In the airport getting ready to leave for JFK in a short while. Obviously my first flight pattern got cancelled (thanks Amsterdam weather), but luckily I got put on a direct flight back home.
Saying goodbye was sad of course, it always is when you're pretty much guarenteed to never see people again, but it's over so that's good. Also getting up this morning was QUITE difficult, as was hauling my bags to the airport. Luckily I made the executive decision to take a cab, which is good because I would have never made it on the metro with everything. My checked bag ended up weighing 27+ kg, which is over 60lbs, yikes, but I didn't get charged!! Que suerte.
Now that I'm finally in the airport though, I've had time to let everything sink in and get more excited about going home. Of course I want to be there for Christmas and can't wait to hear my dad blast christmas classics through our speakers at home every morning, and thinking about having access to a kitchen and a car and seeing my home friends is really exciting. I think I'm going to be quite shocked at the size of my house, my room, and my bed when I get back... America is seriously supersized.
I'll probably have some "reflections" or whatnot later, but I don't feel like writing a lot/ being deep right now. Instead, I'm gonna jam to some Glee and obvi write things in my planner.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Done
Done with exams, done with buying bocadillos de tortilla from the cafeteria, done eating with my señoras, done writing in Spanish, done having café, done tapas hopping in cute areas, done exploring an amazing city, done running through Parque Retiro, done not knowing 1/2 of what people are saying, done travelling at will throughout europe, done being abroad.
... but not done packing.
womp womp depressing blog, but DON'T MAKE ME GO!
... but not done packing.
womp womp depressing blog, but DON'T MAKE ME GO!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Studying and Packing
Womp.womp. Obviously no one likes to study, so it's no different when you're abroad. Luckily I'm done with 3 of 4 classes and only have my Management exam left. Unfortunately, it's going to be my hardest but whatever. I'm clearly procrastinating now by blogging, and also by... PACKING
Another thing that I hate, besides studying, is PACKING. Moreso unpacking, but still, packing is both annoying and depressing. And that's where I am right now. Just finished about as much packing as I can do for the timebeing. I decided to listen to happy music instead of all of the Bon Iver that Annie gave me last semester (don't get me wrong, I love the stuff, just didn't wanna actually be depressed), so that's a positive. But just really sad to clean out my whole closet and think that my semester here is actually ending. It sucks that just when you become accostomed and totally adjusted to something, your life changes again. LA VIDA ES DURA
But enough whining, that's boring!!! I haven't done anything too too exciting this past week because I've been studying and whatnot, but I have explored the area a little North of me (Rios Rosas), and also went to Plaza Santa Ana the other night which is a really good place to marchar with the gente. So that was fun barhopping, and something to tick off the list of things I need to do in Madrid. Also today I walked along calle Serrano (which is like Madrid's 5th ave they say) because I had to buy Sarah some perfume there. It was another thing off my list, and was a very nice day for a walk (53ºish here and not even 20º at home ahhh!!). That's all for now, I'm going to go attempt to study before my second to last dinner with my señoras...
Another thing that I hate, besides studying, is PACKING. Moreso unpacking, but still, packing is both annoying and depressing. And that's where I am right now. Just finished about as much packing as I can do for the timebeing. I decided to listen to happy music instead of all of the Bon Iver that Annie gave me last semester (don't get me wrong, I love the stuff, just didn't wanna actually be depressed), so that's a positive. But just really sad to clean out my whole closet and think that my semester here is actually ending. It sucks that just when you become accostomed and totally adjusted to something, your life changes again. LA VIDA ES DURA
But enough whining, that's boring!!! I haven't done anything too too exciting this past week because I've been studying and whatnot, but I have explored the area a little North of me (Rios Rosas), and also went to Plaza Santa Ana the other night which is a really good place to marchar with the gente. So that was fun barhopping, and something to tick off the list of things I need to do in Madrid. Also today I walked along calle Serrano (which is like Madrid's 5th ave they say) because I had to buy Sarah some perfume there. It was another thing off my list, and was a very nice day for a walk (53ºish here and not even 20º at home ahhh!!). That's all for now, I'm going to go attempt to study before my second to last dinner with my señoras...
Friday, December 10, 2010
Morocco! Alesh la
For our last trip, we decided to take on Africa and go to Morocco. Since Spain is an amazing country and LOVES its holidays, we ended class last Thursday and didn't start again until this Thursday (tough life I lead, I know). Anyway, we flew out on Thursday afternoon and came back Tuesday. We went to Marrakech, the Dunes of Erg Chebi, and Fes. I'll give a brief summary of events because otherwise this will be super super long.
Highlights of Marrakech
we decided to do this city on our own, so it was more exploration and less structure. we went to the spice souk (market) which was really cool and then a palace and gardens. In the afternoon when we to the markets and haggled our way to a few good purchases. Of course we got heckled at the whole way because we definitely did NOT blend in. Some of my favorite comments included "Spice Girls" (from 5 different people), "Fish and Chips", the ever-creative "Nice", "Nice eyes", "Hannah Montana" (we had a blondie with us) and "Snow White" among many more. Definitely a different cultural experience.
Besides the shopping and walking and people watching, we also tried some AMAZING food. Lots of steamed veggies and freshly prepared deliciousness with spices! what a NOVEL idea! (spanish cooking has ZERO). Unfortunately I learned that I have quite the weak stomach, but there was lots and lots of bread at every meal which definitely helped
Highlights of THE DESERT
So after some time in Marrakech, we moved on to the second leg of our journey, starting with an 8ish hour car ride to the desert with a complete stranger working for a company that we didn't do very much research on (safe, right?). I wasn't that nervous to start out because Hamad seemed nice, and I took some Dramamine so I pretty much passed out (also we started our drive at 6:30am)
After a few forced stops along the way to take pictures/ let Hamad rest and talk to various friends, a few slow downs to allow Donkeys to cross the road, and a couple mandatory stops by "control" who questioned Hamad a few times (nerves started to set in), we made it to the desert!
We were running late and needed to get on camels immediately so we wouldn't be stuck in the dark, so we had little time to question our decisions. Omar was our appointed tour guide, a Berber man who spoke very little English but seemed nice enough, and after he and Hamad helped us onto our camels, we were off!
The dunes were incredible. I couldn't stop thinking that I was in Aladdin, but seriously, that's exactly what it looked like. I was waiting for that lion face to come up out of the sand...you all know what I'm talking about.
So we walked along up and down the dunes, straight into the desert for 2 hours. A few things to note: Camels are VERY uncomfortable to ride after about 30 minutes. Also, all dunes look the exact same, so we had no idea where we were (bad for trying to escape) but Omar seemed to know everything, even when complete pitch blackness fell over the Desert and he had to whip out a flashlight.
We thought we would never get to the camp sight (/that Omar might turn around with a machete) but luckily we made it!! This is getting too long so I'll get more to the point, sorry. Our abode for the night was a man made long-house type structure from bamboo shafts and cloth stuff. It obvioulsy wasn't heated, so we had some heavy blankets to keep us warm. Tagine that Omar made us for dinner was AMAZING. When we went outside to see the stars, we were all speechless. Well, actually I probably said OH MY GOD like a dumb American 20 times, but whatever. As Allison put it, you could see the milky stuff of the milky way. Better than any planetarium and just completely awe-inspiring. We slept on a couple of matresses (inside) with 3 heavy blankets each and hoped that Omar wouldn't steal our stuff in the middle of the night.
Next morning, we saw the sunrise on the dunes and hopped back on our comfy camels for another 2 hour ride.
Got back to the tour group's main building and had a nice breakfast, washed our faces (feeling pretty dirty by this point), and jumped back in the car for another 8ish hour ride with Hamad
Still a little nervous that we wouldn't make it to Fes, we went along our merry way, listening to Hamad's CD of about 5 different songs (that skipped) on repeat. Welcome to Morocco.
Finally we made it to Fes! We paid Hamad and bid him a tearful farewell
FES
Collectively all of our favorite city, probably because we got a guide to take us around. We saw one of the biggest mosques in Northern Africa (there are 360 in Fes!) which fits 21,000 people, WOW. Since Muslims pray 5 times a day, we got to see lots of mosques as people were just entering to pray. Pretty interesting. We also went to the Tanneries where they transform skins to leather which was really interesting and also smelly. We also went to a Rug store which was SO COOL. ugh i wish i was really rich/had a house to furnish so I could buy rugs because we got amazing deals, since the salesman was obsessed with Marissa marrying his Son, Mohammad... Then we went to a pharmacy which had all of these natural products, and of course hit the markets hard. Everything is so cheap in Morocco (compared to Europe and the US) and haggling is such a part of the culture that it's really fun to shop. It started to get dark, so we went back by our riad (like a bed and breakfast) and had one last tagine and mint tea combo.
Airport
Quick observations about the Morocco airport: security is a JOKE. To get in, you have to go up to these officers by these dinky metal gates outside the airport doors and they just look at your passport and boarding pass. Actually it's not "they", it's one guy, and his other officer friends just stand there and watch. efficient. Then after you get your passport stamped inside, you put your bag thru a scanner without taking out any liquids or anything. Then if you want to buy a bottle of water, it's 20dihram (like 2€), whereas in the cities, it's about 5dihram.
Anyways, despite the lack of security measures in the miniscule airport, we made it to Spain safely! Tired, but home, now it's time to enjoy the city for the very few days that I have left.
Highlights of Marrakech
we decided to do this city on our own, so it was more exploration and less structure. we went to the spice souk (market) which was really cool and then a palace and gardens. In the afternoon when we to the markets and haggled our way to a few good purchases. Of course we got heckled at the whole way because we definitely did NOT blend in. Some of my favorite comments included "Spice Girls" (from 5 different people), "Fish and Chips", the ever-creative "Nice", "Nice eyes", "Hannah Montana" (we had a blondie with us) and "Snow White" among many more. Definitely a different cultural experience.
Besides the shopping and walking and people watching, we also tried some AMAZING food. Lots of steamed veggies and freshly prepared deliciousness with spices! what a NOVEL idea! (spanish cooking has ZERO). Unfortunately I learned that I have quite the weak stomach, but there was lots and lots of bread at every meal which definitely helped
Highlights of THE DESERT
So after some time in Marrakech, we moved on to the second leg of our journey, starting with an 8ish hour car ride to the desert with a complete stranger working for a company that we didn't do very much research on (safe, right?). I wasn't that nervous to start out because Hamad seemed nice, and I took some Dramamine so I pretty much passed out (also we started our drive at 6:30am)
After a few forced stops along the way to take pictures/ let Hamad rest and talk to various friends, a few slow downs to allow Donkeys to cross the road, and a couple mandatory stops by "control" who questioned Hamad a few times (nerves started to set in), we made it to the desert!
We were running late and needed to get on camels immediately so we wouldn't be stuck in the dark, so we had little time to question our decisions. Omar was our appointed tour guide, a Berber man who spoke very little English but seemed nice enough, and after he and Hamad helped us onto our camels, we were off!
The dunes were incredible. I couldn't stop thinking that I was in Aladdin, but seriously, that's exactly what it looked like. I was waiting for that lion face to come up out of the sand...you all know what I'm talking about.
So we walked along up and down the dunes, straight into the desert for 2 hours. A few things to note: Camels are VERY uncomfortable to ride after about 30 minutes. Also, all dunes look the exact same, so we had no idea where we were (bad for trying to escape) but Omar seemed to know everything, even when complete pitch blackness fell over the Desert and he had to whip out a flashlight.
We thought we would never get to the camp sight (/that Omar might turn around with a machete) but luckily we made it!! This is getting too long so I'll get more to the point, sorry. Our abode for the night was a man made long-house type structure from bamboo shafts and cloth stuff. It obvioulsy wasn't heated, so we had some heavy blankets to keep us warm. Tagine that Omar made us for dinner was AMAZING. When we went outside to see the stars, we were all speechless. Well, actually I probably said OH MY GOD like a dumb American 20 times, but whatever. As Allison put it, you could see the milky stuff of the milky way. Better than any planetarium and just completely awe-inspiring. We slept on a couple of matresses (inside) with 3 heavy blankets each and hoped that Omar wouldn't steal our stuff in the middle of the night.
Next morning, we saw the sunrise on the dunes and hopped back on our comfy camels for another 2 hour ride.
Got back to the tour group's main building and had a nice breakfast, washed our faces (feeling pretty dirty by this point), and jumped back in the car for another 8ish hour ride with Hamad
Still a little nervous that we wouldn't make it to Fes, we went along our merry way, listening to Hamad's CD of about 5 different songs (that skipped) on repeat. Welcome to Morocco.
Finally we made it to Fes! We paid Hamad and bid him a tearful farewell
FES
Collectively all of our favorite city, probably because we got a guide to take us around. We saw one of the biggest mosques in Northern Africa (there are 360 in Fes!) which fits 21,000 people, WOW. Since Muslims pray 5 times a day, we got to see lots of mosques as people were just entering to pray. Pretty interesting. We also went to the Tanneries where they transform skins to leather which was really interesting and also smelly. We also went to a Rug store which was SO COOL. ugh i wish i was really rich/had a house to furnish so I could buy rugs because we got amazing deals, since the salesman was obsessed with Marissa marrying his Son, Mohammad... Then we went to a pharmacy which had all of these natural products, and of course hit the markets hard. Everything is so cheap in Morocco (compared to Europe and the US) and haggling is such a part of the culture that it's really fun to shop. It started to get dark, so we went back by our riad (like a bed and breakfast) and had one last tagine and mint tea combo.
Airport
Quick observations about the Morocco airport: security is a JOKE. To get in, you have to go up to these officers by these dinky metal gates outside the airport doors and they just look at your passport and boarding pass. Actually it's not "they", it's one guy, and his other officer friends just stand there and watch. efficient. Then after you get your passport stamped inside, you put your bag thru a scanner without taking out any liquids or anything. Then if you want to buy a bottle of water, it's 20dihram (like 2€), whereas in the cities, it's about 5dihram.
Anyways, despite the lack of security measures in the miniscule airport, we made it to Spain safely! Tired, but home, now it's time to enjoy the city for the very few days that I have left.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Week in Review
so a lot of exciting things happened this week!! Namely, MY PARENTS CAME! yayyyy that was fun. But before they came, my new spanish novioooo and i had some dates which was lovely, and I finally expeienced Pacha for a Comitas Wednesday celebration. It was really fun especially since like 10 ppl from my program went, though i wore the completely wrong shoes, but whatever.
Moving onward to the weekend! Since my parents have already been to Madrid and Barcelona, we decided to go South to Granada to see the infamous Alhambra. Absolutely amazing. They say that if you die without seeing the Alhambra, you haven't lived (or something like that), so I'm glad I saw it. We also went over to Sevilla to tour there, which was so amazing and gorgeous, even though it DOWNPOURED the whole time we were there. BUT major pro was that I got to spend time with my parents in a beautiful place, and ALSO got a leopard print dress from Zara, score. This will certainly be making an appearance for New Years and on Penn's campus, so get excited.
Seeing my parents was bittersweet. It was so great to be with them and i am SO thankful that they came (really made my Thanksgiving), but it also made me realize that part of me really doesn't want to leave Madrid. Of course I want to spend more time with my family and friends, but I love this city so much, and have really found a place here, especially in the last month and a half or so. Sad that once you get perfectly acclimated to a place, you have to leave... but such is life.
After relaxing some on Sunday, and catching up on lots of exciting work that I had to do, I had another date on Monday to watch El Clasico (football game between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona). Really intense and a big deal here... unfortunately we lost. No, we didn't loose, we got CRUSHED. ugh. Although Christiano Ronaldo is a BEAUTIFUL man, his skills are no match to Messi. Alas, it was still fun and the spirit of all the football fans was pretty exciting.
Today I had an econ presentation, so nice to get it over with, and my last class of Lit. CRAZY. only 3 more days of class and 5 more actual classes to go. Not too much work left before exams, so that's great! Means i get more time to go out and enjoy Madrid while I still can. Starting with some after-dinner drinks with Allison at Mercado de San Miguel, finally!!
Moving onward to the weekend! Since my parents have already been to Madrid and Barcelona, we decided to go South to Granada to see the infamous Alhambra. Absolutely amazing. They say that if you die without seeing the Alhambra, you haven't lived (or something like that), so I'm glad I saw it. We also went over to Sevilla to tour there, which was so amazing and gorgeous, even though it DOWNPOURED the whole time we were there. BUT major pro was that I got to spend time with my parents in a beautiful place, and ALSO got a leopard print dress from Zara, score. This will certainly be making an appearance for New Years and on Penn's campus, so get excited.
Seeing my parents was bittersweet. It was so great to be with them and i am SO thankful that they came (really made my Thanksgiving), but it also made me realize that part of me really doesn't want to leave Madrid. Of course I want to spend more time with my family and friends, but I love this city so much, and have really found a place here, especially in the last month and a half or so. Sad that once you get perfectly acclimated to a place, you have to leave... but such is life.
After relaxing some on Sunday, and catching up on lots of exciting work that I had to do, I had another date on Monday to watch El Clasico (football game between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona). Really intense and a big deal here... unfortunately we lost. No, we didn't loose, we got CRUSHED. ugh. Although Christiano Ronaldo is a BEAUTIFUL man, his skills are no match to Messi. Alas, it was still fun and the spirit of all the football fans was pretty exciting.
Today I had an econ presentation, so nice to get it over with, and my last class of Lit. CRAZY. only 3 more days of class and 5 more actual classes to go. Not too much work left before exams, so that's great! Means i get more time to go out and enjoy Madrid while I still can. Starting with some after-dinner drinks with Allison at Mercado de San Miguel, finally!!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
turning into a madrileño
soo since my keyboard is STILL in spanish, im gonna have some fun with accents as i explain my journey to being a madrileño. firstly, apparently the € is doing badly so THAT's great! not that it has anything to do with me becoming more spanish, but its a button on my keyboard now which is kewl ¡¿Sí o Sí!? as our profa Cecilia would say
anywayyyyy, me becoming more spanish. i had a date with a hispanic guy (technically hes colombian but he lived in barca for 7 years and now hes living in madrid, so close enough). we met in a salsa bar/dance club type situation on Thursday (obviously being latin american, hes a phenom dancer which is the BEST TRAIT EVERRR) and then went on a date last night. I was supaaa nervous at first becasue of the whole language barrier sitch but it was totally fine and not hard to speak with him in Spanish... though he can always tell when i pretend to know what hes saying when i actually don't... ¡lo siento Francisco! Things i have learned from him: 1. In colombia, the name Carlota (the spanish version of my name that I tell ppl here bc they legit cant prounounce CHARlotte) means you're from the upper class 2. also in colombia, people with light skin, freckles and red hair (re: gingers) are considered really pretty because they're so rare
moral of the story? I should move to Colombia. Hasta luego estados unidos.
Moving onward, after my date last night, i met up with Allison, and since she has mad Spanish conexiones because of her buddy from our University (Luna), we went to like a Spanish pregame party situation at one of Luna's friends' apartments and then to a club called Moma after.
Suchh a spanish night haha and legitimately I spoke spanish 99% of the night. success.
anywayyyyy, me becoming more spanish. i had a date with a hispanic guy (technically hes colombian but he lived in barca for 7 years and now hes living in madrid, so close enough). we met in a salsa bar/dance club type situation on Thursday (obviously being latin american, hes a phenom dancer which is the BEST TRAIT EVERRR) and then went on a date last night. I was supaaa nervous at first becasue of the whole language barrier sitch but it was totally fine and not hard to speak with him in Spanish... though he can always tell when i pretend to know what hes saying when i actually don't... ¡lo siento Francisco! Things i have learned from him: 1. In colombia, the name Carlota (the spanish version of my name that I tell ppl here bc they legit cant prounounce CHARlotte) means you're from the upper class 2. also in colombia, people with light skin, freckles and red hair (re: gingers) are considered really pretty because they're so rare
moral of the story? I should move to Colombia. Hasta luego estados unidos.
Moving onward, after my date last night, i met up with Allison, and since she has mad Spanish conexiones because of her buddy from our University (Luna), we went to like a Spanish pregame party situation at one of Luna's friends' apartments and then to a club called Moma after.
Suchh a spanish night haha and legitimately I spoke spanish 99% of the night. success.
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