I am so fortunate to be studying in a city like Besancon, which is open-minded about sharing cultural experiences. Two weeks ago, I participated in the first ever “Invitez le monde a votre table”, which in English means “invite the world to your table.” This event gives international students the opportunity to share a meal at a French family’s home.  I went to a French family’s home and ate delicious, authentic French food and conversed about music, our daily routines and family. It was one of the first experiences I’ve had thus far that I was able to eat typical French food.  The family was very respectful, understanding and interested in my culture.  I also got to practice my French and see how much I have improved with my French speaking skills.

Another great experience I’ve had recently was going to a chocolate factory (sorry not Willy Wonka’s but this will suffice)!!!  One of my favorite things that this planet has given us is chocolate and yes indeed did I indulge at this chocolate factory, called Le Criollo. Le Criollo is very popular in Besancon and they have 3 specialties that all have some spices inside of them like ginger and cardamom.    Not many people know this but before Switzerland became the most popular chocolate country but France was actually the first one!  At le Criollo I was given a tour and learned where their chocolate comes from.   I was in chocolate heaven!!

 

These past two weeks have been filled with lots of great French food and cultural experiences, I can’t wait to indulge in more!

One of the main reasons I was excited to study abroad in Spain was that being in the European community would allow me to easily visit so many unique and incredible European countries, that have always been a dream of mine to see. While I was extremely excited to be studying Spain, I admit that I didn’t know too much about what places there were to see inside of Spain. I obviously knew some things about Madrid, and of course everyone knows a little something about Barcelona, but all other cities were either those that I had just briefly heard about or that I had never even known about. Before and upon my arrival to Madrid, my girlfriend Alexa and I came to the conclusion that our best plan of action would be to cover as much as we could of the country we were studying in, before venturing out into the rest of Europe. I knew that because I would have to book my outer-Spain visits in advance, my schedule would eventually become completely full with different European countries, and I would return home regretful that I didn’t explore more of the country that I was living in. While exploring both well-known as not so well-known cities around Spain wasn’t initially so exciting to me, these trips turned out to be some of my greatest experiences during my time here so far. Something I did not know about Spain that I have grown to learn is that the country is practically its own continent. Spain is so geographically diverse, culturally diverse, historically diverse, and overall just diverse in diversity. In this, I’ll let pictures do most of the talking.

Valencia, Spain

Valencia was an incredible city, with welcoming people, and even better food. While walking through some streets, you feel as if you’re walking in the past, while other areas like the City of Arts and Sciences make you feel like you are seeing the future. Whether it is the incredible architecture, beautiful beaches, or fantastic art and science museums, I highly recommend Valencia to everyone.

Toledo,Spain

Toledo is just an hour drive away from Madrid, and is a MUST SEE day trip when visiting Madrid. With an incredible fusion of culture, it is a city truly stuck in time, in the best way possible.

Bilbao, Spain

A truly artistic and unique city, Bilbao sticks out like a futuristic thumb in the great green North of Spain. The city has a lot to see, and is a city that is grown extremely in popularity and tourism over the years.

Santander, Spain

When most people visit Bilbao, it’s so that they can go to San Sebastian, Spain. But I’m happy I listened to the locals at Bilbao who advised me to take the road less traveled and visit Santander. Hands-down one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.

Segovia, Spain

Segovia is a remarkable city, with so many beautiful castles, monuments and other locations to see that I can’t simply fit it in one post. A place you must truly see to believe.

El Escorial/ Valley of the Fallen

I hope I’ve provided at least a slightly good idea of what these incredible Spanish cities are like. More than that, I hope I’ve influenced some to explore their study-abroad country before getting to excited and visiting every other country, especially in a place like Europe. Finally, I hope I’ve convinced some to visit Spain, because it’s incredible.

Hasta Luego,

Aaron Marrero

Hello again everyone! I have no one and no thing to blame for my serious delay in blogs, besides myself. But all is well, my study abroad experience is still going incredibly, and I can assure you that my posts will keep on coming!

Since this is a blog about my STUDY-abroad experience, my posts wouldn’t be complete without discussing how my academic experience has been thus far. My hopes are that this information can be helpful to any students who are soon planning to study abroad, or for anyone in general who is interested in knowing what academics are like in Madrid.

If I could fit my academic experiences in Madrid into two short words, they would be, “very different.” You might think that it’s obvious that I say this, but I really want to emphasize how different they are in comparison to my typical academics back in the United States. For you future study abroad students, it is easy to get lost in the wonders and beautiful new experiences that come with living in a foreign country, but it is VITAL not to lose track of why you are here in the first place. Even for the most level-headed and focused student, it isn’t the easiest of tasks to balance travel & leisure against studying and coursework.

From the beginning of my experience, I knew that I was about to encounter some very different structures of academic curriculums and overall different structures of school life, which was definitely a helpful mentality to go in with. Had I expected my academic experience to be exactly the same as it was in New Paltz, I would have been heading for a rude awakening.

The majority of my classes are held in the Cantoblanco campus of the University, which is unexpectedly located in a dry desert-like area, which is about a half hour train ride from the city central. I actually liked this, since going to class here always allowed for me a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy city central, for a much more relaxed and open-ranged environment. With only two main buildings that hold classes, the overall size of this campus is pretty small, but the trees and mountains that surround it make up for what it lacks.

The other campus that I have one class in is just a 15-minute walk away from the city central, and is composed of one giant building, that has a very medieval feeling to it. You can see it in the main picture that I put in the beginning of this post.

I won’t get into the dense material of me describing every aspect of my curriculum, especially since every student has their different preferences when it comes to how they learn. Some of my classes are very engaging with professors who have unique and interesting teaching styles. Others fit into what I like to call the “Powerpoint reader classes”. I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about. I take several classes that are designed for study-abroad students, while other classes of mine are taken with all Spanish students.

One thing I can guarantee is that there is always someone here to help out when it comes to academic concerns. Besides your study abroad advisors who are always just an email away, the university has a host of friendly staff who are always very enthusiastic to help you out.

Overall, my academic experience here has been unique, and definitely a big change from what I am used to. There are some parts of it that I love and wish I could take back home with me. But there are also some parts of it that I’ll leave here. Nonetheless, studying abroad has definitely opened up my mind to different perspectives, methods of learning, and international ideologies. I think it’s something everyone should experience, since I strongly believe it allows you to become a better student, thinker, and person in general.

Hasta Luego,

Aaron Marrero

One of the many reasons I was very excited to study abroad in France was because of their FOOD!  French food has this reputation of being one or of course the french would say the best cuisine in the world. From my experiences thus far, I must say French food is AMAZING!! From the cheeses to the magnificent wines to the delicious baguettes.

The french are not big breakfast eaters, most french people eat a pastry and some expresso or tea, it’s that simple and quite filling.  In the mornings I usually eat a warm, buttery croissant and tea and I am ready to start my day!

But French food differs depending where you go but one thing is for sure: it will be nothing short of delicious!! In Paris, I had a croque madame which is basically a sandwich with ham, swiss cheese , butter and a sunny side egg on top. Words cannot describe how great it tasted with only using simple ingredients.

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate to take a trip down to the south of France specifically Nice. Nice was such a vibrant and warm city with a variety of indulgent foods! One of my friends had an entrée called coq au vin which translates to rooster in wine sauce. We both shared an indulgent dessert that had chocolate ice cream and whip cream!

I can honestly say that I have been indulging frequently in the french cuisine and I am loving it!! Stayed tuned for future tasty posts!!

1. Pack lightly but thoroughly: look up the average weather for the months you will be abroad and bring the appropriate articles of clothing. You will probably buy clothing there to blend in more with locals so you don’t have to bring your entire wardrobe. Same goes for things like shampoo and conditioner, liquids are heavier and may put you over the weight limit so bring travel sized things and you can buy regular sizes when you get there.
2. I recommend buying a sim card in your host country so you can keep in contact with people more easily. It’s also more cost effective than paying for an international plan.
3. Get involved in activities like dance lessons, sports teams, volunteering, etc. This will make you feel less homesick because you will be busy immersing yourself in the culture and not thinking about home.
4. Be prepared for culture shock, especially if this is your first time abroad. Language barriers can be scary but if you focus on improving your language skills and practicing with locals, it will become much easier after a couple weeks.
5. Write down what you do as often as you can (journal, diary, blog). If you don’t write it down you probably won’t remember when you get home. You will be grateful to look back on what you’ve done.
6. Don’t spend all your free time online in contact with people from home. Skyping your family once a week is a good amount in my opinion.
7. You will probably spend more money than you think. For example you will run into problems where you need to pay a fine or fee for an airline company (avoid Ryanair if possible) or your phone gets stolen etc. Don’t freak out about it because that won’t help anything. Calmly solve the problem and learn from your mistake.
8. Have fun! This is your semester/year/program. Say yes to new things even if you aren’t so sure about it. You will most likely have a great time and be glad you did it!
For me studying abroad was the best decision I’ve ever made and I’ve learned so much by being here. I will be sad to leave my new home when our program ends but I’m going to enjoy every minute until then!

We just had midterms and they went pretty well. Then we spent Halloween in Barcelona which is one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited. There were SOO many americans there which was funny because they were studying abroad all over Europe and just descended on the city of Barcelona for this holiday haha. A lot of people dressed up but mostly because they weren’t locals. We went out to this club called Opium on the beach which was cool but super crowded and very hot. The next day we went to Parc Guell, the Barcelona soccer stadium and Montjuic. Parc Guell is as enchanting as it looks in photos. Antoni Gaudi is really a genius. I felt like I was in a fairy tale and the buildings looked like huge gingerbread houses. It’s been kept in very good condition and the views from the top are amazing. When we got to Montjuic, the sun was setting painting the sky a bunch of beautiful colors. We took the funicular up and I would definitely do that again. It was quick and gave us a great 360 degree view of the city and the sea. Very fun and tiring day. Then we went out again and I dressed up as Ziggy Stardust from David Bowie’s album. On Sunday we went up to this basilica on top on a mountain called Tibidabo. There was a theme park next to it that I would like to come back for. Amazing views and lots of wind. Then we had to go home to Sevilla. Definitely would recommend anyone considering traveling to Spain, to make Barcelona one of your stops. It’s very cosmopolitan and there is more diversity of people and languages. I could definitely see myself living there!

Every Friday we have a city tour with our program and we go to different parts of the city. The first week we arrived we went to the Cathedral and La Giralda. It was a amazing to learn about the history behind this very old church. Then we climbed 30 stories to the top of the lookout and saw the city view from above.

This week we went to Triana and the Torre del Oro. Torre del Oro is a lighthouse that they used to guide ships along the river. We went to the top and could see our university and the cathedral. There was also a maritime museum that we checked out. After, we went to the neighborhood of Triana which is across the river and an older neighborhood with cobble stone streets and quaint houses and markets. Very cool area with lots of little bars and restaurants.

This was my last first day of school… Ever! The university of Sevilla was originally built as a tobacco factory but then they turned it into the department for philology, geography and history. Incredible building. I’m taking 4 classes for my last few Spanish major credits: culture and society of modern Spain, gastronomy of Spain, the image of Spain behind the cinema screen and intro to Translation. The classes are taught in Spanish but when I first heard the professors talking they used the vosotros form which they only use in Spain and I had never learned before. But the professors know we’re American students so they make sure to enunciate their words and not speak too quickly. I really like my Cinema class and the Translation class is really interesting because I’m thinking about going into that as a career. Class is two hours, twice a week and for the most part we don’t get much homework. The midterm is worth 40% of the grade, participation/attendance is 10% and the final is worth 50%. Definitely different from my school in the US. I usually take the metro or ride a bike to school depending on if I’m running late or not. After this semester is over I’ll be done with undergrad! Then into the real world… or back to Europe 😉

One thing I did not expect to happen to me so quickly and for the duration to be long was getting sick! Being sick abroad makes it  worse because you don’t have your mom around, and your primary doctor and you just feel like the world is going to end (dramatic of me perhaps?). But I got sick within the month of being here and it was due to the constant weather changes!!! After going to the doctor twice in Besancon, I can finally see I am feeling better thanks to a lot of meds and teas!! Anyways, enough of my pity sick story…..

In America and in my case New York people barely say hello to you randomly, or good eating, have a great afternoon, good night or in general just wishing you to have a great day. In my time being in France, I have tcome to appreciate people telling me bonjour (good day/morning), bonne journee (good day),bon appetit (good eating),  bon apres-midi (good afternoon), bonne soiree (good evening)  and finally  bonne nuit (good night). It has become part of my daily routine and if I don’t say any of these greetings throughout my day I feel impolite. I hope to keep these sayings in practice when I return back to NY.

Another cultural adjustment I have had to get accustomed to is eating dinner after 7pm if I decide to eat at a restaurant. Many of my friends had warned me about this but I thought they were exaggerating LOL but now I am living with it and I am still getting adjusted!! About a week ago my friend and I were hungry and it was about 6pm and we had to wait until 7pm for the most of the restaurants to open. We really wanted to try this restaurant in particular that specialized in gratins! Gratins are basically potatoes and cheesy goodness altogether…sounds like food heaven to me! The gratin I had was the bolognaise (meat sauce) with macaroni pasta and it was still considered a gratin but not a typical one.  And lastly of course we have to end with dessert, we had apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. it was a very yummy night!!