Bienvenidos a
Pamplona
After a grand total of
twenty hours of travel, including three separate flights, I arrived in
Pamplona, Spain the evening of January 6th. Unfortunately, nothing
was open because the Spanish give and receive Christmas presents on this day,
which is known as Día de Reyes, or Day of the Kings. So I spent my first
evening in Pamplona getting the key to my flat, or piso, and moving in. My
roommates weren’t back from their holidays yet, so I had the whole place to
myself. Below are highlights from the week and half since my arrival. Checkout the picture of Pamplona from the city outskirts!
Piso
My piso is about 5 minutes from
campus and 15-20 from the city center in a neighborhood called Iturrama. The location is perfect because everyone
walks everywhere here. I live with two permanent UNAV students, one from Spain
and one from Ecuador. The piso has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen,
a living room, and a balcony. I live right next to a supermarket called Eroski,
which is very convenient for daily shopping trips rather than buying a week’s
worth of groceries all at once. Both of my roommates are very nice, so it’s
worked out very well so far.
Classes
I am taking 5 business classes in
English and one Spanish class through UNAV’s language program, ILCE. Most of my
classes are fairly small, from 10-30 people. It’s hard to tell for sure, though,
because this past week was the add/drop week, during which students are allowed
to attend any classes they would like to get a good idea of the course and professor. Next week classes become permanent. (Pictured below: the newly built economics building and the more traditional Edificio Central, or Central Building)
Language
One of the most interesting aspects
of study abroad thus far has been the number of people who speak English and
the high quality of their abilities. There are over one hundred exchange
students, and every individual I’ve spoken with has had impeccable English,
often in addition to one or two other languages outside of their native tongue.
Some even say that they came to Spain to improve their English with the other
exchange students. The term that comes to mind for me is “English Privilege”.
Everyone here seems to know at least a bit of English, and the English speakers
simply do not have to speak Spanish if they don’t want to. That being said,
I’ve had several opportunities to practice my speaking, not just with Spaniards
but with students from all over Latin America and other parts of Europe.
Social
Pamplona, though a small city, is
always teeming with life. The streets are almost always full of people
socializing and running errands. There are lots of pastelerías, or bakeries, as
well as bars where friends gather to talk and spend time together.
Socialization is clearly a very important factor in Spanish life, and something
that I have greatly appreciated during my short time here so far. I have
already had the opportunity to meet some native students of UNAV, including my
international mentor, and many exchange students from all over the world. It’s
somewhat mind-blowing to be sitting at a café with friends, and realize that
out of the entire group no one is from the same country. Even though we come
from different cultures and backgrounds, everyone is very friendly and I’m
finding that those of our generation share many similarities despite geographic
diversity.
Some of the standout events so far
have been a day trip to the Basque city of San Sebastian, juevintxos, and
watching the local soccer team play a game. The trip to San Sebastian was
organized by the international committee and was a great opportunity to meet
other exchange students as we walked around the beach and the city. juevintxos (pronounced
Hue-veen-chos) occurs every Thursday and is a combination of the words pintxos
(tapas) and jueves (Thursday). During juevintxos, people from all of the city
go to bars to sample different pintxos and drinks which are only 2 euro apiece.
During juevintxos, the streets are packed not only with college students but
with adults of all ages. It’s a very popular event and many people go every week.
Finally, the international committee provided tickets for the exchange students
to see Osasuna, the local fútbol team play. The stadium is twenty minutes away
by foot, and is home to some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever seen. Though
the final score was 0-0, the fans never stopped singing and cheering for a
single moment.
I’m finding that Pamplona is already
starting to feel like home. It’s a very comfortable and quaint city, and I’m so
happy to be able to share it with all of you! Adios for now and thanks for
reading!
(Photo 1: The local soccer stadium, home of the Osasuna!
Photo 2: A sand artist in San Sebastian
Photo 3: The bay at San Sebastian-pretty, but very cold)
Photo 5: A typical juevintxo)
