Rain in Spain

The cold weather has finally arrived in Spain. It has actually been cold and rainy the whole week and reminding me of home, which makes the weather kind of nice in some ways. The other day, Renee and I went to a cafe to get on the internet for a bit (the weather caused a line to fall or something so our house didn’t have phone or internet service) and walking down the street in my fleece and raincoat with my laptop bag made me feel like I was walking to the SUB or library at school. But the cold and wet definitely has its downfalls. For example, all clothes here are line dried so when the weather gets cold and rainy, you don't get your clothes back for awhile. Our group is in Madrid for the next few days and I was hoping to be able to wash a pair of jeans before I left, but I asked my host mom two nights ago if I could and she said it was impossible. I feel like if I had washed them and hung them up to dry inside they would have been fine, but I didn't want to argue. So I'm hoping one pair of jeans, another pair of pants, and tights are enough for 5 days of traveling.

Speaking of arguing with my host mom, I love her dearly, but lately Renee and I have been finding it difficult to deal with some of the cultural differences, especially Renee. My poor roomie has been sick with strep throat or something (I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't get it but it seems to be going around the group) and has been lectured various times about not eating enough (our mom didn’t seem to understand that not only did Renee not have a big appetite because she was sick but it also was very painful), not wearing shoes while walking around the house, and not wearing a scarf at all times. I got in trouble the other day because I went on an hour long run (first time I had ever consciously ran that long so I was feeling pretty good about myself) and my mom thought I was out too late by myself. I can maybe respect that one a little, but I got home before 10, and I only ran on lit streets with other people, in areas I have ran before so I am familiar with them, so the lecture kind of annoyed me. Another thing related to my run is afterwards, I realized once I got back to my room that they were dirty, so, not wanting to leave them on them on the floor to get the floor dirty, I put them in the shower. Apparently that is unsanitary, although I didn’t get the lecture, Renee did. Next time I’ll be sure to leave them on the floor to get dirt all over our room, which will then get tracked into my bed when it get stuck to my feet, because that is definitely more sanitary. I also got told I needed to eat an apple the other day for dessert, as well as the yogurt I had eaten, because it is healthy and has vitamins. I can’t argue that apples are not healthy, but being told I have to eat an apple when I am very uncomfortably full, I ate a big salad with dinner and I ate an apple earlier in the day, and the person who’s telling me I need to be healthy is struggling with weight problems, is supposed to be sticking to a diet that her doctor gave her, and she’s not doing a very good job at it because the day before I watched her eat about half a loaf of bread with dinner and I watch her eat other things she isn’t supposed to all the time, kind of annoyed me. I know she’s just trying to take care of us, but her caring is a little too overbearing for me at times and I just want to be like “I am almost 21 years old, I have kind of lived on my own for the majority of the last two years, and I have been in this city for two months now; I can handle myself.”

Moving on from that rant, everything else is going really well. I’m really enjoying my classes and my professors, and love the fact that we do not have a lot of homework to take up our free time. The most homework I have is for the culture class we have to take with our program, and as much as I dislike it sometimes, this trip to Madrid is further proving the utility and interestingness of the class as I am able to relate what we’ve learned in class to what we are seeing. Yesterday we went to the Prado Museum, and we were able to see the paintings we’ve talked about in class, name the artists and titles without having to look at the signs, and talk about their significance. Today we went to the Escorial and got to see where all the Carlos’s, Filipe’s, and Alfonso’s we’ve learned about lived and are entombed, and reiterate and expand on the history we’ve learned about in class. It was pretty cool to be able to really understand what the guide was talking about since we already had a lot of background knowledge.

To wrap things up, I can’t believe that my time here is more than half way over. I feel like I still have so many things I want to do and see, although unfortunately my bank account wouldn’t permit that, so it’s probably an ok thing that I am coming home in December. I’m hoping to be able to figure out one more trip to do before my time here is up, but we’ll see. If not, I’m going to Barcelona at the beginning of December which will be exciting for many reasons. One of those reasons is that we may be seeing one of the biggest games of the season for FC Barcelona since the team they are playing, Levante, is apparently currently first in the league. Another reason is that my mommy will be meeting me there when she comes to visit me!

I’ll try to write another post when we get back to Granada about what we did in Madrid. I can say we are going to Segovia tomorrow, exploring Madrid more on Monday I think, and then going to Toledo on Tuesday. Not really sure what people will be up to when we aren’t doing something with the group, but I know we are at least looking to celebrate Halloween one of these days. Hope you all eat lots of Halloween candy for me, but don’t tell me about it because it will just make me jealous. I’m going to search for a Starbucks and get a pumpkin spice latte to celebrate the season and then wander the streets of Madrid to see what I can see.

What I learned in Italy

I have been bad and not kept up my blog like I was wanting to. I’ve been working on this post about my trip to Italy for a long time and finally got around to finishing it. To explain a little, I had my intensivo final on the 29^th of September, and since my professors said we wouldn’t really be doing anything Friday, and they wouldn’t be taking attendance, I decided to start the break that we got a little early. It has been a dream of mine for a long while now to go to Italy, and every year my parents gave me a calendar full of pictures of the beautiful sights there, it just increased my desire. When I found out when we had a break between courses, I quickly figured out who else was going, and bought my tickets so that I could finally make that dream come true. I got into Rome at about 1 PM on Friday, and almost felt like crying I was so happy and excited that I was actually there (I think my lack of sleep was making me a little overly emotional or something). There were quite a few people from our group going, but I spent the first part of the trip with two other girls from my group. Day 1 we went to the Coliseum and the Trevi Fountain by night. Day 2 we went to the Vatican and the Vatican Museum, and the Pantheon by night. Day 3 we went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi fountain by day, the Pantheon by day, and Piazza Navona. At the end of day 3, the girls I was with went to the airport because they were also going to Athens, and I moved hostels and went to meet up other people from our group. Day 4 I went to St. Peter’s Basilica with two other girls (keep reading to see why I didn’t go day 2 when we were at the Vatican), and then took the train to Florence with another guy and a girl from our group where we got in around 8 so we didn’t do much besides see the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo as it is commonly called, at sunset and by night, and go stand by the river. Day 5 we went to the Accademia Gallery to see the David, went inside the cathedral part of the Duomo, and walked up to Piazza del Michelangelo. Day 6, I took a 5:00 AM train back to Rome, did some last minute souvenir shopping, and then got to airport where I rushed to make it on time. I flew from Rome to Sevilla, where I got super lost and confused but finally ended up figuring out how to get to the bus station so that I could take the bus back to Granada. Getting home and being able to take a shower after sweating all day was a great way to end a whirlwind but amazing trip.

To tell a little more about my trip, I decided to make a list of things I learned while I was there. So here are some of the things that I found out during my travels in Rome and Florence.

1.      It’s better to have a place to stay before you get to Rome on a Friday night. You will most likely be able to find somewhere to stay that is just fine, but it may take some searching to find somewhere that is not completely full, which may cause some anxiety for a bit, and others may question your judgment and ask you things like “What were you thinking arriving in one of the biggest tourist cities in the world on a Friday without a place to stay?”.  

2.      Some restaurants charge you for using your napkin if it is a cloth napkin. If you ask why you got charged for it, they will tell you it is because they have to wash and iron them.

3.      Many hostels do not provide towels or they do at a cost. A combination of drip drying and bed sheets or t-shirts works perfectly well and they dry fast, but I would recommend bringing a small towel.

4.      When going to the Vatican, it is a good idea to really think about where you are going and maybe have some religious upbringing/experiences. If your mind is not inclined to thinking about religion and what it may entail, and the fact that you are about to go visit the home of the head of the Catholic church and the largest Cathedral in the world doesn’t throw up any red flags, it is a good idea to do some research before getting there or talk to people who have been there before. If you just show up without having done any of the mentioned things, you may end up standing in line for an hour to get into St. Peter’s Basilica, only then to be stopped by the security guards to find out that it was a bad idea to wear shorts that are above your knees and a tank top without bringing something to cover up with.

5.      If you are stopped for being dressed inappropriately and do not have anything to cover up with, it is a good idea to ask someone working there what to do. If you actually ask, someone may tell you that there is a gift shop inside with scarves for sale that someone who is dressed appropriately can run in and buy for you and bring back out for you to cover up with. An obvious conversation about what to do when you are standing right next to the security guards at the entrance does not appear to be enough to get you this information.

6.      If experiences 4 and 5 have happened to you, it is a bad idea to agree to wait in the entrance for the people you are with while they go in the Basilica and then when they are done, one of them will give you her scarf to cover up with so you can go in. If you agree to this, you may end up sitting on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica for an hour and a half or so watching the line, taking pictures of pigeons and whatever else you can see from right next to the cathedral, hearing people who are dressed inappropriately get told about the gift shop, and having the security guard ask you what you are still doing there and where are your friends. When your friends do finally come out, you will be hungry and in a bad mood from a variety of things – mostly waiting for so long with nothing to do when you could have been wandering around – and will decide that after the total 2 and a half hours you spent waiting (line + sitting on the steps), it would just be better to come back another day.

7.      A scarf is a good thing to have with you at all times. It works well as a multipurpose tool and can be used for wrapping around your legs or shoulders to go in religious places (such as St. Peter’s Basilica or the Sistine Chapel, where you are technically supposed to have one, but they aren’t as strict), drying your hands when there are no paper towels, a water bottle holder when your bag is too small, or to cover you when you get cold.

8.      You are not allowed to take pictures of some of the main attractions such as the Sistine Chapel or inside the Accademia Gallery, where Michelangelo’s David is (which I didn’t realize until I took a picture of a different sculpture and was told I wasn’t allowed to). A lot of people do it though so if you’re sneaky, you can get away with it. I’m not sure on their reasoning for not letting you take pictures besides that they want you to spend more money on a postcard of it or something. I figured they robbed me enough getting in to see things that the least they could let me take away was a photo.

9.      Getting gelato and eating it next to the Trevi Fountain = a good night

10.  Sitting at a restaurant near the Trevi Fountain and splitting a bottle of wine = a good night

11.  Getting gelato and watching street performers in Piazza Navona = a good afternoon

12.  Splitting a bottle of wine, going to look out over the river in Florence, and then getting a waffle sandwich with Nutella in the middle = a great night

13.  Florence in Italian = Firenze. I’m not really sure how we got Florence.

14.  It’s a small world after all. Multiple times we ran into other people in our group, and not in the super touristy places like you could maybe expect, but in random places. It got one of the guys in our group thinking that if you happen to pass people you know randomly in other places, how many people do you pass in multiple places around the world that you don’t know and therefore don’t notice? 

15.  You can learn about things in history and art classes, see pictures of things on posters and in calendars or textbooks,  but nothing compares to standing looking at all those things in person. Seeing the Sistine Chapel the David are good examples of this. Until you are standing looking up at The Creation of Adam or up into the face of David, you do not truly appreciate or understand their grandeur.

16.  In Florence, hiking up to Piazza del Michelangelo is better than going up in the Duomo. I didn’t actually go up in the Duomo so I can’t say this for certain, but when Piazza del Michelangelo is free, a beautiful walk through a park, and you get a panoramic view of the city that includes the Duomo, it has to be better than paying 11 Euros to walk up a bunch of stairs for a view of the city and the roof of the Duomo, right?

17.  Youth hostels are super fun and a great way to meet people from all over the world and form a small community, even if only for a night or two. We hung out and talked to people from Australia, New Zealand, England, France, Germany, Canada, and many places all over the U.S. and it was fun hearing about what they were doing.

18.  On a personal note, I do not like being a tourist. I love traveling and seeing the sites, but I don’t like feeling like I have to get through a “to do list” and enjoy just being in a place. I enjoyed Florence more for this reason because, although it is still touristy, I felt like there were more relaxed moments where we were able to just wander and explore and be in the city, even though it was for such a short time. Don’t get me wrong, Rome was amazing, but there was so much to do and it has SO many tourists, that it was pretty overwhelming.

19.  Being late to the airport is super stressful but may end up working in your favor. When they are about to close the desk for your flight, you get to jump ahead of a bunch of people in line. When you go to the next person open at the counter and she was actually about to take her break, when she sees you are in a hurry she may stamp your boarding pass like you needed without paying attention to the fact that your bag is actually slightly overweight on what is supposedly one of the strictest airlines. And lastly, when the large amount of stress from thinking you were possibly going to miss your plane (probably mixed with lack of sleep) finally has something that sets you over the edge and you break down in tears, you may get through security with items you are not supposed to have in your carry on. Granted you have a nice and understanding security guard working with you.

20.  Italy is very expensive. It would be better to plan your trip better than I did and look into places to eat and if there are ways to get discounts on museums and things (such as an international student ID which allows you to get into the Vatican museum for half off). It is ridiculous how fast money can disappear there.

I hope this list can maybe be of some help to some people someday. I feel like I should do another list of things I’ve learned in Spain, but that one would probably be always getting added to. As for a quick update on Spain, I’m still having the time of my life and doing really well. Real classes started on October 6^th and I am taking Political Systems of the European Union, Spanish Grammar, and Oral and Writing Production (I don’t really know what to title it to explain it besides the literal translation). I’m also still taking our programs culture class. Like I figured, my time is flying by here and I only have about 60 more days. At least a big part of what is so amazing here is coming home with me in a way because all of the people in my group are from schools in the NW so no one is super far away and it will be easy to visit.

I will really try to be better about posting. I know I have said this, but now that I have finished Italy I feel like I can turn a new page and really get on top of this whole blogging thing. We’ll see though.

WiFi down

I am working on getting a post up about Italy but it has been a little difficult because I feel like I have so much to say. It doesn't help that our WiFi is not working in the house which has been really annoying. It's made worse by the fact that our host family has no idea what is going on because the only person who uses the computer and the internet is their oldest daughter, Elana, and she does not live with them. She is the only one with an account on their computer and they cannot access their own computer because they do not know the password to get on it. Elana was over the other day to see if she could help and spent 3 hours or something on the phone with the internet company and couldn't figure it out. We were trying to get to someone who spoke English because it was difficult to translate the problem we were having and then translate the directions they were trying to give us. Eventually we got to someone who spoke English and they put me on to talk to him. When I explained the problem, he said we needed to call a number that we had already tried and that had been no help, and he responded with "Well if they couldn't help you, what am I supposed to do?" I told him we wanted someone who spoke English because we were having a hard time translating, and then I heard a click and the phone started beeping signaling that the call had been disconnected or he hung up on me. Customer service is not very helpful here. We got a hold of someone else who told us we needed to put our computers in Spanish and then the fix should be easy, but we looked up putting our computers in Spanish and it seems you have to buy something which we do not want to do, or think we should have to do. Renee and I have tried everything we can think of, but nothing seems to be working so we have had to connect our computers directly to the router in order to get internet. This was causing a bit of a problem because the router was in our host dad's bedroom and, although he is never there, Sacra didn't really like us spending a lot of time in there, which is understandable since it is someone else's personal space, but just frustrating. Today they moved the router into the kitchen, but their motives for this were different than the fact that now we wouldn’t have to be in our dad’s room to use the internet. They thought that maybe by moving the router closer to our room that the problem would be solved, and decided to show and explain this to me when I was half asleep and had only gotten up to go to the bathroom and was planning on going back to bed. I did not have the patience at the moment to explain to them that that was not going to solve the problem, and then I was annoyed because I couldn’t fall back asleep. Renee and I are starting to lose our patience with the whole thing because we cannot seem to find the right words to explain to them what the problem is and the fact that it is not a problem that is going to solve itself over night (as Sacra seems to think when she asks us every day if the internet is working now) or something that is going to be fixed by moving the router. One of our program directors is coming over tomorrow to see if she can help out and we are hoping that she can help translate and maybe talk to the company to get this figured out. My only other thought is that there is a guy in our program who said he works for the tech center at his school and he could maybe help us out, but here you don’t really have friends over to the house unless you are the head of the house (so parents or if kids move out and have their own place), so I don’t know how our host mom would feel about this, and I think it would be made even more uncomfortable by the fact that he is a guy. It’s been very frustrating because in the states, if the company could not fix the problem for you over the phone, they would most likely send someone out to your house to figure it out because they don’t want dissatisfied customers. It is times like these I wish I was more of a technology buff and could figure out what to do. Hopefully we can figure it out tomorrow with our director because the more time that passes, the shorter my patience gets with our host mom and everyone for not understanding.