One Semester Down, One to Go!

       As my semester is slowly coming to a close, and in the spirit of the holidays, there are a few things I would like to thank my study abroad experience thus far for:

· For introducing me to lifelong friends. We’ve travelled together, laughed together, and eaten a hell of a lot of food together. Those are the memories I will cherish the most from this trip, because of the people I know I’ll never lose contact with.
· For my wonderful host family, who make me aspire to one day be a host mom myself.
· For giving me a new global perspective. I have met Italians, Chinese, Dutch, English, Koreans, Syrians, Russians, and Spaniards. Learning about all their different cultures in class has opened my eyes to how different each culture is yet how similar they can be at the same time.
· For giving me the ability to travel the world. I have now been to Portugal, France, Poland, Morocco, and Amsterdam as well as cities all over Spain. I hope to next semester visit Italy and Ireland. I still can’t believe that this is my life, and I just feel so incredibly blessed every day.
· For teaching me how to pack a backpack for a weekend trip to another city or country in less than 30 minutes.
· For introducing me to new foods like beet soup, couscous, fuet, baby pig, huevos rotos (fried eggs and ham over French fries), and so much more.
· For teaching me how to use public transportation and my own two legs to get me everywhere I need to go.
· For giving me enough fantastic “throwback Thursday” pictures to last a lifetime.
· For showing me the joy that is Burger King delivery.
· For helping me realize that distance really does make the heart grow fonder, and how much I should cherish my time with my family and friends back home.
· For improving my Spanish language skill to a level I had never dreamed possible.
· For teaching me that I can survive without all of the things I am used to having at home; like a shower curtain or buffalo chicken.
· For helping me learn how to adapt to changes and remain calm in a crisis.
· And above all, I’m thankful that I still have another semester here.

       Not all of this semester has been easy, with the hardest blow being the one to my wallet, but I wake up every day feeling blessed. This experience has made me more confident and less terrified of airports. I have friends from all over the world now as well as a new global perspective that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Pro Tips from the Travel Guide

       I’ve talked about safety and how to be a tourist, but these are just random things I have learned throughout my trip that those of you reading these and considering studying abroad might enjoy.

       Keep a journal. Religiously. I had always tried to keep diaries and journals as a kid but I never succeeded. When I arrived here, I forced myself to begin journaling every day. I try to write about what I do every day down to the food that I’ve eaten. I’ve written this journal for me and no one else, so that later in life I can look back and relive all of the adventures as many times as I want.

       Keep tickets from all of the touristy places you go. I have a drawer full of what looks like meaningless scraps of paper, but each one is a memory. I’m not an arts and crafts type person, but I do hope to make something out of all of the tickets and information pamphlets I’ve collected from places all over the world.

       Have set in your mind one thing that you want to get each place you travel to. Whether it be a snow globe, a ceramic plate, or a shot glass, collect something small and inexpensive instead of blowing all of your money on souvenirs.

       If you eat somewhere delicious, drop a pin. Study abroad is a group effort of friends tag teaming to find where the inexpensive, delicious food is. The notepad on my iPhone is full of foods I have tried that I wrote down because I thought my friends would enjoy them. You are also going to be returning to the United States a walking guidebook, and having names of places and exact addresses will make you an awesome guidebook.

       If you don’t think you are going to make it on time to either a bus station, train station, or the airport; take a taxi. The metro-gods are pretty incredible, but it is much safer to shell out the extra cash than then end up paying to reschedule the ticket.

       In light of everything that happened in France, when things happen, whether in the country you are studying in or a country close by, always get in contact with your family and tell them you are safe. Keep your family informed of your travel plans and always text your parents when you land and take off when travelling. I try to make sure that I communicate with at least one person in my family every day.

       Most importantly, cherish every moment. All of my friends except one are only semester students who will be leaving in the end of December. Thinking about them leaving is heartbreaking, but we are all doing our best to spend as much time together as we can. Seize the day every day and then write everything you did in your journal so you can remember the jokes and memories forever.

Poland

       Our trip to Krakow, Poland began where else but McDonalds. After a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt, my friend Emily and I wanted none other than America’s finest in Poland. We quickly learned that most people in Poland speak English, which was a huge relief since we speak 0 Polish. We then went to our Airbnb and crashed because we had to wake up early to catch our van to Auschwitz.

       The next day we had an hour van ride to the Auschwitz one camp for a tour. The feeling I had walking through the gates that foggy morning is one I will never forget. It is very hard to describe, but my heart felt extremely heavy and I felt in that moment like I would never be able to smile again. Auschwitz one is brick cell-blocks where the prisoners of war lived and Birkenau is where the Jews mass-murdered. Birkenau is made up of wooden cell-blocks, so most of them are no longer safe for people to walk in so the majority of what we saw was at Auschwitz one. We walked through a cell-block that showed us how the prisoner’s lived, beginning from straw and then being upgraded to wooden slats.

Walking through the gate

       Originally, before the use of tattoos, prisoners had their pictures taken, and the next block we walked through was filled with pictures of the prisoners. Many people had placed flowers on top of some of the pictures and candles were lit everywhere throughout.

       When prisoners first arrived at the camp, all their stuff was taken from them and stored in warehouses called Canada 1 and Canada 2. When the camp was liberated, everything found in Canada 1 and 2 were kept and put in exhibits in a few of the cell-blocks. We walked through rooms full of hair, luggage, pots and pans, glasses, and shoes. The worst for me was seeing a small display case full of baby clothes and booties. It was really hard to walk through each room knowing how each of the people died.

       When then went to the prison of the prison where we saw starving cells, standing cells (a 5x5 cell where 4 people had to stand until either their punishment was up or they died), there was one cell where there was so little ventilation that the prisoner’s suffocated, and we also saw the wall where the prisoners were lined up and shot.

       All of the gas chambers and crematoriums that were at Birkenau had been destroyed before the camp was liberated, but Auschwitz one still had one gas chamber and one crematorium which we got to see as well.

       We then took a brief tour of Birkenau and saw a children’s cell block, a train car, and the wreckage of the gas chambers and crematoriums.

Birkenau

       After leaving the camp and heading back to Krakow, Emily and I were emotionally exhausted and decided to spend the rest of the night exploring Krakow. We saw the cathedral, the palace, and took a carriage ride through the city center which was incredible.

St. Mary's Basilica

       Overall, the trip was very powerful, one I will never forget. I do hope to return to Poland one day, in the summer, when it isn’t 30 degrees and foggy.

Krakow city center

Amanda takes on the Spanish Health Care System

         There are some parts of the trip here that I would gleefully trade away for a day or two at home, but none as much as October 27 and 28th. October 27th began as a completely normal day, but that’s how days are supposed to begin before all hell breaks loose. I returned home after a day of taking midterms and took a nap. When I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I knew I was sick, but I had to finish reading a book for one of my classes and write a paper on it. This I knew was not a feat I could accomplish under heavy doses of medication. Therefore, I decided to push through and finish the paper and then fall asleep.

       The next morning was even worse, I woke up, tried to force down some breakfast and in my feverish stupor attempted to go to school. Thankfully my host mom was awake and able to tell me to go back to bed. I slept until four that evening before waking up and realizing I needed antibiotics and badly. I called my study abroad office and they set up an appointment for me that I needed to leave for almost immediately. Stupid, fever infested me figured I could handle walking to the metro and then finding the hospital. After I got off the metro to switch lines, I had to sit down and put my head between my knees to avoid passing out in front of a bunch of random strangers halfway to my destination. I then regained strength and vision and was able to gingerly pick my way to the next line I needed to be on. At this point, all I could do was pray.

       I finally got off at the metro stop by the hospital, and a 5 minute walk to the hospital ended up taking 20 because I got so turned around. I collapsed into a chair in the international office, heard the sweet sound of the English language, and I knew I had made it. Doctor #1 immediately diagnosed me with strep and sent me off to get meds. Little did I know this was only the beginning.

       I woke up the next morning running a fever of 103. I took a second dose of meds and fell back asleep only to wake up again still running a high fever of 101. Realizing the meds I was taking were not strong enough, back to the hospital I went. This time I got to see a general doctor instead of one who spoke English. Doctor #2, affectionately known as my hero, immediately gave me a shot because my tonsils were so swollen I had trouble breathing and he prescribed me the good stuff. Now taking three different types of medication, I finally felt back to my old self, but those two days were a blur of taking whatever medicine I was given, drinking something, and going back to sleep.

Moral of the story, if ever sick abroad, take a taxi to the hospital.

My Moroccan Adventure

       I honestly had no idea what to expect when I stepped off the plane and onto Moroccan soil, but Morocco beyond exceeded my expectations. I travelled with my ISA program, and there were about 90 total kids there from Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona, Salamanca, and Valencia.

Inside a shop in the Medina

       We spent our first day in Fez, where we got to explore the Medina which is an enormous marketplace. We were taken into shops where we saw how the ornate metal plates, ceramics, leather, and clothes are made which was incredibly cool. We were then taken to a pharmacy where we learned how argan oil is made as well as many other different types of cosmetics. The girls on the trip had a field day in the Medina before we returned to our hotel.

       That night, we went to see a belly-dancing show, which was the only part of the trip that did not meet my expectations. The belly dancers were older and not at all an image of beauty. However, they did pull many kids from the program up to dance with them which was very entertaining. There were also drummers who came in and a magician, so all in all day one was pretty great.

Oasis

      The second day we drove by bus to the Sahara Desert, which is about a seven hour drive from Fez. It was definitely the most beautiful drive I have ever experienced. We drove past beautiful landscapes and even stopped and ate lunch in an oasis. We finally arrived in the desert and had to ditch the buses for Jeeps that would take us the rest of the way to the camp. It was 6 people to a Jeep, and our Jeep driver was awesome! He quickly learned we were a very enthusiastic group, and he played American music while we cheered him on to race against the other Jeeps. We then watched the sunset which was incredible before driving the rest of the way to camp. The tents were enormous, with all of the girls sleeping in one tent and all of the guys sleeping in another. Our beds were mattresses with sheets on them and then a really thick blanket on top, because the desert was frigid cold at night. That night we were able to stargaze, and I will never forget how incredible the view was. Everywhere you looked you could see stars, I saw about 10 shooting stars, and you could even see the Milky Way.

Our awesome Jeep driver

desert sunrise

       The next morning, we were woken up so we could watch the sunrise over the sand dunes, and while we were watching the sunrise, our camels began to arrive. All 90 of us hopped on camels and then rode to an enormous sand dune, which we then had to climb. The view was amazing from the top, and before I knew what was happening, one of the local children had grabbed me by my ankles and pulled me down the dune! It was basically sledding without the sled and it was awesome! We then returned to the camp for lunch and many of the boys from the trip played soccer against the local boys while the girls got hennas. That night we were able to watch the stars again while some of the locals played the drums and guitar around us.

       Then at last it was time to leave the desert and head to Meknes, another 7 hour drive away. But this drive seemed so much longer because everyone was dying to shower off the thin layer of sand that coated each one of us. I have to admit, that was the best shower I have ever had in my life. Unfortunately, as I'm writing this 5 days later, I have learned you can wash the sand off your body, but you can't get the sand out of your shoes.

       The next morning we left Meknes and flew home to Madrid (it still feels strange to be calling Madrid home now) and we all took the long metro ride back to our host families. It was a phenomenal trip, probably one of the best I have ever been on, and I do hope to maybe go back some day.

Safety First!

       As I have spent more time here, I have watched my friends have a plethora of things stolen from them; backpacks, phones, wallets, cash, the horrible list goes on and on. I have been fortunate enough to have kept all my belongings, and I have learned how to be proactive after I have heard my friends as to how to protect my stuff.

       The place where the most stuff has gotten stolen is the clubs. My first night I went, I had taken a purse, and I spent the whole night clutching it in fear. NEVER dance with your drink. Drinks get spiked often in clubs because the more drunk you are, the easier it is to rob you. Ladies this tip goes out to you: take only a phone, some cash in your phone case, and your keys to a club. Take as little as you possibly can, and for safekeeping use your bra as your purse. Many girls have had phones stolen right out of their hands, so put it somewhere where you will notice if someone tries to take it. Gentlemen, your front pocket is your best friend. Everyone thinks they could feel wallet being slipped out of their back pocket but these people have years of practice. Front pockets you are more aware of, and it's always better safe than sorry.

       On the metro, or other forms of public transportation, keep your backpack firmly between your legs and lightly hold on to your purse if you are wearing one while slinging the strap across your chest if possible. Don't cling to your bag as if your life depends on it, that makes you a noticible target. Just simply observe how other women are holding their purse, because all women subtly hold them.

       In restaurants, DO NOT hang your purse of the back of your chair or casually leave it on the floor, and the same goes for backpacks. Either leave it in your lap or put it on the floor between your feet.

      The bottom line, take only what you need, especially when going out at night. Do not dance with your drink, drink it at the bar and then go have fun. Bras and front pockets are best places to hide your stuff, and when out and about casually hold on to the strap of purses. Make sure some part of you is touching your bag at all times, and you'll be fine! Be smart, be proactive, and leave as many valuables as you can at home.

The Art of Procrastination: Study Abroad Style

       The key to being a successful study abroad student is to be a part-time student, part-time tourist. To successfully procrastinate, you have to put away Netflix (which doesn't even work here) put down your phone and go explore. The best thing to do is on Sunday google sightseeing things that you can do in the city you are studying in, and try and set a goal for each day as to what you want to see.

       For example my procrastination has taken me to the Royal Palace in Madrid, the Royal Cathedral, Retiro Park, the naval museum, an egyptian temple, a sky trolley over the city, and to an art museum. And the more research I do, the more museums I find exist here. My program was also very helpful with letting me know what museums are free on certain days, and you can go virtually anywhere and get a discount if you have a student ID.

       Weekends, procrastination becomes even easier because you can plan day trips to cities in the country you're staying in, you can travel to other countries, or you can stay and enjoy your cities night life. As you all know from reading my previous blogs, so far I have been to France and Portugal, and I have trips planned for Amsterdam, Italy, and Poland before the end of the semester. As far as sightseeing in Spain, I have been to most of the touristy cities on my previous trips here. This trip I returned to Toledo and I took a medieval train to Siguenza so far. The price of my program also includes several weekend trips to cities in Spain, and it also includes a trip next weekend to Morocco for five days! I can't wait to write about my adventures riding camels, camping in the desert, and exploring Moroccan markets in one of my future blogs!

       Yes I know, I´m horrible for telling you to procrastinate, but I mean procrastinate for the afternoon. Homework, in Spain at least, has a large influence on grades. So go out and enjoy the afternoon, but be prepared to get done all the work you have been assigned after the sun goes down. Every city has its own hidden gems, you just have to look up from your phone apps and take part in the culture because, as I´ve heard hundreds of times now, the opportunity to study abroad is a once in a lifetime experience.