Granada, My New Home

This was from the first two weeks in Granada!

The first two weeks in Granada were full of every emotion possible! Nervousness, homesickness (yes, even upon arriving) , frustration and a little homesickness mixed with excitement, wonder, amazement, joy, and love!

It was actually kind of overwhelming, all of these emotions at once.

Nervousness about all of the little things that accompany being in a new place. Are the people going to like me? Am I going to be able to communicate? Do I look like I don't belong? 

Sadness to say goodbye to family and friends for 4 months. Knowing all the things I'll miss, that life will go on and I won't be there. Fear of coming home and finding that everything has changed.

Frustration that nothing that I read, none of the prep classes, or talking to people truly prepared me to enter these uncharted waters. That my language skills weren't where I needed or wanted to have full at length conversations with people. That a host family wasn't the warm welcome and instant connection that I was expecting, but awkward and weird. 

But all of these obstacles and negative feelings have been overcome by all of the amazing things I've already seen, learned, and come to understand about myself, my new city, culture, and more. My host mother, Ana Maria (my host mom), opened her home to a stranger, and has the patience to sit and try and talk with me, playing a game of "describe the word" or "charades" or just smiling and nodding:) I learned that the best way to explore a new place is to get lost because that's when you find your way and you might find a few neat things in doing so. The teachers have been a blessing because they saw where we had the potential to go in our language abilities and worked hard to get us there. The times when I surprised myself by being braver , speaking clearer, and changing my attitude to be one that  welcomes change and difference are a good sign that I'm doing it "right".

 All of this and more is apart of the excitement, joy, wonder, and amazement of studying abroad, of Spain, of this experience. If these are just a handful of things I've learned in the last two weeks, then I have so much to look forward to moving forward!

So a bit of a recap from the first two weeks. It was the orientation period. We met our host families, moved in, took a language test, got placed into levels, and began grammar review for the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, on the first exam, I did not get the score I needed, but I worked hard the next two weeks to improve and ended up going up two levels, so I'm more than ready to be in real classes!

I'm signed up to take Spain and the EU- a polysci class, so of course I'm excited- Islamic history in Spain, Spain in the Media, and then complementing those will be Phonetics, Grammar, and a class about Granada culture! Hopefully, I will be volunteering with an infant school for a few hours each week, as well:) Sounds busy, but that's how I roll, and I've still got 3 day weekends!

I've been taken around the city centre (also the part I live in) and the Albaycin (the place where the Moorish influence in most strongly felt). I've made a lot of friends from the United States that are in the same program and together we have made it our mission to find the best places to have fun. Studying abroad isn't all work and no play or vice versa, but a healthy mix that exposes us to culture/language inside the classroom and out!

We have what are called
intercambios who are actually Spanish students trying to learn English and volunteering their time to help us learn the language. There are pictures of Rosa, my intercambio, below!

I've found good shopping, eaten good food, seen amazing buildings, taken a ton of pictures, learned new words/phrases, and been exhausted at the end of everyday (hence the late post)!!

After the rough start and realizing how difficult it can be (mentally, emotionally, and maybe physically) to move to a new country and be independent, I'm happy to say that I have already fallen in love with my new home and look forward to meeting every challenge with a smile and an open mind and attitude. 

As I wrap up this blog and feel inspired, I have only this to say:

"My power's turned up (starting right now), I'll be strong, I'll play my fight song, and I don't really care if nobody else believes me, 'cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me"

I actually love living near the mountains! I never knew any different in the Midwest, but it makes for some gorgeous walks.

We could hardly contain our excitement at the magnificent view of the Alhambra.

Rosa, my intercambio (and my Spanish twin)

The Alhambra, as seen from a famous viewpoint

Yep, we came back a few days later because we couldn't get enough.

Almuñecar, a beach nearby

Teterías. Where all the fun shopping is!

Paella, salad, bread. 

Basilica of Virgen Angustias- with beautiful flowers surrounding the church like mosaics. 

The One Where I Didn't Meet the Queen

I am behind on posting blogs, but I have been drafting them so I don't forget all of the wonderful things I have experienced. I will basically recap the month, then I will post a blog/day until I am caught up!

So I travelled to London, settled in Spain for the two week orientation, went to Morocco for a three and a half day exchange program, then spent a week in Italy. So it makes sense that I am a little behind on the blogging, right? All right, first up- England.

There are a so many words I could use to describe my week in England, but I decided to go with these three: busy, classic, beautiful.

We whirlwind week in London! Thanks to the hospitality of Jen Ehr- a Valpo friend that lives in London- and her amazing parents, we have had a comfy home, great food, and great local tour guide. 

Seeing the huge city by foot lead us to see some really amazing things in such a short time. Museums in London are free (with optional donations), so we took full advantage of that! Other monuments and London must-sees are in the hundreds of photos we took during our time there. As we would walk down the streets, I often looked up in sheer amazement as I realize I was looking at history.

That is one of the differences that I came to enjoy about London, it is so much older than the United States. We, in the U.S. are a couple hundred years old, but London is thousands. Next to a building with gothic architecture is a building that looks like it was build 20 years ago. It is wonderfully strange. 

One of the sights that we couldn't resist going and touring inside were Churchill's War Rooms. It was an interactive audio tour that gave us a look at London's brave World War II leader. The only way I can describe it is that we were walking through history. We were standing outside the rooms where some of the most important phone calls were made, radio speeches were given, and tactful military decisions were reached. It is the kind of history and learning that I find intriguing. I can see myself happily pulling out some of those facts for my next polysci research paper- no shame:)  

Though I tried to look less like a gawking tourist by dressing in [my vision of] "London Fashion", I couldn't resist basically jumping up and down and whipping out my camera as we came across the world-famous Big Ben clock tower. THAT was truly the moment when I had the feeling of "ohmigosh I'm actually standing in London, England!!!!" (not to be confused with the "we aren't in Kansas anymore feeling"). And mind you, that was day 3 of being in London and we had seen plenty of other famous sights. This one was somehow different- breathtaking, exciting, and overwhelming all at the same time. There are plenty of pictures there! 

That was just the first three days! Next was our theater day where I was truly cultured as a Londoner. Seeing a play in the Globe Theater was an amazing experience! Not only is this the theater I studied in high school English class, but the play was one that the four of us studied for our honors college Freshman Program. We got the cheap tickets that had us standing at stage level for the 3 hour play, but interacting with actors and being right there for all of the action!

The next, and unfortunately final, day was spent road tripping the countryside. The morning was spent in Bath (pronounced "Bawth") walking through the ancient Roman Baths from approximately 2000 years ago! After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city as it was got built over, so what we were walking through had been excavated for people to see. Hearing and seeing the history there was amazing. We then had the early afternoon in Cirencester (Eric's childhood home), and the rest of the day we had the chance to tour Oxford, where Jen now goes to school. It was beautiful. I mean, I love Valpo and all, but this is completely different. Some of the buildings have such ornate structures that I feel as though I might spend entire classes staring outside in awe:)

All in all, many great memories were made in London and surrounding cities/towns. There was a lot learn and soooo much to see! Some of the photos are featured below. Stay tuned for the  adventures in Spain, my real home for the next few months, and you can subscribe to get the blog entries by email if you would like by clicking at the bottom of the page.

Day 1: Beating the jet lag

Oxford was some kind of beautiful

Embracing the tourist picture and trying to contain our excitement

The queen took this picture for us (in my dreams)

Wanderlust: A Very Strong Desire to Travel the World

Well, I have officially begun my adventures abroad. The plan for my blog is to share stories, tips, and the things I am learning as I’m gone. So anyone who is reading this, I hope that you’ll come back for updates and the real “fun stuff”!

A Little Bit About Me

As the first entry of this blog, I feel compelled to share a little bit about myself before people start reading about what I am doing for the next 4 months. To say studying abroad has been a lifelong dream would be overselling a bit. It was more like the first time I was introduced to the idea of “study abroad”, I instantly knew that it was for me.

Okay, so why Spain? I have been to Europe before and I loved it. Combine that with a deep desire to learn the Spanish language fluently and you see how I landed on this particular gem of the world. I was also floating a couple of cities around, and a high school Spanish teacher believed that Granada would be my fit. And next thing I know, I apply, am accepted, and the preparations began. 

Last thing about me, I LOVE traveling- as hinted by the title of this entry. Even going to Chicago for a weekend is exciting (and I’ve been there about 6 times since being at Valpo). However, traveling for a few days or a week, while fun and exciting, usually leaves me wanting to spend more time in a particular place. To really learn the way people live, understand a different culture, become familiar with a new place and not just be a tourist or vacationer, that’s what I want. And that’s what I’m getting for the next 4 months in Spain!

The Packing Struggles

I will elaborate more on this looking back after the fact. There will be definitely a best/worst packing practices entry later on. How much of anything to bring, what to buy in the US and what to wait to get there, what NOT to bring, an how to fit it all in the limited space?? This was a strange process of packing, repacking, taking things out, adding more. It was impossible to come up with much of a strategy, but you do it and hope you did it right. 

                                                                                                                      

Expectations

For the last year, I have imagined what this would be like. Classes, traveling, eating, seeing, living- I’ve pictured all of these things in my head. But I’ve been trying not to expect to much, because I don’t want my idea of what studying abroad should be affect what it actually is. Basically, my expectations and hopes can be summed up like this: I hope that this experience is exactly what it’s supposed to be. And I have no idea what that is, but I have a feeling that in hindsight, I'll know. 

Future Entries

I will continue to share each blog entry on Facebook and via email to those who would like it, but to make it easier, subscribe to the blog below and it will email you automatically when I post new things!

Peace and Blessings America, I’ll see you in a few months!