The Holidays

The town has morphed into a bright swirl of lights and ribbons as the people prepare for Christmas. Though Thanksgiving truly remains an american tradition.

I celebrated turkey day by making myself a very basic dinner.

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(Potatoes and veggies)

Memories of the yearly family feast flooded my mind and I felt a very strong nostalgia and longing to be home again. And although some knew what the holiday was, I couldn’t forget a day where food was consumed until it became painful.

I’m extremely thankful for everything in my life – my family, my friends, this opportunity – The list is infinite.

A wonderful complement to this American Holiday is the yearly “Marché de Noël” (Christmas Market).

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At this market one can find vendors selling hot wine, churros, pretzels, sandwiches, candy, chocolate, beer, toys, pottery, vodka (there was a whole stand dedicated to russian vodka) and so much more.

During the day it’s quaint

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And at night, it’s stunning

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The town illuminates when the sun goes down

 

 

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Ferrero & Friends

The day of…

¡Feliz día de acción de gracias! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is my very first Thanksgiving not spent with my family–is this that growing up thing Peter Pan feared so much? Thanksgiving in Madrid is definitely no Thanksgiving in New York, but I’m not complaining either (we had our first dust of snow of the season this morning!). When I woke up this morning I yelled, “It’s Thanksgiving!” but quickly felt an emptiness. Spanish stores and food markets have skipped right past to Christmas decorations and treats, so to pay homage I made myself a savory turkey wrap for lunch :p I also put up a little holiday decoration once the leaves started to fall!

Gobble gobble!

Gobble gobble!

When I returned to my room after a quick run to the supermarket, I found a really sweet surprise: a Ferrero Rocher gold, bow-topped box and a Kinder Sorpresa** sat neatly on my desk! My roommate, who was studying at her desk, had bought me the sweets as a Thanksgiving treat, knowing that I missed celebrating at home. Even though it was such a small, simple gift, I felt so happy. She also knew how much I wanted to try a Kinder Sorpresa before I left Spain. I gave my roommate a huge hug as she told me how she wanted to make the a little more special for me.

My roommate gave me a fancy box filled with Ferrero Rocher. I also got to eat my very first Kinder Sorpresa...yum!!

My roommate gave me a fancy box filled with Ferrero Rocher. I also got to eat my very first Kinder Sorpresa…yum!!

 

Although I know of a few international students gathering for potlucks tonight, Thanksgiving generally isn’t celebrated here in Spain…for a rather obvious reason (it’s a celebration of pilgrims’ emigration from Britain to the United States.) The Spanish articles that I’ve read about the holiday are primarily about Black Friday, the ways Americans celebrate the holiday., and President Obama sparing a turkey named “Popcorn.”

I wanted to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade online but I couldn't find one working link...but I did watch some of the NBC news leading up to it.

I wanted to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade online but I couldn’t find one working link…but I did watch some of the NBC news leading up to it.

The night of…

I went out to Sol with a few close friends [Thanksgiving night] and noticed that a few bars were offering special Thanksgiving menus (pumpkin cream, turkey, cranberry sauce, etc.) I didn’t go to any of these said bars, but I had a really nice night with three of my closest friends here. I felt really happy–even though I wasn’t celebrating the holiday with my family in New York, I was celebrating my time here in Madrid with these friends who’ve made this place a new home. Earlier in the day I was able to Skype with my mother, who showed me her lovely dinner table arrangement, and I got to see my cute dogs as well.

Being away from home this semester has led me to feel thankful not only on Thanksgiving day, but the entirety of my semester abroad. When you’re away from the comforts of home and are pressed to do much more than you’re used to on your own, you learn how to appreciate those things you had so easy. I’m thankful for having such a loving family and caring friends, thankful for coming from a country that is relatively very open to change, thankful for being able to receive a quality education, thankful for being able to spend almost five months in a completely different country…and my list can go on and on.

As I said, Thanksgiving in Spain is no Thanksgiving in the United States, but I had a wonderful day reflecting on the marvelous things I’ve been blessed to give, receive, share and experience.

 

**Kinder Sorpresa, otherwise known as  Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, is illegal in the United States due to safety reasons; each Kinder Sorpresa has a toy inside, but the chocolate itself is really delicious.

Far Away

With less than two weeks left here, I am trying to remain present and open throughout it all.  That which frustrates me one day easily brings me joy another day—like speaking Spanish.  At times I love deciphering what is being said and coming up with a reply, but then there are times when I wish I could just say things the way I wanted to and have someone understand me.

I thought I would come away from my study abroad experience feeling more direction—more guidance.  What I really feel is the confidence of knowing that I can be thrown into the unknown and sift my way through it all.  It is a confidence in not-knowing.

Having every second of every day planned out is not only boring, but it is depressing.  Why would I want to know how everything is going to play out?  Isn’t that the point of reading a story?  You wouldn’t start a book if you knew exactly what was going to happen on every page. Of course, there will always be that tendency inside of me—the part of me that wants to know how everything will turn out.  But if there’s anything I’ve learned from being here in Cusco, it is to surrender to the moment, really release into the flow.  It’s all right here . . .

Victor Hugo

Known by some of his works such as Notre-Dame de Paris and Les Misérables, Victor Hugo is one the many great writers from the 19th century who was Born in Besançon and well regarded for his political involvement through writing.

To indulge in some history I decided to visit his birth home which is called “Maison natale de Victor Hugo”. There, one will find two floors of busts, plaques, books, and interactive screens to learn about his life and influence.

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Are You Ready Kids?

Hey everyone! It’s been a short while since I last posted but I’ve been slipping slowly under the iron sea that is HOMEWORK.  It’s been a very busy past couple of weeks but once my Thursday classes are over, a wonderful four-day-weekend awaits (the perks of being ahead in your degree!) In the midst of all the uju7ujhyyhj get difficult, I find it a lot less stressful than the questions that plagued my mind leading up to this semester abroad:

Is it intimidating? Is it right for me? Is it worth it? Is it possible? How do I apply? Will I fall behind in my degree? What if my friends forget about me?

But there is hope and relief on the other side–for me that other side is Madrid and that will be my focus in this post.

  1. Decisions, decisions, decisions. The fact that, as a SUNY New Paltz student, I can choose from any SUNY program anywhere in the world blew my mind. Pursue your wanderlust and go where you feel led to. Madrid was the perfect choice for me because even though I had never set foot in Europe, I have the advantage of speaking both English and Spanish. Located in the geographic center of the Iberian Peninsula, it’s easy and affordable to travel anywhere in the country and to other parts of Europe. It’s also the capital city, the perfect place for a journalism-public relations major like myself to keep up with the most current events (UC3M is one of  the Top 50 Under 50 universities in the world, talk about prestige).
  2. Lifetime investments. This is probably about as carefree as you will be able to travel on your own, so make the most of it!  I could be the poster-girl for the poor cheap broke college student and even though I didn’t come here with rolls of cash to blow, financial aid and help from friends and family definitely went a long way. Almost every adult that I spoke to on campus, in my neighborhood, and at my summer internship jumped on the opportunity to tell me how much they wished they took time in college to study abroad and the few who actually did were super open to sharing their tips. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Madrid on its own has so much to offer historically, visually, educationally and more; Madrid’s world-renown golden triangle of art, the 5th-Avenue-esque Gran Via, amazing cuisine, and too much more to mention in such a short post.
  3. Life goes on. Sure, things might change while you’re away, but you’ll be meeting people from all corners of the world–and that is invaluable. I went out to dinner with some friends this week and four of them said that in their four months here, they had yet to actually befriend Spaniards. What. 😯 It just doesn’t make sense to me. One thing I’m extremely thankful about living in a residence hall is the amount of Spanish friends I’ve been able to make–a couple of whom I would return to see in a heartbeat. On top of these wonderful mates are the people I’ve met from around the world, further expanding my social network. Don’t be scared to face the unknown, there’s so much to take in.

The rest of the questions that I mentioned at the beginning can be answered by our resourceful Center for International Programs (at one point, I visited my advisor one or two times for tips and advice.)

P.S.


If you didn’t immediately think of the pirate from Spongebob Squarepants, you might be a bit too old or mature for the reference. Last week, my roommate and I went for a Saturday walk around Sol and as usual, the street performers were in abundance. They typically hassle you for money if you take a photo of or with them, but I’m a bit sneaky.

Feeling sneaky around the many Sol street performers.

Feeling sneaky around the many Sol street performers. This is a gif, so click-through!

La Langue: La fenêtre de l’esprit (Language: Window of the Mind)

Quick clicks and whispers shake the air; each individual phoneme – sound, containing the intent of a want to communicate. Pervasive and unavoidable, language is life’s attempt to translate ideas into tangible, shareable meaning.

Being in the process of perfecting my French communication each day, I feel the immensity of language as a whole. This is to say – the history, the morphology, the subtleness in sounds and the intent put into each word and sentence. As an international student I’m constantly exposed to the worlds diverse culture – hearing Arab, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Dutch, German, etc. Every time a foreign tongue graces my perceptive bubble I become attentive to its noise because I know that it has a rich purpose for its existence. Like music, someone had the want to create it. I fall in love with each exotic utterance, desiring to know of its secret inner workings.

Truly, language is an ever growing puzzle. Of all the times I’ve failed at communicating a concept in French and especially in English, I couldn’t help but question – Does language ever capture the true intent of what’s trying to be exchanged?

I think back to the philosopher Donal Davidson who proposed that metaphors can only be taken in their literal meaning and not metaphorical. In a nut shell Davidson said that because a metaphor (Juliet is the sun, John is a pig, etc.) relies on the meaning of the individual word used to construct itself, any meaning beyond the literal meaning is subjective. So meaning in metaphors is never truly shared the same amongst each person. To derive meaning beyond the individual words (Sun, Pig, etc.) is to ignore the inherent meaning in these words and assign an entirely new purpose for them.

There’s a lot more to Davidson’s work but this one idea has had me questioning the meaning of individual words themselves. Is there really such a thing as literal meaning in words and does anyone ever truly comprehend the meaning of what’s uttered by someone else?

Sure, when someone mentions the word table they have an approximation of the idea – used for eating, studying, legs, square, round… BUT each image of this word is entirely different depending on who hears it. One person may see their grandmas ceramic round table they used draw on as a kid or the most recent experience with something table-like.

So this beckons the inquiry of how well we can approximate what’s being said by someone else.

As much as language has its sociological roots, its use by the individual brings a very personal and subjective element to its construction. More than a system of cultural exchange, language is insight into the workings of a mind.

“Metaphor is the dreamwork of language, and, like all dreamwork, its interpretation reflects as much on the interpreter as on the originator” (Donald Davidson 1978)

 

Welcome, November!

Halloween ended October with a bang and somehow it’s already November 5th. Autumn has hit Madrid full force: chilly breezes, crunchy leaves, and the brown knits are here for the season. As is the case with many other students, the library has become my second residence–the best place to productively get some work done because my toasty dorm room beckons me to drink hot coffee and watch movies online with friends. Halloween in Madrid was amazing: the hundreds of dressed-up, costume wearing people made Sol feel like one huge open-air fiesta. According to my Spanish friends, Halloween is only recently increasingly popular,”Us Spanish people love a reason to go out and party,” joked one of my girl friends.

These "nuns" insisted my friends and I take a photo with them. Oh, the kindness of festive strangers!

These “nuns” insisted my friends and I take a photo with them. Oh, the kindness of festive strangers!

The week leading up to Halloween was even more exciting because one of my friends from New Paltz who is studying in Kingston, London this semester came to Madrid! She spent a good five days here and I got to play the expert and show her around “my city.”  After not having seen each other since April of spring semester, we raved about how as sophomores last fall, we would have never thought we would be spending time together in another country, less so another continent. It was as though my worlds were colliding as we caught up over tapas in an old cave/basement of a bar and spoke about our time studying abroad.

Reunited and it felt so good! After an evening at the two world-famous Prado and Reina Sofia museums, we hung out in Atocha.

Reunited and it felt so good! After an evening at the two world-famous Prado and Reina Sofia museums, we hung out in Atocha.

 

Along with other New Paltz faces, a few weeks ago I participated in Spain’s first Holi Run (very similar to the American Color Run) with a couple of other girls from New Paltz! Every now and then I would see them on the path and get a face-full of holi powder thrown at me by them. Although Madrid is a big city, we inevitably run into each other at events–day and night!

Casually running the same 5K with Gunsel and Pauline! :D

Casually running the same 5K with Gunsel and Pauline! 😀

Though we go to the same university, we wind up seeing each other more at different going-ons in Sol. With the semester in full gear, it’s also easy to lose track of time  but even though days become weeks,  I know we’ll have plenty of stories for each other when we get together. Well, this is just a quick recap of the last couple of weeks…I have a good amount of homework to tend to. Granted, I chose to take 3/4 courses in Spanish and even as a native Spanish speaker, taking classes in one of the most rigorous universities in Spain is no joke. I do not regret this, though, not one bit 🙂

Amsterdam/Paris Vacation Part 2

Paris is a wonderful city, though less structurally organized than Amsterdam. The metro and a decent map will be your best friend.

Sacré Coeur – located in Montmarte

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur,_Paris

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Other parts of Paris

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Louvre

This Museum is immense, requiring at least two or three full days to experience most of the art and shows.

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SALON DU CHOCOLAT

Lucky for us, we arrived just in time to experience a really huge chocolate/dessert fair. Two floors, hundreds of chocolatiers, bakers, desserts, food. By the time we left, we swore off chocolate for at least one full day…

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Finally, the most recognizable symbol of Paris.

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Amsterdam/Paris Vacation Part 1

Amsterdam is a beautifully designed, easily navigable and truly enjoyable place holding some of the best gems of scenery.

 

Day

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Night

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Food

There’s an amazing selection of places to eat. Unfortunately these are the only two photos I managed to take. My excitement made it hard to take pictures. As you can see in the second photo, I had a mid realization moment that I should document it.

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(Waffle with vanilla ice cream and caramel)

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(Crepe with eggs, cheese, and veggies)

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The Amsterdam Library

One of the largest libraries in Europe  spanning 10 floors with an art exhibition room, a cafeteria and millions of books, cds, movies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openbare_Bibliotheek_Amsterdam

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