Traveling Throughout Spain

I've been lucky enough to be able to travel throughout Spain a little bit throughout my time here and it has been nothing short of amazing. I haven't been many places but the places I have been have really taught me a lot about Spain and different parts of social life and history. I have been to Seville (Sevilla), Ronda, and Barcelona and they have all been amazing.

I was able to go to Sevilla and Ronda with my program and that was really amazing. We were able to have a tour guide in a few locations which really helped us to be able to learn. 

The first place we went in Sevilla was the Real Alcázar de Sevilla. It was absolutely beautiful and was very reminiscent of La Alhambra in Granada. It is a royal palace that was originally built by Moorish kings. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the architecture is amazing.



















We were also able to visit the Cathedral of Sevilla which was astonishing. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest overall. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built as a way to demonstrate the city's wealth. 








This is Christopher Columbus' tomb which is located in the Cathedral.

We were also able to go up to the tower which can be accessed by ramps. This is because they used to use donkeys to climb to the top and donkeys have a difficult time with stairs. 







We were also able to visit Plaza España which was really amazing. 





The next day we went to Ronda which was amazingly beautiful. They are most famous for their bridges and the strong history of bullfighting.













The next weekend a few of my friends and I headed to Barcelona, which was a little farther of a distance. We hung out and did a lot but we mainly focused on two sites: Sagrada Familia and Park Güell, which are both works done by Gaudí. 

One of the main differences between Granada and Barcelona is language. People in Barcelona, usually, do not speak Spanish. They speak Catalán because Barcelona is a part of Catalonia. The country of Spain as a whole speaks more languages than just Spanish so be careful when travelling! People from Barcelona don't like when you speak Spanish to them, we learned the hard way and stuck to English from then on.

We started with Sagrada Familia and picture and words cannot do this place justice. And it not even finished yet! It won't be completed until 2026. Gaudí died before it could be finished however, people are still working and using his designs.




The inside is built to look like a forest and there is rainbow glass on all of the windows.










I was also able to go up in one of the towers as well and the views were amazing.











The next day, we were able to see Park Güell and that was also very beautiful. It's an amazing place for a photoshoot, so that's what my friends and I did!
















Anyway, my experiences traveling through Spain have been wonderful and I am so happy to have been able to experience them.

Thanks for reading,
Kelly

Living with a Host Mom

When I signed up to study abroad, I knew I wanted to stay with a host family. I figured it would be the best way to be fully immersed in the culture. When I got my placement, I was very excited to meet the family I would be staying with. When I received the details, I found out that I would be living with only a host mother and I would have my own room. When I arrived, I realized that my host mother spoke zero English and that my sub-par Spanish would be the only way we could communicate. I was nervous, but I figured that it would be a learning experience, and boy, has it been. There are many pros and cons to living with a host family but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. If you are thinking of studying abroad, I seriously suggest living with a local family.


CONS:

• The food is different. I have loved every single food item that my host mom has given me but I do miss the food that I was used to eating. I am also a vegetarian, which is difficult for my host mom because that is not the way that she eats normally so I constantly have to convince her that I don't eat meat and that I don't plan on changing that anytime soon.
• Laundry. It's really strange for me to have someone else doing my laundry. I've been doing my own laundry for a while and having to give my laundry to someone else for them to do is very different. It also takes a few days to receive the laundry back because my host mom doesn't have a dryer.
• LANGUAGE BARRIER. As I stated before, my Spanish is only okay so communicating is sometimes difficult. I'm consistently looking up words at the dinner table so that I can properly say what I want to say. That being said, I understand almost everything that my host mom says because she speaks very slowly and uses simple words that I understand. While it is a little bit different than normal, we are able to understand each other for the most part.
• The customs of a different country. For example, always wearing shoes in the house, being VERY cautious about electricity (I'm talking even when you are sitting in the room, if you are not doing something that requires light, the light is off), taking speedy quick showers, different eating schedules, and more. However, once you get used to these things, they are no longer difficult.

PROS:

• Complete immersion. You are living like a Spanish person does so you feel like you really fit in. You get to experience Spain as a Spaniard, which is nice.
• Trying new things. This includes but is not limited to: food, schedules, customs, everything.
• Your Spanish WILL improve. I have definitely learned more Spanish from my host mom than I have in any Spanish class I have ever taken, including the ones I am taking in Spain.
• You get to have the feeling of family while abroad. While you are gone, chances are, you're going to miss your family. Luckily, if you are living with a host family, you get to feel like part of their family and that really helps. Also, sometimes, host families have dogs.
• SO MUCH MORE

Overall, I 100% recommend living with a host family if you want a fully immersive experience abroad.

Thanks for reading, 

Kelly

Rome Round-Up

A few weekends ago, I was able to travel to Rome for a long weekend. It was the best trip I have taken since being abroad. I had such an amazing time. One of my best friends from home is currently studying abroad in Rome and being able to see a familiar face was so refreshing and wonderful. 

I made the journey to Rome with one of the friends that I met in Granada and it was a long day of travelling. First we started the day on a bus from Granada to Málaga. Then we got on our flight to Rome. There was this family on the plane that was so incredibly obnoxious but thankfully, I had my headphones and I just listened to music. After the flight, we had to take a train and a taxi to get to our Airbnb. On top of that, I had to register for classes as soon as we arrived so I'm sure that I was no fun to be around because I was so stressed out. 

After we arrived and got settled, my friend and I headed out to meet up with my friend from home. The trouble with that was that neither of us knew where we were going and neither of us spoke Italian so we couldn't even get proper help from anyone. We ended up being approximately 2 hours late. Oops. 

When we finally did meet up with her, we headed to get food because my friend and I had barely eaten all day. We went to a restaurant and I ordered spinach ravioli and it was probably the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life. After that, we headed to the Trevi Fountation to make our wishes and then we went to see the Colosseum at night and it was amazing. The entire night felt like a movie. 





The next day, my friend and I had tickets to the Vatican Museums so we woke up early in order to get there on time. Of course, we ended up being very late but luckily, they let us in anyway. (We had to take two buses to get there and we accidentally got on the wrong bus. Then when we finally got there, we couldn't find the entrance and we walked the entire perimeter of Vatican City only to find out it was very close to where we started). 







When we got there, we headed towards the museums to see all of the artwork and more specifically, to see the Sistine Chapel. 












You aren't allowed to take pictures of the Sistine Chapel but let me just say that it is incredibly beautiful and massive. The detail work and the sheer size is enough to make your jaw drop. 

That night, we met up with my friend for home and ate some more delicous food and saw some more sights including the Pantheon which was absolutely incredible. The entire time I was in Rome, I just kept thinking about how old everything was and all the people who have walked there before me. It's incredible to think about. 






Did you know that, even though there's a large hole in the ceiling of the Pantheon, rain rarely get's inside. it evaporates before it reaches the ground!




(Some delicious pizza I ate.)

The next day, I went to the Colosseum and HOLY GUACAMOLE!!!!! Talk about incredible. Words cannot describe so I'll just leave some pictures. 







The rest of the trip, I kind of hung out around some local spots (di some shopping and karaoke haha) and had a lot of fun with my friend from home. It was honestly such an amazing trip and I HIGHLY recommend Rome to everyone. 

Thanks for reading,
Kelly

The 2016 Election From The Eyes of a Student Abroad

I am a United States citizen who usually lives in New Jersey however I am currently living and studying in Granada, Spain. This is the first presidential election that I have ever been able to vote in and living in another country did not stop me from doing so. I voted by absentee ballot and even though it was a little more difficult to do, it was worth it. 

I voted for Hillary Clinton because of many reasons but first and foremost I voted for her because she was the most qualified candidate. For a long time, I would talk about the fact that both candidates were problematic and that Hillary was the lesser of two evils however, as time went by, I realized that this was not the case. Whereas one of the candidates was talking about hate and returning America to the past, the other candidate was talking about love and moving forward. I can easily respect someone who has different beliefs than me. I do not look down on others for wanting a small government or having conservative ideals. I do, however, find it hard to understand someone when they support a person who is vocal about his hatred and disrespect for specific groups of people. 

The night of the election, I stayed up all night watching updates. I don't think that I have ever been as nervous as I was that night. When I walked to my 8:30am class (Spanish time), it was pretty obvious that Donald Trump was America's president-elect. I was exhausted and upset. I was desperately trying to hold back tears. When I got to class, some of my friends and I were talking about what was going to happen and we were all in awful states of mind. Thankfully, my class was a politics class so we were able to discuss and get some of our feelings out. My professor kept apologizing to us. It was incredibly difficult for me to focus all day long and if I'm being honest, it is still hard for me to focus because in the back of my mind, all I can think about is what is happening and what is going to happen in the future. My host mom, who doesn't usually like to talk about politics, kept saying that this was going to affect the whole world. 

Because I live in Spain, I do not see the complete effects of this election face to face. I walk down the street and everything is okay. But then, I enter my classroom filled with other American students who are upset. I walk into the bathroom and find people crying because they are scared. I think about my friends at home who are hurting and I don't know what to do. One girl in my class, who voted for Trump, was trying to say that Donald Trump won't be able to do any of the things that he says that he will and that no one should be worried. I sincerely hope that all that Donald Trump has said and done so far has been an elaborate scheme and that he can lead with dignity and respect for everyone. While I pray that that will be the case, it might not be reality because the reality is that Trump has a Republican House and Senate that may support him fully. They have the power to reverse all of the advances that have been put in to place in the past 8 years. Our country was nowhere near perfect, but at least we were moving forward and now I am worried that all of that has changed.

I keep reading Facebook statuses saying that it will be okay and that people need to relax and to that I say that we are only 2 days out from the election and things are already not okay. I think that it is easy for these people to say that everything will be okay because they have not been (and may not be) affected but many people are hurting. People are being physically and emotionally hurt and that is horrible to think about. Because Donald Trump won the election, people think that it is okay to rip people's hijabs off. They think that it is okay to treat women poorly. They think that it is okay to tell people to leave the country. They think that it is okay to use racial slurs. They think it is okay to physically hurt someone. They think that it is okay and it is not. The thing that scares me most about Donald Trump winning isn't Donald Trump himself, it's what he inspires other people to do. Racist people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. Sexist people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. Homophobic people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. Hateful people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. These people's hateful ideals have just been justified. All of that is horrifying to me and I am worried. 

I think as a nation we HAVE to spread love. We cannot allow our president elect to define us. We have to break that mold. We have to treat everyone equally and respectfully. Everyone is different but no one should be afraid because of their differences. We have to show our neighbors that they are worth more. We have to let those who are hurting know that it is okay to be hurting in a time like this but that we can stand up and fight for what we believe in. We can fight for their rights and we can fight for our own rights. I pray that America can spread love and show the world that we are not who represents us.

"We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers,
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, 
cannot be killed or swept aside."

-Lin-Manuel Miranda

Thanks for reading,
Kelly

Plaza Del Toros and Rafael Amargo

This past week I had the amazing opportunity to visit two very important parts of Spanish culture and it really allowed me to dive in and be immersed in what Spain has to offer. I had the opportunity to visit the Granada Plaza Del Toros (Bullring) and a flamenco show. 



Now, I had never realized this but after experiencing both and talking to my professor, I began to realize how closely related they are to each other. My professor was explaining their similarities to me and it became blatantly obvious. Now, I am going to try to explain the similarities but keep in mind that my professor was speaking Spanish so there may be errors in translation. In a bull fight (which makes me, a vegetarian against animal cruelty, very uncomfortable), the bull fighter is dressed in vibrant clothes and the bull is obviously a bull. They fight but it is truly a dance and the whole experience is very much a cultural party and celebration. People who attend bull fights do so because it is what their culture is about. Flamenco is very much styled after bull fights. The woman is dressed in vibrant clothing and the man is usually dressed in black. The whole time it is a dance (obviously) but it is also a duel between them. There are also other aspects to flamenco such as song. It is very strongly routed in culture. 

Now, I ended up seeing a Rafael Amargo flamenco show titled, "Eclectic" and boy was it eclectic. This particular show was a combination of flamenco and contemporary dance. Rafael Amargo is apparently one of the best flamenco dancers in Spain and I am happy to have been able to see him but his show was not really conducive to a cultural experience. I have also been able to see a couple of other flamenco shows and they have been more cultural and they had guitarists and singers and have been amazing and interesting to watch.

When we went to the bullring, I was very happy to be able to see the bullring without seeing the cruelty. I do realize however that bullfighting is a part of their culture but even so, it isn't something I can stand behind. In Cataluña, a province in Spain, they have even gone so far as to ban the act entirely. (Cataluña also wants to become it's own country and leave Spain entirely, but that is besides the point.) 





The bullring has a lot of different sections, the first, obviously, being the ring itself. When you stand in the center, your voice can be projected without a microphone which I thought was pretty amazing. Aside from the bullring, there is also a hospital area attached for any injuries that might be obtained as well as an altar for prayer. 






Overall, I was very happy to have this week filled with the culture of Spain. Can't wait to learn more!

Thanks for reading,
Kelly

Portugal Round-up

I had the opportunity to travel to Lagos, Portugal with Discover Excursions and I had such a wonderful time. I had no idea what to expect but my expectations were definitely exceeded. The trip itself and the program I went with was not amazing however, I did have an excellent time with my friends. If you are expecting to learn a lot about Portugal during this trip, don't. It was mainly for relaxing and hanging out on the beach. 

Lagos is absolutely beautiful and the whole time I was there, it didn't feel real. Lagos is a very touristy location and you won't find many people there other than tourists but the location alone was worth the price. We took a bus from Granada to Lagos so we had a lot of time on the bus but when we arrived, I forgot all about that. I only brought one bathing suit from home which I regretted instantly when we arrived. the weather in the sun was amazing. It got pretty cold at night but I brought my jacket and I was completely fine. 

Now, it's time for the pictures:

We also got the opportunity to see the sunset at "the end of the world" in Sagres, Portugal and it was absolutely beautiful. 

Overall, The trip was amazing and a great time. I'm very happy that I was able to attend.

Thanks for reading,

Kelly

My Daily Life As A Student In Granada

Life in Granada is very different from life in New Jersey. I do different things, I hang out with different people, I study subjects that I never thought I would ever study, I watch different shows, I eat different foods, and so much more. However, even with all of these changes, I have managed to create somewhat of a routine for myself in my day to day life (with slight changes all the time to keep things interesting) and here it is:

I somehow got stuck with one of the worst classes schedules in existence because not only do I miss siesta time (booooo), I also don't have enough time to go home for lunch which means I live the bocadillo life. What is the bocadillo life, you ask? It basically means that I have to bring my lunch to school with me everyday. I call it the bocadillo life because my host mom always makes me sandwiches (or bocadillos in Spanish). On the plus side, the Centro de Lenguas Modernas is absolutely beautiful. I have classes in two different buildings and they are both amazing places to be.


Here is the inside of one of the buildings.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have three classes. The first one starts at 8:30am which means that I leave my apartment, bocadillo in hand, at 7:50am because it takes about a half an hour to walk to class and I like to get there slightly early. My first class is about the Political Systems in Spain and my professor is really cool. He has a lot of really interesting opinions which makes the class even more interesting. Something that I've noticed about professors in Spain is that they do not shy away from sharing their opinions which I think is really refreshing. After that class, I have a two hour break which I usually spend in a café, exploring the area, or in a park that is close to the building. I tend to try to get some homework done during this time as well. Next I have my Spanish Grammar class. My professor is really helpful and funny. The whole class is in Spanish which is interesting for me because I feel like I have to be paying attention 100% of the time, which means no making to do lists during class. After that, I have an hour and a half break at which point I usually move to the other building and eat my lunch while talking to friends or working on homework. Then I have a class about the geography and demography of Spain. My professor is really good (in fact, it's safe to say that I really like all of the professors I have in Spain). This class is strange to me though, only because 90% of the time, I have no clue what's happening or what I should take notes on. After class, I make the walk back to the apartment. I usually stop in a store and do some shopping (I've definitely become a huge shopaholic since I've been in Europe, oops) or stop by a park and relax for a while. On Monday and Wednesday nights, I tend to focus on homework and relaxing. My host mom makes me dinner which is usually croquetas or soup (and it's always delicous) around 9:00pm or 9:30pm after which, I usually retire to my room and go to sleep. I know, really lame, but what can I say? I love to sleep and since I travel almost every weekend, I take all the sleep I can get.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only have two classes. The first one starts at 12:30pm which means I have time to sleep in and relax in the morning. However, on Tuesday mornings, I volunteer at a school that is a few minutes away form my apartment. The school is a bilingual school so the students have class in both English and Spanish. I am there for two classes. One of them is a music class for the equivalence of first graders in the US. The class rotates between Spanish and English everyday so it really depends on the day which language is spoken however, the school asks that I only speak English to the students so that they can hear a native English speaker. This is actually really difficult and I always find myself speaking Spanish because the kids have a difficult understanding me. My next class is an English class for third graders. I love this class because it is very close to the Spanish classes that I have taken in the US except they are learning English. I always have to explain to the kids that if they are going to speak Spanish to me, they have to speak slowly just like I have to speak slowly if I am going to speak English to them. After I volunteer, I head over to my first class of the day which is another Spanish class. I have the same professor as my Spanish class on Mondays and Wednesdays but this one is more focused on speaking and writing. Honestly, the two classes blend together and it is very difficult to tell them apart. After this class I have an hour and a half before my next class and I usually use this time to grab lunch with a friend or eat my bocadillo and work on homework. My next class is History of Spain and it is by far my favorite. I love my professor. He is actually one of the funniest people I have ever met and he makes the class really interesting. After class, I head home and hang out with my host mom for a while before I go out to hang out with my friends. There is usually something interesting going on (such as a flamenco show or something along those lines) or we just go out for tapas. After that, I go home and crash.

Sometimes I have class on Fridays but not always. They are used as makeup days for if we have a day off during the week. If I don't have class, I'm usually hopping on a plane or bus and traveling Europe because travel is so much more inexpensive around Europe from Spain than from the US. 

Anyway, that is my typical week. Something different is happening everyday, whether my program is giving a tour or I'm exploring on my own or I'm catching up with friends or catching up on sleep. I love my time in Granada and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Thanks for reading,
Kelly