Home for 1 week

I never wrote anything about my journey home, though anyone who heard about it might say it was as eventful as my week in Italy and Greece. I have now been home for one week, and enjoyed Christmas with my family and friends. So I figured now would be a good a time as any to sit down and write about my journey home, and the beginning of my readjustment to the US.

My journey home picks up at midnight in the Athens airport, after I finished my Dec 20th entry. I continued to watch Harry Potter movies through the night, in order to adjust my body's time zone. At about 3:30, I packed up my belongings and headed to the Lufthansa check-in counter to check my bag and print my boarding passes. Once I got my boarding passes, which took a bit because I needed a confirmation number that I was never given since I didn't book with Lufthansa, I got in line to check my bag. Luckily, it was under the maximum weight, and I was able to check it without a problem. Something I didn't know, however, was that Lufthansa has a 8 kg maximum on carry-on luggage. So I had to check my 14 kg carry-on bag, and pay 60 euros. When all of this was said and done, I had 10 euros, and only my purse left with me. That meant my cell phone, my American cell phone, my wallet, my passport, my boarding passes, my book, and my iPod, along with various toiletries (tissues, chapstick, etc.). Not much on the entertainment front. I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted, I blasted through security and sat down to call home. It was still around 10 pm, so the whole family was up. I mostly just needed someone to reassure me that everything was going to be okay, and my parents and sister did just that. I really needed that, since I was alone in a barren airport waiting area. After my phone call, I waited until my flight boarded at 6 am, and took a small bus across the tarmac to board my plane. We landed in Munich 2 hours later, which meant a 2 hour nap with a break for breakfast for me.

Upon arrival in Munich, I hunted down my next boarding gate, went through security again, and found a lovely lounge-style chair to take a nap in. I had a 4 hour layover, but I was too tired to read so I just listened to Harry Potter on my iPod. When we finally boarded my plane, we still left an hour late because we had to wait for 20 connecting passengers and get de-iced before leaving the ground. That flight was long, but I slept for the first 4 hours or so, and then watched movies. They had a great selection, so I watched The Help and Crazy Stupid Love, both I had wanted to see and I highly recommend. I also got lunch and a snack on this plane, which I enjoyed very much. After my movies, I only had about an hour left, so I watched most of an episode of Lie to Me. I didn't get to finish it, and have yet to look it up so I can find out the ending. I was much too excited to be landing in the US (in Philadelphia) to really care at this point. Even though we landed an hour late, I was mostly just overjoyed to be in the US and be so close to home. However, my journey still had adventures to come.

I had been told in Athens and Munich that I would have to pick up my luggage in Phily and then put it through security again, since it would be my first destination within the US. I was a bit annoyed at this, but I had a 2 hour layover so I figured I would have enough time. When we landed 1 hour late, however, my layover got cut in half. I had to stand in line to get my passport and Immigration form checked, then pick up my luggage and drop it onto a different conveyer belt (complete waste of time), and then go through security again. The lines were huge, and many other people in line from my flight had connecting flights to get to. I luckily got through pretty quick, and still had 20 minutes before my plane was scheduled to leave. I grabbed some Fritos and Nestea at a newspaper stand, very happy to use my American money, and hurried to my gate. Upon arrival, I discovered that my flight had been delayed. We ended up taking off about an hour late, because the flight that came in on our plane was late and because our crew and flight attendants were delayed coming in on other flights. Luckily, the flight from Phily to DC is only about 20 minutes, so I was at BWI pretty quick. Since that was a national flight, I just got to walk straight out of the terminal. Meeting me were my mom, my dad, my sister, and my boyfriend. I was ecstatic to see them all, and to be finally home. My mom and sister had brought some of the Christmas cookies they made, as requested during my emotional call from Athens. I ate most of them on the walk to baggage claim, where we all chatted until my suitcases arrived. After that, it was back to the house to watched Harry Potter 7 part 2 and enjoy being home.

I loved my semester abroad, and would not have traded the experience for anything, but being home has been great. I have been able to see my extended family and close friends, and just enjoy my own bed and my own room again. I know there will be struggles readjusting, I have been forewarned, but for now, I am content :)

Italy :: Day 5 (Dec 20)

Getting up this morning was really difficult. My alarm was set for 5:15 and when it went off all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. But I dragged myself up and packed, leaving my hostel around 5:45. I checked out with the same guy when I checked in with, and he tried to cheat me out of my key deposit. I was grumpy, and sure that I paid it, so I argued with him until he gave it back. Then I dragged my suitcases over to Via Marsala, the road next to the train station, and found the bus to the airport. I passed one that cost 8 euro, but the owner of my hostel said there was a 4 euro one. I found the company he told me about, but it was 6 euro. I didn’t really have any options, and this seemed to be the cheapest one, so I went with it. Upon arrival at the airport, I went to Terminal 2 to check in with EasyJet. My bag was 22 kg, so the guy had me move aside and more 2 kilos to my carry-on. I did that, I even moved 3 kilos, so I didn’t have to pay an overweight fee. But then my carry-on wouldn’t fit in their tiny little bin, because of the bar on the bottom, so I had to pay 30 euros to check it. I am so sick of flying low cost airlines, I want to be able to just take my luggage on the plane and not worry about it. Now all I have is my purse and my laptop, so I am very glad this flight is only 3 hours. I don’t, however, have my computer charger, so I can’t watch a movie because I only have 27% battery life. So I will be listening to music and trying to sleep, I guess. I am not going to be landing in the US with too many euros left, because of all of these surprise charges. I have tried to be careful with the money I spend, but sometimes I can’t help what I get charged for. Now I am sitting at my gate, and it’s 7:57, and I can start boarding at 8:20. Luckily that’s not too much time, so I can just get on the plane and sleep and forget about this stupid baggage debacle.

The plane ride went well, and storing my luggage at the airport is going to cost less than I expected. Yay! Bad news: there is an airport cost for the metro that made my round trip ticket 14 euros instead of around 2 euros. Regardless, I was not about to sit in the airport all day AND all night, so off I went to the Acropolis. I grabbed lunch at a café once I got off the metro, and had a Greek club sandwich. I have no idea what was on it, except meat, tomato, and lettuce. The other ingredients were unknowns, but I was just happy to find a place that spoke English. After lunch, I went to the Acropolis museum. I figured the museum first made sense because then I would actually understand the structures I was looking at. They actually have most of the interesting artifacts in the museum, to preserve them, rather than up on the “Sacred Hill” as it was called. I learned a lot about Greek mythology, particularly Athena, which was really cool. I think I might try to get one of my core credits by taking a mythology class, if that is at all possible. I spent about 2 hours, maybe a little more, in the museum, and then went to the ticket desk to ask about the entrance to the Acropolis. I didn’t want a repeat of the Roman Forum. And it was a good thing that I did, because it turned out the Acropolis closes at 3 pm. It was 3:30. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to actually go up to the monument, but the lady at the ticket desk told me about a cool hill where you can get a bird’s eye view of Athens. On my way up, I did get to see the Theater of Dionysus, and I still got some pretty good shots of the Pantheon and the other important buildings. The view from the hill next to the Acropolis was amazing. I can’t compare it to the view from the Acropolis since I didn’t go up, but I could see all of Athens, which is beautiful from above. I was going to stay for the sunset, but it wasn’t for another hour or so, and it was quite windy and cold up on the exposed hill. So I headed out after about a half hour, and wandered around to find a grocery store. I picked up some crackers and cheese, and Oreos, as my cheap dinner. I didn’t want to have to pay airport prices, but I wasn’t hungry yet.

When I got back to the airport, the storage of my luggage was even cheaper than what the man had told me when I checked them in. I was super excited. I went upstairs to the departures area, and found myself my spot for the night. It is near what I believe to be the Lufthansa check-in desk, since they are my airline for my flight to Munich. I also have a wall plug, a table, and a nearby bathroom. I still have to lug all of my belongings with me when I go, but it’s not that bad of a walk. To occupy myself, I have watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As well as painted my nails, and ate my cheese, one bag of crackers, and my Oreos. I don’t have Order of the Phoenix on my iTunes, so if I want to watch that one next I have to find it online. For right now, it is almost midnight, so I figure that I will post this on my blog, and conclude the rest of my adventures when I get home tomorrow, or maybe from the Philly airport if I have time and internet. My plan for the rest of the morning is movie watching, bag reorganization, and most importantly, no sleep. I am going to reset my body to US time, and that means going to bed on my first flight, and sleeping until about halfway through my long flight. Hopefully my plan will work, because I have lots to do before Christmas and I can’t spend my time sleeping at weird hours.

Reflection::

Since this is day 2 of annoying extra baggage fees, I figured I would write about money and budgeting. About three weeks into my semester, I made a budget for myself, for food, rent, metro passes, and a couple other necessary fees. I gave the budget to my mom, and she wired me all the money I was supposed to need. However, about two and a half weeks before I was due to leave Madrid, I only had 80 euro in my bank account. I thought I had budgeted well, but I think I still have much to learn. A lot of the money had disappeared while my mom was visiting me, because I booked our flight, paid for our hotel, and covered her surprise baggage fees all on my debit card. But it still didn’t add up. I had a separate card that I used for traveling, bus tickets, hostel deposits, etc., but what I didn’t think about is that when I had to pay for a ticket or a hostel in cash, I just used my pocket money, which was coming from the account that had my budgeted money in it. It’s difficult to keep the money separate, for travel and for food, from my account and from my parents, because it all ends up paying for something that I need/want. I definitely think having a budget is really important, to keep track of how much money I spend on food and entertainment weekly and monthly. It was nice to know when I was under budget, and it allowed me to splurge some weeks when I wanted to do something special.

Having my parents cover my rent, metro passes, and food really helped me out this semester. I would never have had enough money to support myself completely. They have been really supportive through this whole experience, and not just financially. Back home in Maryland, they cover my groceries, and that really helps out too. That’s why I think starting a budget when I get back is such a good idea. Then I know just how much I am costing them, and how much I am costing myself. I want to be putting money in my savings account every month, to replace all that I spent this semester, but I don’t want to be making my parents pay for everything. It is the beginning of my being responsible with my money and theirs, since I learned this semester how difficult it can be to do so.

Italy :: Day 4 (Dec 19)

I got a good night’s sleep last night. All of my roommates were very quiet, even the ones that arrived later at night. I got up early and grabbed some of the hostel’s free breakfast, aka chocolate filled croissants and chocolate from the coffee machine, and headed out. I took the metro to the Vatican, and went straight to the Museums since my ticket was for 9 am. I got to pass a lot of people who were buying their tickets today, so I was really glad that I bought my ticket online. I didn’t end up meeting up with Ashley, the girl I met yesterday, and her mom, but I am sort of glad because I got to move through the museums at my own pace. Overall, I spent a little over 2 hours in the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Mostly, the sheer size overwhelmed me. The Vatican owns a lot of art and historical artifacts, and there was a lot to see.  I enjoyed the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and statues, as well as going through the old Papal apartments that are all completely frescoed. The Sistine Chapel didn’t really impress me like I expected it to. It is not all that large, and I didn’t like the frescoes as much as I did the ones in the old Papal apartments. I didn’t spend much time there, though I did stop in the café outside for a quick croissant snack.

After the museums, I headed to St. Peter’s square. I walked around the outside so that I could enter through the center and get the full effect. I didn’t really get the effect I wanted, but that is because of the construction going on, and the area blocked off for the building of the Belen (nativity scene). It is still an amazing space. And St. Peter’s Basilica is beautiful too. I took my time wandering through the square and taking pictures of everything. I wanted to find the marker on the ground that is in the Angels and Demons book and movie, but the area around the obelisk was blocked off for the Christmas tree and nativity scene. After I had taken all the pictures I wanted to, I headed into the Basilica. I was directed into the line for the Cupola, even though I wanted to leave that for last. Turns out that was a good thing, since the Cupola stairs exit into the Basilica. The payment options for climbing to the Cupola were 5 euros to climb all 551 stairs, or 7 euros to take an elevator and then climb 320 stairs. I decided to pay 5 euros, because it didn’t seem worth 2 euros to only cut out 231 stairs. The climb wasn’t too bad, though I was definitely winded when I got to the top. The views were worth it though. You can see pretty much the entire center of the city, as well as a beautiful birds-eye view of St. Peter’s square. I took my time looking at everything, since I knew the walk down wouldn’t be very fun. In St. Peter’s Basilica, a lot of areas a roped or blocked off to the public. You can see them, but you can’t walk through them. This made it difficult for me to get my pictures of the organ, but I did get some of the organ in the Chapel of the Choir. The Basilica is very beautiful and the architecture is really incredible. I wish I could’ve spent more time there, but there weren’t too many places to sit and my legs needed a break after the climbs up and down all those stairs. I got to go see the Gaudi temporary exhibit after I left the Basilica. It was right off of the square in an adjacent building, and it was free. There wasn’t too much information I didn’t already know, but it was a really cool set-up and they had a video of when the Pope went to Sagrada Familia and declared it a Basilica. It was small, but I really enjoyed it.

After stopping in a café for some pasta al forno (aka baked ziti) I hoped on the metro again to head down to the Roman Forum. Once I arrived, I walked around for almost an hour, around the entire perimeter of the Forum, only to discover that there was a strike today, once I finally found an entrance. I was so frustrated, because I had already paid for the combo ticket at the Colosseum, so I stomped over to the Colosseum to complain. However, they were also on strike, so I just lost out completely. I was really tired and aggravated, so I decided to take the metro instead of walk back to my hostel. On my way back, I calmed down, and decided to go to the Spanish steps on my way, so as not to waste my whole afternoon. They weren’t very impressive, but I got to see the sunset over the city, and that was pretty amazing. On my walk back to my hostel, I ran into Greg, Ian, and James, three guys from my program in Madrid. They had just arrived from Berlin, and were heading to the Yellow Hostel to try to book some rooms. We chatted for a little while about our various travel dilemmas, and then parted ways.

My hostel advertised a free pizza and wine night tonight, so I decided to go and take advantage of it since I am low on spendable cash. It was at a pizzeria across the street, and we got three small square pieces of pizza (Ledo pizza size) and a little plastic cup of red wine. Definitely not filling, but I did run into a couple other Americans that I had met on my first night at the hostel. We ended up going to dinner at the restaurant next door, and having some really good spaghetti and white wine. I ended up spending more than I probably would have on my own, but I had a nice time. Afterwards, we went back to the hostel and watched The Sweetest Thing, with Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate, and drinking some Lemoncello. I don’t know why everyone was raving about Lemoncello, it just tastes like lemon-flavored vodka. Supposedly it’s an after dinner drink here, but they must mix it with something. After chatting with my new roommates from South Africa, I took a shower and went to bed. Later than planned, but I knew I had a flight in the morning to sleep on.

Italy :: Day 3 (Dec 18)

Last night did not involve much sleep. I was in bed ready to fall asleep, but the sangria party when on until much past midnight. Even though there is a sign in the hostel that says noise and drunkenness after 11 pm results in being kicked out of the hostel, not much was done to keep them quiet. One of the guys who worked at the hostel came in and apologized at one point, but my roommates kept coming in and out of the room, turning the light on, and leaving the door open. I’m not sure when I slept or how long I slept for, because they weren’t exactly quiet when they came back from partying either.

I got up at 7:30 as planned, and headed out around 8. I walked to the Ponte Vecchio, which is very close to the Uffizi galleries, and took some pictures. The morning was beautiful again like in Venice, and I got to enjoy the city while it still slept. I went to the Uffizi galleries at 8:15, and was inside around 8:25. I got to see the David (I even snuck a picture) and the Birth of Venus, and those two were the works that I was told were must-sees. I walked through every room in the galleries that was open, though I didn’t spend much time in some of the painting rooms because the artwork was very similar to things I had seen at the Prado and Reina Sofia. Overall I enjoyed the galleries, mostly the sculpture sections. There was a cool exhibit about the Medici family, who contracted the Uffizi buildings, and the main architect/artist involved in the design. It was a nice end to my stay in Florence. Afterwards, I ate my apple as I walked back to my hostel and collected my belongings. The walk back to the train station went much better than the walk to the station, as always, and I still have 40 minutes before my train gets here. I am excited for Rome, especially the Vatican.

Finding my hostel in Rome was the easiest of all my hostels. It is the closest to the train station, and I found a very direct and simple route to get there. I checked in and left my baggage behind and headed out with map in hand (free this time). I ended up eating McDonalds for lunch, which wasn’t my original plan. I just wanted to go inside and see what the “Italian” sandwich was. But then it looked really good, and I was pretty hungry, so I ordered the CBO (chicken bacon onion) sandwich. It was actually pretty good, though I wasn’t a fan of the cheese that they chose. I did come to a realization that here in Europe, or at least in Italy, they charge for ketchup. They ask you if you would like ketchup or mayonnaise with your French fries, and then they charge you 20 cents. Not that bad, but it explained why I didn’t have the right change out at the BK in Milan.  After lunch I set out towards the Colosseum. Just as I got there, it started to rain, but luckily I carry my umbrella with me everywhere. I walked around the entire thing before I found the ticket booth, which was where I had started. I decided to get a guided tour for an extra 5 euros, because my friend Robyn had told me that it is way cooler when you actually understand what you are looking at. All I could think of the whole time was about the movie Gladiator. It was an amazing site to see though. My guide said that what remains is only 25% of the original structure, and much of it has been restored or reconstructed recently. She talked about the two types of shows that they had there, and how it was open to the common people for free, on average about once every three days. I didn’t get a chance to go to the Forum, though it is on the same ticket as the Colosseum, but I am planning to go tomorrow after the Vatican.

After the Colosseum, I walked to the Pantheon. By the time I got there, the sun was almost down, but it was lit up inside. There aren’t too many labels inside, and I didn’t want to get an audioguide, so I need to do some research to fully understand everything that I saw. It was still beautiful architecture and art, and the hole in the center of the ceiling was awesome to look up at. From the Pantheon, I walked to the Piazza Navone and the Campo di Fiori, two centers of Roman life past and present. Since it was dark at this point, it was difficult to see, but both were bustling with life. From the Campo di Fiori, I headed to the Trevi fountain. I was going to leave it until tomorrow, but I figured I could just see it twice if I had time, once during the day and once at night. It was beautiful, all lit up and surprisingly loud. I met a very nice girl and her mom from San Diego, and we took pictures for each other. They were quite surprised that I am traveling on my own, and we are going to try to meet up tomorrow at the Vatican. After I made my wish and tossed my coin into the fountain, I started back towards my hostel. I got a little lost because of an emblem on my map that blocks some streets, but I found my way and got back around 7. There was a bit of a mix up with another person’s bed, but since I was the last to arrive in the room, I moved to the next room over. No problem, I didn’t really mind. Though I am now in an empty room because the other people have not arrived yet. I think I will go out and get pizza tonight, but I haven’t decided yet.

I did end up getting pizza. Potato pizza. Similar to the French fries pizza I had in Venice, but much better. It had thin slices of potato on top of thick slices of cheese and lots of herbs. It was delicious, and piping hot. I had it at a little bar around the corner from my hostel. I was going to go adventuring a bit, but it was cold and I was hungry, so I ended up somewhere nearby. It’s another generally early night, since I have my Vatican appointment at 9 am tomorrow morning.

Reflection::

Since I am traveling, I decided today would be a reflection on my travels this semester. Besides this trip to Italy, all of my trips were within Spain (and Morocco). I didn’t leave the country like most of my fellow USACers, but I tried to visit all of the important Spanish cities. I know I will be back in Europe, and I wanted to take advantage of living in Madrid and being just a bus ride away from all of the great history of Spain. In total, I stayed the night in 7 Spanish cities, and in addition visited 8 more (I think those counts are right). In my guidebooks, I completed almost every important activity in Spain that it’s possible to complete.

I am satisfied with my travels. I got to see the country that I lived in, and practice my Spanish as much as possible, since that was one of my main reasons for studying abroad. I enjoyed almost all of the hostels/hotels I stayed in, and had pretty good traveling partners as well. By the end of the semester, it was difficult to travel with the same people because you sort of get sick of them. But I did luck out and never traveled with anyone who snored, or wanted to party really late at night when we had early plans. I personally prefer to sightsee when I travel, rather than go out at night, so it was nice to have others who shared my preference.

I also got to spend a lot of time in Madrid. Though traveling was definitely a priority, I got to know the city I lived in and experience its culture. That is something a lot of people in my program probably can’t say, unless you are referring to the nightlife. So some of my traveling was also throughout the city of Madrid, and being a tourist in my own city.

Italy :: Day 2 (Dec 17)

Today was another very early day. I was up at 6:30, and out in the street before 7. I needed to make up for lost time. I got to the Piazza San Marco by asking “Escuzi, Piazza San Marco”.  It worked pretty well. As I walked through the city, the sun was rising, and it was beautiful. I stopped at a coffee shop for a cappuccino (= café con leche) and a croissant with peach marmalade inside. When I got to the Piazza, the sky was an amazing pink, and it looked beautiful set behind the Doge’s Palace and the Campanile San Marco. Since it was so early, I didn’t get to go inside anything, but seeing it was better than nothing. It made me feel much better about wasting yesterday by not doing anything. In the Piazza, I met a nice man from Florida who took a picture of me in front of the harbor. From the Piazza, I asked my way to the Rialto Bridge. I even found a man who spoke English who took me most of the way there, by a short cut he knows. It was amazing. The Grand Canal is beautiful, and it was great to see the city just waking up. I wandered my way back to the Piazza, and then back to my hostel from there. I stopped and bought some apples on my way back. My roommates were awake when I got back, so I chatted with them as I packed up and headed out. The return journey to the train station went much better, since it was daylight and I was able to follow my original directions. I got scammed when I got to the Ponte dia Constituzione, because two “kind” Italian men carried my suitcases over, and then charged me 20 euros. I obviously couldn’t refuse them at that point, and truthfully it would’ve taken me much longer to do it myself. I wish it hadn’t cost me so much though.

The train ride was very nice. I switched with another passenger. because her companion had the seat next to mine. I still had a window, and I got to see some of the Italian countryside. When I arrived in Florence, I got lost very quickly, but was able to purchase a map and be quickly on my way. I got to my hostel around 1:30, but could only leave my bags because it was “cleaning time.” My hostel is on the 3^rd floor of an apartment/office building, and is not really the best on I’ve stayed in. I am in a room with five other people, which isn’t that bad, but my room is also the luggage room. The majority of the people staying at my hostel are guys who, like the people who work here, speak a foreign language from the Middle East that I am not familiar with. It doesn’t sound like Arabic, but it could be anything.

After dropping off my bags, I headed out into the city. My hostel is only a couple blocks away from Il Duomo, which was my first stop. I grabbed a calzone for lunch, and then walked around to admire the architecture. Once I had visited the cathedral, I headed up the 363 stairs to the top of the dome. The views were incredible, I could see the entire city and the surrounding hills and mountains. I stayed up there for a little while, and enjoyed the experience. I also planned out where else I was going to go. After climbing back down the 363 steps, I went to San Lorenzo, a famous chapel where Donatelli and the patriarch of the Medici family are buried. It had a beautiful courtyard, as well as a very interesting museum. The church itself wasn’t my favorite, but it was done very well. After that I walked around, got some gelato, and saw the house of Michelangelo and the house of Dante. I didn’t go in either one, but it was cool just to be outside of them. Then I headed back to my hostel, and on my walk back the Christmas lights came on. I cannot wait to walk through them once the sun fully sets.

I did some restaurant research while I uploaded photos from my trip last week, and chose two restaurants that were relatively close and inexpensive. On my way to one of them, I passed by a place with pretty good deals and some delicious pizza samplers. After realizing the place I had chosen was still a good ways down the road, I decided to just stay at this restaurant. I had Ravioli Rose with white wine. I thought I ordered at ¼ “portion” of wine, but apparently I ordered at ½ “portion”. That resulted in me drinking a lot more wine than I had planned a paying a wee bit more. I finished my meal with tiramisu. I have to say, I don’t think the Ravioli Rosa at Mama Lucia’s will ever seem that good to me again, nor will the tiramisu I eat anywhere in the United States. It was an incredible meal, and worth the money I paid. I got to see the Christmas lights on my way to dinner, but I was quite surprised to see that as I walked back to my hostel after dinner, some of the lights were already shut off. My friends and I thought Madrid was being cheap, cutting the lights off at 10 on weeknights, but here, it’s Saturday night and the lights were off before 9:50. I showered and am now going to bed. My hostel has a free sangria party going on right now, so I don’t know how well I will sleep, but I have to try.

Reflection::

Today, I am going to reflect about my housing situation this semester. I had two roommates, Q and Rachel. We had an amazing apartment, in my personal opinion. We had our share of troubles and disagreements, but Q and I became close instantly, and she was a great roommate and friend.

The apartment was located in a neighborhood near the metro stop La Elipa. It is near the end of the red metro line, and pretty residential by Madrid’s standards. Anyone who came to our neighborhood said that it was “filled with old people” and that’s a pretty true statement. We had the standard mix of families young and old, but the majority of people you saw walking the streets were older men and women. The apartment itself was on the 10^th floor of an apartment building right off of the main road in the neighborhood. We had a kind older gentleman who was the porter of the building. He takes the trash out, handles the mail, and watches the door during the day hours. In our apartment, we had a small kitchen, bathroom, living/dining room, and three bedrooms. The kitchen was well equipped, with fridge, microwave, stove, oven, dishwasher, and clothes washer. We didn’t use the dishwasher as anything more than a drying rack, but it definitely came in handy. The clothes washer provided its challenges, but was of crucial importance. I had the largest room of the three, and I really enjoyed it. I had space to move around, even when my room was filled with my belongings as well as those of others.

On to roommates. Since I had five roommates last year, two didn’t seem that bad. Especially since we would all be traveling and out busy most of the time. However, that didn’t turn out to be the case entirely. Rachel spent most of her time in the apartment, if she wasn’t at school or tutoring. She was pretty much a constant presence, with her popcorn, dirty dishes, loud daily phone calls to her mom, and loud television shows online. It made it difficult to enjoy being in my own apartment sometimes. I was glad that I was occupied and didn’t spend too much time there myself. I also have decided not to dwell on anything that happened between me and her, because it doesn’t matter anymore. Luckily, Q and I were on the same page. We became friends and travel buddies instantly, and worked really well together as roommates. We had fun with each other, and still had other friends who we hung out with. It was a really good balance. Without a good roommate/friend like Q, I don’t know how my housing situation would’ve ended. All I do know is, I got my housing deposit back, and made a hopefully lifelong friend. So I’d say that housing was mostly a success.

Italy :: Day 1 (Dec 16)

**I apologize about the changes in tense. I wrote this at varying times*

I am sitting in the Madrid Barajas airport. It is 4:53 in the morning. I have a 6 o’clock flight to Milan Bergamo, and from there I start my adventure. Until 5:21, when my flight begins boarding, I have to entertain myself.

First, I think about all the money I have already spent. Yesterday (Thursday) I purchased a new suitcase for the price of 35 euros. Pretty good, I thought, because it allowed me to bring everything but a couple pairs of socks with me. Though truth be told, my laptop doesn’t fit in either stuffed bag that I possess, so I will be sneaking it onto the airplane. Back to the suitcase. With two stuffed, heavy suitcases, I arrived at the airport. RyanAir had not yet opened its check-in counters (it was only about 3:40) so I sat down next to a column to wait. A Polish girl named Veronica struck up conversation with me, and I spent my time waiting chatting with her and her friend, Monica. We stood in the check-in line together, and it was Veronica who realized that my bag was most likely overweight. At this point, I had no options. Both bags were shut beneath the weight of a human being, and I was not about to try rearranging in the check-in line. So I approached the counter, hoping I would find myself speaking to a generous and kind worker. I purchased 15 kg. My bag weighed 19 kg. Do you want to know how much RyanAir charges per kilo? 20 euros. My heart sunk. Luckily, the man behind the counter only made me pay for 3 kilos, not 4, when I told him that I was going to the United States and therefore taking all of my belongings with me. However, it still meant 60 euros, down the drain. As I handed the money to the attendant at the payment desk, I had an eerie feeling that this was just the beginning. As of 4:59 am, I have not had to shell out any extra money, but I have a feeling that other airlines will feel the same about my bag, though hopefully they will be the only ones complaining about the weight.

To jump ahead in the day, it’s now evening, and I am in Venice. Though throughout the day, I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going to end up tonight. After arriving in Milan, I took a bus to the Bergamo train station, as planned, to catch a train to Venice. To my dismay, however, I discovered that there was a strike at the station, and the train I needed was cancelled. So I instead purchased a ticket to the Milano Centrale train station, to hopefully head to Venice from there. Then, all of the trains leaving the Bergamo station were cancelled, so I traded my train ticket in for a return bus ticket to the airport. There, after speaking to my parents, I discovered that the strike was country wide, and the tourism office had no idea when it was going to end. After evaluating my sparse options, I took a shuttle bus to the Milano Centrale station, to see what else was available. I discovered to my delight that the strike was to end at 9 pm that night, and that some trains were still going through. With the help of a kind British lady, I purchased a ticket for the 2:05 train to Venice, with my plans seemingly back on track. After a delicious lunch of a BK double cheeseburger, I boarded my train and was off. The weather was quite bleak, so there wasn’t much to look at. By the time I arrived at the Venezia S.L. train station, it was raining. So off I went in search of my hostel. I had directions written down, but after crossing the first bridge, made of stairs mind you, not a ramp, I realized that the construction being done altered my directions. After speaking to an English-speaking taxi, and to my hostel over the phone, I headed out again. This time, my only directions were “Just ask for Campo Santa Margharita, you are very close”. I crossed at least 5 or 6 bridges, made one wrong turn, but eventually arrived. I have blisters on my hands and feet to prove it, and some very wet luggage as well. I have now checked into my hostel, and have two very nice English-speaking roommates, originally from Hong Kong and South Africa, that now reside in Australia. I have to leave on a train for Florence at 10:27 am tomorrow, so I don’t really get to see any of the city I was most looking forward to. Most of what I did see during my walk was beautiful. I am going to try to get some sightseeing in tomorrow morning, so hopefully it will not all be a waste.  I did find out from my roommates that there are more strikes planned, but I believe they are going to occur after my last train ride on Sunday, for which I am very grateful.

Called it a night at 10 pm, after having pizza with French fries on it for dinner and taking a nice hot shower.

Reflection::

I decided that throughout my final journey, I will reflect on various aspects of my semester. This will save me the effort of writing one huge final reflection post, and make my posts during my trip that much more interesting.

This reflection will be about my classes. I just had all of my final exams yesterday, so it seems fitting that this would be fresh in my mind. Overall, I enjoyed my academics here in Madrid. My workload was much lighter than it ever has been in the US, or ever will be, which was beneficial since I spent most of my time traveling and exploring.

Track class = Class with Charo is always a battle. In my grammar class, it was mostly a battle to be taught. We never really had lecture, simply time for open questions and time to review the homework. And of course, time to assign more homework. I did learn from my textbook, the good one, but I don’t think much of what I learned in this class can be attributed to my teacher. She is a very stubborn, egoistic, and Spanish person. No place is better than Spain, no place in Spain is better than Madrid. No answer is better than her answer, and if you have the same opinion, or can put up a very good counter-argument, you become her favorite student. I fell into neither of these categories. I simply did the homework, came to class, and tried not to explode. Might not sound that difficult, but it cost me a lot of energy, especially at 9:10 in the morning. Overall, for a class I don’t even need back home, it was not worth the effort or the stress.

Cuento class = Another class with Charo, but much more bearable. The stories we read were always interesting, whether I liked them or not. We never had written homework, and our exams were very easy. I like short stories as a form of literature. It’s between them and poems as my favorites. I prefer the shorter works because I think it actually takes more effort and talent to concentrate so much information into so few words. Overall, I really enjoyed the content of this class, though the teacher isn’t who I would’ve picked.

Literature class = This was probably my favorite class of the semester. I really enjoyed the material, and I am looking forward to the second two classes in the series. Obviously, Spanish literature is of great interest to me since that is one of my majors back at Maryland. But my professor, Jorge, really made the class great. He is very knowledgeable about literature and language. The way he set up the class really helped fuel class discussion. We worked in small groups, which forced even the quietest students to speak up. I really appreciated his dedication to the subject, as well as his teaching style. I will really miss him.

Morocco and Andalucía!! (Dec 6 to 11)

Due to the fact that it is the end of the semester and I leave for Italy tomorrow, the best I can give you for this trip is the garbled "jots" I have for each day. I noted interesting things from each day so I could write an interesting blog entry, but if I don't post something, this trip will be lost in time. So here it is::

Day 1::
flight at 6:30 am, didn't get gate until 2 minutes before boarding, long nap
met by taxi driver, apartment
took taxi to asilah, taxi driver became our guide
  beach views
  shopping
  asilah golf resort
  lunch - couscous, naranj, cats
  back to tangier, long sweaty nap
took taxi to medina by docks
  shopping
  richard the "guide"
  late night no language connection taxi payment
movie time - robin hood
break for dinner - platos combinados? extra soup, extra plate, yellow fever/snow fever
back to the movie - drew and q slept early
no curtain no hot water shower
sleep under three blankets

Day 2::
early morning
breakfast with Dad - egg, oil, cream cheese + bread + olives + yogurt + NesCafe
Grotto of Hercules
-dressing up traditional
-wonderful views
-turtle
-picture through cave
Shamu = Camel!!!
back to the apartment
movie time - from paris with love
lunch on drew and alex's fries
off to the port
Comarit ferry - 32 euro, security, 1/2 hour late, security again
Free bus to Algeciras
Free bus to bus station
16,85 euro bus to Sevilla
finally got address and number of hostel
hostel - useless on directions, 10 euro deposit
no hot water at night = no shower
no dinner for me, early to bed, friends to montaditos

Day 3::
up at 9
bathroom was steamed like someone had hot water
breakfast - toast, croissants, juice, tea, stole stuff for tomorrow, cleaned own dishes
horrible smell in room
free walking tour at 10:50 with hostel - brian
lunch with tour group - tapas menu del dia
free walking tour at 3:50 with hostel - juan
dinner at place near by - croquetas and a lomo montadito
flamenco show - ten minutes, juice course

Day 4::
up before 7, pack and check-out
Drew went to train station to go home
We went to bus station to head to cordoba
Locked stuff in cordoba, grabbed map
Followed walking tour I found online
Mezkita, Jewish quarter, Muralla, Arab baths, Alcazar
French fries and Fanta at BK for me, bus to station for rest
Q and Alej traipsed around and met me at the station
hung out for a couple hours, ate 1/2 large napolitana, bus to granada
arrival in granada, bus to hostel, GREAT HOSTEL
passed out

Day 5::
stayed in bed until afternoon, broke fever i think
Alej stayed in bed too
Q went on walking tour and explored
Drank peach juice, ate 1/2 large napolitana
Showering, ate pizza and tea with Q, came back and went to bed

Day 6::
Early morning, check out, hostel breakfast
head to Alhambra, ticket place closed, decide to wait
Miss entrance time, catch bus, try to run (unsuccessful), miss entrance time completely, try to change time, rejected
Spend day wandering around the rest of the Alhambra
Take bus back down to center
Lunch is sandwiches (tortilla espanola for Alej) and tea
Off to the bus station, got a bus at 4:30 instead of 6, got pringles at rest stop
Home sweet home :)))

Day Trip: EL ESCORIAL

Today, December 3, my friend Sendy and I went on a day trip. We went to San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a city outside of Madrid. We took an hour long ride on Cercanias (the commuter train) to get there, and then took a 10 minute shuttle bus to get to the center of the town.

The biggest attraction is the Real Monasterio de El Escorial. It is a Basilica, a Royal Palace, a Monastery, and a Pantheon, all wrapped into one. We took a self-guided tour of the majority, and it was a pretty cool experience. You can't take pictures inside though, so there isn't too much to see there. There were museums inside of the monastery, of tapestries, paintings, and architecture, to name a few. We also got to see the bedchambers and audience chambers that the royal family inhabited when they would stay there. The Basilica was very simple, as was the Monastery itself, and contained paintings instead of the typical chapels I have seen in other Spanish cathedrals. The Pantheon was also very cool. It contains a large number of the royals of Spain, including kings, queens, princes, princesses, and the children of kings and queens who would never become king or queen (called infante/a in Spanish). I am definitely glad we went, because it is a very unique site.

After touring the Monastery, we had lunch a Rodilla, a Spanish sandwich chain. Then we wandered around the city for a while, since the bus to Valle de los Caidos only leaves at 3:15 pm on Saturdays.

Valle de los Caidos is a very sacred place for the Spanish people. The Basilica there contains the remains of many Spanish citizens who died during the Spanish Civil War. It also contains the remains of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, who died in 1975. The fact that the Civil War victims and Franco are buried in the same place is also quite controversial. The site itself is beautiful, especially the amazing stone cross on top of the mountain. The Basilica is built within the mountain, and still maintains a lot of the qualities of the stone by which it is surrounded. We couldn't go up to the cross because it is being restored and there is the danger of falling rocks. But there were amazing views of the valley below, and it was a wonderful place to visit. I am very glad I got to go, even though I couldn't go up to the cross, because seeing Spaniards there visiting the victims, and looking at Franco's grave, was also an interesting experience.

We stayed a Valle de los Caidos until 5:30, when the only bus back to El Escorial left. We then took the shuttle back to the train station and took the train home. It was a great day. Very relaxing, and Sendy was a great travel partner, though a little sleepy from her late night ;)