Looking Back

With two weeks of work at Wrigley under my belt (yes, I waste no time) and having finally adjusted back to the American life, I figured this would be the perfect time to reflect on my 17 weeks in Sevilla.

Researchers and professionals say that time spent abroad should change a student in more ways than one. Keeping this assertion in mind and mentally documenting changes that I’ve noticed in myself, here’s what I’ve come up with:

1)   Flying Solo: During the first few weeks, when I learned that BW was traveling to cities outside of Sevilla, ALONE, I felt both shocked and bad for him…for two good reasons. One, I would never have the guts to get on a plane, train or bus and travel to a foreign place by myself and two, (and this is my insecure self speaking) how awful would it look traveling alone? All this changed after my Portugal trip, when I was forced to figure out the metro system, by myself, to attend Jamatkhana ceremonies.  I remember, it was at that point, I gained the courage to do things on my own and promised myself I wouldn’t be dependent on others to make the most of my time abroad. Since then, I’ve traveled to a number of cities alone (to see friends of course), meeting others who were flying solo along the way.

2)   The “No Pasa Nada” Attitude: Those who know me know that I possess a strong micromanaging attitude when it comes to projects and planning. At first, I took every trip as a project that needed to be orchestrated down to the very last minute, in order to maximize time. I learned all too quickly, after my trip to Granada, that this attitude would get me nowhere. With multiple traveling buddies, four days (in the week) to plan and class work to finish, it was impossible to perfectly coordinate details of any trip. It was then when I decided to just let it all go. People always took the “last-minute, spontaneous” route and it was my turn to accept that I couldn’t control everything. Life’s been a lot less stressful since I’ve adopted the “It Doesn’t Matter” attitude.

3)   There’s a First Time for Everything: Growing up in a somewhat sheltered environment, the craziest thing I’ve tried, outside of keeping both hands up (and my eyes open) on Six Flag’s Raging Bull Roller Coaster, was walking across the 130-foot  high, 1,080-feet long Canopy Walkway in the Kakum National Park, in Ghana. Other than that, I’ve led a pretty safe and normal life. While in Spain, I told myself I HAD to try everything, at least once. From consuming weird looking (and tasting) foods, hiking to ungodly heights (and lengths), watching six bulls be slaughtered, I tried it all. And I’m glad that I did…because I discovered untapped, inner potentials.

 

4)   Live Like You’re Dying: Aside from enjoying a position, high on Billboard’s Top 100, Kris Allen’s song poses an interesting question: “So if your life flashed before you, what would you wish you would’ve done?” Like most of you reading this, there’s a lot I wish I HADN’T done – fighting with my little sister, befriending certain people, stressing enough to sport seven shiny grey hairs, letting freshmen 15 take advantage of my immaculate high school body – but the one thing I don’t regret is living every day, this semester, as if it were my last. And because of this mindset, I’ve been able to cross many thing off my bucket list, bringing me one step closer to responding to Kris Allen’s question with “Nothing.”

5)   Disfruten Mucho, Gasten Menos…Somos en un Crisis: Roughly translated as “Have a lot of fun, spend a little. We are in a Crisis,” these were the wise words of the great Professor Adolfo Vázquez. Every Wednesday, at the end class, Adolfo would recite this line, reminding us of the grave financial crisis the world was facing. As much as we didn’t care about expenses while trotting through Europe (since most were being funded by their parents), I could see looks of concern and understanding, around the room, as Adolfo’s words registered into our minds.

And with that, I’d like to thank all my avid readers for keeping up with my blog all semester long. I know I’ve reached out to a lot of people around the world, and would love to know who out there was reading my entries. Feel free to leave comments or email me!

Watch out for future entries on the Globe Trotter, as my sister and I are training to qualify for an International Sports Tournament (to be held in the summer of 2012).

Adios!

The Last Supper

I just experienced it; the Last Supper with my host family.

Lola made my favorite soup; “Sophisticated Ramen” as I call it (because it’s literally just that) and the usual eggs with a slice of Turkey. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I think we all felt the end nearing. The conversation took a few minutes to get started. AJ and I told Lola and Manolo about our finals, papers and other end of the semester shenanigans.

We had planned on taking a family photo at lunch today, but failed. Then planned to take it tonight…AJ was even dressed up for the event. I made the excuse of “not showering in two days” to stall the photo sesh until tomorrow afternoon. If you know me, you know I never make an excuse to take a picture.

 Ever.

But taking THIS family photo would mean admitting that this is the end.  The end of 17 unbelievably surreal weeks in Sevilla with the best host parents a student could ever get paired with.

So I quickly changed the topic to my elation that the cleaning lady wasn’t coming over tomorrow morning. I wouldn’t have to tidy up my awfully messy room (it literally looks like a storm hit it). Almost at once, Lola got on my case about not organizing my things…and not using my desk for studying, but rather for my shopping bags.

For once, her lecture was comforting. I guess it finally hit me that this was probably the last time I’d ever irritate or spend time with her and Manolo.

I hate goodbyes.

You know when you’re asked “What’s your greatest weakness?” in an interview, rather than responding “micromanaging or being too detail oriented” I’d, just once, love to say “Saying Goodbye.” It’s the worst thing…knowing that I’ll have to depart from people who have so quickly become my family, in just a few HOURS.

I may just cry.

So, for now, I’ll return to this 10-page paper I’ve been brutally procrastinating to finish.

The Far East Movement

“Here we go, come with me, there’s a world out there that we should see.”

The band sure did have a point that I eventually turned into my mission while studying abroad: try to see as much of the world out there.

I last left off telling you that I’d be gallivanting to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria for my second spring break. Well, I’ve traveled, returned since then, and have been bogged down with presentations, papers and final exams. Apologies for this later-than-usual blog.

My Eastern European trip began with a flight from Sevilla to Barcelona, followed by a 13 hour layover. Yes, I said 13. I invested in the airport WiFi (10€ for 24 hours) and decided to be productive with my time. The next morning I got on a flight to Vienna (bc it was cheapest to fly into and out of) and then took a 6 hour bus ride (yes, 6) to Prague. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I met up with LW at the bus stop, so we headed to our hostel.

Backtrack: LW and I have been friends since I started giving tours at Indiana University. We bonded over our distaste for the business school’s challenging class and professors…and its been friendship since then! J LW is studying in Budapest, Hungary this semester and thought it would be great if we could do a 3 city tour over my break. She didn’t have to ask me twice.

We spent three days in Prague (Praha as the Czechs refer to it), enjoying the city in a relaxing manner. We took guided tours and explored on our own to see:

·         Charles Bridge

·         Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

·         Jewish Museum

·         Jewish Quarters

·         Lesser Town Bridge Tower

·         Lesser Town

·         Old Town Hall Tower & Astronomical Clock

·         Prague Castle

·         Spanish Synagogue

·         St. Vitus Cathedral

·         John Lennon Wall

·         The TOY MUSEUM (with a Barbie Exhibition!)

Throughout the whole trip, I was trying to understand why people LOVED this city so much. I mean yes it was cute and yes it was charming but that WOW factor that everyone always referred to didn’t hit me. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many cities and stark differences are a bit more difficult to spot now.

I did have a WOW moment, though. Prague was more of a religious experience for me than anything. I toured all the synagogues in the city, visited a Jewish Museum, saw the aftermath of Nazi rule and also attended mass for the Celebration of the Infant/Cannonization (he’s on his way to becoming a saint) of Pope John Paul the 2^nd with LW.  During our downtown time, LW asked me a lot about what it meant to be a Muslim and Ismailism (she remembered I was an Ismaili from a while back, props). I found myself in a melting pot of all three religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was great to be able to converse with someone about religious history, spirituality, morals and ethics after such a long time (literally, so long). It was very refreshing and I felt like I got my religious mojo back (after having it go dormant post Religious Education Class graduation some 3 years ago).

Eventually we got on a bus to Budapest and said our goodbyes to Prague. LW had class for part of the two days that we were there so I explored the city on my own…going on tours, accidentally getting lost, you know…the usual.

I pretty much visited everything shown in Katy Perry’s music video for “Fireworks” (yes, it was filmed in Budapest) and much more. Here goes:

·         Budapest Parliament (modeled after London’s)

·         St. Stephen Basilica

·         Heros’ Square

·         The Castle District

·         Fishermen’s Bastion and Matthias Church

·         Gellért Hill

·         The Great Market

LW and I cooked meals, when we weren’t eating Budapest’s awesome food and had another relaxing leg of this trip.

And then we were off to Vienna on a 6AM bus ride. Our stay in Vienna was a short one, but we managed to see the following:

·         Schönbrunn Palace

·         Hofburg Castle

·         St. Stephen’s Cathedral

·         Karlskirche

·         Naschmarkt

·         Vienna Opera House

·         Jewish Memorial

After which LW and I parted our ways, since I had to catch a train to the airport and she had a few hours before taking the bus back to Budapest. My train ride to the airport was quite interesting. I met a John Doe (never asked him for his name) who was on his way to Barcelona (on my flight!) to enjoy the long weekend with his friends. We had quite the lovely chat for an hour or so which ended with me taking a picture of him with his favorite gum…a WRIGLEY brand J (I know, I’m ridiculous).

Vienna to Barcelona, a 4 hour layover and then home to Sevilla.

Needless to say, I was exhausted from this trip. I’m kinda glad this was my last trip because I’ve been feeling the fatigue of 4 day school weeks and 3 day traveling excursions. For now, I’ve got 2 days to soak up as much of Sevilla (and its sun) as possible, as I approach D-Day (the day on which I return back to the States, yuck) Friday at 5AM.

I’ll try to have a post or two headed your way before I switch continents and time zones.

As always, thanks for reading…it makes writing more enjoyable!