La vida internacional

Last night, my friend Joan and another upf student Marc prepared a traditional catalan dinner for some of us international students. The night was a lot of fun and the food was delicious! Marc's attempt at tortilla de patatas looked a little scary. But once I tried it it was actually quite good. Of course we topped the night off with cava y vino and even played a little bit of kings (I felt like I was back in the US!).

There were only 14 of us but all together we were from 8 different countries! Joan made us go around a say a short speech in each of our native languages and it was incredible to hear the different languages we could all speak. The countries represented were: Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Estonia, United States, and Korea. Its pretty incredible how small the world becomes when you start to travel. I really hope I keep many of these friends so that when I travel around in the future I will have people to visit!

Yes I have been to four continents.

This weekend I went to MOROCCO! What a wonderful experience on so many levels. Learned some arabic, ate some cuscus, bought some spices, rode a camel, woke up to the call to prayer. Cultural immersion at its best. Now I can officially say I have been to four continents (even if we really only saw the northern-most tip of Morocco, which happens to be the northern-most tip of Africa, but hey it still counts).

The trip was broken up into three days. First on Friday before heading to Morocco we spent a few hours in Gibraltar, the southern-most point of Spain which is actually a British territory. It was quite a strange mix of British and Spanish restaurants, currencies, and languages. Because we didn't want to pay for the extra tour in Gibralter, Natalie and I walked around with two other students on the trip (one guy from Germany and one girl from Italy). We quickly became close friends with them and they were so nice. They are studying in Sevilla, like most of the other students on the trip. After us four became friends we also got to know another girl from Sweden and another boy from the United States. Us 6 stuck together the entire trip and Natalie and I are going back to Sevilla to visit them during our break later in October!

Friday night we arrived in Morocco, but only in time for dinner and a short walk outside the hotel. It greatly surprised us to see that the only people outside at night were men. Women are expected to stay inside and rarely ever go out for food or drinks at night. It was quite the culture shock. It was also interesting through out the rest of the trip to see how much the women there cover up. This is definitely something we are not used to.

Saturday was most definitely the best day in terms of cultural immersion. In the morning we went to a small beautiful town called Chefchaouen. I was excited that there were not many other tourists because we were able to truly experience a local place. The people there appeared very friendly and excited to see us visiting their town. The houses were all touching one another and the streets were narrow. Occasionally we would walk by a door and see a family hanging out inside their house. It seemed that a community feel was more important than individual privacy. All of the houses were beautifully painted in blue (apparently blue keeps the mosquitos away and blue is also the official color of Chefchaouen). I honestly can see myself living in this town because it was just so beautiful and relaxing! We also had the opportunity to visit a cooperative where they make tapestry and scarves. I of course had to buy a scarf. After that we explored a little and saw some markets. They are all about bargaining in Morocco. Even the little boys we found on the street and asked to take a picture with us charged us one euro for the photo... I guess they start them off young.

We spent Saturday afternoon in the city of Tetuan. First we ate a traditional Moroccan lunch followed by mint tea (our new favorite drink!) This city was a lot bigger yet all of the streets were small and narrow just like in Chefchaouen. In most of the streets you couldn't fit a car so the majority of the citizens appeared to be walking everywhere. There were plenty of shops with a variety of things from food to electronics to clothing (Everything was of lesser value than what we are used to; many items they were selling looked used). It makes sense that they would have numerous small shops because people cannot drive through the streets and go long distances to shop. Again there was a feeling of community. Often we would see young people playing soccer in the streets or old men playing chess outside of their doorway.

Saturday night we ate a dinner which included cuscus while watching moroccan performers. The highlight of the show was the bellydancer who called up our friend from the US to perform with her. That night we went out to the club in the hotel for a little bit and ended up swimming in the pool before going to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up before our alarm to someone singing/chanting very loudly outside. We realized it was the morning call to prayer. Again, another huge culture shock. People there don't even need alarm clocks because the call to prayer is so loud. It was also impressive to see how dedicated they are to their religion.

Sunday we had to leave to go back to Sevilla. I spent the night there with my friend Mary who is studying there for the semester. Now I'm back in Spain and exhausted from the trip. But it was definitely worthwhile and I can't believe how much I was able to see in a matter of 3 days.

Paella... no pael(LA)

Today was paella day! A few weeks ago I made a spanish friend in my European economics class (which is in spanish by the way..) whose name is Gerard. He is from Cataluña and has been super helpful in getting me acquainted with the University and life here in general. Last weekend my friends from Richmond and I met up with Gerard and his friends for drinks. It was a lot of fun. Somewhere in the night he promised to invite us all over for a paella lunch one day. Since today is a spanish holiday and no one had to go to class, we decided it would be the best day to do it. In case you are unaware of what paella is, here is a definition that I copied from the internet: Paella is a cornerstone of traditional Spanish cuisine, originating in Valencia, although it is served all over the nation, especially on Sundays and holidays. Superficially, it resembles a risotto, since the dish is made with rice, meats, and vegetables cooked together in a large pan, also called apaella, or paellera in some regions of Spain. 


The paella was very delicious. It was a seafood version so it was filled with shrimp, squid, and mussels. I'm absolutely loving how fresh the seafood is here - it reminds me of home! We thought we would be there for maybe an hour or two but we forgot how much spanish people love to spend time after eating just talking with one another and enjoying themselves. We got there a little before 3 and didn't leave until 7! When we asked if they had anything they needed to do for the rest of the day they were confused. They said that they didn't have any classes and that they don't normally do their homework (something that seems to be commonplace here) so why not just sit around and relax. Leave it to us Americans - always trying to get to the next place and accomplish the next thing. It was a very relaxing afternoon and I'm glad we spent it with spaniards because it felt as though we were more apart of the lifestyle here.


A challenge that continues to cause us grief is the language barrier! I feel that I do not practice spanish enough. When I do practice my accent is horrible and I become embarrassed. We learned latinamerican spanish in the US so it is difficult to adapt to the Spain accent. Today when we tried speaking with the boys in spanish we would make many mistakes and sometimes had to turn to english. However, I'm happy that we at least made an effort to practice. The boys find humorous the way we pronounce double L's. We say words like paella and amarillo with the latinamerican accent. They say paella with more of an L like paelLa. We tried to mimic their pronunciation of these words and of course failed. Next time we are going to invite them over to our apartment for an American dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs and some good old beer pong. My goal is to be able to pronounce these words correctly by then... We'll see if that happens.

Life as a real adult

Studying abroad has taught me a lot about language, culture, and history. But at the same time I am also learning how to live alone (like a real adult... :)) and take care of myself. On Thursday I had to pay for utilities. I found myself leaving the apartment company's office thinking "next month I need to conserve so that utilities are not as high." What?! I sound like my mom and dad. They were always constantly telling me to turn off lights and take shorter showers. I guess now I finally understand.

Cooking meals every day in the apartment is getting difficult. I am running out of meal ideas! It seems as though I make some sort of chicken and vegetables every night. I think for this upcoming week I am going to pick a different recipe every night to make. If you have any good recipes feel free to send them to me!

A weekend escape from the hustle and bustle of the city

This weekend our program went on a trip to Costa Brava, a beautiful coast to the north of Barcelona where many people who are from city go during the summer or on the weekends to relax and escape.

We stayed one night in a town called L'Escala. The views of the ocean were amazing. The beaches here are so different from the ones I'm used to. They have many more big rocks and cliffs. There are plenty of houses on top of the cliffs with great views - when I become rich and famous (and I do plan to make that happen...) I hope to own one of them.

On Saturday we went to see the Greek and Roman ruins in L'Escala. The remains are of a port city which served as a center of trade around the time of Christ. It is beyond incredible to me that they are still standing. I can't really picture any of the buildings we have today lasting over 2000 years.

Saturday night we went to a small medieval town to eat dinner. I don't think I have been that full in a while. We were given piles and piles of traditional catalan food and even better endless bottles of wine!

Sunday we woke up early and traveled to the nearby Figueres to see the Dalí museum. This was yet another mind boggling experience. I had learned about Salvador Dalí in school countless times but I was not prepared for the craziness of this museum. The guy was clearly a genius. At first glance when walking the museum there is a painting of a woman staring out a window. When you take a step back you realize the pixels actually form a portrait of Abe Lincoln.

The weekend was a lot of fun. Now its time to get back to work :( My classes are not too bad but I just entered a macroeconomics class and its been taking me a while to get caught up since I missed the first three class periods. Its definitely a challenge taking classes at a school you are not used to and makes me appreciate Richmond a whole lot more. But at the same time I'd much rather be traveling around Europe instead of spending my nights in Boatwright Library!