When one door closes...

Well, everyone, although I am not done writing blog posts, my year-long adventure in Spain has come to an end. It's hard to believe that I am sitting here in the very airport that I nervously arrived to in September with high hopes. I had absolutely no idea the amazing experiences, knowledge, Spanish skills, and friendships I would return back to the States with 10 months later.

This has been a year that I anticipated and excitedly waited for for years. That being said, I had pretty high expectations for what I would get out of it all, and I have gotten absolutely everything I could have hoped for and more out of my time in Spain and Europe.

Sevilla was the perfect place for me to study abroad. The weather, culture, Spanish, size... everything. My host family really became exactly that--family. I made a new very close friend, Luisa, who just happens to be Spanish, and was able to hang out with her and her group of friends all year long, speaking Spanish and really getting to experience the culture head first. I met many Americans through my program who also changed my life, and I'm so grateful for them (Caela, Olivia, and Kathleen!!). I got to travel to EIGHT new countries and many cities throughout the wonderful country I've gotten to call home, mi querida España.

However, although this wouldn't have been possible without all of the people and places above, as well as my insanely incredible parents, the most amazing thing I am leaving Spain with is my new self. It sounds super cheesy, but I really am returning a whole new person, with an entirely new confidence, skill sets, view of the world, and all all-around greater happiness.

To get to the point of this post, I'll start out by saying that it's no secret that I have become totally obsessed with taking pictures of doors throughout Europe. I think every album of pictures I put on Facebook has at least one picture of an ornate door. I knew that at some point I wanted to write a blog post with pictures of some of the "highlights" of the doors I've encountered throughout the past year. When I got to thinking about what I would write about, I realized that it was the perfect metaphor for ending this life-changing experience.

"When one door closes, another door opens." Although this experience is over, I am excited to come back and take on the world with a smile, a more relaxed attitude, and hopefully lots of Spanish speaking! So, despite the sadness I feel right now as I'm sitting at the airport about to board a nine and a half hour flight, I am happy to close the door behind me, because I know that both what lies behind it and what lies ahead is full of excitement and adventure.

Madrid, Spain - September 2013

Sevilla, Spain - September 2013

Universidad de Sevilla (the entrance I walk in every day!)

Sevilla, Spain - October 2013

The 21st bday girl, Kathleen, at the Catedral de Sevilla

Sevilla, Spain - November 2013

Real Alcazar (Royal Palace in Sevilla)

Ben's Visit!

Rome, Italy - November 2014

Roman Forum (with Ben)

Fiesole, Italy - November 2014

Visiting my BFF Cara!

Paris, France - November 2014

Barcelona, Spain - December 2013

My beautiful mommy in the Casa Batlló (Gaudi's work)

Aracena, Spain - February 2014

With mi amiga Luisa

Chefchaoen, Morocco - February 2014

Assilah, Morocco - February 2014

Trujillo, Spain - February 2014 (???OR MARCH??)

Mi novia, Caela

London, England - March 2014

The Orangery for Afternoon Tea with Caela

Grazalema, Spain - April 2014

Sevilla, Spain - April 2014

The love of my life <3

Versailles, France - April 2014

Palace of Versailles

Palma de Mallorca, Spain - May 2014

With Caela and Luisa

Bruges, Belgium - May 2014

Solo Eurotrippin'

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - May 2014

The Heineken Experience

Lisbon, Portugal - May 2014

Castile de Sao Jorge

Lisbon, Portugal - May 2014

Almería, Spain - June 2014

With my next door neighbors from Libertyville

¡Adios, España! You will always be my home...
A

Un fin de semana español

I'm happy to share that I had one of the most "Spanish" weekends of my time here in Spain! Meeting and spending time with Spaniards has been harder than I thought. I have made many incredible American friends, but I have been determined this semester to speak more Spanish and make more Spanish friends. This weekend gave me such an great outlook on the rest of the semester- thanks almost completely to my wonderful Spanish friend, Luisa, who graciously hosted me all weekend and is always patient with my still sub-par Spanish skills.

Since I am lucky enough not to have class on Friday (although it does mean that I have 7 hours of class on Mondays and Wednesdays), my weekends begin on Thursday nights. On Thursday nights, my program usually has a language exchange with American and Spanish students, which is called an "intercambio." This semester, the "intercambios" have been huge, with around 60 people attending. We usually go to a tapas restaurant and get some drinks and tapas (snacks). It's great practice, and I am actually meeting with a Spanish girl I met there tonight. After the intercambio event, I went out with some people from my program for a bit.

On Friday, I went on a nice run through the Parque María Luisa. I'm so lucky to have this enormous, beautiful park practically in my backyard. I have kept up with my goal of running at least three days a week so far, and I'm feeling so great that I think I'm going to sign up for a 10K in Madrid for the end of April!

Pretty damn lucky to get to run in such beautiful scenery. On Friday night, I went to my Spanish friend Luisa's house for dinner with some of her friends who I had never met. Luisa studied abroad in France last year, so she made us some delicious crepes. Her friends were all very nice, and although I couldn't participate in the conversation too much (they talk so fast!!), they were all very friendly. 

On Saturday, I got some things done during the day and then headed back over to Luisa's. We went to her friend Teresa's house to have dinner with a couple other friends again. Then we went out to a couple small bars that I had never been to, which was exciting. It was definitely more of a "locals" scene, and I really enjoyed feeling like a Spaniard for a bit!

Luisa & Me!

On Sunday, Luisa and I took a bus out to Aracena in the province of Huelva, Spain. Aracena is a smaller town in the Sierra de Aracena mountain range a little over an hour northwest of Sevilla. Our first stop on our fun day trip was the Gruta de las Maravillas, which is a huge path of absolutely incredible underground caves. It was one of the coolest places I've ever been in my life. We accompanied a large family tour group on a 45 minute tour through the caves, which included lots of different "rooms," tunnels, small bodies of water, and crystals, all at nearly 100% humidity. 

Wonderful quality selfie

After the caves, we were pretty hungry. We had only eaten a little snack for breakfast, so we went to a small cafe to 'desayunar.' Aracena and the surrounding areas are known to have some of the best ham in Spain (and therefore, the world), so I decided to go with a typical breakfast of tomato sauce with some ham. It was such a nice way to start the day. Ben, my boyfriend, was absolutely obsessed with Spanish jamón, and insists that I send him pictures anytime I eat it. I think this picture made him even more ready to come back to visit me and enjoy a ham-filled Spring Break trip! (He is coming in April)

Me with my favorite animal outside the restaurant... Sorry I just ate you!

We ended our time in Aracena with a walk around the town to see the beautiful white-washed buildings. Our walk wasn't complete without a stop at the famous pastry shop, Confitería Rufino. Apparently, people drive all the way out to Aracena from Sevilla just to get these pastries. I decided to buy two boxes of assorted small pastries--one for Luisa's family and one to take home to my Spanish family.

The bullring in Aracena

Our next stop was to an even smaller town outside of Aracena where Luisa and her family have a country home, called Fuenteheridos. Her mom came to pick us up and took us to the center of town, where the ~10 friends that Luisa's parents had over for the day were having a beer. I was greeted with lots of double cheek kisses by older women, and they were all so welcoming and funny. 

We all walked to Luisa's house and helped prepare a huge Spanish lunch of meat from Aracena, delicious green beans, salad, homemade bread, salmon, cake, and pastries--accompanied, of course, by wine and beer. Everyone was talking at the same time, singing, and moving all around the kitchen and dining room. We all sat around a huge table and enjoyed our 3:30 p.m. extremely Spanish lunch. 

When lunch was complete, it was time to siesta. And when I say siesta, I actually mean that all 15 of us slept for at least half an hour--as if the day could have gotten more Spanish. When I woke up, Luisa's mom made me some hot chocolate, and we all relaxed in the living room. Luisa and I then said goodbye to everyone and went on a walk around town. First, she showed me their big yard. 

Luisa opening up the gate to their land

Their land was beautiful, and there was a big pool that I'm sure is quite refreshing during the Spanish summers. Her yard is filled with chestnut trees, which right now are bare and have left the ground full of prickly-cased chestnuts. I thought they looked pretty cool on the ground, but Luisa explained to me how beautiful and green all of the chestnut trees are during the summer.

We walked back to the center of town to see the fountain that the town is named after. "Fuente" means fountain in Spanish. I don't quite understand all of the history about the name, but I thought the fountain was pretty cool and unique.

We finished up our tour by seeing more beautiful, white-washed buildings, the town cathedral, and some beautiful horses. 

At around 7pm, we drove back to Sevilla with Luisa's parents. It was such a great weekend, and, even though at times I can't participate fully in the conversation, I spoke a lot of Spanish all weekend! I'm really feeling good about how much my speaking skills will improve this semester.

Gracias a Luisa por un fin de semana maravilloso :)

A

First (two) week(s) of class!!

One of my goals for this blog was to write more about my everyday life in Spain, as well as about more general cultural ideas, etc... (Still hoping to muster up the courage to do a weekly Spanish street style post). So, in order to start the second semester off on the right foot, I give you: MY FIRST WEEK(S) OF CLASSES POST!

Last semester, I took all of my classes at the University of Sevilla through a program for international students (which really just meant all Americans). I enjoyed my classes and got to meet a lot of people from around the U.S., but when I looked forward to my next semester in Spain, I realized I was ready for a different type of classroom experience. Thus, I decided to switch in to the "Integrated Studies" program, which allows you to take some or all of your classes with Spaniards.

When I arrived in Spain about two weeks ago, I had no idea about the two-weeks of crazy I was in for- and not the fun, stay out 'til 5 am crazy. Turns out, as I wrote in an earlier post, my study abroad program failed to mention that the classes with Spaniards did not start until the following week. So, I decided to try out a couple classes with Americans, because I knew I wanted to take either one or two of those classes. It turned out to be nice to have that time to get my Spanish back to where it was.

After a quick one-night trip to Granada last weekend and a very relaxing stay-inside-all-day-because-it's-rainy Sunday, I woke up last Monday ready to take on my first class with Spaniards. My first class was called "Anthropology of Social Organization," and went pretty well. However, the rest of the week did not go so well. I went to somewhere around seven different classes, while still attending my classes with Americans, as I was unsure how many classes with each program I would take in the end. I went to numerous history classes and literature classes. I found a decent class called "Spanish Literature of the 16th century." At that point, I had two down, but I had absolutely no idea where to go from there and I was getting extremely discouraged by how terrible most of the professors were.

Here begins my rant about Spanish vs. American higher education... I have had some degree of "culture shock" while attending classes with Spaniards. I thought my first semester would prepare me for the classroom differences, but it turns out the classes for American students are very "Americanized." The majority of classes I've gone to this week involved an older, male professor standing at the front of a classroom mumbling with no type of notes and no powerpoint, while a room full of 30-60 Spaniards scribble down every last word. The courses also have much more general topics, less choices overall, and the entire grade is often made up of just the final exam. The students usually only take classes in their major, and their schedules are made for them.

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to be surrounded by Spanish and Spaniards as I take classes at one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I have just come to a whole new level of appreciation for the American higher education system. As much as we complain about gen-eds/core requirements, we are so lucky to be able to take classes of so many different disciplines, have double majors or minors, "hand-picking" each class we want to take along the way, and take classes from professors who are (usually) pretty engaging. I know our education system has flaws of its own, and I wouldn't trade my time here for the world, but this whole week has made me very thankful. -END RANT-

After spending at least 7 hours in class per day last week, I finally figured out my schedule. I went to a Latin American History class this morning at 9 a.m. I really didn't want to take 9 a.m. classes, but it was my last hope. It ended up being the best class I had gone to all week, so I found the courage to go up to the professor after class and ask him if he could meet, since I had missed the first 3 classes. He graciously invited me to meet with him in his office right then, so we trekked up to his office and talked about the course. As it turns out, he taught at the University of Chicago in the 80s, and has taught at Harvard and in England, as well! He was extremely welcoming, and I am excited to learn about the colonization era from a Spanish professor's perspective. (I'm a nerd...)

Despite the stress of the week, I think I ended up with some good classes and a balance I am happy with- 3 with Spaniards and 2 with Americans. My classes include:

• History of Latin America in the Era of Colonization (with Spaniards)
• Anthropology of Social Organization (with Spaniards)
• Spanish Literature of the 16th Century (with Spaniards)
• Contrastive Grammar (with Americans)
• History and Culture of Judaism in Spain (with Americans)

Well, I'm highly doubting most of you read all of that, but I'm happy to have this even just for myself to look back and laugh at how crazy stressed I was about my classes. But, hey, I figured it out (and calmed down) in the end!

My school... I am ONE. LUCKY. GIRL.

Looking forward to telling you all about my fun, Spanish weekend. Should be up on the blog tomorrow. :)

Hasta luego,

A

Granada

Happy November, everyone! I'm officially done with midterms, and Ben (my boyfriend) is coming TOMORROW... Needless to say, I am a very very happy girl right now!

Last weekend, I went to Granada with my study abroad group. We have such awesome excursions included in our program, and Granada definitely did not disappoint. It was such an amazing city- more beautiful than I could have ever imagined!

Granada is very hilly, as it's located right at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The hilly terrain makes it a lot different than Sevilla, which also means that it tends to be a bit colder there. Granada also has a stronger Moroccan influence than Sevilla, perhaps because it was the last Moorish city to be conquered during the Spanish "Reconquista" (Reconquest), when the Christians reclaimed the Muslim areas in Spain. 

We arrived in Granada on Friday around 1:30. After getting settled in our hotel rooms, we headed to the city center to get some lunch. Granada is known for serving tapas (appetizers) for free with every drink you order. I was expecting this to mean something very small, so I was surprised when plates of meat, sandwiches, sausage, and lots of bread were brought out. Yes, the drinks were a bit more expensive than in Sevilla, but Sevilla is exceptionally cheap. We got most of our drinks, tapas included, for less than three euros. Pretty awesome deal! 

We "tapa-hopped" a bit, and ended up having a pretty complete lunch, which also meant a 4 p.m. buzz, but hey, it was vacation!

Alex and me at the second tapas bar with "Alhambra" beer--the beer of choice in Granada

After tapas, we did some exploring and shopping. There were so many cool shops with interesting lamps, ceramics, tapestries, scarves, and other souvenirs. These shops definitely had a different vibe than souvenir shops in Sevilla. Instead of things about toros (bullfighting) and flamenco, Granada had a lot more artistic and Moroccan, as I mentioned before.

We met up with our program directors in the late afternoon, and they brought us to a few sights around the city center, including the main cathedral. Our final stop was for some churros and chocolate- on them! We were served more churros than we could have even imagined eating, incredibly thick chocolate, and coffee. I highly recommend that anyone who comes to Spain tries churros and chocolate. The churros are very different than anything I've had in the U.S.!

We did a bit more walking around before heading back to our hotel, pausing for a picture below the famous Alhambra of course! 

At night, we met back up with our group to walk over to watch a flamenco show in a cave! Okay, so it was a man-made cave, but it was pretty amazing!

I was one of the last people in, which meant that I got the last seat right next to the stage! The early late bird gets the worm? I took several selfies with the flamenco drummer who was sitting about two feet away from me. No shame.

We danced the night away at a discoteca that had a view of the Alhambra, which we then woke up and visited the next day! 

The Alhambra is a royal palace and fort complex that was originally used by the Muslim royals in Spain. It has since had many additions by the Catholic kings, including extensive and beautiful gardens. It is the most-visited tourist attraction in Spain, and is considered to house the country's most significant Islamic architecture. Although the history in this complex is interesting, the sights were so incredible that I found myself zoning out from the tour to just look around and take pictures. So, here you go- just a small selection of my photos taken there!

Windows

Ceiling

After our trip to the Alhambra, we got some more beer and tapas for lunch while we watched the Barcelona vs. Madrid soccer game in a bar. It's the biggest match-up in Spain, so it was really fun to see the Spaniards' reactions. Then, we walked over to the "tea street." Translated literally to just that, this street was filled with small tea lounges, hookah bars, and shops. We stopped and had some tea and a crepe... it was like a dream come true.

Our tea was called "1001 Nights."

After walking and shopping a bit more, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. We ate quickly, because we were rushing to make our 10 pm ARAB BATH appointment! We went to the Aljibe de San Miguel arab bath, click HERE to see some pictures, because it was absolutely amazing! Three of my friends and I enjoyed an hour and a half of relaxation. There were seven baths that we got to alternate among; six were variations of warm and hot, and one was cold. We also each got a 15-minute massage. It was so relaxing to just sit and close my eyes and reflect on how lucky and content I was both in that moment and overall here in Spain.

The next morning we hopped on the bus and drove an hour and a half to the Torcal de Antequera, a nature reserve in the Sierra del Torcal mountain range in Málaga Province. We went on a short hike and had a bocadillo (sandwich) picnic. It was such a unique place, and worthwhile stop on the way back home to Sevilla.

We got back to Sevilla around 5 pm on Sunday, and so commenced the studying... kind of. My midterms were all pretty easy. Yay for "college"!! 

Until next time,

A