défi for five weeks, you get your name on a plaque and win a prize. I am currently on week 1 of 5 but I am just taking it week by week for now and we will see what happens later!

French Studies vs. BIA (Business)

So, in one of the sections above, I stated that it was a good thing to separate the BIA and FS students. Here is the difference between the programs: FS students are required to have previous experience in French before coming and are generally French majors or minors. BIA students have no language requirement and generally come in with no French knowledge at all.

I have noticed a lot of “hand holding” with the BIA students. They were given an IES Rep to help them in the airport where as the FS students were expected to do it on their own. Most of the BIA students stay in apartments and not homestays which is such an important thing for students that really want to learn French to do! I think it is great to have a business school in Paris but it is good that the two programs are separated since one is obviously serious about French and the other is here just to take classes in another country (and that is not to say that none of the BIA students care about France or French, this is just the impression of them in my center). Many people also say they only speak English so I am glad to be separated from English as much as possible!

 

Please comment below with your experiences and if you are in an IES program, what is it like?


Location: Denfert Rochereau Paris France

The sights of Sevilla

a Spanish cafe on a Saturday night

For those reading some of the other posts on this site, everything being written is true: it is extremely difficult to keep up a blog while abroad.  I’m glad I have made a commitment to the GeoBlog, since I am obligated to post with a certain frequency (I just spelled frequency like this: frecuency, similar to the Spanish equivalent frecuencia).  But scheduling time to write is very hard, especially when I am trying to form relationships here with my peers as well as dedicate time to my Spanish familia.  I apologize for not posting sooner but I plan to write again towards the end of this week.

I think part of what is getting me is the energy of this city and the people around me.  There is an element of frantic desire to live and experience things, which I think the photograph above these paragraphs captures.  I took this picture at a bar/cafe in el centro of Sevilla; I went with some friends there to get churros con chocolate (a type of fried dough, covered in sugar, which you then dip in the melted chocolate).  The cafe-tenders were yelling and in a sort of purposeful frenzy.  They seemed to be loving every minute and were joking and laughing with the many customers at the bar.  “Proximo!  Un cafe con leche!  Vamos!” they called out.  The customers fed off of the energy of the men behind the counter and laughed right along with them.

This is the energy that I become wrapped up in every day.  I lose track of time and when I do have a few hours free, I feel the need to rest and recharge, probably due to my inherently introverted nature.  But my friends in this program are eager to see and do everything they possibly can, as am I, and when the situation demands your full attention and participation, you find that you have the emotional and psychological resources to get your head in the game (so to speak).  I think this is part of how you grow and mature.

But enough of this psychological mumbo jumbo!  Here I list some of the things that have been occupying my time in the past week and a half, during which time I have not written a blog!

Dinner in Sevilla, plus a trip to the discoteca

Last Saturday night, January 17, a group of us went out to the centro in Sevilla to celebrate our one friend’s birthday.  It was a fairly large group–I think around 15 total–and because the restaurants in Sevilla are fairly small (especially in el centro, where cafes and bars thrive on the visits of small groups, not large ones) we had to sit outside.  Luckily there were heaters, but oh my gosh.  It was around 55 degrees with a breeze.  Warmer than State College, but not quite summer weather, or even spring.  Regardless, it was a nice dinner: I ordered a small bocadillo (sandwich) with smoked salmon and cheese, served with chips.  Then we headed to a discoteca called Buddha (if you look it up online, it is actually called Kudeta, but for some reason everyone calls it Buddha).

a stamp for the discoteca

We were stamped in and explored a little bit!  Buddha has three floors, all playing great music, but a group and I decided to stay on the second floor (actually considered the first floor in Spain, and the rest follow accordingly), where they were playing some Spanish hip hop.  It was about 1:30AM when we arrived, and we spent the next 4 hours dancing.  One of the things that amazes me about the nightlife in Sevilla is how late it starts and how long it lasts.  We were there until 5:30AM and there were people that stayed hours longer than we did.  I have no idea how they have so much stamina.

Local Finds

One of the things that has been really fun in Sevilla is just walking around and seeing what kinds of things you can stumble upon.  Restaurants, sights, cafes, artwork, you name it.

Ofelia’s Bakery

Ofelia's Bakery in Sevilla

A friend in my intensive class discovered this before coming to Sevilla and it happened to be very close to the CIEE center in el centro.  They sell cupcakes, brownies, coffee, all kinds of sweets.  It’s tiny but wonderful.  I bought an Oreo cupcake for my host mom and a carrot cake cupcake for me.  Yum.

cupcake's at Ofelia's Bakery in Sevilla

Apparently nameless tapas bar

focaccias at a tapas bar

We actually first saw the back of this tapas bar while walking along the river one day.  We thought it looked really cool!  Then a week later a few of us were on our way to buy bus tickets to Portugal (look for the post about my trip on Friday!) and we walked into the same place.  We looked everywhere for a name but couldn’t find one.  It seems like it is more of a building that houses many small vendors, each selling something different–wine, gelato, focaccias, etc.  I’m excited to come here intentionally one day and spend some time trying different foods.

Various architectural sites

Sevilla is teeming with incredible architecture, even in places where you wouldn’t think to find it.  After class one day I was walking around with a friend and we took a random turn down a street that looked pretty.  We ended up in a pretty little park that didn’t have a name (seems to be a trend).  We found a bench where we were able to sit in the sun and bask while watching the people and their dogs (plus many stray cats) pass.

an old tree in a Sevillan park

a pretty pathway we took while walking

Some other great things I’ve seen/done/been to:

  • a coffee shop/bar (the combo is pretty common here) called Mercado Provenzal, where they sell coffee that costs half of a Euro
  • the church (iglesia) where my host parents were married (doesn’t your heart swell?)
  • a local chain of coffee called Cafe de Indios (I think that is the right name)
  • another local chain for sandwiches called 100 Montaditos (where they actually have 100 different kinds of montaditos, or tiny sandwiches)

It’s that time again.  Currently it’s 12:53AM in Sevilla and my bed is calling me.  But, like I said, I’ll be writing again towards the end of this week, and I’ll have pictures of my weekend trip to Faro, Portugal.  Hasta luego!


Location: Plaza Nueva, Sevilla

¿Sevilla, vale?

skyline of Seville at night

the skyline of Seville from the top of Las Setas

Wow, it has been a seriously insane week.  I’m sure that I share the exhausted post-arrival sentiment of nearly every study abroad student: I’m overwhelmed, amazed, confused, frenzied, [etc, etc] and above all, tired.  I arrived at my homestay last Wednesday night at around 8PM (Seville time).  That means it was about 2PM on the East Coast of the United States, and I had been traveling for over 24 hours.  We were held up by fog when we landed in Portugal, and ended up having our departure to Seville pushed back to 4:30PM instead of 8:30AM.  Luckily there were a number of other people from my program also waiting for the flight to Seville, so we banded together to wait out the weather.

Truly, I don’t know where to begin.  So much has happened and I want to share it all.  I’m finding it difficult to record every single event, or really to record anything at all.  It’s craziness to try to make a comprehensive copy of your life down in a book.  As one of my new friends here reminded me the other day, there comes a point you have to stop writing about your life and just live it.  (Is a #YOLO inappropriate for this meekly Penn State GeoBlogger?  Too late, I guess.)

Anyway, since I’m rambling and want to spend my time here actually TELLING you things about my life in Seville, here are some of the highlights from the week.

Homestay

This is the first thing many of my family and friends were eager to hear about.  CIEE sent me off alone in a taxi to my homestay after my flight landed and I had retrieved my luggage.  We drove for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, during which time I made exhausted small talk with the cab driver (who would later convince me that people in Spain give their cab drivers propinas, or tips.  It is actually unnecessary to do this and now you know how I spent my first 5 Euros in Spain).  I’m surprised I remembered any Spanish at all, to be honest.  I haven’t studied Spanish since high school (besides some sporadic DuoLingo sessions during the fall semester) and by the time we got on the road to the apartment I was running on fumes and very little sleep.  We arrived at the corner where my Spanish parents were to meet me, and they took me to my room.

my room in my homestay

my Spanish cuarto

I ended up with an adorable and extremely accommodating family (they ended up in the CIEE promotional video for my program!).  Fernando and Rosa have been married since 1988, and they have two children: Noelia, 28, and Fernando, 22.  Neither of the kids live at home full time but still have rooms here in the apartment and sleep here some nights.  No one speaks English except Fernando, the son, and he only comes by on the weekends.  So I do my best to understand the parents, who I spend the most time with.  Both adults speak very quickly and in clipped, Andalucian Spanish.  They often drop the “s” on the end of words, and accordingly I have some trouble trying to understand what they are saying.  That “s” is very important in distinguishing between a question and a comment, especially if that question or comment is directed at me, so it causes some awkwardness as I stumble my way through a conversation.  But both parents are eager for me to learn Spanish, and through Fernando’s constant jokes and Rosa’s sincere explanations, hopefully I will start to pick things up soon.  Hopefully.

Vistos

Now I am sure that you all are just dying to see and hear about what I have seen and heard since I have been here.  I feel like I have seen an incredible amount in just 8 days (!).  I will post some pictures here and give a little explanation under each of them.

Alcázar

Alcázar, a royal palace in Spain

a small pool in Alcázar

I’m embarrassed to admit that I had to go back and look up what the significance of this place is, but our tour guide was very quiet and had a thick accent so I didn’t quite get it the first time around.  Alcázar is a (retired) royal palace with gorgeous Moor-inspired architecture.  It was built close to 700 years ago and after various updates and additions still stands today.  The palace is fairly large and has a number of sections, all with architecture similar to what you see above.  Unfortunately posting too many pictures would make this post outrageously long (as it already is), but I hope they give you a little sense of Alcázar’s charm.

La Plaza de España

me in front of the Plaza de España

look at the great view…and I’m not just talking about the chica on the left

When you Google “Seville,” this is probably one of the first images you see (minus me smiling like a dweeb).  La Plaza de España was built for a 1922 expo, and it is just breathtaking.  My host parents told me that the arches that run along the front of the building each represent a province of Spain.  Theoretically there should be 50 arches, but I cannot confirm that because I have not counted them.  I’m sure someone would have noticed by this point if they got the number wrong.

El Río Guadalquivir

the Guadalquivir River

70 degrees and sunny: this is winter in Sevilla

I’m happy to be able to post this because I just visited today!  After class I went with two friends to get gelato and we ended up walking 3 or 4 miles along the riverfront of the Guadalquivir.  It is just stunning.  My favorite thing about it is that it has walking and biking pathways that extend for miles alongside the water.  It is quiet and peaceful, though never eerie or isolated.  And many of these paths are made of cobblestone (like the one in this picture).

 

Well here is where I’m going to cut it for the night.  It seems like I wrote so much here and at the same time, there are so many things that I have not told you.  Sorry if I jumped around a lot– I’m so happy to be here.  Hopefully as the excitement wanes a little (just to a healthy level) I’ll be able to share some more specific details.  This was fun; and it’s only week one.

 


Location: Seville, Spain

Arivaderci America, Ciao Roma!

10544396_10153009122588728_8925734063064821524_nAs I sit here in JFK Airport anxiously awaiting my 7:30 pm departure time, my mind is just racing. What’s Rome going to be like? What are the kids in my program going to be like? How am I going to adapt to the culture? Am I at the right terminal? It is feeling I have not felt in a long time, but one I am extremely grateful to be experiencing. I am about to embark on the biggest journey I have yet to face in my life – a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is with this mindset that has led me to take a moment and think about what I wish to achieve while studying abroad.

My first goal is related to personal growth and adaptation. Studying abroad is about as intense as it gets in terms of veering outside your comfort zone. You are essentially thrust into a foreign country without knowing the language, culture, or any other people – a daunting task to say the least. Either you can give in to the cultural shock that you are sure to experience or you can adapt. I plan on choosing the latter. I want to grow and become a person who thrives in uncomfortable situations. I want to be skilled at making an unfamiliar place feel familiar. Ways of accomplishing these goals is by embracing the culture that I am being thrust into by adapting their ways of living. Most importantly, I plan to explore the city and the country with every opportunity I get. Whether its taking a walk to the Spanish Steps, jogging by the Vatican, or relaxing in the numerous piazzas, I plan to fully integrate myself into the Roman way of life.

My second goal is primarily regarding social situations and relationships. I believe the hardest change that I will be facing is not knowing anyone else in this program. It is with that in mind that will ultimately compel me to be engaging and outgoing with other individuals; to be friendly and kind. I know that, even as a senior, I am going to have to embrace my freshman year tactics of getting to know my peers. It starts with my four roommates whom I am very curious to meet. After that, there are over 100 students in Rome with me this semester that I have to chance to form a relationship. Not to mention the millions of people in Rome. If I am able to say I have managed to make at least one friend as a result of studying abroad, I will have done my job.

My last goal is all about embracing the Italian culture that I will be joining. After taking an Italian class informing me about all the differences between American and Italian culture, I believe that I am ready to experience it. Notable differences include dressing nicely more frequently, later meal times, and different diets. Most importantly, life moves slower in Italy. I believe that these cultural aspects with ultimately have a positive impact on my life moving forward. From allowing me to slow down in regards to the American lifestyle as well as embracing fresher, healthier foods, I am excited to see the type of person I become after spending four months exposed to Italian culture.

I am now an hour within departing for Europe. It is on this note that I conclude my first entry. After this, there is no going back. When I am back in America in April, I do not know what I will be like. But I know for a fact that I cannot wait to find out. Until next week, ciao!


Location: John F. Kennedy International Airport

From my Sevillian home to yours

Hi all!

Whether you’re a newcomer to this blog, a member of my family, or a friend, I thank you for joining me on the first of many installments to this Geoblog.  You’ve caught me during a week of frantic packing, obsessively translating everything that I read from English to Spanish, and convincing myself that this trip is actually happening.  My thoughts here are more scattered than I would have liked, but hopefully they will give you a taste of this crazy, overwhelming experience that I am about to have.  (Maybe I’m just crazy.  But you can decide for yourself.)

For those who don’t know me, my name is Anna Lombardo and I study English at Penn State University, where I am also pursuing a minor in business.  This spring I will be participating in a CIEE study abroad program called International Business and Culture, in Seville, Spain, where I will be taking business classes as well as some yet undecided culture courses.  I chose this program for a few different reasons.  First, and most importantly, it will be warm.  If you go to Penn State or ever went to Penn State, you know that the winter (we all know I mean November through April) is abhorrent.  Abhorrent: that is the best word I can think of to describe the bitterly cold and snow-heavy months during which the majority of Penn State classes take place.  I like to tell people that I am never emotionally prepared for the upcoming cold season and it is always true.  So I anticipate that a semester in the south of Spain will be an emotional healing of sorts.

While I am not joking about the alluring warmth of Seville, there are other factors that had a greater influence on my decision to study there than just the climate.  For one thing, it will give me the opportunity to make some real progress on my business minor.  I also hope it will allow me to become close to fluent in Spanish, despite my three-year hiatus from the language (regretfully, I have not taken Spanish classes since high school).  And, of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to spend four months in one of the most gorgeous and culturally rich cities in the world.  I’m happy to be able to share all of the wonderful experiences I have over there with you, my readers.

All of the awesome things that come with this trip are, unfortunately, accompanied by some sad realities.  In the last day or so I’ve teared up occasionally thinking about some of the things I’ll be missing while I’m away: my family, my friends.  (Those are the big ones.)  I won’t get to be with my sister the night of her senior prom; I won’t get to celebrate my 21st birthday with my friends.  For those of you considering studying abroad someday, I hate to put a damper on the experience before I’ve even left.  It is very difficult to put yourself in a situation that you know will probably be amazing but is unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first.  I hope, by the end of this blog, I will be reporting to you that my time in Spain was well worth the initial discomfort.

I am, despite the melancholy character of the previous paragraph, actually looking forward to going to Seville.  Among some of the highlights I hope to write about: staying with a Sevillian family and eating most of my meals with them; taking a 4-day trip to Morocco; and for all of my food lovers out there, tapas (basically Spanish snacks to the MAX).  You won’t want to miss it, so check back soon (once my jetlag has dissipated)!

 


Location: King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Sickness strikes

Within the month, I’ve traveled to many places (see previous post) – that’s probably the most interesting part of the last blog-less month. Classes, though, have kept me busy. The problem with having all of your final grades rely on two papers, for each class, is that eventually the due dates for those papers occur. I spent all of last week researching and writing two of my three papers due in March and the last is due next week. I’m excited to have those completed, though I’m anxious to see how my American writing holds up in comparison to these English assignments. It would seem like an easy transition, but the spelling of words here is subtly different, along with the way they grade work. Besides coursework and travel, life here has been normal. I finally feel like I live in Leeds, which is good because we’re approaching the two-month mark. 
My friends and I have finally booked all of our travel for our month-long (!!!!!) Easter break which begins March 28. I’ll be traveling to Geneva, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and London throughout the month and I’ll be doing so with old friends from America and new ones from Leeds. I could not be more excited! 
Currently, however, I’m suffering from the flu. It started earlier in the week. I had been feeling ill so I stayed in and watched Grey’s Anatomy (naturally) and of course it was an emotional episode, so I cried. When I stopped watching I noticed my eyes were quite red, but I chalked that up to the emotional toll that show places on a human, but when the redness wouldn’t go away, it dawned on me that there might be something wrong. And, after some intense eye flushing and a trip to the pharmacist, it became clear that I did in fact have pink eye… which until this week, I’ve never had before in my life. It is my belief I inherited the sickness from a train ride I was on the weekend prior. So that’s been fun, I seemingly cried myself into pink eye. Anyway, due to that I haven’t been doing much this week, but I am glad I got sick this weekend, of all weekends. Next weekend my friend from home who is studying in Ireland is coming to visit and the weekend following is the start of break. I’m also glad I didn’t have to go to the doctor’s for this, the meds the pharmacist gave me have been working perfectly. Though the school provides us with health insurance, navigating a hospital and answering medical questions, while sick and in a foreign country, did not sound like something I wanted to partake in at all.
But, if the last week has taught be one thing, it’s that when studying abroad it is extremely important to always be polite. At home I always try to be courteous, but here, just simply, thanking a person has gone a long way in making life easier for me. For example, when I was sick and traveling home from Stratford via train last weekend, I realized I booked a different train than my friend. I also realized the train made three transfers. Three seemed like a lot, and it seemed even more ridiculous when I realized one of the stops made me get off in Derby and get on another train to Leeds, while the train I was supposed to get off of was already going to Leeds. So essentially, my ticket had me get off of a train heading to Leeds, only to get on another train heading to Leeds (thanks Trainline…). I asked a worker at the station if I could just stay on the train and he said it was up to the attendant on the actual train. So after transferring once, I got on the train and asked the man working, who seemed annoyed before I even approached him, and he told me that I had signed the terms and agreements so I had to transfer like the ticket said. Though frustrated, I understood it was my own fault and thanked him for his help. I also asked how in the future I could avoid such a predicament. Then I went back to my seat. Eventually, the same man came around to check tickets. Upon seeing me, he smiled and told me I could stay on the train after all. He said that I was far more polite then most customers and thus he would let me stay. It’s moments like that when I realized that it really doesn’t matter where you are in the world, as long as you are kind, people will be as well (even if it takes them a moment to realize).
Besides that, the last month in Leeds has been filled with many new adventures. But there are still so many things I want to experience and places I want to go to. Planning for Easter break has been stressful. Even though I’m going to so many incredible places, I still can’t help but feel like there are so many more places to explore.
Our final exam tentative schedules have been released, and if all stays the same, I’ll be done with exams May 23. My flight back to America is June 20, so I have another month to explore Europe around that time. That is however, if I stay until June 20. I’m having a blast in Leeds, but I must admit planning for my life once I return has been a bit of a headache. Not only am I trying to figure out my class schedule for next semester without the close comfort of an adviser nearby, but I’m also trying to get a summer internship — most of which begin in early June. I’ve been applying and corresponding via email, and I even did two interviews via Skype, which was interesting, to say the least. It’s been a little challenging figuring out what I want to do when I return to America, especially when I want to focus all my time and energy to my time here.
I’ll keep you posted on my quest to balance it all. 
-Kelsey

Location: Leeds, England