Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!
With that said, I´ve quickly come to realize it has now been over a month since I have updated my blog... not good. I could try to blame it on me getting caught up in the Spanish lifestyle once again, but in all honesty, I have just been procrasting. Next week, I plan on filling you all in with details about our adventures, but I quickly wanted to let you know what we have been up to.
When I last wrote, we had just gotten back from San Sebastian, Spain, our first weekend trip after being in Madrid for two weeks. We have now been here for almost two months and over the past few weeks have had the opportunity to travel to Granada, El Escorial, and Sevilla in Spain, and just this past weekend to Lisbon, Portugal. In between, my mom and sister came to visit me for an absolutely amazing week- I brought them Spanish culture, and they brought a wonderful and refreshing taste of home after two months of being away. Their visit was just one week before Diwali (India´s new year a.ka. Festival of Lights). As this was the first year I have ever been away from home on this special holiday, it was so great to have them come here and experience such a unique blending of cultures. This upcoming weekend, we are off to Brussels (brrr!!!), followed by Barcelona the week after that, and then hopefully an amazing month of December exploring Spain and Madrid more.
And then of course, there´s school... The past couple of weeks have been relatively busy with school with midterms (also futher encouraging my procrastination when it came to blogging), and in just three weeks it will be finals again. I have truly been enjoying my Spanish art class above all. I can officially say I have presented about ´Las Meninas´in the Prado museum and explained the details behind Spanish art to my family in Madrid and roommate and close friend in Sevilla. My other classes have also allowed me to learn more about Madrid and Spain, but above that, truly understand the life of an international student meeting people from all over the world. It will be interesting to return to DU and be a ´regular student´again, observing international students and their struggles/successes having just been in their position. It´s situations like this that I am so fortunate to have as they have certainly changed my outlook on life.
It´s so hard to believe that after almost three months, my time here is quickly coming to an end with only four weeks left. However, with Halloween, Diwali, and now Thanksgiving passing, and Christmas decorations going up, I have certainly been thinking a lot about home- hence, me finally updating my blog! :o) After Brussels, I truly plan on updating my blog with more details about all of our adventures. However, I hope this quick entry finds you all happy and well!
Besos,
Monica
Thursday, October 18, 2007
“First we fight, then we party!” – A weekend in San Sebastian
We arrived in
We’re sitting in the café and around 5:00 pm, we start to get kicked out and are wondering what is going on...it’s too late for siesta for them to close. As we walk out on to the street, we look to the left to see an entire brigade of police in full uniform, including large guns and gas masks. After starting to get nervous, we then look to the left to see protestors- true Basque country protestors, waving the Basque flag, holding up Antifascist signs, yelling for a free, independent Basque country on this National Holiday in The only thing that goes through our mind is MOVE and FAST. We start walking/running towards the police along with others, caught in a furry of not knowing what is going on or even what to do! We end up finding a spot (and by that I mean a nook in the wall) to get away from the danger. For about twenty minutes, we’re standing in this nook watching police shoot large rubber balls (my friend Aubrey was hit by one reflecting off a dumpster-oww) and protestors throwing large rocks in return. We finally decide it is safe enough to move, and walk down the street, turn the corner only to see more protestors, dumpsters turned over, and crowds of people everywhere. We finally duck into a café, where we proceed to stay for the next hour or so. The action continues, and we have front row seats as the situation continues to intensify. After about an hour and a half, we decide it’s safe to go outside and wander a bit more. We can’t go back to our hostel yet as the entire center square including the town hall is roped off. This is insane. We finally watch as the police untie the ropes and the drama, about three hours later, has come to an end with streets littered, over-turned dumpsters on fire in ever corner, and life slowly easing back to the norm once again…
Welcome to
After Friday’s adventure, the remainder of the weekend was much more low key and relaxing. We took advantage of this weekend but truly using it as a vacation instead of running up and down the city sight-seeing. Saturday including shopping, enjoying amazing food, walking
along the boardwalk, and again, heading out at night- including meeting many people, stopping in a place pronounced (not sure how you spell it), Etche Kalde, filled only with locals speaking all in Basque, finding another amazing discoteca, this one on Playa de la Zurriola, called ZM, and finally heading home late again. We woke up early Sunday to a short day filled with nothing but the beach…
Despite the more serious political conversations, life continues to be very comical. Jess and I had a five-minute long conversation about soup with our senora. We were trying to figure out what the soup was made of, and tell her we liked asparagus so she knew for the future. It took us another ten minutes or so to figure out the soup was made from asparagus (or esparrogos in Spanish… you’d think we’d be able to figure that one out just by hearing it right? Apparently not…), which she told us the night before. And for future reference, turns out there are white as well as green “esparrogos,” not making this conversation easier… It was quite the dinner.
We also have three girls from
Es todo para ahora! Vamos a
Besitos,
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Estamos Madrileños ahora.
Our senora continues to be amazing. Over the past week I have been able to get to know her and her family better, as well as practice my Spanish (have I mentioned she doesn't speak any English?) and learn about Spanish culture. She has lived in
Speaking of classes... It's only been two weeks, and I'm very quickly beginning to feel lazy. Between my very relaxed class schedule and no homework, I'm realizing I'm going to need to find something to do with all my free time. I've been embracing it for now and getting to learn the city, yet this has been something very different to get used to. I'm taking four classes here: International Marketing, International Communications, Women's Roles in
My overall impressions of the city thus far have been great, and I can't wait to see how the next two and a half months will continue. Until my next update, I'll share with you some of the more notable experiences (although there have been plenty!) from the two weeks...
Chocolate con Churros: The Nightlife
Madridleños have a thriving passion for life, and they say this is reflected in the renowned nightlife of the city, supposed to be one of the best in
One of the renowned traditions after a long night out in a discoteca is going to a Chocolateria for chocolate and churros- it really is as amazing as it sounds, especially at 4 or 5 in the morning.

Daytrip to
About an hour an half south of mer capital of the Holy Roman, Visigoth, and Muslim empires. Today,
Once inside the walls of the city, we had the opportunity to tour a convent, see San Juan de los Reyes (la sinagoga) in the city's Jewish quarters, la Mezquita, and of course see "El entierro del Señor de Orgaz," the most infamous painting of El Greco. After a day of touring the city and taking in the stunning sites, we ended our day with wandering the streets and sampling the marzipan.
Corrida de toros: The Bullfight
Bullfighting season in Spain lasts from March through October. Our arrival in
The "Plaza del Toros" is located in Las Ventas,
Sightseeing in the city: Templo de Debod and Palacio Real
Living within a large European city automatically equates to culture overload. With that being said the first week has been filled with getting to know the different Plazas, discovering the importance of large, random buildings, and simply taking it all in. More to come soon on these two sites as they are very impressive with their history and grandeur…Sunday, September 30, 2007
Finalmente en Madrid
After leaving the airport, I was the first to be dropped off at my host family. I was nervous. As we slowly walked towards the apartment, I forced my self to clear to my mind and anticipate an great experience no matter what. Within the first few minutes of meeting my Senora, I knew I was going to be happy here. She is so friendly and so kind, and she speaks Spanish possibly faster than most people I have ever heard- this I am going to need to get used to.
I spent the afternoon moving in to our room, eating lunch (our senora is a fantastic cook and she eats healthy!), and getting adjusted after being overwhelmed. We live on the tenth floor of a high rise. The apartment has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. Our senora lives alone, however her son and daughter (and her family and children) are also in Madrid. Jess and I share our bedroom and have our own bathroom. The apartment is clean and spacious, very close to the Metro and nearby markets. There are also four other students from our program in the same building, and I can't wait to get to know them. It's only been two days and I am very happy with our home.
After getting settled, Jessica Goldband, my roommate and close friend arrived. We were very happy to see each other, and are already having a blast exploring the city and becoming acquainted with our new surroundings. Our first Madrid experience including navigating the metro for our first ISA meeting. As part of ISA's Fall 1 Program at Antonio de Nebrija University, there are thirty students (although ten of us are from DU!!) and we are all just beginning to get to know each other. Antonio de Nebrija, our university, is a school of Spanish studies designed for students from outside of Spain. I am very excited to see where the other students in our classes will be from, and get to know other parts of Europe and the world even more, while learning about Madrid. More on school later this week though...
After our meeting, ISA gave us a brief tour of the city in which we saw El Plaza Mayor, el Palacio Real, El Plaza de la Villa, and other popular sites near Sol, the main city center. After exploring, our Saturday night continued with hanging out and getting to know one another in the city before returning home for an amazing night of sleep.
Today is Sunday in Madrid, and Jess and I quickly learned NOTHING is open on Sundays... welcome to the Spanish lifestyle. We went to Plaza de la Castilla this afternoon, however, and checked out the street markets, purchasing a few things we'll need over the upcoming months. Our senora told us that Sunday is a big days for markets such as these, including a bigger one in Sol, and I am excited to get to see them all. The remainder of our day consisted of getting adjusted and preparing for a big week. Classes start on Tuesday!! It's very weird realizing that I am going to school again... although probably a good thing. Tomorrow morning we meet early to take our placement tests, and from there the adventure officially begins...
Off to bed for an early morning, but you should all know I finally tried the Spanish Tortilla, and it was amazing! Thanks for all the food tips from everyone! :o) Much more to come soon!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
EuroTrip 2007
Our EuroTrip began at 4 am in the morning on Sunday, September 2nd after a night of packing. After leaving DIA around sunrise, Jason and I easily made it to
After reaching
Our first night in
September 5 - 8
Wein! After an early morning Aer
The day we arrived consisted of exploring the city and getting our bearings. We wandered through the city hall and spent the afternoon hanging out in a warm cafe drinking coffee for hours. After a late dinner, the tiring and cold day ended with an early night. The following day continued to be rainy and so we spent the afternoon in and out of monuments and museums. We visited a beautiful cathedral only to discover that Pope Benedict XVI was to be in town the following day (more to come on this...)! The remainder of day was spent at the Haus de Musik, a great museum on music explaining the history of the city, home of Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, and many others. We also spent the afternoon in the Museum Quartier visiting the
The late night out led to an early morning the next day, however one that I will never forget. Pope Benedict XVI was in
This amazing start to the day continued with a tour of the UN building in
A few amazing but tiring days in
The following morning consisted of much needed sleeping in. Despite the late start to the day, we were still able to get a day's worth of adventure in with seeing the Parliament and
Our final full day in
September 11 - 15
The next morning we awoke to an amazing view outside of our guest house window of the beautiful hillside against the Adriatic. It was going to be a fantastic day. As this was our only full day in Dubrovnik we took advantage of it by spending the day at the old town. We stopped for lunch at "Fresh," a great recommendation, followed by a relaxing walk around the city and staring out upon the beautiful sea for a while. A little bit of shopping and more wandering led us into the afternoon where we decided to partake in the main attraction of the city and walk the walls of the former Dubrovnik fortress. The view from above was absolutely stunning and enabled us to take in everything this city has experienced including its recent violent history. After the walk, we took a nice short break to grab gelato while watching the sunset over the sea. All this before an amazing seafood dinner and spending the evening in a Jazz cafe. This lifestyle I could have gotten used to...
We awoke the next morning to continue our Croatian adventures out at sea by taking a ferry from Dubrovnik to Rijeka, a port city in the north of the country. The ferry left at 10 am on Thursday, September 13th arriving in Rijeka early Friday morning. Needless to say Matt, Jason, and I all took advantage of this time to catch up on a few things as well as stare out into the sea and reflect upon everything we have been so fortunate to experience. After spending a few days in Rijeka, we would all travel to London together before parting ways. This experience allowed us to come together one last time and appreciate our adventures together.
Rijeka continued to be a great experience, however similar to Frankfurt, the town is relatively
We took advantage of the next day by leaving Rijeka and traveling to the small, nearby town of Opatija. As a beautiful, resort town in Croatia, one can only imagine how beautiful it is. After again spending the day walking around and exploring, we headed back to pack our bags and get to the airport. Regardless of the short trip to Opatija, this will definitely be somewhere I will be returning one day along with many other locations in Croatia.
Our trip to the Rijeka airport (in which we felt as if we were driving into a nature observatory), was very exciting for all of us. We were off to London where Jason, the first of our group of three, would officially begin his study abroad program.
Although filled with tourists, it was amazing to be there and a part of this vibrant city. We finished our night by having fish and chips for dinner, and heading back to the festival to watch fireworks over the Thames.
Monday again proved to be adventurous. Jason awoke early to attend orientation and get accustomed to his home for the remainder of the year while Matt and I wandered off to the London Eye and Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum. Need less to say, we splurged a little bit on the attractions, but it was worth the fun and stories.
Our pricy two days in London slowly came to an end. We were able to meet up with another friend from DU, Bart, also living in the same residence hall as Jason, and catch up before all heading out to dinner at an Indian restaurant- delicious! Our last evening together with all three of us came to an end as we all fell asleep watching "EuroTrip." It had been an amazing two and half weeks together, and I knew this was just the beginning.
After saying bye to Matt the following morning, Jason and I headed out to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was an amazing experience, however I wish I understood the significance of the ceremony more. I, however, was shocked, along with many others when the guards started playing "I Love You Baby." A very amusing experience, and it's good to know the guards love their queen...
The next morning I woke up to "pilgrimage" to the Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in the suburbs of London. I say "pilgrimage" as the temple is in the suburbs of the city and it took me a an older couple from South London about 45 minutes of walking in what seemed to be a circle until we finally found it. However, this temple in the largest Hindu temple outside of Asia, built entirely of limestone and marble and is absolutely stunning. After trekking to the temple, I went back to Westminster and met with Jason. Together we met up with my friend Amit for lunch. Amit is currently working on his Master's in London, and it was great to see him after a year and hear about his experiences.
Our eventful day continued as Jason and I wandered amongst the many floors of Harrod's followed by a stop at the Camden Town markets. Transitioning from the store of "everything for everybody everywhere" to streets lined with local markets, with a very punk/alternative atmosphere was extremely interesting and an amazing experience.
After a great day of seeing all of London, I woke the next morning to say bye to Jason to board a flight to Ireland. This truly ended our three weeks together, and I was now on my own to travel Europe...
All these thoughts of course disappeared as I reached Dublin. I easily met up with my friend Jess studying at UCD in Dublin and settled into her suite, shortly followed by dinner and hanging out at the campus pub- welcome to Ireland. We then headed back to Jess' place to relax and getting ready, followed by an amazing night out in, as I quickly learned "Publin" or "Clublin," including visits to Temple Bar and Grafton Street.
T
The energy filled evening was followed by a day trip out of the city to Kilkenny, Ireland (about two-three hours south of Dublin). As a history-filled medieval town, Kilkenny proved to be an amazing day trip an we had lunch at the famous Kyttler's Inn, saw St. Catherine's Cathedral, were given a guided tour of the city, and wandered through the famous castle of Kilkenny, owned by the Butler family. This trip truly completed my Ireland experience by enabling me to see the beautiful Ireland country side along with of course, an Irish castle.
This amazing day was of course, followed by another night out in the city of Dublin. After wandering from place to place and meeting many of Jess' new friends and others, we finally went to bed at 3:30 am only to wake up the next morning at 7:30 am to head to the airport.
After a great night of sleep, Ariel and I took Rome by storm the next day including a morning of shopping near Via del Corso, the Italian way, and site seeing. We were able to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, stare into the amazing work of the Pantheon, throw coins into la Fontana di Trevi, w
After an exhausting day of shopping and site-seeing, we headed off to the market then back to the apartment for an relaxing evening of hanging out with Ariel's roommates and a late night gelato run (for the record, that was our second time having gelato in one day - welcome to Italy). The next day proved to be very relaxing, giving me a chance to catch up on everything from the past 25 days or so, while Ariel went to class. We spent the afternoon exploring the Colosseum and looking into Rome's 2,000 plus year history. After seeing the Pantheon and all the sites the previous day, it was so amazing to look upon these monuments and see the intricate work that went into them. Our slow day continued with hanging out at the apartment again, followed by a midnight surprise to Emilia, one of Ariel's roommates, for her birthday.
I woke up early the next morning and quickly headed out to spend the day at Vatican City. I arrived just in time to see the Pope leaving in the Pope-mobile after the weekly Wednesday audience. That's the second time I've seen the Pope in one month! As Rachael called it, apparently I'm "Pope-chasing."
After the commotion of seeing Pope Benedict, I then headed over to the long line in front of St. Peter's Basilica, holding the tomb St. Peter, the first Pope. After finally entering, I was overwhelmed and stunned by the architecture and beauty including Michelangelo's famous statue, The Pieta. This morning of amazement melted into an equal stunning afternoon as I visited the Vatican Museums including the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Rapheal, Michaelangelo, and even Dali. The visit ended with the beautiful Sistine Chapel as well as a walk down the renowned stairs of the Vatican Museum designed by Giuseppe Momo.
The spiritual day at the Vatican came to an end as I returned to Ariel's and an apartment full of celebration for Emilia's birthday. We surprised her with dinner then proceeded to get ready and head out for a night in Campo di Fiori. After a late night of birthday celebrations, we took advantage of the following day by relaxing and again catching up on everything. After living in her apartment for a month without the internet, Ariel and her roommates finally got connected to wireless this day. Seeing the reaction in the others and myself was so interesting, and I was able to see how truly dependent we are on something such as the internet today. Later that evening, we met my friend Julie for dinner and gelato again in Campo. Julie's also studying in Rome, and it was great to hear her experiences thus far, although definitely m
The next day Ariel and I took a beautiful day trip out of Rome in to Tivoli and visited the Villa D'este. The area was beautiful as it contained ancient fountains, ruins, and gardens (the photo to the right). After an amazing lunch in Tivoli, we wandered the markets before returning home. Our week together came to a close as made a fantastic dinner together and watched "Under the Tuscan Sun."
And the whirlwind continues...
It's September 29th, and we have officially arrived in Madrid. As I sit in my home for the next three months, I reflect back upon the past four weeks and they have been absolutely unforgettable. And while I have admittedly been slacking in posting on my blog, it's so difficult to sit and try and think of some way to encompass everything we have experienced. In my defense, when one is only in a city traveling for a few days, it is very difficult to find motivation to post on a blog, understandably so. In an effort to catch up on writing, I'll go through and post the best of each city, as well as my experiences thus far in Madrid. Please leave comments- it's always great to hear other's people thoughts and experiences- and even more so to hear from you all!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
It's three and a half hours before leaving for the airport, and I'm not packed... typical.
Sept 2 - 5: Frankfurt, Germany
Sept 5 - 8: Vienna, Austria
Sept 8: Bratislava, Slovakia???
Sept 8 - 11: Budapest, Hungary
Sept 11 - 15: Croatia - Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka
Sept 15 - 20: London, England
Sept 20 - 23: Dublin, Ireland
Sept 23 - 29: Rome, Italy
Sept 29: Arrive in Madrid, Spain!
This is certainly going to be an adventure of a lifetime.