Tag Archives: Beach

Exploring outside of Seville

Over the past couple of weeks, I have not only been able to enjoy Seville but see other parts of Spain as well! My study abroad program planned several trips over the past couple weekends including daytrips, overnight trips and weekend long trips. Between all the bus rides, planes and walking, I was able to see some beautiful parts of Spain.

Side note: I am having problems uploading photos from my camera so I only have a couple photos that my friends took and sent me. I am trying to solve the camera issue asap so I can share some of the great things I have seen and experienced!

Aracena

We did a daytrip to this little town called Aracena. It is located in the mountains, about an hour away from Seville. The first thing I noticed was that all the houses were white! They were all stucco and of very much the same design and I think it made the little town just charming. I t also caused me to wonder how do the houses stay so white? I guess because they don’t experience a change of seasons here. The white houses and buildings with the hot sun cast upon them just seemed to portay “Summer”.

We visited the church in Aracena and it was on a hill and therefore at the highest point of the town. It gave a breathtaking view of the little town and the surrounding countryside and mountains. It used to be a castle and then it was converted to a Catholic church ( similar to many things here in Spain that have changed or developed overtime due to Spain’s complex history involving the change of powers and religion). It was relatively small in size but the various details in the church made up for the size. It had beautiful arches, ceramic/tiled walls and a tall ceiling. It just amazes me how much detail is in one little church and that it is was probably all constructed, painted, and designed by hand. There were no machines or trucks or factories to produce the building materials or manufacture the tiles.

After visiting church we walked through the little town and stopped at a bakery. There are lots of bakeries in all the towns we visit and throughout Seville-and I just love it! At this particular “panaderia” I got a coconut macaroon and an mini apple pastry. The coconut macaroon was so delicious, one of the best that I have had. It was soft and on the inside and nicely toasted on the outside. We had lunch at Pena de Arias Montano which was a little park/lookout point located in the mountains close to Aracena. There was a nice breeze as we enjoyed our “bocadillo”. Bocadillos are the Spainsh name for sandwich or packed lunch.

Sitting with some friends outside the church in Aracena! ( I am sitting on the far right)

Cadiz, Jerez, and Bolonia

Vamos a la playa! ( We are going to the beach)

This trip was on a weekend to the beaches of Cadiz and Bolonia as well as the famous little wine making town called Jerez.

Saturday we spent in Cadiz which is the oldest city in Western Europe, founded around 1100 b.C. ! We did a walking tour and saw the momument that commerated the constitution of Cadiz. Cadiz’s constitution called “la Pepa”, was the first Spanish constition ever drafted.There is an “old” and “new” part of Cadiz. The old part is the original city that was present many many years ago and parts of the original city walls still remain. The newer city is an expansion of the town that was necessary as the population grew. Cadiz is well know for its beach “playa de la Caleta”. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. We also walked out on a very long pier/Jetty that led to an old castle. It gave a great view of the coast of Cadiz.

That night we drove to Jerez which is located midway between the sea and the mountains. It is most well known for the type of wine called Sherry. I don’t know much about wine so I had never heard of Sherry before. But I learned that the authentic Spanish Sherry is a chilled, very dry, white wine. Jerez is also really well known for horse breeding and there were several horse sculptures throughout the town. For dinner I ordered a couple of different “tapas” which are the Spanish version of appetizers but they are smaller and way cheaper than a typical appetizer in the U.S. I think my favorite tapa was marinated beef liver. It was my first time having beef liver and I thought it was very rich in flavor and delicious with the marinated flavors. It was served cold and I didn’t really like that but besides that, I enjoyed the dish ( I also had to avoid thinking about the fact that I was eating liver, beef liver).

That night in Jerez the town was full of activity because there was a procession for the Corpus Christi celebration and preparation for festivities the next day. This “Corpus Christi” celebration is a Catholic tradition that involves processions (which are like a parade) with special floats/monuments that are carried through the streets and accompanied by many people, music, and sometimes animals. Corpus Christi celebrates the body of Christ which is called the Eucharist for Catholics. I actually saw a couple processions while in Seville but for this particular one, it was considered a holiday for most people where there was no school, work, and most places were closed. So back to Jerez, they were preparing for the celebration of Corpus Christi by making murals on the streets. These murals were created with colored pieces of salt on the ground. It was similar to chalk art but with colored salt. I am not sure how it was organized but it appeared that families or groups of people were assigned a certain part of the street to create a salt mural. People of all ages were making the murals including young kids. It was fun to watch and then when we finished dinner, a lot of the murals were complete and we got to see the finished product!

The next morning we went to Bolonia which is a beach and home to the Roman Ruins of Baelo Claudia. There obviously isn’t much left, since its “ruins”, but it was interesting to see how the old city used to be set up and imagine what life was like hundreds of years ago. I liked the structural design of the city which included the planning that the temple was located at the highest point of the little city- as a symbol of their religion being the most important. Some highlights included the “salazones” and this is where they stored/preserved fish with salt or “sal” (they are basically big square holes in the ground but I had learned about them in my class so it was neat to see) . It was also interesting to see their bathrooms which were community bathrooms for the city. The showering or bathing rooms were kind of like big tubs that were heated by hot bricks below. That might be hard to visualize/ not make sense but to think that they had a way of creating hot water before electricity shows they were advanced and had technology for their time.

After the ruins visit we went down to the Playa de Bolonia. It was a nice beach with almost pure white sand (which turned out to not be our friend). It was a little cloudy/hazy but you could still make out the tip of Africa just across the ocean. Africa is really close to where we were in Spain (on the strait of gibraltar), I think only 20km across the ocean. There is a huge sand dune on the beach and I hiked that with my friends. From the top there was a gorgeous view of the beach, the skyline, and the surrounding hillside. But, it was sooo windy on the beach that day that the sand was pelting us and blowing everywhere. So that made it hard to really lay down on the beach and enjoy it, but it was still a beautiful sight to see and refreshing to be by the ocean.

Standing on some rocks at playa de Bolonia

Our attempt to take a picture at Bolonia admist all the wind and sand blowing everywhere

A fun, little story about when I got home—there was so much sand in my bag from the windy Bolonia beach. I decided to shake it out over the ledge of my window in my room and I accidently dropped my bag below. Turns out my host mom didn’t have the key to the enclosed patio below so I was caught with no current solution, but I needed my bag for school and other things. So then I came across the idea to go fishing for my bag which was sitting two stories below. I devised a device with my belt, purse strap, fanny pack, hanger, and other things. It worked well enough because I actually retrieved my bag!

Location: Southern Spain

G’wan Donegal!

To preface this post, I’d like to first explain the title of my post. In Ireland, especially at sporting matches, it is common to hear the crowds yell “G’wan!” (AKA, “Go on!”) followed by the team or county they’re supporting. I heard a lot of this when my friend Mary and I went to a Connacht Rugby match on March 1st – we joined in the crowds yelling “G’wan Connacht!” as if we’d lived in Galway all our lives. Even after the match, the phrase stuck with us, so if we were happy about something, we’d yell “G’wan Connacht!” Alternatively, we started using the phrase as an affirmative or an expression of praise, as well. For instance, one of our conversations might ensue as follows:

Mary: Do I get a medium order of fish and chips or a large order?

Maddison: Go with a large. You’re in Ireland, so why not?

Mary: You’re right, I’ll order a large.

Maddison: G’wan Connacht!

(I’m fairly certain this exact conversation has taken place between us multiple times.)

G’wan Connacht!

So, to continue with my post… as you can tell from the title, we have changed our “G’wan Connacht!” phrase (which we still use sometimes) to “G’wan Donegal!” Why? Well, this may be a bit of a long story, so prepare yourselves.

There are several different accents within Ireland, as many of us study abroad students have realized. The subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences appear as you meet new people from all over the country. Many people we’ve met at school and in town hail from County Donegal, on the north west border of Ireland. Donegal borders Northern Ireland but is still part of the Republic of Ireland, making it a unique county. It is the second largest county within the Republic and also boasts one of the most interesting accents. It wasn’t difficult for any of us to fall in love with the unique sound of the accent – speaking with an individual from Donegal could turn the most loquacious conversationalist into the best listener.

Because of our interactions with individuals from Donegal, my friends and I had a little running joke about Donegal because we liked the accent so much. When I visited a sporting goods store to buy a Galway GAA jersey, I had to try on the Donegal one just for fun!

It suits me better than it should, right?

Well, all of this fascination boils down to one obvious conclusion: we needed to go to Donegal. My friends Mary, Nicky, Amara, and I took an early morning bus from Galway to Sligo, and then spent a bit of time exploring Sligo before we caught the bus from Sligo up to Donegal. The views on the trip were incredible – the mountains in Sligo are unlike any I’ve ever seen before.

Gorgeous, huh?

Once we arrived in Donegal Town, I fell completely in love with the place. The quaint town centre, called “The Diamond” is filled with shops, tea houses, pubs, restaurants, and chippers. As soon as we got off the bus and oriented ourselves, we decided to stop in a tea house, called Blueberry Tea Room. We filled our stomachs with the most amazing lunch dishes and plenty of tea before heading out into town to do some exploring.

Within the town centre itself, we visited Donegal Castle, which was an amazing experience due to our ability to explore, learn, and interact with the castle and grounds.

Donegal Castle!

The beauty of the exterior was only heightened when, at night, the Castle was lit up by a green spotlight against the darkening sky. But some of my favorite parts of the castle were inside – the intricate fireplaces, the gorgeous wooden dining tables, and the stone stairs, rooms, and passageways were mysterious and fascinating. The O’Donnell’s, who owned Donegal Castle, sure were lucky to be surrounded by such beauty! I had a lot of fun exploring – there seemed to be surprises everywhere we turned!

Me with deer antlers just behind my head

Oh deer!

We also stopped in Saint Patrick’s Church, where we all admired the beauty of the building and said a prayer. After that, we stopped in a small sweater shop, where we befriended the elderly man who owned it. Mary bought a beautiful light blue sweater, Amara bought a gorgeous teal sweater, and Nicky bought a lovely green infinity scarf. Since I already bought a sweater at the Blarney Woolen Mills, I didn’t allow myself to splurge, but I’m glad my friends all found things they liked! Little did we know that their decision to buy warm clothing would definitely pay off the next day.

Saint Patrick’s Church

We partook in the pubs, the chippers, and even did a bit of shopping in the town before heading back to our lovely B&B, called Ardlenagh View, which was only a five minute drive from town. Our hosts, the Mulherns, were so welcoming and kind – traits we noticed in many people we met in Donegal. Their B&B was absolutely stunning, as it was surrounded by beautiful mountains, valleys, and the breathtaking Donegal shoreline.

After a good night’s rest, the four of us awoke to a scrumptious Irish breakfast with plenty of tea to keep us awake for the day. As we packed up our things and got ready to check out, we noticed the sheep that filled the field just beyond the balcony of the B&B. I jumped at my chance to ask if we could go see the sheep – a prospect which our hosts, Tony and Eileen, found immensely entertaining. They gladly granted us permission to see them, and soon enough, both Eileen and Tony were watching us out the window, happy to see how much fun we were having. I even got the chance to make one of my dreams come true, as I called some sheep. If anyone is in need of a shepherd, you know where to find me.

After we said goodbye to our sheep friends and our wonderful hosts, we headed back into town on a pleasant Mother’s Day. In America, Mother’s Day falls in May, but in Ireland, it is celebrated in March. Luckily for us, the Donegal Bay Waterbus was sailing on Mother’s Day, and we were just in time for the 11:00 AM sailing. Because it was a chilly day, the four of us were the only ones on the top deck of the boat in the open air – everyone else opted to stay warm in the inside of the boat. Needless to say, as soon as we established ourselves at the top of the boat, we threw extra layers on and bundled for the remainder of our sail. Nicky and I even indulged in a pint of Guinness to warm up a bit while we all took pictures of the ridiculously incredible views. Donegal is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in all my life – the beaches, the mountains, the water, the ruins and castles, the people, the culture – it all paints a picture of what life should be like and how it should be lived.

Sail away, sail away, sail away…

As we were sailing, I noticed shapes bobbing up and down in the water – upon closer look, I realized some seals had come to say hello! I yelled to the other girls to look at the seals, and to my surprise, Mary wowed us all with her seal call. The rest of us just stuck to waving to our new friends! We saw more seals on the beaches we passed – they seemed curious, so we waved to them as well!

Our seal friends!

We enjoyed sailing and singing some Irish songs that were played through speakers to the four of us chilly passengers up top! We even did some dancing on the boat, which I’m sure the captain found amusing. It was a great boat ride and we all really enjoyed ourselves!

Dun na nGall! (AKA, Donegal)

Afterwards, we visited the ruins of the Donegal Friary, where we admired the old architecture and walked around the cemetery. To my surprise, I found headstones marked with the surnames Martin and Gallagher, which are two of my family surnames! I was overwhelmed with excitement – I knew from what my great aunt told me that the Martins and Gallaghers from our family were from Donegal, and it looks like she was right! I couldn’t wait to email Aunt Esther to let her know about my discovery. Up until that moment, I had felt a particular draw to Donegal, but seeing the prevalence of my family surnames in the cemetery there made me feel an even deeper connection.

Sitting among the beautiful ruins.

After our visit to the friary, we were ready to refresh with some lunch and tea. We stopped in a quaint cafe, chatted with some locals, and then took a taxi to the nearest beach, called Murvagh Beach. It was a cold day, but the sights were still incredible. Walking along the shore brought me such peace. Hearing the seashells crash against each other as the waves carried them in and out was captivating. I couldn’t have been happier with our decision to explore such a pretty place.

The heavens opened up and shone down on Donegal.

As we all walked along at our own pace, we lost track of time – it wasn’t too long before we were all separated and enjoying our solitude. Breaking away from the business of daily life to experience natural beauty is one of the most therapeutic experiences… which isn’t a difficult thing to do in Ireland. I walked along the shore and collected interesting seashells, but eventually I met up with Mary and Nicky who had climbed to the top of a cliff which marked the end of the sandy beach and the beginning of the rolling hills just beyond it. Needless to say, I climbed right up there to meet them!

The view from the top!

Nicky went to find Amara, so Mary and I sat on the cliff and had some deep life discussions. It felt as if we were on top of the world – in every direction, we saw beauty, and we did our best not to take a second of it for granted. Naturally, we took pictures of us sitting on the edge of the cliff with beautiful Donegal in the background.

Me sitting on the cliff edge with the beach in the background

Taking it all in.

We didn’t want to leave Murvagh Beach by any means, but we knew we had to get back into town and eat dinner before catching our bus back to Galway. Before we left the beach, however, all four of us stood on the cliff and took a few group photos to remember our amazing trip to one of our favorite Irish counties!

Me and my friends posing with Donegal in the background

Never forget Donegal!

G’WAN DONEGAL!

Location: Donegal Town, County Donegal, Ireland

Haiti

Last weekend I got to do something that I did not think I would do before coming to the Dominican Republic, and that is going to Haiti! We had a free weekend, and a bunch of other American students and I were able to find a tour company that did weekend trips to Haiti. It was a bit expensive, but well worth the experience.

Drive to the Border

We met just outside our university on Friday morning at 5AM. After cramming into a van, we headed towards the border. On Fridays and Mondays at this particular border crossing, it is completely open. This is because there is a market between buyers and sellers from both the DR and Haiti. My passport got four stamps that weekend: my first was to leave the DR, my second to enter Haiti. On Sunday, I got the same stamps, but for leaving Haiti and entering the DR. We were at the border for probably over an hour, and for most of that time the flow of people crossing the border did not slow down. Pictured below is a scene of the people crossing the border, taken from the immigration office. It’s a bit of a distance away but you may be able to see that nearly every person is carrying or towing something with them in hopes of selling it.

The Citadelle

After the border, we were on our way to the Citadelle, the largest fortress in the Americas. After driving up what seemed like a hundred switchbacks, we were at a spot where we could not drive any further. We walked the rest of the distance up to the fortress. It was not more than a 30 minute walk from where we stopped driving. Once at the fortress, we were directed around by a local guide. The fortress was built to protect Haiti against an attack from the French. The Citadelle was threatened more so by earthquakes than the French, as a French attack never came. However, the fortress remains an icon of Haiti and is featured on the country’s currency. It is situated on top of a mountain, and really makes you wonder how each stone, cannon, and the endless amounts of daily supplies were carried up there. Here is a picture shot from the base of the wall.

Here is another picture at the Citadelle of the hundreds if not thousands of cannonballs stored there.

The Citadelle itself was very impressive, but also very much so because of the views of the mountains that you could see from it. Here I am below, on the roof of the Citadelle, pictured with this beautiful ridge that I could not leave without taking a picture with.

Sans-Souci Palace

The second part of the day was spent at the Sans-Souci Palace, which was near by the Citadelle. It housed Henri Christophe, the man responsible for building the Citadelle. Here are a couple pictures of the palace.

To be honest, this palace reminded me a lot of Roman ruins, probably because of their shared use of arches. Although I was very tired and sweaty at the end of the day, I had a fantastic time. I was able to visit two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in one day. If that does not count as a successful travel, I don’t know what does.

The rest of the weekend consisted of going to the beach, out to a discoteca in Cap-Haitien, and a lot of driving. I don’t have any pictures of the city itself. It was very difficult to get clear pictures through tinted glass on a bumpy road, so I decided to kick back and just observe. I was practically mesmerized as we were driving through the city. People-watching is one of my favorite things to do while traveling somewhere new. Cap-Haitien was a bustling city, which actually reminded me of the DR in some ways. I saw a countless number of people selling things in the street. The buildings were painted with very brightly colors and built from concrete. The roads were quite bumpy at times but not torturous to drive through. Motorcycles were fearless when it came to weaving in and out of traffic. Our last stop in Haiti before returning to the DR was to the statues of the fore fathers of Haiti.

This tour made me realize how connected each country in the Americas is. I often thought of the Dominican Republic and Haiti as faraway lands, but we are much more connected than we think we are. The US, along with Haiti, the Dominican Republic and countless other nations has fought for their independence from European settlers. It was very cool and eye opening to see this connection in a country that I previously had very little interest in.

Photo of the Week

There is a very popular festival all throughout Latin America taking place called Carnaval, I will explain more in my next post, but here is a picture to act as a bit of a teaser. Masks are a huge part of Carnaval, and as you can see a lot of work goes into making them, even the small ones sold in flea markets. I picked this up at a flea market down the street for less than $5. It is entirely made of paper Papier-mâché, and elaborately painted. That’s all I will say for now, see you next time!

Location: The Citadelle, Haiti

Avocado Sandwich

Now that you know a little bit about my life here, I’ll provide you with a bit more of a detailed update. I’m sure you would love hear about my classes, but instead I’m going to talk about a few of the things that I’ve been doing outside class.

Sosúa

The first day that we had to ourselves was spent in a town called Sosúa. We were on the beach the entire day, and I did not even get a chance to explore the town. However I was still so glad about escaping the cold weather of State College, it did not even matter for me. That whole day was a bit of a “this is it” moment for me. The fact that it was January and I was on a beautiful beach with some newly made friends all seemed a bit dreamlike to be honest. Since then I have been back to Sosúa twice, to a beach called Playa Alicia. From what I have seen myself, Playa Alicia seems to attract more tourists than locals, but definitely has opportunities to meet both when wondering into the town for lunch. My most recent time there was last Friday, which is where I took the picture below. As you might be able to see I am holding an avocado sandwich. However, the “avocado sandwich” concept is not a thing that people eat here. I wanted to keep it simple for lunch; something cheap that I could throw together and eat relatively easily while sitting down. Not to mention the avocados here are excellent so any chance you can eat one is a good opportunity. After some quick browsing in the local supermarket, I grabbed an avocado and a roll and ended up with this.

It’s not difficult to see that I was immersed in a blissful moment. I was enjoying my avocado sandwich on a beach and it really was as simple as that. I had heard stories all last week from home of friends having to battle snow and wind chilled temps to get to class. This picture is a great image of why studying abroad can be a great experience at times. Now, of course I am taking classes here, as well as learning Spanish. But I am also having the time of my life here. What I am getting at is that studying abroad has the ability to give you moments like this that you simply wouldn’t get anywhere else, like at home.

Santo Domingo

Another trip that I did was an overnight excursion to the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. Our first stop was a visit to an ingenio (sugar mill). This particular ingenio was the site of a slave driven revolution which ended up being the event that sparked the ridding of slavery for the entire island on which the Dominican Republic is situated. It was very humbling to be in the same spot of such an important event for the history of the Americas. Below I have a picture of the main building of the facility. The right half was restored to show what the building used to look like and the left half of the building has remained untouched.

The second day of our excursion had a couple more things lined up for us. We took a walking tour around the Zona Colonial in the city of Santo Domingo, which has buildings and other incredible sites from the time of Columbus. We also went to a national park near Santo Domingo called Los Tres Ojos (The three eyes). It is an open air limestone cave with three small blueish green lakes. There were scenes from the Jurassic Park films that were shot here. Towards the end of the park, there was a pool that contained doctor fish. You may have heard about these fish as the ones that nibble dead skin off of your feet. I couldn’t resist after hearing this and had to dip my feet in for a few minutes. Sometimes it is the unexpected things while traveling that have the ability to turn a great day into an unforgettable one.

Playa Ensenada

The following weekend we took a day trip to a beach called Playa Ensenada. It is located on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic, west of Puerto Plata. At Ensenada, we went snorkeling; a boat took us out to an area, far away from any land mass. The spot we were taken to was an oasis of very shallow water. We were able to stop there for a quick swim break before heading to our snorkeling destination. The reef was located off on a tiny, tiny island, which measured approximately 25yds x 15yds. It was a very cool site to see. There was barely enough room to walk on this island because of the amount of people and snorkeling gear occupying it. After getting adjusted to my gear, we swam out to the reef. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. There were so many fish swimming past me as I floated along. The colors of the reef were absolutely exploding. I felt completely weightless as my body and the flexible parts of the reef seemed to grab the current and sway back and forth in unison. I tried snorkeling once as a kid and hated it, but my day at Ensenada completely changed my mind about it. I finished up the day with some beach side pescado frito (fried fish), and a really nice nap on the ride home. My day at Playa Ensenada was one of the best days I have had here so far.

Video of the Day

I know I said in my last post that I’ll have a photo every week, but a photo could not do this moment justice. On the property of the ingenio, we found these plants that had fern like leaves, and looked pretty normal otherwise. However, when you touched the leaves with your finger, the fern folded up immediately. Here is the video of this all taking place. See you next week!

MVI_0058

Location: Santo Domingo, DR

Kaikoura on a whim

It was a Tuesday like any other, except that it was a field trip day and that no one has any classes on Wednesday. Thus, a particular group of people, 5 to be exact, decided at dinner (at 6:30 pm) that they were going to take a spontaneous trip. So by 7:30 pm we loaded up the car and headed off to Kaikoura a mere 2 hours away.

Being well aware that the best part of heading to Kaikoura was the drive to the town, so we thought it best stop and camp somewhere outside of the area so we could get the full experience in the sunlight. Our token kiwi Claire, our RA, knew just the place. That happened to be Gore Bay, some 30 minutes outside of Kaikoura. With a little difficulty we managed to find a legal spot to camp on a bluff above the beach. It was less then fun pitching the tent in the rain and cold, it was surprisingly comfortable to pile into a 3 person tent. We spent the night talking and eating snacks until we fall fell asleep…

And woke up to this lovely sight first thing in the morning.

It was completely breath taking and we were lucky to find such a great place to watch the sun rise. We hung out for a while on the sands of Gore Bay while the outside of our tent dried. We found a crab which we dubbed Mr. Krabs (from Spongbob) and drew him a house in the sand.

We also took some token jumping pictures and lazed in the sun until we decided to head the rest of the way to Kaikoura.

The drive was just as beautiful as we had hoped. On one side of the road are hills but to the other is nothing but the purest blue water.

Once in town we filled out bellies with breakfast and ducked into a few shops for fun we headed down to the water. It was a little rockier and less sand so we spelled things with the white rocks we found and watched the tide come in.

One of the coolest parts had to be on our way home. We wanted to stop and take pictures of the view from the road and maybe find some seals. Of course we were lucky enough to do just that. We found several seals lounging about on rocks sunning themselves and got some pretty nice shots of them. They were rather interested in us as well.

Despite the chilly air it was such a good time. In order to have the most fun sometimes you just have to go with the moment.

Until next time, cheers.

Location: Kaikoura, New Zealand

Surfer Girl

The weather has been fantastic around here lately so of course my flat mates and I decided it was time to take advantage of the sun. So yesterday we headed out to New Brighton Beach to soak up some rays and perhaps catch a few waves for the first time ever.

There were plenty of shops to choose from to rent gear there so we took our pick and got fitted for our wet suits and two boards for two hours. It only cost us $35 for all of it and we were ready to hit the beach without any instructions.

Needless to say the first hour was mostly spent flailing around and getting taken out by wave after salty wave. I probably swallowed more salt water in one day than should ever be ingested by one person.

But after getting a few tips from a local on how to keep your balance and how to time the swells it got much easier.

I was able to get as far as getting one foot flat on the board a few times before getting taken over by the water but I thought it was quite an accomplishment for the first time out. I’m still completely exhausted and my arms are so sore from trying to push myself up on the board over and over again.

In the end it was really tiring and a lot of fun. There will definitely be a round two in the future.

Location: new brighton beach, NZ

1 week down

I’ve been here a few days and it has definitely been a really interesting transition. Not too many massive differences but enough to make it so weird so I’m going to share some of them and the flow of the last couple days.

I live in Stevens hall and my flat (like an apartment/ floor) consist of only 5 people including myself. 4 girls and 1 boy. There was supposed to be another boy moving in but he never showed up. Oddly enough everyone in this flat ended up being Americans even though the rest of the whole building is either kiwi’s (natives) or Europeans. This school does not do roommates which is a little different from Penn State where you have to request a single. So there are a little over 2,000 students here about 50% being international and everyone has a single room. Each room has one power outlet which I thought was rather interesting, I ended up needing to buy a power strip, and it has its own switch that is supposed to be turned over when not being so used so power stops flowing to it entirely.

Lincoln is also really big on recycling and composting used materials and food. There are recycling bins everywhere you look and at meals all food and drinks go into a bucket and is then carted off to be composted.

Public transit is really big around here so as soon as we got here the RA (Claire) suggested we get a pass to get into town. There aren’t even school buses around here, either kids ride bikes or they get onto the public bus in large groups. It’s well-known that the school kids all sit in the back all together and adults sit in the front when school is let out. It’s also not uncommon for the driver to let kids off right at their driveway.

I have always considered myself a big environmentalist and want to improve the way people treat the world around them so to see that in New Zealand that so many environmentally positive things are a norm is really refreshing.

I’ve spent the past couple of days attending events on campus that the school organizes so people can get to know each other (one of the benefits to a small school.) The one I enjoyed the most had to be the “Silly Sports Day” yesterday where all the halls made up teams and played football (soccer), ultimate frisbee and volleyball. My hall did really well and we managed to take 3^rd in ultimate frisbee, 2^nd in volleyball and 1^st in football.

I also managed to find myself in a rugby tournament this week with another girl from my hall. We ended up being the only girls there and because of us they had to change it to be a touch rugby game. It turned out not to be that hard to figure out how to play but hard to be good. Thus, the boys ended up playing around us more than with us and I still ended up getting hit pretty hard a few times by boys twice my size and will be feeling it for days.

(Don’t worry I did catch the ball)

It’s also rather common for people to walk around barefoot. Kids get on the bus barefoot, go to meals, stores, class and play sports all without shoes or socks. I’ve tried it a few times but without built up callouses it can get a little painful walking along the sidewalks or gravel.

The school also organized a little bus tour around Christchurch and some of the neighboring towns to help us understand more of the layout of the area. We got a chance to see one of the beaches where they give surfing lessons, which I plan on doing very soon, downtown Christchurch and some of the damage that took place last year.

Flowers in the cones in honor of those lost in the earthquake a year ago.

This area sustained the most damage from the quake last year. It caused the cliffs to fall apart along the edges and thus brought the backs of houses down with it.

Classes start tomorrow so the hope is that it will be a great chance to meet some more people and make some good friends. Oddly enough I’m considered a sociology and tourism major here since they don’t have Community, Environment and Development. I must say I do enjoy the way their schedule is set up because Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are the only days I have all my classes, Wednesday I only have one and Friday I’m free which I have learned is not abnormal.

So I will be sure to post soon and talk about classes and meeting more people here.

Till then stay beautiful everyone.

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Viaje a Veracruz!

This past weekend was technically our second and final “free” weekend, but all 13 of us students decided to take a trip to the nearest beach state, Veracruz! One of the program coordinators hooked us up with a nice hotel at decent rates, so it was as easy as a bus ride to get there.

To be honest, most of the weekend was spent just relaxing on the various beaches, but that was just fine. After having to wake up early and follow semi-strict schedules, it was relaxing to just take our time, not having to be anywhere in particular. It felt good to know that, at this point, we can survive independently on our own here.

The water was absolutely lovely; you could walk right in without having to even do a toe test. We invested in a volleyball, which was a great decision, and we had a lot of fun playing on the beach! There may have even been sandcastles involved… Oh, and for a mere 40 pesos per person, we got to go out on a crazy fun Banana Boat! There also was a really awesome aquarium nearby, and Sunday, I woke up early with my friend, Jess, to see the sunrise (totally worth it). It was a blast.

The only major problem was sunburn. All of us got QUITE crispy, even in spite of re-applying sunscreen throughout the day, and the communal bottles of aloe ran low rather fast…

Now, we’re back at home base aka Puebla again, and we’ve entered our last full week of classes (which really isn’t a full week since we never have classes on Friday). I can’t believe there’s only a week and a half left! I feel like I mention the time flying every entry I write, but it is just cruising along too fast. I’m going to miss being here so much; the places, the people, the culture. But we have one last weekend traveling together to enjoy, and, of course, a bit of work/ final projects to get through. Here’s to making it all last!

Location: Boca del Rio, Veracruz, Mexico

Barcelona

Ciao Tutti,

A week or so ago, my ISC (Italian Student Companion), Silvio, had about ten of his friends over for dinner. I am happy to report that I was actually able to carry a conversation with them and understand the general ideas of what they were talking to each other about. We even played the Italian version of the game, Mafia. This was quite a challenge, but a great and fun experience!

Changing topics completely, last weekend I went to Barcelona. I arrived late on a Thursday night and took a train from the airport into the city center. By the time I got into the city center, the metro had stopped running (after midnight) so I had to take a taxi to my hostel. My hostel had a 91% review on HostelWorld.com, but I was immensely disappointed. I did not realize that the hostel only had a common bathroom in the hallway of every floor. I am so used to staying in hostels that have a bathroom in each room that this took a bit of getting used to.

On Friday, I took a free walking tour to see the architecture of one of Barcelona’s most famous architects – Gaudi. His buildings made me feel like I was in Whoville and a world of Dr. Seuss, but they were really cool from the outside. It cost upwards of 18 euros to go in, so I decided that the views from the outside were good enough for me. We also saw a church that he designed over around 85 years ago that is still being built. It is a very complex church and they say it will not be done for at least another 25-30 years! That one complex building!

One of the houses Gaudi desgined

Another one of the houses Gaudi desgined

One of the three facades of Gaudi’s church – the Sagrada Famiglia. Only two are finished. This is the Nativity Facade.

The Passion Facade. The Glory Facade just started construction.

After my walking tour, I took a hop on-hop off bus tour to see all of Barcelona. Barcelona is such a spread out city that the bus company had two different lines. It took me 6 hours to complete both lines, but I was happy I did it.

On Saturday, it poured the whole day. By this point, I had become a pro on navigating Barcelona’s metro and decided to go to the Picasso Museum. The Picasso Museum was a homage to Picasso’s older, lesser known works. All I knew about Picasso before this was that he painted “Scream,” but was very intrigued by his life story. He moved around a lot and changed his artistic style about once or twice a year.

After the Picasso Museum, I decided to go to a restaurant to have typical Catalonian food – tapas. They are basically a bunch of small samples, so you order two or three and try a bit of everything. I had ham & cheese croquets and something very similar to sesame chicken. It was really, really good.

Then, even though it was raining, I embarked on my voyage to find Barceloneta Beach. By this point my map was useless because it was raining so hard, so I decided to follow the signs to the beach – big mistake. I wound up 3 kilometers out of my way and had to backtrack to see it. I was happy when I finally got there, though. It looked like a scene out of 2012, the waves were about four feet high (pretty high for the Mediterranean Sea and I saw the cliché surfboarder walking away from the sea. It was a beautiful beach, though.

The Beach

After this, I decided to walk and catch a metro back to my hostel. After an hour rest, I went to the only bar in Barcelona that was showing the Penn State v. Michigan State game for the Big Ten Semifinals. I think I managed to find the only empty bar in Barcelona, but a combination of a Penn State win and some nostalgic food like quesadillas and chicken tenders was enough to make my day.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. I loved it! I woke up early in the morning to walk the “La Rambla”, a very famous tourist promenade where artists and cafes line the streets. I decided to grab a seat and order “Churros and Chocolate” and people watch. They were so good.

La Rambla

Chocolate & Churros

After that, I took another walking tour of Barcelona. This one was a tour of Barcelona’s historical center. It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of Rome. I gained some insight into the history of Barcelona that was absolutely fascinating like the fact that Barcelona used to be occupied by the Romans when it was a walled city (hence why it reminded me of historical Rome). Also, I learned that the people of Barcelona actually consider themselves to be Catalonian, not Spanish. They speak Catalonian and Spanish and are constantly protesting the Spanish government for their independence. I also got to see where the King of Catalonia greeted Christopher Columbus after discovering the New World. The final piece of trivia I learned was that Barcelona could have built the Eifel Tower instead of Paris, but the government thought it was too weird looking and built an arch instead – big mistake!

The steps that Christopher Columbus was welcomed back on

After the walking tour, I took the metro to Park Gϋell – another one of Gaudi’s projects. It was declared a World Heritage Site a few years ago, so I figured a trip to Barcelona would not be complete without seeing it. Getting there was a difficult task. After taking the metro, it was a kilometer walk to a series of eight escalators to take you to the top of a mountain. At the top of this mountain, you had to walk down hill about a half of a kilometer to get to the park. By this point, I was exhausted. It was so worth it, though. I saw the longest bench I have ever seen and a bunch of other cool looking houses, sculptures, and architecture!

View from the Park

I think Dr. Seuss used to live here…..

An overhang at the park.

The other park entrance.

On my way back to the hostel to grab my bag, I found a Dunkin Coffee (they don’t call them Dunkin Donuts over there) and splurged on the biggest ice coffee I have ever had. In Italy, I can only get an espresso – they really do not have American coffee. It was probably the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had (probably because I haven’t had one in so long). I topped it off with a ham & cheese panini and a chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles – the icing on the cake.

After grabbing my bag at my hostel, I went to the airport and came back to Rome. In my next blog post (very soon, probably later today), I’ll bring you up to date with everything I did this week and weekend, post a few pictures from the past month, and post the bucket list I made of things I need to do while I’m in Rome.

Ciao,

Mike

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Zanzibar, zanzibar, zanzibar!!

Hello, hello, hello! I currently sit at the top of a terrace at the Clove Hotel in Zanzibar. We finished up in Mang’ula and left the monitoring center Sunday morning to get to Dar by Sunday night. We only spent 2 nights in Dar. The first was after travelling and the second was after a day of market shopping! The market was amazing. So many interesting little shops filled with painting, carvings and jewelry. Most of the stuff is pretty much the same from shop to shop. But finding a nice vendor willing to bargain is the hard part. We all made out really well. We didn’t stay in Dar long – leaving on the 7am ferry on Tuesday for Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is so interesting! It is an island off the coast of the mainland. We are staying in Stone Town – it is an old neighborhood filled with stone buildings, tons of history and lots of culture. The entire island is very culturally based. About half the population is Muslim and hearing mosque services is common. We have to dress moderately and public displays of affection are not allowed so we have to adjust our behavior a bit. But I wish everyone could see this place. The buildings are so amazing. Streets are woven all around in every which way and the clear blue ocean is located just a few alleys away. As I type this on the rooftop terrace I can look over to another hotel and see the billowing, lit, canopy tops to other buildings. The whole set up seems like something you could see in Europe – in Greece or Italy. Markets, amazing restaurants and historical sites are right around our hotel. I love it!

The people in Zanzibar are a bit overwhelming. Being white tourists, we easily stick out; and sticking out means getting hassled all the time to buy this or that. One local told us last night, people don’t see us as people – they see us as American dollars. It can get a bit too much at times.

Despite the tourist hungry business, we have all been having a great time. Yesterday we went snorkeling and swimming off a little island called Prison Island. We hired some locals in a little fishing boat to take us out there. I had so much fun! The water is crystal clear and the weather was perfect. Snorkeling along the reef gave us an awesome view of some bright and colorful fish. Snorkeling was followed by drinks and dinner along the beach and then some dessert shopping in the fish/food market. Chocolate banana pizza and chocolate mango pizza – so good!

Today has also been action packed. We left at 9 am for a spice tour. Zanzibar used to be a huge spice trade center. We got to see the spice market, a spice farm, old sultans’ passion baths, slave caves and the beach all in a tour. The spice farm was so nice. We got to eat fresh fruit, taste and smell all the spices straight from the trees. The cinnamon tree was definitely one of my favorites. The leaves smell like amazing cinnamon, the bark tastes like Red Hots and the roots smell like Vicks vapor rub. The air smelled like spices and we had people walking along with us making woven grass hats, ties, necklaces and bags for us to wear. It was fun. The slave cave was pretty disturbing. It was a cave used to hide slaves for the slave trade after slavery had been abolished on the island. I cannot understand how people could treat other humans that way. And it continued for so long, generations after generation just letting it happen. Seeing that sight, even just a simple cave really disturbed me. It makes me wonder what our generation is overlooking. In a hundred year what will the future think of us?

Despite the somber moments in the slave cave, the tour was a blast. Afterwards we returned to our hotel, showered and headed out to do a bit more shopping and watch the USA soccer match at a bar. The game had a great ending (GO USA!) and the bar actually was full of other Americans. It is so weird seeing all these other wazungus (the Swahili word for white-person). I’m so used to our group being the only white group around. We constantly catch ourselves storing at other tourists – curious to see and hear what they are up to. Being in Tanzania for the last 5 weeks has changed us all so much. It has been easy to see with the trip here to Zanzibar and the stop in Dar. Before I didn’t think too much of Dar. Now I can see how big and luxurious it is. We were all so amazed to see what Dar had to offer. Being in Zanzibar has been the same. Seeing other tourists all over the place and getting treated and approached as a money bag is so different to us now. I can’t imagine how the USA will feel. At least we have Dar and Zanzibar to ease us into things.

Anyways I’m gonna go enjoy one of our last nights with the rest of the group. Sorry for the delay in entries – we haven’t had internet for quite a while. But hopefully I can update before we leave. And you will definitely see a few posts once I get home! Until next time!

Location: Stone Town, Zanzibar

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