The One with the Nostalgia

            I promised one more reflection-laden post before signing off, and here it is! It may seem that there’s been a pretty significant gap between this and my last post, but there’s a method to the madness. After drafting a farewell post in early June, I decided that I wanted to wait and rewrite later in the summer, when I’d had more time to reflect. With the San Fermin Festival ending in Pamplona and my last straggling school mates from UNAV finally headed home, now seemed like the perfect time to wrap up this blog.

            To begin, I’d like to address some clichés. Before I left for Spain, people told me that my semester abroad would be a life changing experience, my mind would be broadened, and I’d make amazing friendships. For all my disdain for clichés, they become popular for a reason. This was certainly true in my case, as all of these adages proved to be accurate. Some say that there are five stages to studying abroad: Excitement, disorientation, loneliness, homesickness, and acceptance. While some days were better than others, overall I stayed in the excitement filled honeymoon phase of my semester abroad for the whole five months. As someone with a poor sense of direction, disorientation is somewhat second nature, and I was never lonely with friends living minutes away from my flat. In terms of homesickness, there were of course people and things I missed from home, but never so extremely that I felt it impeded my experience.

            One of my greatest takeaways from my time in Pamplona is that the rest of the world isn’t as America-centric as we tend to believe stateside. Though I previously thought myself to be fairly worldly and enlightened, five months later I realized that I’d been going through life with blinders on to the rest of the world. Upon returning, I won’t say that I don’t still harbor a tendency towards viewing my surroundings with somewhat of an all American bias, but I like to think that I’ve at least widened my blinders and that I will continue to do so.

            Now, rather than continue to ramble about my nostalgia and the glory days in Pamplona, here are my promised do’s and don’ts for studying abroad

Do:

1)    Research your school and city before choosing a program. Just because a city has an amazing nightlife doesn’t mean the school has enough classes in your major, and a great school might be in an area that you hate.

2)    Take advantage of activities and opportunities offered through your host university. They are usually fun and can cost less than they would if you did them on your own.

3)    Make friends with both local and international students. It’s important to soak up the culture of your “home” country, but you can learn a lot from your international peers as well!

4)    Set aside long weekends for more distant trips.

5)    Budget wisely and prioritize your expenditures.

Don’t:

1)    Hang out exclusively with people from your own country or school. You can do that every other semester.

2)    Spend every weekend travelling. It’s important to take time to establish your life in your home city and that’s hard to do when you’re away during the most social part of the week.

3)    Travel to other countries at the expense of seeing different parts of your home country. While it’s great jetting off to Paris for the weekend, it’s important to explore the country you’re studying in as well!

4)    Get too wrapped up in what’s going on back home. Talk to your friends and family, but don’t get so sucked into what’s going on there that you distance yourself from what’s around you. This also goes for home university friends studying abroad at other schools.

5)    Plan everything out in advance. Spontaneous travel is fun and you’ll want to plan trips with your new friends when you get there!

Thank you to everyone who has followed along with my semester in Spain. It was the experience of a lifetime and one I’ll always be thankful that I had. But for now, I’m off to find my next big adventure.

Hasta Luego!

Americans in Paris

Now that I’ve been back from Pamplona for two weeks, I’ve finally had time to sit down and summarize my last week in Europe, which was broken into two trips. The first took place in Biarritz, a beach town in French Basque country.  The town is a couple of hours away from Pamplona by bus, so a few friends and I rented an apartment there to spend a few days together before we parted ways. While Biarritz is beautiful, the weather while we were there was pretty awful, so we spent our days dodging rain and sightseeing and the evenings cooking and playing games. At the end of our trip, two friends and I returned to Pamplona while the remaining five stayed in Biarritz because they were flying out of the local airport. It was one of my few major goodbyes, since many of my friends left UNAV while I was in Budapest and Malta. This “adieu” was followed up later that evening with tearful goodbyes to two of my closest friends from the semester, Katerina and Erin.  We all said that these wouldn’t be permanent goodbyes and that we would see each other again. I have to admit that I’ll probably see Erin in Canada a little sooner than Katerina in Slovakia, but I plan on keeping this pledge.

The next morning I took an early morning flight to Paris to meet my boyfriend, Nick, who had just finished a USC Maymester in Germany. We spent three days indulging in touristy activities like visiting the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame and touring the Louvre. Here is a tip for all travelers trying to get the most out of a trip to this usually crowded museum: on Fridays, the Louvre stays open late and is considerably less crowded. We were even able to get up close to the Mona Lisa right away! It was a very Da Vinci Code moment.

I have to say, the first time I visited Paris on a layover to Italy last year, I had a very bad impression of the city. However, this second trip showed me a much better time. Whether it was the absence of jet lag, the company, or the knowledge that this was the last leg of my trip to Europe, I fell head over heels for the City of Love. It was a perfect end to the trip, and kept me from moping as my return flight drew closer.

After my weekend in Paris, I returned to Pamplona one final time to pack up and sleep for a few hours before catching my early morning bus to Madrid. I also managed to squeeze in one final walk around the Ciudadela, which was pretty nostalgic. I left my apartment the next morning at 5:30 am and touched down in Newark the same day at 7:30 Eastern time, clocking in at a cool 20 hours and officially ending my semester abroad.

While I have no more trips to share with you, stay tuned for a farewell post in which I’ll give a brief summary and analysis of my trip, as well as some do’s and don’ts for studying abroad!

Hasta Luego!

Budamalts!

The end of my time abroad is quickly approaching and the last few weeks have been a blur. I had finals in six classes over a two-week period, finishing last Friday. This was a little nerve wracking, as finals are a much greater percentage of one’s grade here than at USC. However, I also found the finals to be somewhat less challenging than at USC, so everything balanced out.

After my last exam, I packed up my travel bag for a five-day vacation to Budapest and Malta (affectionately referred to as Budamalts) with my two good friends Erin and Megan, and Erin’s friend Robert, who did his exchange at her school. We took the overnight bus to the Madrid airport, flew to Budapest, caught the bus and finally rode the metro to arrive at our hostel. The hostel was located on the top floors of an awesome old building right in the city center. We dropped off our bags and walked around the city for a little while before getting ready to go to Sparty, a party in the famous Hungarian Szechenyi baths. This party was an experience unlike any I have ever had.  It was unbelievable to spend time swimming around a UNESCO World Heritage Site with people from all over the world.

The next day we hiked up a mountain to see a view of the entire city, and visited many of the popular tourist sites like Parliament and Heroes’ Square. We also visited Gelarto, a gelato store famous for its flower shaped desserts. After a busy day we headed back to the hostel to pack for our early morning departure to Malta.

The next day we arrived in Malta around noon and took a cab to our hostel. In Malta the people drive on the left side of the road at speeds I have never seen. It was nothing short of terrifying, but we did get to the hostel very quickly. We spent the day relaxing on the beach and exploring the downtown area, as well as planning our remaining two days.

Our first day trip was to Gozo, one of the larger islands in the Maltese archipelago. It’s a somewhat rural island, and the only effective way of getting around was on Hop-On Hop-Off busses.  Our main stop for the day was the Azure Window, which Game of Thrones enthusiasts will be interested to know is where Khal Drogo and Daenerys get married in the first season. We took lots of pictures and went swimming in one of ocean caves before returning to the main island.

Our second day trip was to Comino, the third largest island in the archipelago. This island is uninhabited but famous for the Blue Lagoon, a popular swimming beach with the clearest water I’ve ever seen. You could easily see your feet on the ocean floor and everything around you, which was comforting to someone with a phobia of sharks! We spent the day lounging on the beach and swimming before taking a quick boat tour around the Blue Lagoon caves and boating back to the main island.

After an amazing vacation, it was sad to return to Pamplona to a very much diminished group of study abroad students. People are heading home every day, and it’s hard to say goodbye not knowing when or if you will ever see someone again. I’m trying not to get too caught up in the sadness - I have 10 more days of adventures left and intend to make the most of them! Adios until next time!

Song of the South (of Spain)

It’s April, which means that finals have begun, but more importantly, it is the month of Spring Break! For UNAV, Spring Break is a two week event starting during Holy Week and ending the Sunday following Easter. I decided to be ambitious during these two weeks and take on six Spanish cities: Malaga, Granada, Sevilla, Barcelona, Toledo and Madrid. Read on for a little taste of each of these awesome places.

Malaga:

            Malaga was the first stop of this break. After class on Monday, my friend, Erin, and I jumped on the train with our luggage and headed South. We met up with my roommates at the train station and went to the city center to see the Semana Santa Processions. This is not the type of parade I am used to. It’s a very solemn affair, with hundreds of people dressed up in cloth outfits that cover their faces, identifying themselves as penitents. After many penitents march by, giant displays are carried by dozens of men to the rhythm of the accompanying marching band. These displays represent scenes and characters from the Bible, the principles being Mary and Jesus. Following the displays are hundreds of people who have pledged to follow the procession for the full nine hours. Some walk blind folded or without shoes. It’s a scene like I never could have imagined, and something that everyone should try to see once in their lives.

            The next day, my roommates went to visit family while Erin and I headed to the beach. It’s not quite beach weather yet for many of the locals, so the beach wasn’t particularly crowded, which was nice. Afterwards, we stopped for paella and sangria, a typical dish in this region. Paella is a dish made up of Spanish rice, vegetables, and either sea food or chicken, and sangria is wine with fruit. Both are delicious and readily available in Spain, especially by the shore.

Granada:

            Erin and I caught an early train to Granada since we had only being able to get morning tickets to see Alhambra. But before I talk about Alhambra, I’d like to take a minute to praise Spanish public transportation. It’s great, it really is. Essentially every city has a bus and train station, and tickets are very affordable. Not only is it easy to travel on Spanish public transportation, it’s comfortable too. Our bus had lazy boy-like chairs that reclined way back, and everyone was provided with breakfast pastries and water bottles. South Carolina could stand to learn a thing or two from Spain when it comes to getting around.

            So, after our super comfortable bus ride, we took a quick cab ride over to Alhambra, a royal residence that plays a very important part in Spanish history. It was originally a Muslim residence, which is evidenced by the calligraphy and decorations of the interiors of the buildings. However, it was ultimately taken over by Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain when they forced the Muslims to either convert or leave Spain. Due to this history, Granada and the surrounding area has a very heavy Arab influence. This is especially noticeable in the shopping areas, which are narrow streets full of goods that seem to have come straight from Morocco, such as tapestries, earrings, embroidered shoes, and harem pants. It would be very hard to walk down these alleys without leaving with something new in your hands.

            That night, we went to see a flamenco show at a small local bar. I had never seen flamenco, and it is unlike any type of dance that I have ever even heard of. It’s intense and involves a fair amount of stomping and complex footwork. Flamenco is somewhat hard to explain, so here’s a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNhfV_53W7A)

            After the show, we watched another processional. This one was even more crowded than the processions in Malaga, and at some points I didn’t think that the display would be able to get through the narrow streets with all of the people gathered to watch. However, it did, and the procession was accompanied by singing and chanting in the streets. Altogether a pretty awesome night.

Sevilla:

            We took a Bla-Bla car to Sevilla. Bla-Bla car is a ride-sharing service that is pretty popular in Spain. I was a little sketched out at first at the thought of getting in a car with a stranger, but it ended up being a quicker, cheaper way to travel. We arrived in Sevilla in time to attend another Semana Santa procession (no plot twist, sorry). Sevilla is known for having the most beautiful and elaborate processionals, a point of pride over the other southern Spanish cities. We watched for a little while before grabbing dinner and calling it a relatively early night.

            The next day, Erin and I walked around the city. Sevilla is a big city and full of tourists, but I liked it nonetheless. Some of the highlights were seeing the city’s bull ring, walking through a beautiful park and feeding the ducks, and boating through around the canals in Plaza De Espana. For all of you Game of Thrones fans, these canals are the set of the Water Gardens of Dorne in the next season. I was pretty pumped about that.

            After a full day of walking, Erin and I headed back to Malaga to catch our respective modes of transportation: hers was a train to Madrid and mine a train to Barcelona to meet my parents for the week.

Barcelona:

            I won’t spend too much time talking about Barcelona since I covered my first trip to this particular city in my last post. My parents and I spent four days here, and during this time we took a bus tour (super tourists), saw la Sagrada Familia (it’s still really cool), went to church on Easter Sunday (didn’t understand a whole lot of that), and walked through Park Guell, which was designed by Gaudi. It’s a stunning park that snakes up a mountain and includes Gaudi’s Gingerbread Houses, which look so realistic that you half expect Hansel and Gretel to run out. After Barcelona, we took a train off to Madrid for the second half of the week.

Madrid:

            This trip was my first time in Madrid, except for some brief stints at the city’s train station and airport. It is the capital of Spain, and much different from the other major Spanish cities I’d visited. In the words of my mom, “In some ways it is so different from U.S. cities, and in other ways it doesn’t seem very different at all.” We were lucky enough to stay by Plaza del Sol, the city center of Madrid, so it was a quick walk to most of the stores and restaurants. Our favorite go-to place in Madrid was El Mercado de San Miguel, which was made up of a bunch of mini restaurants and bakeries and bars. People go to the market all day, but especially in the evening for small plates and a drink or two. Definitely a must-visit for anyone spending time in Madrid.

            On our first day in Madrid, we took a guided bus tour around the city (I know, tourists extraordinaire). While I don’t love feeling so “touristy” after living in the country for almost 5 months, it is a great way to see a lot of the city and learn its history. We also spent a great deal of our trip walking around the city without any real aim, which is generally how I like to spend my travels. I find that it’s the best way to discover and experience the city. One of my favorite finds was a row of vintage book stands, where I spent quite awhile perusing the available books.

            Madrid was in some ways a little overwhelming for me. It’s a huge, crowded city, and like all big cities, it has some seedy areas. Growing up near New York City and Philadelphia, this isn’t a new experience for me, but after living in Pamplona, it was a bit of a surprise. This experience made me think about the potential difficulty I’m going to face readjusting to my life in the U.S., but that’s a post for another day.

Toledo:

            During my and my parents’ trip to Madrid, we took a day to visit Toledo, the historical capital of Spain. Toledo is exactly what one would expect from a historical Spanish city with beautiful architecture, narrow winding roads, and a plethora of history. It is also the home of famous painter El Greco. Unfortunately, it was a very rainy day when we visited Toledo and we only had a limited amount of time to visit, so the sites we were able to see were somewhat limited. However, we did have the opportunity to see the El Greco house museum as well as the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo, which was completed under the Catholic kings and is one of the most stunning churches I’ve seen in Europe.

After two weeks of travel, I headed back to Pamplona, where I am now in the midst of final projects and exams. Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for my next post!

 (Photos: Malaga, float in Holy Week processional, Toledo, Barcelona,  ceiling in Granada, Granada, Plaza D'Espana-GAME OF THRONES)

Adventure is Out There

To start out this entry, I’d like to apologize for the delay in posts! I had just started writing this entry when my laptop bit the dust. I then had limited access to computers and had to focus that time on school work. However, to make up for this lack of communication, I will be posting twice this week! Lucky you! We’ll start out with the post I started (in March) before my laptop’s untimely death.

March is here (and now almost gone) and my months of more frequent travel have begun. The fun started a few weeks ago when I spent two full days in Barcelona.  In general I tend to favor smaller cities, but I have to say that I lost my heart to Barcelona. For those of you who don´t know, Barcelona is a beach city on the east coast of Spain, about four hours from Pamplona by train. While two full days wasn´t nearly enough time to see all of the city, I did get to visit some great places. On the first full day, I ventured to la Boqueria, a food market. There were tons of stands with meat, fish, spices, fruit, juice, vegetables, and most importantly, CANDY. After filling up at the market, I took a boat tour around the ports of Barcelona. It was a gorgeous view, and there was a man playing the accordion which added greatly to the experience. I was feeling very posh, let me tell you.

After the boat tour, it was off to Parc de la Ciutadella, a beautiful park. The first thing I came across was a row of orange trees. I almost lost a shoe trying to get an orange down, but eventually had to admit defeat. There was an ornate fountain in the middle of the park, and street performers entertaining the crowd just outside. Overall, the park was a lovely place to be in the city.

The next day I had the opportunity to visit La Sagrada Familia. Work began on this church in 1882 and continues to this day. Much of its façade and inspiration comes from famous Catalan architect Anton Gaudi. The church is overwhelming in every respect of the word, and so I won´t try to describe it but rather encourage you to check out my picture below. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I sincerely doubt that you want to read that many of my words (nor do I want to write them!)

Another interesting experience that I had in Barcelona was going to a restaurant with a set tasting menu. Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I´m a picky eater. I don´t eat anything from the sea, and anything somewhat out of the ordinary simply isn´t my style. So imagine my concern when I saw the words monkfish, duck, spider crab, and lamb included on the menu. However, I´m pleased to say that I enjoyed the meal and have a new appreciation for Spanish cuisine. That being said, I still don´t think I´ll be ordering any monkfish next time I go out to eat.

My next trip was to Ireland with a fellow USC student. Before anyone asks, no, I did not go for Saint Patrick´s Day. I actually arrived the day after and spent four full days on the Emerald Isle. The day I arrived was spent in Dublin exploring and watching a rugby game at Trinity College. I also had my first Irish dinner, shepherd´s pie, which is a pie crust full of beef and veggies and topped with gravy and mashed potatoes. I can truly say that I could live in Ireland for the food if for nothing else.

The next three days were spent in Galway with day trips to the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, and Connemara.  I completed these trips with the Dublin Tour Company, during which I ran into another USC International Business student!  Small world. The Burren was our first stop. It is a national park full of limestone, and is also home to several ancient Irish tombs. Afterward we visited the Cliffs of Moher, which is simply stunning and also a little terrifying. The cliffs seem to challenge you to get as close to their edge as possible for breathtaking pictures, and then remind you of the waves and rocks that lay hundreds of feet below.

The next day we headed to the Aran Islands on a ferry. This visit felt somewhat like stepping back in time. There are very few stores or houses on the island, just sprawling farms with stone walls holding in sheep, horses, and goats. My friend, Keira, and I rented bikes and spent the day peddling along the coast of the island and trying to justify buying the giant woolen sweaters for which the Aran Islands are known.  Unfortunately, no sweaters were bought.

Our final day with the Dublin Tour Company consisted of a trip to Connemara, a somewhat barren part of the country. The highlight was Kylemore Abbey, a breathtaking castle that has served as a private mansion, a school for girls, and an abbey in its long and interesting life. After the abbey, we made a quick stop in the village of Cong, which is one of the smallest villages I’ve ever seen. It is, however, famous for being the location of the movie The Quiet Man. I’d never heard of this movie, but the few residents of Cong are quick to bring it up to any visitors! Rightfully so-the village didn’t have electricity until the film’s shooting.

After days of touring, we returned to Dublin for the last full day in Ireland. In the morning, we took a free tour of the city which included sites such as Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Temple Bar, and Trinity College (Side note-look up these tours in any cities in which you travel-they’re awesome and FREE). After the tour we headed over to the Guinness Factory for a little more information about this famous beer and a free pint. The free pint was somewhat wasted on me-after all this time in Spain, I’m a wine kind of girl.

            So ends my travels for now-check out my next post this weekend to hear about my spring break travels and Semana Santa in Spain!

 

 

The Road to Study Abroad

     

      Over the past week, a few sophomores from the USC International Business program reached out to me with questions and concerns about choosing and applying for their study abroad school. For this reason, I’m dedicating this post to how I ended up at UNAV and how younger IB students should handle the application process.

How does it work?

            For those unfamiliar with the USC International Business (IB) undergrad program, all students pursuing this major are required to spend the spring of their junior year abroad at one of a select number of partner schools. As sophomores, IB students apply for their preferred programs, writing essays to explain their top four choices and listing seven additional top choices. While most students are accepted to one of their top four choices, each school only accepts up to four students, so it is a competitive process. In early August, students receive their assignment via letter.

My experience

            When I began researching study abroad schools, I focused primarily on schools in Spain due to my Spanish minor and interest in traveling in Europe. USC has partnerships with four schools in Spain, so I evaluated each school based on a number of factors. The main factors I considered were course offerings (both in English and Spanish), the city in which the school is located, the cost of living in each city, and the amount of tourism in the surrounding area. For me, it was preferable to live in a less “touristy” area in order to have a more authentic experience in whatever country I was studying in. This led me to rank UNAV as my first choice due to the lack of tourists in Pamplona outside of the San Fermin Festival held annually in July, diverse course offering in both English and Spanish, and affordable cost of living. However, I was also enthusiastic about the other two Spanish schools that I ranked, as well as one Belgian university.

            After I submitted my application, the waiting game began. The first week of August was tense as I waited for the mail to arrive each day, hoping to receive the letter with my school assignment. When it finally came, I was so excited and immediately started researching northern Spain. In that moment, all of the stress and anxiety that came with the application process became totally worth it.

My advice

            My first and most important piece of advice to IB students completing their study abroad application is not to stress. I know that it’s easy to fall in love with one particular school, but the reality is that all of the IB exchange schools are fabulous. Every school will provide a great education, a life changing experience, and plenty of opportunities to travel. That being said, working hard on the application is a must in order to be assigned to a top choice, especially among the more popular universities. I recommend doing thorough research on the schools’ websites, including course listings and international pages. In addition, do some background research on the city where the school is located and on the local culture. It can be helpful to read blogs written by students who either are currently studying abroad in the country that you are interested in or who studied there in the past.  Even better, reach out to the IB students who were assigned to your top choices in the past to get firsthand information. Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice from the IB department-they are very familiar with all of the programs and are a great resource!

Adios for now and best of luck to everyone applying!

A Day in the Vida

Since February has largely been my month to stay home in Pamplona and experience the city, this post is dedicated to a typical day in Pamplona. While my schedule varies depending on classes and social activity, this is a little taste of what it is like to be at UNAV.

-          

     Wake-up: My earliest class at UNAV is 9:00am twice a week. My other days start at 10:00 am and noon, with Friday being class-free. Since I live about 10 minutes from the university, I generally wake up 40 minutes before class and have plenty of time to spare.

-          Class: Classes at UNAV last longer than those at USC. My longest class is 2.5 hours once a week, but all courses are broken up with a 15 minute break every hour. I like this model as it makes it easier to concentrate for a longer period of time, and also results in fewer classes in a week. The classes themselves are largely discussion based and free flowing. There is also considerably less physical work than in American universities. My only consistent assignment is a bi-weekly case analysis. There are also very few tests, meaning that the bulk of one’s grade comes from just a few tests and participation. This has its pros and its cons: while I appreciate the lack of busy work, there is a lot of pressure to do well on exams.

-          Lunch: After my morning class I come home and make lunch. This is more of a challenge than in the United States because “instant” isn’t a part of many food description in Spain. Frozen foods are pretty limited and unhealthy as well, so I’ve had to embrace cooking in earnest. While this took a little getting used to, I’ve finally moved past daily pasta dishes.

-          Siesta: That’s right, the siesta is real and it is glorious. This socially acceptable afternoon nap can be as short as 20 minutes, and it makes it much easier to reboot and go back to…

-          Class

-          Physical Activity: At this point in my day, I’m done with class and enjoy getting some exercise in. This varies from running around the Ciudadela or Yamaguchi Park or taking long walks through the Old Town, both of which provide great views and people watching opportunities.

-          Dinner: Dinner is fairly late here, and I’ve finally adjusted to waiting until seven, eight, or even nine to start cooking. It’s also generally a smaller meal than lunch.

-          Social Time: Spain is a country that values social time. It’s very common to meet up with friends in bars for a glass of wine or the local bakery for a pastry and talk. The study abroad students are always looking for new places to hang out, and there’s generally a group gathering at someone’s piso for movies, games, or chatting. 

Hope you enjoyed this walk through a day in Pamplona-Adios until next time!

(Pictures in order: La Ciudadela; Pastries from my favorite bakery; The Amigos Economics Building, The Bull Fighting Stadium)