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Last one!

As I explained before, this comes as a slight delay. With all the craziness of traveling and re-adjusting to reality, I found myself consumed in just being home. I actually find my postponed blogging to be of benefit, because it gave me more time to reflect. At this point, I have been home long enough to totally re-integrate. In fact, it didn’t take me long. Only being gone for a month has its benefits, one of them being a shortened recovery time. The major differences that I noticed were as follows:

I understood what people were saying! I got so used to not comprehending the conversations as I passed them on the street, but the moment we got on the airplane headed back to the United States, English was everywhere! At first it was almost annoying, hearing everyones private discourse, which was surprising! But eventually it was comforting.

Next, the food… this was probably the most disappointing thing about coming home. Not so much the variety, but the quality! I missed the freshness, the abundance of fruit, the organic and free range meat! It is much easier to notice the difference in processed food when you are spoiled for over a month. I also found it almost offensive coming back and being rushed through a meal! I got used to sitting at length when we would go out to eat, and hardly ever having a waiter come and bother you. The simple difference of having to ask for a check versus them handing it to you after a mere half hour was notable.

Lastly, the pace of everyday life. I grew up in the country, so living in a city was interesting.  I appreciate the calm streets, green scenery, and wildlife at very turn. In Barcelona, there was a constant buzz of noise at all hours of the day, the city never went dark, and many people stayed up until the early morning! The only animals I saw were pigeons, seagulls, and dogs on leashes. I was definitely happy to drive home from the airport and see mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers.

Needless to say, there was a roller coaster of emotions as a result of coming home. I do believe it when they say that returning can actually be more difficult that arriving! This entire experience has opened my eyes to joys and pitfalls of so many types of travel. Whether it be for business, school, vacation, asylum, immigration, etc. No matter what, there are adjustments that must be made, and I was lucky enough to have had immense support and guidance throughout my entire journey. I will forever look back and deem this trip as totally necessary and worth it.

Adios..

Hola!

I am regretfully writing this much later than anticipated. Due to a series of unanticipated events called “life”, I was unable to keep up with my photo blogging as much as I had wanted.

Nevertheless! I am ready to finish my story. I ended my study abroad experience with absolutely no regrets. I saw amazing things, made incredible friends, and fell in love with a city that once seemed so far away, and is now so close to my heart. My last week of schooling was slightly less exciting as before, because I was busy with studying and writing my final paper. I went out to dinner a few times with friends, and spent a relaxing day on the beach by myself! The day of my finals was a whirlwind of anticipation, excitement, joy, and curiosity. I say curiosity because leading up to this day, I received some interesting red flags. My boyfriend, whom I had been texting quite regularly, informed me that he was going on a camping trip with friends and wouldn’t have service for a few days. But what was odd, was that he stopped texting me right around the time that my parents were supposed to get on the plane to come visit me in Spain….as it turns out, it was no coincidence. My boyfriend surprised me that afternoon, and flew over 5,000 miles with my parents to join us on our extended European vacation!!!! As I walked into the hotel lobby and saw him standing there, I couldn’t believe my eyes!!! I felt like a little kid, glancing over at my parents for reassurance that this was real life! They already had phones and cameras pointing at me to catch my reaction, and even though there were several other people in the room, I didn’t care. I also was able to see my former foreign exchange student from Denmark! My 5th week in Barcelona was about to prove how spontaneous and lovely life can be.

I instantly realized what an awesome experience it would be to show them around the city. None of them had ever been to Barcelona before, and it was even my boyfriends first time out of the country!!! I was honored with the duty of being their tour guide for the next five days, and put all that I had learned about the city in the past month to the test. I taught them how to use the metro, how to avoid the tourist traps on Las Ramblas, how to find amazing food, and how to see the city for its beauty, warmth, and comfort as I had. Because I had known about my parents coming, I purposely waited to do many of the tourist sight-seeing with them. We went to Barceloneta Beach, saw the statue of Columbus, went to Park Guell, saw many more of Gaudi’s buildings included the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral, and we of course had our fair share of Paella! In fact, the reason I chose Barcelona to begin with, was because of my uncle. He backpacked through europe when he was not too much older than myself, and Spain was by far his favorite country. Barcelona in particular. So for their second night we went out for Paella (his favorite dish) on what would have been his 71st birthday.

Leaving Spain was much harder than I had thought. I had been there long enough to feel comfortable and to create a routine, so letting go was tough. I thought maybe having my parents there (and now my boyfriend) would make things easier, but there was no way they could understand the connection I felt. I promised myself then that no matter what, one day I would return.

Our two and a half week trip continued on. We visited Paris next, where the real turn of events took place. As we stood in the city’s largest building, overlooking the Eiffel tower as it glittered, my boyfriend took my hands and got on one knee….he proposed to me on our four and a half year anniversary in the city of love!!!! I was living a real life fairy tale, and all I could do was be thankful. My whole life changed from that day on, and with the support from our family and friends, we are very excited to start the next chapter of our lives. However, our excitement is pre-mature because we (along with the guidance of our parents) have decided to have a long engagement. We would both like to finish school and get stable jobs before taking such a big step.

After France we went to Munich, Germany, Austria, and then ended in Denmark with Mia (my foreign exchange student) and her family. We ended the trip with lots of laughs, good company, and a lifetime of memories to treasure forever. I will never forget the lessons I learned, or how I felt stepping off the plane when I had first arrived. I came, I saw, I conquered!

See you soon Barcelona <3

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Hola!

I am starting to feel like a month in Barcelona is the perfect amount of time! You can see all of the gorgeous sites, you can enjoy the weather, but just when you start to get homesick, you only have 5 days left! Luckily for me, I get to stay a few extra days because my parents decided to come visit spain as well. So even though I will be traveling en extra two and a half weeks in Europe, at least it will be with people I’m familiar with.

I made an effort to visit the beach more, and its so worth it. The water is warm but refreshing, the sun is hot, but there is a constant breeze too cool you off. I really like the fact that not once haveI felt nervous or uncomfortable here, either traveling by myself or in groups. I can’t believe I was so worried about safety!

Im also coming to the realization that I have to ay goodbye to some really awesome people… My Aussie roommates are hilarious and so easy to get along with, and with my two west coast friends I feel like we have known each other forever! And another girl from Ohio is one of the sweetest yet craziest people I know! Goodbyes are always hard, but not knowing when I will see these people again is tough.

On the bright side, I real have enjoyed my cross-cultural psych class. The teacher is very laid back, and discussions are very much directed by us students. It is one of the first psych classes that I truly wake up excited to go to!

Anyways, it is bitter-sweet that I am in my last week of the program, but I anticipate that it will be one of the most memorable things I do in life <3

Adios! Chao!

I never want to leave!!!!

This second week here in Barcelona has been just as incredible and exciting as the first, and I am finally getting the hang of things! Throughout the week I did a lot more sight seeing, going to famous Gaudi buildings, old bull fighting rings, gorgeous parks, etc. I love how simple the metro system is, and also how extensive. It can get you within blocks of so many places and the trains run every 5 or so minutes, so the wait is minimal.

I am becoming much more aware of the political dilemma here, in regards to the split between Catalonia and the rest of spain. This became more apparent after discussing the issue with my class. The demand for a separate democratic country is rising with intensity, and the evidence is everywhere. The spanish flag, which as we know, yields red and yellow stripes. But the catalonia flag is flown just as much (if not more) from office buildings and private terraces. In fact, as you walk by the official buildings controlled by the government and local mayor, you can see these flags flown just beside them, as if to make quite a bold and powerful statement seeing as if the flag is not officially recognized

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. It contains the red and yellow stripes, but it also has a blue triangle-like section with a single white star in the middle (of which the significance I am unaware).

What I have come to love the most about this country is its welcoming vibes. I have now been to 3 different cities, Barcelona, Valencia, and just recently Sitges. Though they each differ quite dramatically, they are all so comfortable and accessible. I am not used to city life at all, and the dense population is much different than what I am used to.  But nevertheless I am continuously stunned at how quickly I fall in love with each new street or town square I come across. This is truly a beautiful place <3

On our day trip to Sitges, the program took us on an awesome Cava tour (which is basically spanish champagne), where we had an extensive tour of where, how, and when the make it, the history behind  it, and the specific taste it has. It was so delicious I ended up buying 2 bottles afterwards, and now have no idea how to get it home!!! Afterwards we went to the beach (which was much cleaner than Barcelona) and had a nice lunch and enjoyed the sun. It was a much needed break from the busy city.

Another thing I am super grateful for is the friends that I have gained in such a short amount of time. The two Aussies that I live with tend to stick to themselves, but my other roommate Amelia (from Seattle!) and I get along great. I can definitely see us continuing our friendship once back in the states. I have also grown fond of another west coastie named Bri who happens to be from Vancouver, which is only about a 2 hour drive from my hometown. She is always down to have fun and let loose! We also hang out with Rachelle, who’s from Ohio. She backpacked through Europe before arriving in spain, and plans to do more after the program is over! She is already planning on a road trip to the west coast to visit us next summer, and I really hope she follows through!

I still can’t comprehend that I am at the halfway mark, of my stay, but I am not letting myself get disappointed yet. This has been one of the best decisions of my life.

This first week (and a half) has been an absolute roller coaster of emotions for me! I am truly enjoying my environment and all the changes that have come with living in a city, but to be honest, it hasn’t been all butterflies and rainbows! For example, in our cultural orientation we learned about the “U-Curve of culture shock” and how after a while you may feel a tad homesick..this has definitely rang true for me. However, it not so much feelings of wanting to go home, but rather wanting everyone that I love to be here and joining me on this awesome adventure!

I also am having to adjust immensely to the heat. Growing up in the Pacific northwest, we get excited over 80 degree weather with limited clouds! So adding humidity to the climate has been interesting…sweat seems to be inevitable, especially when I take the metro (all the heat gets trapped underground, with no breeze). Nevertheless, I love not having to wear layers of clothing.

Other than a few minor adjustments, my first week here has been filled with sight seeing, exploration, good food, and great people! Just yesterday we returned from a weekend trip in Valencia (about 4 hours south of spain by bus) and it was incredible. Gorgeous beaches, much less crowds, tons of shopping, and I made a few more friends from the program that I hope to continue to hang out with not only here, but back in the states as well!

This upcoming week is packed with lots of activities, so I look forward for week 2’s entry.

Adios!

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I survived the trip, and I have no idea how! It was my first time traveling by myself, let alone internationally, and in Portland my flight gate was changed twice, in Atlanta the boarding process was postponed hallway through because of a thunder storm, and on the plane about two hours before landing in Barcelona there was a man who stopped breathing and didn’t have a pulse! He is ok now, thankfully. Needless to say, I was relieved to be on solid ground. I met one of my roommates as soon as I got out of customs and baggage, and it turns out we were on the same exact flight! When we got to our apartment, both of us were pleasantly surprised. It was much larger than we had anticipated, we had a washer and dryer, two bathrooms, terraces for each of the bedrooms, a fully equip kitchen, and a lovely sitting/dining area. It looks as if they had just designed and decorated for our stay. We settled in for a few ours, and eventually our other two roommates, who are sisters from Australia, showed up. They unpacked a few of their things and then we set out to find the metro so we could make it to our 3 o’clock orientation (we were a tad late). After a few powerpoint presentations we were brought to the city center for a tour. Despite how incredibly tired I was from traveling, I felt myself falling in love with the city already!

The next day was our academic orientation, which included some presentations and then a bus trip down to the beach and a marvelous Paella lunch! Then we were free to wander the waterfront. It was so gorgeous and the water felt amazing. After another long day of walking, everyone was feeling pretty burnt out, so the next few days were filled with mild exploration and relaxation. I saw a few major landmarks, including La Sagrada Familia (which is right next to my apartment), the Arc de Triomf, Las Ramblas street, and a few others. I already know that this trip is going to be amazing 🙂

Barcelona!!

The nerves have set in! I hope I didn’t forget anything, and I hope I didn’t overpack! Even though I am only studying abroad for a month, I hope to make the best of my time there. I can’t wait to fall in love with the city, or to shop for groceries at a local market! This will be a special trip for me, because many years ago, my late uncle traveled the same streets on his own when he was just a little older than I am. I hope navigating in a city where I don’t speak the native language won’t be too troubling….at least I have mentors there that can help. As I’m sitting in the PDX airport I wonder what my parents are thinking. I have a feeling they are more nervous than I am! We had an awesome dinner last night at a Brazilian Steakhouse, and it was a good way to say farewell for just a short while. This summer is going to be one for the books.

See you soon, Barcelona!