So today was an interesting day.
However, before I start since I have 2 days left here is 2 different sets of advice I give to those who are considering study abroad.
1. Pick a place you find interesting. When I was considering my study abroad I originally considered Australia. But then my mom told me it would be too far away and to maybe choose somewhere else. So I looked into other places and found Ireland. I fell in love with the profile that CIS had created and I wanted to go there. However, I knew I wanted to travel. So after looking more into their programs I found mine and realized that I would get to see so many different things plus everything I would have wanted to do on my free time if I had done a semester program. I fell in love with this program for the fact it was decently priced, the excursions that were offered, the classes, and the idea of traveling to more than one country. Also don't just pick a place for the price. You never know how great a country would be based on the money.
2. Take a chance. This is more for even just starting out on the study abroad experience. It truly is an experience and I believe that everyone should take this opportunity. Even if it consists of going to a country for a mission trip or even going to Canada. It is part of the experience of going that makes a difference. I think that this also most definitely applies to when you are abroad because you never know what kind of opportunities will arise while you are abroad. For example, my favorite memory is going to see the Queen for her official birthday and had I not taken the chance to go and see her I would have never experienced this awesome ceremony.
So go and study abroad! It is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I think everyone should do it at least once in their life even if it isn't for studying but just for traveling. It is worth it. Learning about other cultures and becoming more open minded is one of the best things I have learned on this trip.
Okay, enough about my advice! Onto my day!
So today I had Spanish and we did our final review for our exam tomorrow. I feel very confident that I will do really well. I am so impressed with how much I have come to learn through this class and that I am able to do so much with how much Spanish I have learned in this short amount of time. I am now able to create 100 word essays, and speak about different things in my life almost fluently. It may not be very good but I can hold a decent conversation and that was one of my goals on this trip and I have successfully completed it.
In psych today I presented my photo project. I talked about the different aspects of the cultures I visited had impacted me. I spoke about the Scots and how their culture with superstitions and kilts were different from my expectations originally. Then I talked more about the Queen and then about the housing situation in Spain as well as the food and the beaches here. Then we went for drinks as a class and closed for the semester. I found it interesting how we were able to talk about going home and connect to the culture we now know here.
Afterwards I had a reentry workshop brought on by CIS. We had a good time talking about our experiences but in particular how it will be like to go back to the US. We first talked about how this study abroad experience can actually be helpful when looking at jobs and graduate schools. We did practice interviews in how these experiences will help us and learned how to portray this experience. Then we talked about what it will be like talking to others when we return to the US and how people will ask us about our experience and how to go about telling them and showing them different aspects of our trip. I also had my first empanadas of the trip during this workshop. They were not what i was expecting honestly. I thought it would taste different but either way it was good.
Then I came home and got started on my paper and I can officially say that I am finished with my 10 page paper! I am so proud of the fact it is done and over with. I am also just thankful it is done so I can finish studying for my exams tomorrow and relax for the night.
Tomorrow I have finals and then I think I might go back to the magic fountain as a last hurrah.
Until then.
Only 6 days left here and I can't believe the time I have had here thus far.
Today I have 6 challenges I have experienced on this trip:
1. New Languages. Being in Spain I knew I would encounter a language barrier. It actually has been a lot easier than I had expected. I am learning more and more of the language each day and am feeling more confident each time I speak. But we also encountered new languages in Ireland and Scotland with their own Gaelic languages.
2. Trying new food. Although I am not a picky eater there have been a few foods that I had no intention of trying but I did. For example, in Spain at our welcome lunch we had sardines. I did not particularly care for those. Then at our mentor dinner we had octopus which I have never really had as well as cow stomach. That was actually very gross and was thankful I had taken a bite before finding out what it was. In the British Isles I did not experience this as much due to how similar the foods are to back in the States.
3. Physical ability. Coming on this trip I knew there would be a lot of walking. However, I was unaware of how much this would actually come out to be. In Ireland and Scotland I averaged about 15,000 steps a day. In England around 5,000-10,000 depending on what I was doing that day. In Spain I average about 10,000 steps as well. I have learned how to hike mountains which I had no idea even how to do and I trusted in the fact that I could get back up after coming back down. I also realized that eating healthy really does help and gives me the strength to be able to go on these excursions and trips I wanted to do.
4. Meeting new people. Even though I am seen as a social butterfly I get really nervous in meeting new people. But on this trip I have learned that meeting new people is quite fun and lets you experience new ideas, thoughts, and traditions. When I met all 21 girls on the British Isles trip I was unsure of what to expect but in the end we all became close and I was thankful for the experiences we had. As for the people in Spain I am thankful I have had the chance to become closer with them too.
5. Traveling so much. The one thing I was looking for out of a study abroad was the ability to go to new countries and experience as much as possible. I knew it would be rigorous but I was not expecting what I got. There were some nights we left the hostel in the morning checked into a new one that night and the next morning we were out of there again. I learned how to pack light and only take out the necessities at night. It was quite the adventure nonetheless.
6. Adapting to different cultures. This has been the biggest challenge I feel. When I came to Ireland I was unsure of what to expect. I knew they enjoyed their Guinness and really liked potatoes. But I was taken aback at how much they respected their country and were thankful to be in it. In Scotland I thought it was all about haggis when in fact they had a strong appreciation for the highlands, for their identity whether it was in the mountains or in the city. They were also very quite and more closed off compared to the Irish but that was part of their culture as well. In England, they were very fast paced and enjoyed the city life. Granted we were living close to the city so it might have been different if we were further out of the city. Either way it was another culture we had to adapt to. Especially when taking the underground; there was barely ever anyone talking and when they did they knew you were a tourist most times. In Spain, this has been a totally different cultural experience then I had ever experienced! The times people eat, to what they eat, and to how they survive in this heat has been a challenge. They eat dinner some nights after 8 or 9pm and they eat so much seafood. I love seafood but sometimes it feels like too much. This heat too though has been killer and they say that it has been a crazy heat wave and even the locals are not used to it. But they keep going with their everyday lives as though it doesn't matter or mean anything. It was definitely something to get used to.
Okay, now that I have talked a little about the challenges I have experienced here so far here is what I did today!
I started my day by waking up and getting ready for the beach! Yes I said it, Beach day! I went to the metro and actually got very lost. My friend and I were going to another town to go to the beach which meant we needed to take the rail train which is like the above ground train. I got off at the wrong line so I was all over the place. I ended up going back to where I started and realized I was at the right stop just the wrong line so I made my way to meet her and I finally found her. We got on the train and made our way to the beach!
We made it to Sitges! We just walked through the small town and got a feel for it. It was super cute. I got some more postcards of course and then we made our way to a little café for some lunch. I got a chicken Panini that was delicious! Then we made our way to the beach. We had decided that since it would be harder to find a place in the sand we could buy beach chairs for cheap and just get to lay out in the sun. We did that and it was the best decision! I didn't get all sandy which was very nice. I went out into the water a few times but I mostly stayed and enjoyed the sun. After about 2 and a half hours we realized we were tired and it was time to go home. We left on the rail and came back to the station.
I came home and then took a nap which was wonderful. Then I made some dinner and did some homework for tomorrow! This is my last week here and I know I will be just relaxing and preparing myself for my trip home.
Until then!
So, wow I have only one week left. I honestly can't believe it. **This will be a long blog**
I have decided that since I only have 7 days left here in Spain that I will reflect on the different aspects of this trip. Today I will reflect on 7 different things that were extremely different. I will go down from there with 6 days tomorrow. So here it goes!
1. The water.
In the European countries I have visited they have both sparkling and natural or still water. I have had to make sure I ask for natural or still water. In the British Isles you normally can get tap water but in Spain they give you a bottle and you have to pay for that. Some of the water gets expensive. But you have to stay hydrated!
2. The weather.
I honestly was unsure of what to expect for the weather in these countries. In Ireland it was super chilly and Scotland was chilly but not as bad as Ireland. I feel as though the rain made it somewhat worse in Ireland. In England it was beautiful. Actually, it was a lot better than I had expected! I knew that normally the weather in England would be rainy and not very good. In Spain I was in for a treat. They have been experiencing a heat wave making the weather reach high temps in the 90's most days and the highest day was 105. It has been eye opening in the different climates each country experiences.
3. Wifi. In the States everyone has data or has very good wifi in different places. In Europe that was quite different. In some places I would have decent wifi where I could send messages and check Facebook in some I could barely even find service. But that was okay. It helped me disconnect from the world back home and enjoy my surroundings.
4. Peanut Butter. They do not have peanut butter everywhere. Some places it costs over 4 euros! It's like Oreos! Aunt Karen I understand why you miss them so much now! Which brings me to my next difference.
5. Pancakes. I still have yet to find any in Spain. . . The breakfasts here consists of pastries though and they are very delicious. The breakfast in England was also different they eat a lot of fruit and a lot of yogurt in both England and in the rest of the British Isles. I think the biggest difference is the baked beans. I still think that is a little weird!
6. The style. I feel like everyone here is so stylish! Everyone shops at the same stores which have a ton of amazing things. H&M, Zara, and Topshop are some of the few that they go to!
7. Living situations. When I first arrived to Ireland I had never stayed in a hostel before. But to this point I have stayed at 10 different places on this trip and have visited 24 different cities. I have stayed in hostels, hotels, dorms, and apartments. Each of them were different and brought forth new challenges I had to face. It was overall one of the best experiences I had because I was able to adapt to living in shared housing of 12 girls and then to living with just myself. It was a highlight for sure.
So these are the 7 differences between the States and Europe that I have noticed. There are tons more but for now these are the ones I chose! So onto my day:
I got to wake up kind of late and I just relaxed then decided it was time to figure out what I was doing for the day. I got up and saw that it was raining! It was so nice! I was actually kind of cold last night. Anyways, I got up and showered and got ready. I was going to meet my one friend at the train station and then head to the cosmocaixa. We found our way after getting on the metro and then a bus. When we got there we met up with our other friend and we started our adventure. We purchased tickets for both the planetarium and the museum. On the bottom floor were the different exhibits. There was a lot to do with fossils and the physical earth which I have not seen a lot of in other museums. But there was stuff about physics and how water can turn into tornadoes and hurricanes. My favorite part was the exhibit of the different sizes of brains in different animals. I find it interesting that the human brain isn't really all that big compared to animals. I also found it interesting that one of the only brains they did not have was a rat brain. I was actually very angry over that seeing as I talked about them so much in neuro and neuropharm! But there was another portion dedicated to Cajal. We went through the rainforest exhibit as well which was cool because they basically recreated the rainforest. This included the different animals and fish and birds. There were even snakes and tree frogs. Then we walked around the different levels and found a drug exhibit. It reminded me a lot about neuropsychopharmocology. I had a good time remembering the different drugs and their function and how they react in the body. It was an exhibit explaining where the drugs come from, how they are bad for the body, and some different prevention tips. After that we made our way to the planetarium.
When I bought the ticket I wasn't sure what we were going to see. It ended up being a 3-D video called "To Space and Back" it showed how we don't know a lot about space but with the new technology of the world and our curiosity we are more likely to learn more. We also saw a lot about the different satellites they use in space which was not something I knew about. There was also a segment that talked about how technology used in space is now used in medical health, our own every day technology, and the products we have in space now. After it was done we decided to head home.
We found our way back to the bus and then found our way back to the metro. I decided I would go home and treat myself to a nice dinner. I had some pasta and I bought some garlic bread and made myself a nice pasta dinner. It was delicious. Afterwards I got to relax. I'm calling it a night soon it's been a long day! Tomorrow I am going to the beach and I can't wait!
Until then.
