officially done

hola chicos y chicas

i have finished all my exams for the semester. my semester in spain is over.


NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

4 months is no where near long enough to really, thoroughly learn anything. sure my spanish has improved, i have met tons of people from all over the world, and I have had wonderful travel experiences. But I have yet to see Flamenco show (other than the one I saw at the UW Memorial Union Theather). I still have only enjoyed Madrid nightlife once, and limited are the times that I've spent with just Spaniards. I obviously cannot complain about the amazing last semester that I've had, but there are still many things that I have yet to.

I chose this shorter study abroad program because I was planning on going to Sudan for a wedding on May 5 and having and AIESEC traineeship this summer, but in the end that didn't work out. I am really sad that the trip to Sudan didn´t work out ( a tear falls everytime an Arabic song comes on my ipod) but again, I can´t complain because I have a crazy amazing summer coming up.

I am leaving for Athens on friday at 12:55 PM and we´ll arive around 5 pm.
I really have no idea of what to expect in Greece. I know that I'll be staying with Georgia in her family's apartment in Athens. I know they have air conditioning and that Georgia's aunt and uncle live below us. I also know how to say ''I want water, please'' in Greek (Theló neró s'para kaló,) but that is about it. Oh, and I have checked out some NYT travel section slideshows on Athens. I am diving straight in without really knowing anything

I´ll be in Greece with Georgia until May 12th (we are thinking of going to Sparta for a few days) and then on May 12th, I´ll be heading to Cairo until May 23 (just bought my ticket a few days ago!).

At first I was really nervous about returning to Egypt after being there 3 years ago because I realized that when I was there last time, I had everything made for me. The airport pickup, the itnerary, the meals, a place to stay. But then after starting to contact all my American and Egyptian friends, I remembered I have nothing to worry about. I have a place to stay for all 10 days, a friend is picking me up for the airport and my AFS host family told me I can come over whenever. Although the host family then added that added that they´ll be there ''Inshallah.'' So I'm hoping that God is, in fact, willing that day.

WEll I was going to add more, but I have to head to our "graduation" and the "entrega de diplomas."  Hasta pronto! 

mission accomplished

This will be short, since I should be studying for my exams coming up next week.  

So last night there was hippie themed party in the Residencias sponsored by the Residencia committee or something. It was 10 Euro to get in and for an open bar.  So of course after one or two drinks I became a little more social and began to work the crowd. I met some random guy and we began talking. After a few minutes he asked me where I was from and I told him "from the United States, as you can probably tell from my accent."  

and here's where it gets good:

His response was " No, you don't have an accent."  

i dont have an aaaccent, i dont have an  aaaccent ! ! ! !  

how exciting is that?

Spring Break in Italy, 2 weeks left in Spain

And the countdown begins; just two weeks until I leave Spain.  On one hand, I am happy to end these classes which I haven’t exactly enjoyed and to leave behind my crazy obsessed roommate who thinks he’s in love with me.  Also, I feel like I’m just getting started making Spanish friends and just reaching the point where I have the Spanish language basics down so that I can start catching onto slang and “modismos.”  But on the other hand, I have a lot to look forward to.

            When my program here in Spain ends, I will not be heading back to the US of A (glory be to God for that).  Rather, I’m headed to  Greece where I will stay with a friend of mine who I met who is studying here in Spain with me.  She is Greek-American, so she lives in the US, but spends each summer in Greece in her family’s apartment in Athens.  And I was lucky enough to be invited to spend the summer with her there!  The plan is to be based out of Athens, but travel around the country to visit her family members in different parts of the country (Sparta, to name one) and also head to some of the islands (Mykonos).  Needless to say I am VERY excited to have this opportunity to experience a culture that comes out of one of the world’s oldest and most sophisticated civilizations, hopefully learn some of the language as well as be able to see all the historic monuments and sights.  Not to mention spend two months with a good friend in a beautiful country!

            Let me say, these Greece plans were totally unplanned. I was initially planning to travel to Sudan to attend the wedding of one of my best friend’s sister and also just see his country after hearing so much about it.  However, due to the nutjob Sudanese president, a decision taken by the International Criminal Court and a suspension of US Embassy services for all Americans traveling to Sudan, I decided that I would be better not to go.  While my friend Khalid assured me that I would have no problems, I didn’t want to put myself (nor him or his family) in any unnecessary danger or through any unnecessary trouble.  Its really unfortunate because it would have been a wonderful experience and a great time, but I suppose there could be more opportunities in the future…Insha’Allah. 

            So basically, my original plans (a summer in the Middle East) have totally fallen apart, but I am not complaining.  While Greece (and maybe Turkey, Egypt and Ireland) are not exactly what I planned, I will be learning about a whole new part of the world of which I really know nothing about.  And as a wise man once told me, "life is the greatest school, struggle is the best teacher, and traveling is the most useful textbook".  J

            After looking at my plans for two weeks down the road, I’d like to share the events of the last two weeks of my life.  Last week was la Semana Santa (Holy Week), so being the Catholic country that it is, Spain’s universities have vacation the week before (April 3-13).  After taking so many weekend trips in the last few months, I was just going to take this 10 day break to stay around Alcalá, rest, and get all my work done for the rest of the school year.  But lo and behold, I was talked into going to Italy for a week (April 7-14) by some friends who are studying on the same program but also are from UW-Madison.  It was a very disorganized decision, as we bought the tickets one at a time, from different airlines, in and out of different cities, with no plans of how to get from one city to another.  But it ended up working out swimmingly, and I ended up falling liking Italy more than I had ever imagined.

            We began the trip in Milan in the north.  After buying our ticket into Milan,  I called Enrico, the exchange student who lived with my family in Waukesha for one year about two years ago.  I was really only expecting to meet up with him since I called on short notice.  BUT, it turns out that he let us stay at his family’s extra apartment in Milan, and that his and his family’s efforts really made our stay in Milan.  We had a two bedroom apartment to ourselves (me and my two girl friends), we had an Italian guide, and we made instant friends when Enrico introduced us to all his cool 17-19 year old buddies.  When Enrico was in the United States (to be honest), I didn’t find him to be to coolest person in the world. But when we arrived in Cadorna Square in Milan where Enrico picked us up, what a man he had become! He was very enthusiastic, his English was great, and he took us all around the city to eat, drink and see the sights.  He introduced us to all his friends, and they all spoke English with us which was really nice.  They even took us to the VIP section of a high schoolers club.  While the crowd was a little younger than I was used to, it was still a great time.  What I’m still baffled by is how this group of teenagers was able to buy 6 liter bottles of Belvedere and Grey Goose vodka in addition to a few bottles of champagne for the night.  But again, I’m not complaining.

            Furthermore, Enrico’s dad took us out to a wonderfully delicious dinner of lobster, spaghetti, prosecco and some equally delicious Italian deserts.  We were worried that because we had had such a great first day, the rest of our trip would not be able to compare.  But not to fear, the trip maintained its amazing-ness for the next 7 days.

            On our second day in Milan, we met up with an acquaintance I had met at the World Affairs Seminar in Whitewater, WI in 2005.  Paolo and I had briefly met, and had only kept in touch a little on Facebook throughout the last 4 years.  Still, I contacted him on a whim to see if he lived anywhere near Milan, Florence or Rome (the three cities that we would hit within the week), and it turned out that he lived just an hour train ride from Milan.  He even offered to be our guide in Milan for the day, and let’s admit it, you can’t having an local Italian take you around the city.  And just being able to reconnect with him was great.  Because not only does he know a lot about his country, he knows a lot about Wisconsin so we already have a point of connection.  So needless to say, our second day as well turned out to be a success.

            The third day we headed on to Florence on our own (just us three girls).  We didn’t make hostel reservations until a few days before, so we were pretty limited in our options.  Instead of spending 50 Euros to stay in a hotel, we decided to take a chance and stay in a place called “Camping Michaelangelo:” a campground situated on a hillside and in which your room is a metal-frame tent with bunkbeds inside.  For only 15 Euros a night, we got a beautiful view of Florence from the campground’s terrace which served 7 Euro carafes of vino roso.  Not bad at all. 

            Because we only had one day in Florence, we skipped entering all the famous art museums and sights and just walked for hours around the city.  The best part about the girls that I was traveling with was that they (like me) like to experience a culture by eating their way through it.  Instead of eating a hearty meal at any one place, we hopped from café to café, trying different Italian cuisine, wines and desserts. 

Before coming to Italy, I didn’t understand all the hype around Italian food. But now I do.  The ingredients are so simple, but the resulting dish is so rich and flavorful.  In the United States, we are used to putting the most we can on a sandwich, making a pizza with 7 different toppings, preparing a hamburger with “everything.”  In Italy the food is much simpler but even more delicious.  For example, the Caprese pizza was a piece of fresh, crispy bread drizzled with olive oil, topped with fresh tomato and mozzarella slices and then sprinkled with fresh herbs. Very few ingredients, but very savory and still very filling. 

After Florence, we headed on to Siena for a day trip: a very small, but also a very beautiful, city.  To arrive to the main square, you have to weave through a bunch of narrow streets lined with small shops and restaurants.  But walking down these enclosed alleys makes the square all the better. That is, the main piazza in Siena is a huge clearing with a beautiful brick building at the focal point.  Tourists sprawl out on all parts of the piazza, sitting, snapping pictures, eating gelato.  We were lucky enough to be there on a beautifully sunny day, and for that reason, we really enjoyed the city. 

Siena was also fun because we could try the Italian that we learned in the last few days.  Upon making plans to go to Italy, I tried to learn a few key phrases from a pimsleur language podcast, but that failed.  But when I arrived in Italy and became absolutely enchanted by the Italian language and accent, I started trying hard to pick up at least some phrases.  Though Siena is a very touristic city, Jan, Lauren and I decided to weave around in the streets further away from the main piazza to find a place to eat.  When we did, we realized that the place had nothing translated to English and that the waiters did not speak English.  Whereas some Americans may have been disappointed or frustrated, this is just the kind of thing that gets me going. I put on my best mock-Italian accent and ordered “canollini” and “vino roso!,” “per favóre!” Rather fun, if I can say so myself. 

After just 4 or 5 hours in Siena, we headed back to Florence where we then hopped a train to Rome.  This is where it gets interesting. 

The day before, we had bought tickets to Rome on the 4:49 train.  We look at the message board at about 4:30 and see a train heading to Naples, but stopping in Rome, leaving at 4:49 from Florence.  That must be our train, we thought.  So we got on.

            We were expecting to arrive in Rome at 9:30pm because we had paid for the normal velocity train.  But at about 6:00 PM, just before I was about to call Costa (my would-be host in Rome), I asked the man across from me what time we would arrive in Rome.  He answered that we would arrive in about 30 minutes, since this was the high-velocity train.  My eyes opened wide, as I was rather confused.  We had purchased cheap tickets for the slow train, and we thought we had got on the slow train.  But no, we were actually on the fast train.  Oops. 

            I told Jan and Lauren who were sitting in some seats down the aisle.  While they proceeded to crack up, my palms began to sweat as I nervously looked to the next car to see if the ticket-checker-man was coming.  I only had about 3 Euros and some change in my purse and the Italian man who I talked with told me that they could fine us up to 100 Euros…per person.  So for the next 25 minutes, I waited impatiently for the train to reach the Rome Termini station so we could hop off and run for our lives. 

            Turns out the ticket man never came to check our tickets, and we got off paying less than 20 Euros for a 50 Euro ticket.  And we got to Rome in 1.5 hours rather than 4.5.  We got pretttty lucky.  (But I would like to mention how nice the  two Italian men were in helping us stupid Americans realize what was going on)

            The next leg of our journey, Rome, was no less amazing than the last.  In fact, the sights in Rome are some of the most breathtaking sights I’ve seen in my life.  I would say even better than the Pyramids.  Again in Rome, I was lucky due to an AFS connection from the past.  In 1996-97, Costa lived in Waukesha.  While he didn’t live with our family, he spent a good amount of time at our 2733 Oakcrest Dr. home.  I was only 9 years old when he was in the US, but when I called him from Spain to see what he would be doing during the time I was in Rome, it was like not a day had gone by since we had seen each other last.

            He offered to pick us up from the train station, take us to dinner, and then be our tour guide in the city for the weekend.  Jan and Lauren ended up staying with one of their good friends from Madison who they had come to visit.  But since I had never met their friends, I opted to spend the weekend with Costa.  I had my very own room and bathroom in Costa’s new apartment which was located about 30 minutes outside the city.  He took me to dinner at a great restaurant down the street form the coliseum on Friday, dinner at his parents’ house on Saturday, and Easter lunch at his aunt and uncles house on Friday.  So not even including the historic monuments and sights we saw, I had a great cultural experience.  I met his friends and family, ate fresh, homemade Italian food, and was totally immersed in an all Italian environment. I forgot how tiring it is to be in another, unfamiliar culture 27-4, but it also reminded me how much I love it and how lucky I am to experience that kind of thing in so many different places around the world.   

            In addition to experiencing Italian culture, Costa took me around all of Rome on an extensive two-day tour.  Its amazing to think how old some of the buildings are.  In the us we call a historical building something form the 1920s, but in Rome, the historical buildings come from 2000 years ago.  How are these things still standing?! To stand in the Middle of the Coliseum, Foro Romano or Palatine and look around is absolutely mind-blowing/ breathtaking/ stupefying.  Its like you’re on another planet or like you time traveled 2000 years back.  Its like something out of the movie Dune. Its not just pillars and broken walls that remain, its whole buildings and doors and houses and ponds and marble floors.  The building where Julius Cesar’s body was burned still stands and people still come to place flowers and letters and pictures upon it. 

Another great part of being in Rome during the Holy Week (something which we didn’t even realize until Saturday) is that the Vatican City is right in the middle of the city.  So on Sunday morning we trekked a whole 4 blocks to St. Peter’s square two hours before mass and got a spot to sit for Easter Sunday mass at the Vatican.  It was the most excited I’ve ever been to go to church.  I am not religious at all (ask anyone who knows me), but when I entered the square, I my eyes started tearing. It was the weirdest thing (and also rather embarrassing, because I hadn’t the slightest idea why I was crying.)  I think what got to me was just the view of thousands of people from all over the world in St. Peter’s square, the basilica ahead, and some buildings with columnar structures surrounding the square.  It was a beautiful sight.  Then when the pope walked in and some man with a really good voice (unlike the woman with no neck who sings opera at St. Joe’s Church in Waukesha) began to sing,  I was just like “Wow… this is kind of cool.”  Some people probably dream of attending a mass given by the pope in St Peter’s square for their whole lives, and here I am, at mass with the pope, just because I happened to end up in Rome for Easter.

At the end of the week, I was absolutely pooped.  This was the longest trip that I have taken all semester and really the longest trip that I have been on where I have had to plan everything on my own.  I knew it was time to go home when I went out on the last night, and literally fell asleep at a bar.  Traveling is great, but it is also exhausting.  

I  bought tickets to Italy thinking that it would be somewhere fun to go during spring break, thinking that it would be something to fill my time. But the trip itself turned out to be a very enriching experience and the country turned out to be a country that I really fell in love with.  (In fact, I even enrolled in Italian 201 (Beginning Italian for Speakers of Romance Languages) next fall in Madison.) Beautiful sights, nice people, great fashion and delicious food.  What more can you ask for?