It's been almost a year since my first blog post where I was seriously doubting my capability of traveling to another county and setting up a new life for 4 months. What I wouldn't give to be back in that position now. It seems strange how nervous I was to go to Spain, and how much I would love to be able to go back right now. Every time I look at pictures or talking to my friends I met there, I'm reminded of how amazing an experience it was. Sometimes thinking about it makes me scared that I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have when I was there, but that's not how I want to remember it. If anything the experience has given me even more ambition to find a way back there some day, whether it is for working temporarily or just a short trip.
I was thinking about all of the things I miss about Valencia, and it's probably a very long list, but I feel like I need to get them down on paper (or in a blog).
-Mercadona and all of it's wonderful, inexpensive chocolate and chocolate filled things and juices.
-Gulliver playground
-Llao Llao frozen yogurt (although not as much now that I have my own Tosa replacement!)
-The río- grass paths to run on, fountains, people watching, swan lake, el estadio de turía, palm trees
-city of arts and sciences- such an awesome place and never gets boring just to sit and stare at
-paying 6 euro for a plane ticket to italy
-being able to go to a different country for a weekend
-valencian fireworks (epic)
-the white calatrava bridge
-exploring downtown valencia
-fanta limón
-tortilla española
-chocolate filled cereal
-paella
-pretty much all of my host mom's cooking
-my spanish madre!
-siestas
-my professors and their crazy attempts at speaking english
-the nightlife
-churros con chocolate
-walking everywhere and never getting tired of it
-seeing how crazy people are about soccer
-spanish newspapers
-the perfect weather every day
-being 2 miles from the ocean
-the old mixed with new architecture
-trying to understand spanish television
-finding new places that I've never seen before
-spanish bread! every meal. every day.
I could probably come up with a lot more things if I sat forever and thought about it, but I think that just about covers it.
With any luck someday I will get a chance to revisit some of these things.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
6 semanas después...
6 weeks after arriving back from my Spanish adventure I am thoroughly wrapped up in school and track (but mostly track). I quickly learned that I had been severely spoiled for 15 weeks in terms of weather, and currently feel as though I actually live in the arctic. The long winter months of February and March are here and I can't help but get a little upset whenever I see my weather gadget for Valencia telling me how sunny and warm it is on the Mediterranean coast.
When I first arrived back, at times it felt like I never left because everything was pretty much the same (cat sleeping in my bed, dishes on the counter, driveway to be shoveled, etc.) When I moved back to school for track camp it started to get a little more difficult, partly because I wasn't used to the high-caliber level of training that I missed all fall, but more so because I felt like I was literally dropped off in a completely new foreign atmosphere just like when I arrived in Spain. I really didn't feel like I was part of the team anymore, I didn't know 50% of the people and they didn't know me. I felt like I was always a couple steps behind where I was at this point last year, which is frustrating for me after all of the time I spent trying to keep up while in Spain. I felt like I was wandering through my days and not getting any better.
I didn't really attribute any of this to "reverse culture shock" until now. Most people experience this reverse culture shock effect in terms of returning to the U.S. and starting to make comparisons between the two countries and becoming frustrated with certain differences, but that didn't really happen with me. If anything I was happy to come back to a place where I didn't have to rely on public transportation all of the time, or where I could stay on the ground for more than a week at a time. I've definitely had my fill of plane riding for awhile.
I attended a study abroad re-entry event yesterday, which was helpful and interesting to hear other people's stories from their experiences abroad. We talked a lot about challenges we are facing now being back in the U.S, and helpful ways to adjust. I think the most significant thing that I took from the activities is to not compare my experience with other people's. Listening to people talk about being abroad in Australia definitely made me jealous- I would love to go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and see all of the cool wildlife that they have there. But as great as all of that sounds, I need to focus on my individual experiences and remember that every country has amazing things to experience. I was lucky enough to be able to visit 3 others besides Spain.
Sometimes it feels like my 15 weeks in Spain was just a dream. I'm glad that I have this blog to remind me that it wasn't. I can't even believe that I managed to navigate the logistics of finding my way to Italy, Greece and England and never getting seriously lost in addition to traveling alone all the way to Europe. For someone who pretty much has zero sense of direction, this is definitely a step up for me. At least now I can add "foreign map reading" to my list of resume skills.
As for Spain, they never say adios- so in that case I will say hasta luego!
Gracias por todos los buenos recuerdos.
When I first arrived back, at times it felt like I never left because everything was pretty much the same (cat sleeping in my bed, dishes on the counter, driveway to be shoveled, etc.) When I moved back to school for track camp it started to get a little more difficult, partly because I wasn't used to the high-caliber level of training that I missed all fall, but more so because I felt like I was literally dropped off in a completely new foreign atmosphere just like when I arrived in Spain. I really didn't feel like I was part of the team anymore, I didn't know 50% of the people and they didn't know me. I felt like I was always a couple steps behind where I was at this point last year, which is frustrating for me after all of the time I spent trying to keep up while in Spain. I felt like I was wandering through my days and not getting any better.
I didn't really attribute any of this to "reverse culture shock" until now. Most people experience this reverse culture shock effect in terms of returning to the U.S. and starting to make comparisons between the two countries and becoming frustrated with certain differences, but that didn't really happen with me. If anything I was happy to come back to a place where I didn't have to rely on public transportation all of the time, or where I could stay on the ground for more than a week at a time. I've definitely had my fill of plane riding for awhile.
I attended a study abroad re-entry event yesterday, which was helpful and interesting to hear other people's stories from their experiences abroad. We talked a lot about challenges we are facing now being back in the U.S, and helpful ways to adjust. I think the most significant thing that I took from the activities is to not compare my experience with other people's. Listening to people talk about being abroad in Australia definitely made me jealous- I would love to go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and see all of the cool wildlife that they have there. But as great as all of that sounds, I need to focus on my individual experiences and remember that every country has amazing things to experience. I was lucky enough to be able to visit 3 others besides Spain.
Sometimes it feels like my 15 weeks in Spain was just a dream. I'm glad that I have this blog to remind me that it wasn't. I can't even believe that I managed to navigate the logistics of finding my way to Italy, Greece and England and never getting seriously lost in addition to traveling alone all the way to Europe. For someone who pretty much has zero sense of direction, this is definitely a step up for me. At least now I can add "foreign map reading" to my list of resume skills.
As for Spain, they never say adios- so in that case I will say hasta luego!
Gracias por todos los buenos recuerdos.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
¡mi familia española!
I've had multiple requests for pictures of my host family here, and on my last day in Valencia I finally got around to taking a couple pictures.
I really liked the family I was placed with, they were very helpful and my host mom made the transfer to Spanish culture so much easier. She was always ready to help me with any question I had and always made sure I ate copious amounts of food and had many many blankets. Today she wrote out 2 recipes for my favorite foods that she makes and is going to show me how to make tortilla de patata tonight- something I will definitely be making myself in the future.
I didn't blog about my trip to Madrid/Segovia, but I'll put up some pictures of it. It was a short trip, I got to tour a material engineering building/labs because that's what Chelsea is majoring in and she visited one of her professors who is doing research in Madrid. I also saw the "center point" of Madrid, which is marked with a tile that says "kilometer 0," supposedly all of the roads start or end there. Segovia was the first city in Spain that I saw when I was here three years ago, I stayed with a host family there for three days. It was fun to be able to go back there and see the aqueduct and alcázar castle- I definitely never imagined that I would get the chance to go there again. It feels like I've come full-circle with my Spain traveling but hopefully there will still be more opportunities to come back here in the future.
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| Amparo- mi madre española :) |
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| Ainhoa- mi hermana española |
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| Chimo - my intercambio |
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Spain 2010: the best, worst...and most bizarre
As a recap to my semester in Spain, I thought it would be fun to do something like a "best and worst" blog post. So I spent some time making up categories...and here are the winners!
Most Beautiful: Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias
Most Disgusting: seeing a man holding his baby over a curb while the baby pooped
What I will miss the most: endless running trails and gardens in the Río
What I will miss the least: people smoking everywhere and smelling like smoke
Most Creepy: getting stared at by stray alley cats at night
Most Bizarre: the random explosions I hear pretty frequently- possibly fireworks?
Thing I wish I could bring back with me: Fanta Limón! (and lots of chocolate)
Most Surprising: bananas are kept in the fridge, milk is kept in paper cartons in the cabinet, shoes are always worn in the house
Best Discoteca: Umbracle
Most Addicting: Spanish bread
Best Bargain: 6 euro flight Barcelona to Pisa
Most Thought-Provoking: the reality of living in a city rather than just visiting
Most Delicious: Llao Llao covered with chocolate and strawberries
Worst Hair: (tie) the woman with bright orange dreadlocks all the way down her back & the man with exactly 3 dreadlocks all the way down his back surrounded by a normal haircut
What I wished I could point and laugh at: the men decked out in full suits while riding their mopeds when it was 90 degrees out
Best Landmark: Alameda Bridge
Best American stereotype: that we eat at McDonald's all the time
Favorite Photo (tie, I couldn't decide):
Strangest Spanish phrase: "Véte a freír espárragos" literally translates to "go fry asparagus" but actually means something like our "go fly a kite" phrase
Best smell: Bakery's fresh bread in the morning (and pastries)
Worst smell: the seafood section of Mercado Central
Scariest moment: second week here- getting on the wrong bus and being taken completely out of the city (off my map) before looping back to the exact same place I started only to realize that I should have gotten on the bus on the other side of the street.
"Why is this happening to me" moment: Being forced to sit on a clown's shoulders while he is riding a unicycle in Granada
Most popular discoteca song: "No Speak Americano" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR8logunPzQ
Best View: from el Penon de Ilfach rock in Calpe
"Probably shouldn't have done that" moment: wandering through the dark alleys of downtown Valencia following a "Google Maps" route to the discotecas
Most awkward: every elevator ride taken (they are extremely small) - they say hello and goodbye whenever you or someone else enters or leaves the elevator
Most memorable professor quote (about the island near Spain): "Ibiza is just sex, drugs, and 'rock and roll.'"
Favorite meal at home: tortilla de patata, puree de calabacín, and an enormous quantity of bread
Funny and shocking at the same time: my host mom screaming "guapo!" (handsome/attractive) at the TV whenever they showed Fernando Torres- her favorite soccer player
Favorite literal spanish to english translation: caballitos del mar = little horses of the sea (seahorses)
Most Beautiful: Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias
Most Disgusting: seeing a man holding his baby over a curb while the baby pooped
What I will miss the most: endless running trails and gardens in the Río
What I will miss the least: people smoking everywhere and smelling like smoke
Most Creepy: getting stared at by stray alley cats at night
Most Bizarre: the random explosions I hear pretty frequently- possibly fireworks?
Thing I wish I could bring back with me: Fanta Limón! (and lots of chocolate)
Most Surprising: bananas are kept in the fridge, milk is kept in paper cartons in the cabinet, shoes are always worn in the house
Best Discoteca: Umbracle
Most Addicting: Spanish bread
Best Bargain: 6 euro flight Barcelona to Pisa
Most Thought-Provoking: the reality of living in a city rather than just visiting
Most Delicious: Llao Llao covered with chocolate and strawberries
Worst Hair: (tie) the woman with bright orange dreadlocks all the way down her back & the man with exactly 3 dreadlocks all the way down his back surrounded by a normal haircut
What I wished I could point and laugh at: the men decked out in full suits while riding their mopeds when it was 90 degrees out
Best Landmark: Alameda Bridge
Best American stereotype: that we eat at McDonald's all the time
Favorite Photo (tie, I couldn't decide):
Best smell: Bakery's fresh bread in the morning (and pastries)
Worst smell: the seafood section of Mercado Central
Scariest moment: second week here- getting on the wrong bus and being taken completely out of the city (off my map) before looping back to the exact same place I started only to realize that I should have gotten on the bus on the other side of the street.
"Why is this happening to me" moment: Being forced to sit on a clown's shoulders while he is riding a unicycle in Granada
Most popular discoteca song: "No Speak Americano" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR8logunPzQ
Best View: from el Penon de Ilfach rock in Calpe
"Probably shouldn't have done that" moment: wandering through the dark alleys of downtown Valencia following a "Google Maps" route to the discotecas
Most awkward: every elevator ride taken (they are extremely small) - they say hello and goodbye whenever you or someone else enters or leaves the elevator
Most memorable professor quote (about the island near Spain): "Ibiza is just sex, drugs, and 'rock and roll.'"
Favorite meal at home: tortilla de patata, puree de calabacín, and an enormous quantity of bread
Funny and shocking at the same time: my host mom screaming "guapo!" (handsome/attractive) at the TV whenever they showed Fernando Torres- her favorite soccer player
Favorite literal spanish to english translation: caballitos del mar = little horses of the sea (seahorses)
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