Uhh, Habla Inglés?

The best part about studying in the UK is that everyone here speaks English. Upon coming, I didn’t have to worry about saying something wrong or misunderstanding a native because we speak the language. It was one of the reasons I made the decision to study in London rather than a non-English speaking country. I’m not gonna lie, life is a lot easier when everyone speaks your language anyway. Especially when you’re an awkward person like me who gets nervous when they misunderstand anything and doesn’t want to ask the person to repeat themselves 5 times until i hear them correctly. So, what was it like to travel from a different English speaking country to a non-English speaking country, you ask?

I recently went to Barcelona, Spain to celebrate the end of finals. Wow, did I deserve a celebration. Essays upon essays using a citation format you’ve never used before and trying to incorporate theories you weren’t here to learn so you teach them to yourself wasn’t so easy. Therefore, I believed the sunny Barcelona beach and beautiful city sights was in the cards. The only difficult part of this trip was the fact that I don’t speak nor understand a lick of Spanish. Sure, I know the basic “hello,” “thank you,” and “where’s the bathroom,” but aside from that Spanish might as well be gibberish. I took Italian throughout middle and high school, why didn’t I plan a trip to Italy instead?

Thankfully, many people there spoke English. My friend (who also did not know any Spanish) and I really lucked out, however I did ask my good friend who is a Spanish major back at New Paltz how to say some key phrases. Shoutout to the lovely Erin, your phrases did indeed come in handy. For example, she told me “puedo ayudarme” means “can you help me,” which I hoped I wouldn’t really need to use unless I was asking for directions. My friend ended up fainting on the metro and that phrase helped me in that tricky situation. I probably wasn’t saying it correctly, considering I had no idea how to handle the situation, but strangers came to help before I even really started to get the words out. Spanish people are very nice and helpful.

Anyway, it was very different going to a country where English is not the first language. I’ve only ever visited English speaking countries, so this was a very cultural trip for me aside from being the most relaxed I was all semester. I didn’t feel as isolated as I thought I would since there were so many people who spoke English, but I almost wish that wasn’t the case so I could try to challenge and immerse myself more. As they say, what better way to learn a language that be surrounded by those who speak it, right?

First Impressions on Rio de Janeiro

Getting off of the plane in Sao Paolo, Brazil on January 6th, 2016 was like stepping into a whole new world, where I didn’t understand anything that was going on around me. It was the first time in my entire life where I couldn’t speak the language, Portuguese. Coming from a background of English and Spanish, I had to work hard to keep up. Some of the words in the Sao Paolo airport shared the same roots with Spanish – estaçáo meant estación and pessoas translated to personas – so I was able to get a round a bit. What stunted me was oral communication… I knew nothing. At this point, I was aware that I was in a completely different country with a completely different language and that I was going to be here for another 6 months. It all happened so fast. At one moment, I was in New York, waiting in line and saying goodbye to my family members, and the next I was in Brazil.

From Sao Paolo, I needed to board a connecting domestic flight to Rio de Janeiro, which meant that I had to find my own way around the international airport. Luckily, many of the workers in the airport spoke a little bit of English, which at the point seemed easier to communicate with since everyone was just confused by my Spanish (later I would find that what people prefer is Portunol, a mix of Spanish and Portuguese that helps foreigners better understand Brazilians.) After finding the right terminal, I geared right to where the small plane that would take me to Rio awaited. While on the line, I noticed a guy on SnapChat, writing English. I instinctively tapped him on the back, eager to talk to someone who could take be back home. His name was Deonte and as it turned out, he was also studying abroad at a PUC in Curibita, Brazil, and was originally from a small town in California, but was traveling to Rio in order to see what was up. I took the opportunity to introduce myself and learn about what Brazil was like so far for him — he’d been in the country for a total of 6 months. At that point, we boarded the plane. I sat in the 13th row, next to the window.

The best part of sitting next to the window was that domestic flights fly significantly lower than international flights and January 6th was a clear sky kinda day. As I entered Rio de Janeiro from above, I could clearly see the outlines of the city’s skylines, highlighted by massive, colorful favelas interspersed along the city’s skyline. Unfortunately, I kept looking for Christ the Redeemer as my guiding star while staring out of the window, and to no avail I couldn’t find it.

Once landing in Rio things got busy. I stepped out of the terminal and saw that PUC’s concierge was standing right in front, holding up a sign for visiting students to see. Thankfully Deonte was with me to talk with the man because if not, I wasn’t sure how I would have got around. More students began piling in and I got acquainted with everyone around me by means of speaking English. It was then that I learned just how wide speaking English spanned.

We piled into the car and got driving to drop all of the girls off. When we got to my apartment, I was stunned. I was going to live in the famous bairro of Copacobana, on the boarder of Ipanema, for the next 5 months, right on the beach. I could literally walk 1 minute and be on the beach. Upstairs, I noticed that my room had a balcony and I fell in love. I also was so happy that I got paired with a girl from New York as well! As soon as I got in, we decided to go to the beach and drink some capirinhas, because, what better way to relax after a 17 hour flight?

Stay tuned for more to come! 🙂

Introduction To My Newfound French Life

As I think about the past two and a half months of my life I can’t seem to understand how all of my experiences fit into that small span of time. So let me start from the beginning.

I can still remember the day I landed at the Charles de Gaule airport in Paris with seven other New Paltz students and no idea how to get around like it was yesterday. For the first few days I didn’t understand any signs around or anything anyone was saying. But my relaxed personality kept me from feeling a culture shock and I adjusted to French life almost immediately.

The view from my room

The view from my room

 

Wall art everywhere

Wall art everywhere

Looking back over two months later I realize many things have happened. Starting with the obvious, my French has greatly improved. But what I did not realize right away was that I had never truly had a conversation in French before my departure. My confidence in the language only arose from conjugating verbs in class and reciting prewritten sentences that I had plenty of time to construct beforehand. Now I find myself debating topics in class and bonding with people that don’t speak a word english.

So far this semester I have made a bunch of incredible friends from all around the country, I learned to rock climb with French directions, and I’ve been to two Rugby games.

The dorm rooms are small but we fit

The dorm rooms are small but we fit 

Trusting Gabby to bring me down

Trusting Gabby to bring me down

 

Merguez and vin chaud from the rugby game

Merguez and vin chaud from the rugby game

 

I’ve also been lucky enough to enjoy the two excursions included in the SUNY program – the first to Haut-Doubs.

Enjoying the cheese factory in Haut-Doubs

Enjoying the cheese factory in Haut-Doubs

The cheese factory: where the magic happens

The cheese factory: where the magic happens

 

It was impossible to capture the beauty of the waterfall that serves as a border between Switzerland and France

It was impossible to capture the beauty of the waterfall that serves as a border between Switzerland and France

We're standing on the Switzerland side of the waterfall while the picture was taken from the France side

We’re standing on the Switzerland side of the waterfall while the picture was taken from the France side

The second trip to both Geneva, Switzerland and Annecy, France was even better.

Le jet d'eau, or the geyser, in Geneva

Le jet d’eau, or the geyser, in Geneva

We enjoyed a beautiful boat tour on the lake of Annecy

We enjoyed a beautiful boat tour on the lake of Annecy

 

We even got to explore the Centre Ville of Annecy at night

We even got to explore the Centre Ville of Annecy at night

 

Though the culture here is much more relaxing than New York, I have had all but a dull moment this semester. We’ve even been lucky enough to enjoy a week off at the end of February for winter break, which made it possible for me to explore other parts of France, including the Carnaval de Nice. Stick around for my next post to see how incredible that vacation was!