#UmichEnginAbroad
Text
Stockholm Week 9: Booking the Rest of the Weekends!
This week was supposedly a stressful midterm week but thanks to the work I put in last weekend, I had an oddly relaxing week.
I booked a bunch of flights (hopefully the last) this week too ⸜( ˙ ˘ ˙)⸝♡
My wallet is suffering but I’m brainwashing myself that this is a lifetime opportunity I need to catch.
3/11 Mon: Ivar Los Park + Italy!
I had the mission of finding the tablecloth my mom bought in Stockholm Stadsmission during her stay. She was sad that she didn’t buy more of the same design since it fit the table size too perfectly. As a good daughter, I decided to do a scavenger hunt for it before it ran out of stock.
Unfortunately, the ones with the same design were gone when I arrived. Although I failed my mom’s request, my own hunt was successful! I found a skirt and dress that fit perfectly. I couldn’t resist buying them since they were less than $10 each too.
My Midterm paper for Crime Fiction class was due on Tuesday but I was close to being done due to last weekend’s grind. With light steps, I continued to spend time outside, enjoying the sun. Since I was already in Mariatorget and didn’t want to go home yet, I took a long walk around the Ivar Los Park.
The park was smaller than I thought. I sat down on a bench for a little while until I got up to walk alongside Monteliusvägen. The clear sky amplified the beauty of the view, lightening up my mood as well.
I tried to capture every moment in my head so that I could look back to these moments when I was exhausted.
During my 40-minute walk, I discovered a kindergarten, church, ballet school, and Mojang studios (shoutout to Minecraft fans). I shared my happiness with my grandparents in Korea by calling them and chit-chatting for a while.
A few snaps from my point of view
I walked back home since the park wasn’t too far from my apartment. I noticed that our apartment also had a small garden and walking paths, so I strolled around in the little garden until I was satisfied with the amount of Vitamin D intake.
For the longest time, something inside me had been bugging me to travel to Amsterdam and see the tulip festival. I tried scheduling times with my friends, but I couldn’t find anyone available during the weekend I was planning to go.
It was then that I got in touch with my friend from home, who is also studying abroad in Europe. We started talking about our travel plans and scheduling availability. Going to Amsterdam failed again because of our tight schedule, but we managed to find a weekend to visit Italy!!! It didn’t take us long to book our flights and come up with Airbnb lists ( ˃ᴗ˂ )
3/12 Tue
In Swedish class, we were assigned random groups to do a team assignment.
There are too many ways to pronounce words
I don’t know how but dumplings kept coming up in our conversations (we were hungry), and I just had to go grab dumplings after class.
These pork dumplings were a bit greasy but they tasted a bit like dim sum and I loved that
I walked around the vicinity after getting re-energized. More and more flower vendors have been popping up here and there, and I walked by slowly to enjoy the sight and the scent of flowers.
Tulips usually aren’t my favorites but the ones here are absolutely gorgeous ✿(′ᵕ′*)
For dinner, I followed a kimchi fried rice recipe with cabbage instead. It was delicious as usual :)
I’m running out of menus though ;-;
3/13 Wed: Productive Day
Wednesdays without any field studies are arguably the best!
I slept in and made a sandwich salad combo for brunch.
Pesto is always right
I stayed home and worked on the second midterm essay of this week for Glued to the Screen TV Film course. I was more of a test girl than an essay girl but oddly, I enjoyed writing the three essays that are 2.5 pages each. I really think blogging is helping to lower the mental hurdles I have for writing essays.
After finishing the essays early, I switched the subject and worked on two different group projects. It was a very productive day!
3/14 Thu: Malta!
I stayed in the DIS building after the morning class until my late afternoon core class began. I was going to go to one of these recommended study cafes but got too lazy to go out.
A map of good places to study!
I couldn’t get rid of the thought of going to Amsterdam, so I logged into Ryanair again.
The Ryanair website had an option to select “Anywhere” for the destination. Out of boredom and curiosity, I set the dates to one of my available weekends and scrolled through the possible destinations.
I found relatively cheap flight options to Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Malta. Out of those options, Greece and Malta caught my eye. I would’ve loved to go to Santorini but that wasn’t an option. When I searched Malta on Google, I was captivated by the scenery. I LOVE the beach and it happened to be Malta’s specialty. I could feel my lingering desire for Amsterdam finally dissipating as I looked at the pictures of Malta.
I contemplated for a while, calculating the expenses, and clicked the button to buy the flight ticket. A solo trip to Malta in April is officially confirmed! I’m becoming more and more spontaneous but I don’t hate the change. I’m working on trying out things that I wouldn’t have done before, and this is a step towards my goal.
For dinner, I made a quick and healthy meal out of oatmeal. I’ve been into oatmeal recipes lately; they are easy and fulfilling! Since oatmeal was healthy, I ate chips to balance out.
For the rest of the night, I read the second half of The Legacy by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir for the Crime Fiction class tomorrow.
3/15 Fri
I woke up early around 7 am to finish the book.
After classes, my friend and I grabbed lunch at a Thai restaurant.
The pad thai was good but I couldn’t stop comparing it to No Thai
If you’re reading this in Ann Arbor, please get pad thai or drunken noodles or potato curry at No Thai for me.
Anyway, our lunch date didn’t end there. Yes, we were full after lunch. Yes, we got boba. I have been refraining from getting boba too much because I knew my addiction would kick in again soon enough. But it was Friday and I was productive this week, so I got it as a treat for myself.
I tried working on homework that evening, but I couldn’t get myself to focus enough to finish it. So Friday night ended up as a self-care night in my bed as well ( * ˘╰╯˘ *)
3/16 Sat: Study Date
On Saturday, I got to sleep in until 11:30 am. I was still in my bed rolling around when my friend asked me if I wanted to come with her to go do work in a cafe. It didn’t take too long to realize that I wouldn’t do any work if I stayed home, so I composed myself and got ready to go out.
We headed to Gamla Stan but it was packed with even more people than usual. I blame the good weather.
After failing to find a spot in three different cafes, we moved over to T-Centralen and found a good study place.
The cafe is called the Kaferang City - I got Snapple but it was $5.50 ;-;
The music and distant conversations helped me focus and finish my assignments (+ blogging) for the week!
On the way back home, I stopped at ICA to get groceries. I bought a pack of raw chicken breast for the first time, and it took me TWO hours to cook it + make dinner. My legs hurt by the end but once I tasted my dinner I knew it was worth it!
I was so afraid that chicken would be raw so I cut some into thirds, not even halves
When I went back home I was irresistibly drawn to stay horizontal in my bed. I made a good choice to start a new novel but a bad choice to read until 5 am.
3/17 Sun
Free time!
My roommate hasn’t come back from her weekend trip so I had all the space to myself. Moreover, I didn’t have much to do because I did most of it yesterday at the cafe.
Sooo I basically spent the whole day finishing reading the novel except doing a brief project meeting and submitting finalized homework assignments.
This week was an opportunity for me to rest peacefully, both mentally and physically. I love traveling but felt that taking a rest was a necessary step for me.
It has been two months already since I came to Stockholm. Thank you for reading my weekly essays and I promise you that I’ll come back with more stories to tell next week!
Vi ses,
Jiwoo Kim
Chemical Engineering
DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Stockholm Week 7: Travel Week 1
Hej igen!
I had a bipolar week: the beginning of the week was full of presentations but the end of the week was full of laughter :)
Let’s begin!
2/28 Wed
It has been a while since I had two study trips in a day. I learned about the New Slussen Project, which is the reason for all the construction around Slussen. The planning behind the project was astoundingly complex and comprehensive, considering all social, environmental, and economic factors.
Model of the new Slussen project design
The next study trip was a real guided tour based on the Swedish crime fiction novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We walked around Monteliusvägen to Michael Blomkist’s apartment, the cafe where the movie was filmed, and viewpoints that showed the city at a glance.
A picture of a gallery I peeked into before the field trip
The view was gorgeous. It's not too far from my apartment too!
When the tours were over, I stopped at the Coffee House and yapped with my friend for a bit before going home.
2/29 Thu
Today was the big D-day: a 10-minute presentation on the case study done in my core course. I booked a room in DIS to practice until class. I ate my packed lunch and finished up my last touches.
My messy hair ;-; The sun was out and I needed a break
Turns out the presentation was informal but I guess that was for the better.
At home, I couldn’t rest as I had to prepare for my other presentation for Swedish and read half of a book for Crime Fiction class tomorrow. I made the mistake of reading in my bed and fell asleep eventually.
3/1 Fri
My team successfully finished the presentation and ate the pepparkakor that our teacher prepared for us. It is a thinner version of ginger cookies with a taste of Sweden.
As a little treat after school, I ordered TooGoodToGo at an island I’ve never been to. It was such a smoggy and windy day (especially because the bridge I had to pass was near a huge lake) but I managed to arrive at the bakery in one piece.
The bakery had so many cute chocolate pieces < 3
I caught up on my sleep for the rest of the day. 4 hours of nap before sleeping for real at night ;)
3/2 Sat
Finally, travel week 1 break began! My family came to visit Stockholm while I was here. We had no specific plans in mind, so we spontaneously decided on places to go. We left Airbnb at 5:30 pm when the sun was all set (...) but we still had a good time walking around T-Centralen and Gamla Stan.
It was nice seeing my family again < 3
3/3 Sun
We had a slow morning but made it out of our house by 1 pm.
Our first stop was Gamla Stan since we could not see anything in the dark yesterday. I took them to the main photo spots first.
Happy happy happy '◡ '
If you remember this place from my prior posts, you're a real one < 3
My dad then led the way to Stockholm’s narrowest street, Mårten Trotzigs gränd. It is only 90 cm (~35 in) wide.
I took some great snapshots for my brother
From far away, we saw a commuter ferry departing and abruptly decided to take it. We ran and ran and ran to make it in the departure time. We found out where we were headed once the ferry steered toward the temporarily closed amusement park on Djurgården Island. I felt like I hadn’t been on impromptu journeys for ages, so this kind of random traveling brought me so much joy! The island was bigger than we thought, and it was then that my dad discovered something from the map. The island we were on was the island with the Vasa museum! On the subway to Gamla Stan earlier on, we had made a plan to go to visit the Vasa museum later today. Without a clue, the ferry took us to the right place at the right time. We were so amazed and couldn’t stop talking about it for a good hour (and now I’m writing it on my blog post).
Since we were there already, we went to the Vasa museum. It is a popular museum with a restored ship that sank back in the 1600s and recovered after 333 years, in the 1900s. I was impressed by the grand size of the ship and the salvage operation.
I still can't believe this magnificent yet delicate ship sunk 10 minutes after its departure
We took a thorough scan of the six floors and finally left when we were satisfied. A beautiful sunset was awaiting us outside.
Swan couple < 3
This time, we took a tram to go back to Gamla Stan for fika. Fika and Wine was our first destination. We ordered Swedish meatballs and shrimp salad as our main dishes, as well as delicious desserts with coffee.
Can’t describe the deliciousness in words < 3
For the rest of the evening, we enjoyed Gamla Stan with street lights on, going into souvenir shops one after another like real tourists.
I loved the owls in this store but my wallet said no to all of them :(
The past few days have been relaxing, and I can’t wait to spend more time with my family :) They are wonderful photographers (as you can see from the pictures in this post) so I'll have tons of more photos to share in the following days. Good pictures always brighten my day <3
I will let you know all about the rest of my break next week!
Tack,
Jiwoo Kim
Chemical Engineering
DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid Week 3: Flashbacks
Hola a todxs! It’s Niko back with week 3 of studying abroad in Madrid. Time is STILL passing by really fast and slow at the same time, so I'll talk about it again — I’ve been here less than a month and it’s felt like half a year, but the days go by quickly. I don’t think that will stop anytime soon, but I’m here for it. More perceived time = more life lived, and I hope that my weeks don't start blending together anytime soon.
As promised in week 2, I wanted to spend this blog talking about my trip to Granada last weekend. Granada is a small Spanish town in the southern region of Spain called Andalucía. It’s got a population of around 230,000 people — nearly the exact same as my hometown of Arlington, VA, which is a suburb outside of Washington, DC. However, in place of tree lined residential neighborhoods and modern office buildings, Granada is filled with narrow cobblestone streets bordered by low, densely packed buildings and intensely intricate churches/palaces built hundreds of years ago.
That palace — La Alhambra — is the largest tourist attraction in Granada, and was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit it (also, a big shout out to Emma for hosting me, a friend of mine from high school doing her semester in Granada!!). It’s a massive Moorish palace on a hill that overlooks the entire city. The Moors, who were North African Muslims, conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. La Alhambra was slowly built between the years 1238 and 1358, during the reigns of Ibn al-Aḥmar and his successors.
With that said, my trip to Granada last weekend was not my first time seeing La Alhambra. As I mentioned briefly in week 0's blog, I took a trip to Spain with my 8th grade Spanish class for a week. That was 7 years ago. We hit most of the main touristic Spanish cities within that time, Granada included.
So, walking through the palace last weekend triggered a slow trickle of distant memories, fuzzy enough that I couldn’t remember details, but potent enough that I could remember how I felt. Some things had changed about the palace, many things stayed the same. I still felt the same sense of awe I did 7 years ago witnessing the incredible detail hand-carved into every surface, or seeing the palace perfectly reflected in a courtyard’s pool. The difference was that this time, I was exploring alone.
I think that during this trip, I really gained an appreciation — and curiosity — of solo travel. Although I was with my friend Emma much of the time, I felt a great deal of peace in exploring La Alhambra at my own pace. Without anyone else to turn to, I was forced to be present and attuned to my surroundings, and that enabled me to appreciate them that much more.
I think that part of that appreciation, however, was derived from the sense of independence and freedom I had existing alone in Granada. Going into college, being alone terrified me. I would step into the dining hall for lunch and wander through the common spaces, looking for a familiar face I could share a meal with. Now, I try my best to cherish the moments in which I can connect more to myself, whether that be during a meal, practicing a hobby, or exploring an ancient Moorish palace. That’s only something I've been able to move towards through consistent practice -- AKA, spending deliberate time alone. I hope to continue deepening that connection throughout this semester solo-exploring Spain and Europe, which I know is something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.
Aside from La Alhambra, Emma and I explored the city and its various landmarks (El Albaicin, a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, the Granada Cathedral, the Monastery of San Jeronimo, the Mirador de San Miguel Alto [and an epic sunset], and even a jazz-esque show with Spanish flair from a band at a local music club). More pictures below.
On the way back home, we stopped at a rest stop for the bus, and I couldn’t help but notice how familiar it seemed. It conjured up a nostalgic feeling that could have only come from my first trip in Spain — I realized we had stopped at the same station.
For old time’s sake, I bought a Kinder Egg Sorpresa. These things were a huge deal to me in 8th grade, as they are banned in the USA for being a ‘choking hazard’. Inside the chocolate exterior was a little plastic goat toy that will now serve as the centerpiece of our dining room table.
It’s funny to think how much of a different person I am from the 13 year old on vacation with his school friends and Spanish teachers. But it’s also comforting to know that all of these memories I carry with me explain the person I am today.
This week, I got a little more into school groove, took a rollerblading route, visited the Reina Sofia museum and went to see some amazing techno DJs over the weekend. Per usual, check out the photo captions for more info on the content this week :).
Hasta luego,
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid, Week 1: La Bicicriti
Hola a todxs, soy Niko otra vez!! I’ve been in Madrid now for a little longer than a week, but it has felt like I’ve been here for a month. I watched a VSauce video about this phenomenon a while ago; Basically, when your days are filled with many novel, interesting events, your brain remembers the time spent as feeling longer than reality because there are more memories filling the space. That’s definitely true. I’m writing this in a cute cafe in the neighborhood Lavapies, while some old guy named Jesus who speaks in an accent that I can barely understand starts conversation with me, just one example.
As I mentioned last week, one of my hobbies is rollerblading. I started doing it when I was around 12 years old. I loved doing aggressive/trick rollerblading in skate parks, and I even went to a sleepaway camp to skate one summer. It was super epic.
Then, highschool started, and I lost a whole lot of time; I stopped rollerblading — until I rediscovered it in college again. At Michigan, I found people that loved rollerblading as much if not more than me, and the activity turned from something nerdy that I used to do when I was little into something cool in which I could find a community at Michigan (shoutout skate club!).
So, when I was preparing to leave for Madrid, I struggled with the decision to bring my skates or not. They probably weigh 10 pounds or something absurd, not very conducive to luggage with weight limits. But a friend of mine who had studied in Europe in the past told me I’d be crazy not to bring them; they were right.
Fast forward a week after I arrive, and I’m rollerblading through the streets of Madrid, drum & bass music blasting from a massive speaker strapped to someone’s bike, a mob of bikers, longboarders, and rollerbladers alike engulfing me on all sides. No police, no group leader, no motors, just a critical mass of people partying and celebrating sustainable travel.
However, finding this “party on wheels” (as my new friend Jander described it) wouldn’t have been possible if not for a good amount of courage and trust. How did I find it? It was a multi step process:
Step 1: Look up on Google “rollerblading in madrid”. Find the instagram page “@madrid.fns”, or Friday night skate, which does a big skate through the city one Friday every month.
Step 2: Go to the first FNS event. It got rained out, so it was rescheduled to an indoor skate rink. I went there alone, feeling timid but determined to get involved in the community. When I arrived, I strapped on my skates and started going around the circle somewhat awkwardly practicing my footwork, wanting to start a conversation but not confident enough to interac with anyone.
Step 3: Have a nice middle aged rollerblading spanish guy approach you because you definitely looked super awkward. We started talking, my nerves imposing somewhat of a block on my spanish speaking abilities. However, we talked about how we started skating, about the event, and about the blading community in Madrid. He added me to a Telegram group chat that people use to organize rollerblading routes in the city throughout the week. After this, I loosened up a little and started meeting the other bladers there. Notably, I met helicopter pilot from germany named Zoe who taught me how to powerslide.
Step 4: Go to one of the skating events you saw in the telegram group. I hopped on the Subway, rollerblades in hand, prepared to do a route called “Héroes” run by a certain Jesus (not the old man). I managed to find the meeting spot, introduced myself to a few people, and then we were off. The route started off tame and ended up with some pretty insane hill bombs, skating on Gran Via (the Broadway street of Madrid), and weaving through pedestrians in the tiny walking streets in the city center. It was pretty epic.
Step 5: Meet three dudes: Jander, Dester, and Kevin, who are experienced rollerbladers. Talk with them, beatbox for Jander while he freestyles in spanish, skate a bit more through the streets while trying to keep up (their skates are way better than mine for speed, I was SWEATING trying to keep their pace). Before we parted ways, Jander told me about the Bicicritica (spanish version of Critical Mass) — the aforementioned “party on wheels” that happens once on the last Thursday of every month.
Step 6: Meet up with Jander, Dester, Kevin, and some of their other friends for the Bicicritica and have a blast, meeting tons of other spanish bladers (and a British biker) in the process. The Bicicriti is kind of anti-establishment/communist in nature. There are no group leaders, and there's not a police escort or anything. It's kind of just a big mass of bikers and rollerbladers that take the streets and have a good time, all while promoting sustainable travel. Rollerblading in a huge group, listening to electronic music, seeing the city of Madrid, all while drinking a beer — what more could I ask for?
To be honest, I’m pretty proud of myself for how much I’ve gotten integrated into the community so quickly into my trip. Thinking back, this whole week patinando (skating) offered a huge opportunity to overcome that little voice in my head that says I shouldn’t. At multiple points throughout the multi-step process above, I felt quite uncomfortable. Whether that be due to social anxiety or insecurity (in my spanish language or rollerblading skills), I had to continually convince myself that these feelings were okay, and that if only I endured them a little bit longer, things would get better. And they did, and what was on the other side was 100x worth the discomfort I felt getting there.
Also, people are nice. It’s easy to forget that other people have as much empathy as I do, if not more. When given the chance, everyone I met was warm, and I felt very welcome in the community even as an outsider (and an American, which comes with its own stereotypes. I think I dodged these stereotypes by entering interactions with a large dose of cultural humility). The guys that I befriended welcomed me with open arms, and I’m excited to continue to get to know them. One remaining point of contention: It’s easy to make friends with people when the time spent with them surrounds a common activity. But I’m craving deeper relationships, which may not be as easy to form in this context. We’ll see where we go with that.
I’m very excited to keep blading in Madrid throughout the semester. Urban skating in a truly urban environment is an absolute blast. I’m gonna continue pushing through that discomfort throughout the rest of the semester in everything I do, hopefully bringing about new people and opportunities to experience.
This week, I also registered for classes, got tapas with new American friends, walked around Madrid a TON, went to the Prado museum, got famous churros from la Chocolatería de San Ginés, and partied a bit. Check out the photos and descriptions below for a little bit more on those.
Hasta la próxima semana.
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid Week 7: Viva Italia (not america..?)
Hola a todxs :). Niko back here again with week 7’s blog of my study abroad experience in Madrid! Like I mentioned in last week’s blog, this last weekend I traveled to Italy, and this past weekend I was in Sevilla, Spain. My trip to Italy was particularly transformative and jam packed with personal reflection. Read on for the reflection, stay for the photos (and Italian food p*rn). This blogpost probably took the longest for me to write, and was honestly pretty difficult for me to put in words. I hope I captured my thoughts well, and I always welcome feedback and discussion to any and all readers (at any point in time!).
Argentina (but aren’t we talking about Italy?)
As I’ve mentioned before, the summer after freshman year, I studied for 6 weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One particular weekend, I took a trip to Iguazu Falls — the largest waterfall in the Americas by volume, and one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.
Long story short, I got onto a tour bus with a bunch of strangers from around the world, drove 15 hours across Argentina to get to the falls, randomly selected hostel room groups based on who was sitting nearby on the bus, and ended up in a group with 4 girls from Mexico, my travel buddy from the USA, and 1 girl from Italy.
We spent a wonderful weekend together seeing the waterfalls (barring a short-lived but intense spout of food poisoning after eating something funky at a Brazilian buffet), and formed the foundation of what could turn into lasting friendships. But, come Monday, we parted ways, not sure whether we would ever see each other again.
This trip was the first time I went into a travel situation without a true support system, and an important exercise in “trusting in the process” — and It helped me realize that I was capable of forming meaningful connections across language barriers, cultures, and in un-traditional social situations.
If it wasn’t obvious already, you might be able to see where this little backstory fits into my recent trip to Northern Italy. Before I departed for Spain in January, I sent a text to Gaia — the Italian friend I met in Iguazu — that I would be in Europe for the semester, and would love to see her at some point if the logistics work out.
Now we actually talk about Italy
Flash forward a few months, and well, the logistics worked out. Although our original plan was to go skiing in a small village in the Alps, we ended up being unable to due to weather issues. Instead, Gaia, her friend Camilla, and I took a tour of Northern Italy, visiting Turine, Asti, Moncalvo, and Milan.
In a way, this trip was an even bigger exercise in trust — although this time, it was my gut I was trusting, not the process. I hadn’t seen Gaia in nearly 2 years, and the only other time we had met lasted just 3 short days. I was about to spend another 3 days with her — but this time, nearly every waking moment would be spent together.
For some reason, the thoughts of “what if we didn’t get along?”, “what if it was awkward?”, “what if we got on each other’s nerves?” — normal things to think in this situation — never crossed my mind. I trusted my gut: that Gaia was someone that I got on with in the past, and I had a feeling that the people we grew into over the past two years would mesh just as well.
So, I didn’t worry. And I was right not to. After a short period of hesitancy, we clicked. We spent the weekend learning about each other — both from a personal and cultural point of view.
And by the end of this trip, I felt culturally enriched. There’s a level of cultural intimacy (is that a term? Well now it is, I just coined it) that can only be experienced by being someone who has lived and breathed that culture for their whole life — something that I feel like I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing in my own heritage, first or second-hand.
A short aside on heritage in the USA
Ethnically, I am half Italian, half Greek. My great grandparents immigrated to the USA from the south of Italy through Ellis island, raising my grandmother, who gave birth to my mom. 4 generations later, I feel more comfortable calling myself Italian-American than Italian.
My mom’s side of the family was raised in northern New Jersey. I was raised Roman catholic, and I have 11 first cousins. Family gatherings are loud and boisterous, and people talk with their hands. My grandmother makes delicious Italian cookies called Pizzelles, and we call dish towels Mopinas (which isn’t even in the italian dictionary — it must have evolved on its own. Call it Englitalian [Italinglish? Coined.] ).
And that’s about all I’ve got to hold onto of Italian culture. Although I have more contact with Greece through the Orthodox Christian community and my direct-immigrant grandparents, I’ve never felt particularly connected to either culture. I don’t speak either language, and up until this past summer (when I visited Greece), I’d never been to either country.
People from the United States of America — especially, I think, those in the Northeast — place emphasis on their ethnic heritage that those from other countries around the world do not. Ask an American, and they’ll probably know where their blood comes from — if the records of their ancestor’s immigration do exist. Ask an Italian, or a Spaniard, and they probably will not. Odds are, in fact, that their blood will be just that: Italian, or Spanish.
The USA is a country built on immigrants, and it continues to be so to this day — and to me, it somehow feels wrong to not know anything about your cultural background.
This is a weirdly complex topic — one that I’ve thought about a lot —but bear with me here (and keep in mind, this is all from my personal point of view, and I welcome all new perspectives! Feel free to send me a message to discuss🙂). I think that, in the more liberal sphere of American adolescents, it’s almost “bad” to not know anything about your heritage — especially among white people, which is a label that I identify with. The USA has done a lot of messed up stuff in the world, and I think this is true to an extent that young Americans feel a desire to distance themselves from their nationality.
Instead, we grasp on to what we have that sets us apart from it — where our parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents come from. It gives us something to point to in conversations, something that lets us say “see, look, I’m not just a white-washed American, I’m cultured”, something to help us feel like we have more depth — especially in a country where everything feels like it comes from something else.
This is why I mentioned above that this is more common in the Northeast — although I can only truly speak on what I’ve experienced in Northern Virginia and in the University of Michigan. When I think of the term “melting pot”, I think of places like New York City. Southern states, and perhaps those in the West, have developed a culture that feels more unique, more distinctly American, and this is why (from my outside perspective) it seems like something more people feel proud of and claim as their own.
As I mentioned, this perspective comes from personal experience. And this is all something I’ve felt as a white American, at least 2 generations removed from my “mother countries”. After spending a weekend in Italy, I finally got a piece of that contact that I had always craved.
Italo-
Italian culture is just that — uniquely italian. Food, history, architecture, art — not only is it unique, but it is rich. From the first day that I spent with Gaia and Camilla, it was apparent that they felt a deep connection, pride, and understanding of their culture — and this is something that they graciously and enthusiastically shared with me.
I now have a greater — albeit limited — understanding of what it means to be Italian, in Italy. I learned about Italian espresso, when to have it (spoiler alert — any time of day is game), how to prepare it, and how it tastes. Some of my favorite moments of the trip were peacefully spent over the breakfast table in Gaia’s home, enjoying a light carb heavy breakfast and freshly brewed coffee.
We ate simple, delicious food at every restaurant we went to. The food was less extravagant than I expected it to be. Most of the meals were simple, with a focus on the ingredients and their preparation. Pastas, pizza, Milanese, Ragu, more pasta. Tiramisu, and gelato, too.
We had a night out — first to aperitivo, then to dinner, then to a bar that was built in an old desecrated church, then to a cheesy karaoke bar where the whole place was singing old Italian songs at the top of their lungs — with a group of 12 in Gaia’s hometown, which was made up of friends stemming from her high school days. The biggest difference between the Italian dinner party and an American one — we took our time. There was a feeling of ease at the table. Nothing was rushed. We enjoyed each dish, each glass of wine, and over everything, enjoyed each other’s company. The focus was on the people and the conversation, not on what was to be ordered and how fast it came out. I hope to bring this rhythm back to Ann Arbor with me (but that may be more difficult than I think. See footnote 1 below*).
We explored multiple Italian cities, and walked a TON. I learned an interesting perspective of Milan (which was a beautiful city) from Camilla’s boyfriend — Milan is Italy to Europe, and Milan is Europe to Italy. (See footnote 2**). The architecture was beautiful, and after a rainstorm, Milan looked magical. The ground was sparkling, reflecting the dramatically lit buildings of the city center in the puddles that gathered on the ground. I saw the Italian countryside, picturesque rolling hills backdropped by an epic sunlit cumulo-nimbus cloud.
I even learned a base of the Italian language (I probably said “Come si dice” 100 times) that will serve me well if and when I want to learn it in the future — or if I ever get my Italian citizenship and decide to move there. Guess only time will tell.
-americano
3 days is not a long period of time, but I can confidently say now that I understand a little better what it means to be Italian. I feel more connected to my cultural heritage — and in turn, I feel more connected than ever to my native culture in the USA.
It’s true that the USA has done a bunch of messed up stuff in the world. Imperialism, war crimes, political and economical extortion — the list goes on. But the longer I spend in Europe — the more I come into contact with different cultures, and understand foreign perspectives on the USA — the less these things feel like they’re inside a black box. Instead of avoiding these hard truths, I can face them head on — allowing me to acknowledge the bad and the good that comes with US culture.
A big critique I’ve heard abroad is that the United States has no culture of its own — but I don’t think that’s true. The USA is a place where global cultures collide, providing its citizens the opportunity to experience bits and pieces of the world and giving rise to unique elements born from this fusion.
Over the past 2 months, I’ve slowly shifted away from the feeling of shame that comes with being an American in Europe — and that’s thanks to a willingness to learn, adapt to, and accept cultures that I experience while I’m abroad (re: cultural humility, blogpost coming soon). Now, I’ll proudly say that I’m 50% Greek, 50% Italian, and 100% American. With my continuously evolving understanding of my individual parts (and all of the other cultures I come into contact with, especially Spain), I feel like I can better understand and contribute to that fusion, both in the melting pot of the United States, and as an international citizen in Europe — enriching the lives of myself and those I come into contact with.
Such is becoming “cultured” — a concept that has a bit of a pretentious connotation (IMO), but is worth striving for. I’ll be returning to Italy for spring break (Rome, Florence), so hopefully I’ll continue to develop this connection then. I also bookmarked in Google maps here all the places I visited in Italy this trip (and will do so in the next one) if you're considering taking a trip and want recommendations!
I planned on writing about Sevilla this week too, but I think this post has gone on long enough. I thoroughly enjoyed the different vibe it has from Spain, even through the rainy weather we experienced.
As always, check out the image descriptions for more details on each one. I hope everyone has a great rest of their week, and see you back here next soon!
Hasta luego,
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
* In Italy, and the rest of Europe, servers get paid fair wages. In the USA, it’s not required, because it’s expected that servers will make up the difference in tips. I worked as a server for 2 summers, and made $3.50 an hour. The amount of money I made in a night was directly correlated to the number of tables I turned over. As a result, I did my best to get orders in fast, food out faster, and clear the table as quickly as I could so that I could make more money. Until this fact changes, I think it’s hard to have the same no-rush Italian experience over dinner unless you’re really conscious of it. Personally, if I’m not feeling pressure from a server to leave quickly, I’m likely feeling a sense of guilt for staying too long and reducing their nightly wage, no matter how well I tip. Maybe home cooked meals are the answer, which I’ll hopefully be well practiced with next semester :)
**To Europeans, they look at Milan and see what they think of Italy. The world capital of fashion, beautiful architecture, prosperous and well known city. Italians look at Milan and see what they think of as Europe —highly international, intercultural, and as a result more gentrified and expensive. I found this to be really interesting. Is there a US city that fits this bill?
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Week 4: Exploring Edinburgh and Beyond with Family
This past week has been filled with excitement as I had the pleasure of hosting my parents in Edinburgh. Welcoming them to my familiar surroundings was a joyous occasion, allowing me to share the charm and beauty of this historic city that I now call home.
We kicked off their visit by embarking on a leisurely stroll around the town, revisiting the iconic landmarks that have become so familiar to me. From the majestic Edinburgh Castle perched atop Castle Rock to the vibrant and picturesque Victoria Street, every corner we turned held a story to tell. Of course, no tour of Edinburgh would be complete without a visit to the grand Palace of Holyrood, where we marveled at its regal splendor.
One thing my parents quickly learned about Edinburgh – and Scotland as a whole – is the unpredictable weather. Despite my dad's optimism about clear and sunny days, we found ourselves caught in a few unexpected rain showers. Yet, far from dampening our spirits, these rainstorms added to the allure of our adventure, reminding us that resilience and adaptability are key traits when exploring this beautiful country.
Venturing beyond Edinburgh, we embarked on a day trip to Stirling Castle, a place rich in history and significance. It was my second time exploring outside the bounds of Edinburgh, and I couldn't have asked for a more memorable experience. Walking in the footsteps of Mary Queen of Scots, whose birth and upbringing were intertwined with this fortress, filled me with a sense of awe and wonder. Despite the relentless rain and winds, we were transported back in time, immersed in the ambiance of centuries past. The history of Stirling Castle is as captivating as it is complex, and we spent hours delving into its storied past. From royal intrigue to tales of conquest and rebellion, every stone seemed to whisper secrets of bygone eras.
As the week drew to a close, I found myself grateful for the opportunity to share my love for Edinburgh and Scotland with my parents. Despite the occasional downpour, our adventures were filled with laughter, discovery, and cherished moments that will be fondly remembered for years to come.
And of course, here are the photos:
Talk to you guys soon!!
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Week 5: Groceries, Madrid Musts, and Barcelona
The thing no one tells you about moving to a different country is that grocery shopping is exhausting. There are no brands you recognize, everything’s in different packaging, and even if you know the language, your food vocab probably isn’t extensive enough to know the difference between different types of milks or oils. Now in my fourth week of grocery shopping here. I thought I had the hang of things, but it still takes me like an hour to get two weeks worth of groceries. I have to walk around and figure out where what I need is, then sift through the twenty different options of the same thing by turning each item over and pretending that I understand the ingredients list enough to help me make a decision. I guess one perk of not knowing anything about the grocery store is that you get to discover new foods. Back home, my family’s always gotten the same bread, milk, eggs my whole life. So I have no idea if there’s a better brand out there. But here, I get to pick and explore. Last week, when buying cheese for sandwiches, I picked a random one and oh my gosh it’s the best cheese I ever had. Maybe when I get home, I’ll start being more adventurous with my grocery shopping. But yeah, mini rant over, and to summarize, if you’re going abroad and reading this, get mentally prepared to go grocery shopping.
In other news, this week, I went to see the sunset at Templo de Debod and also went to see Museo Sorolla. Both are musts in Madrid. Templo de Debod is an Egyptian temple that was moved to Madrid in order to be preserved. It’s a super cool piece of Egyptian history with a small museum inside, and it’s on top of a hill, so it makes for one of the most popular sunset spots. I really enjoyed watching the sunset here this week and will definitely be back!
Even if you’re someone who doesn’t quite enjoy the big art museums (like the Prado), I can almost guarantee that Museo Sorolla will still be enjoyable. Joaquin Sorolla is a famous Spanish Impressionism-esque painter. His house in Madrid is turned into a museum, so you get to walk through his house while looking at his original paintings, furniture, gardens, etc. It really feels like more of a tour through someone’s life than an art museum. And it’s a small museum, so you can finish in about an hour, or two with the audio guide (which I loved so much and definitely recommend). I loved the gardens out front and how beautifully everything was preserved in the house. It really is a lesser known gem in Madrid.
Another rather unconventional must in my opinion is Flying Tiger. Flying Tiger is a Danish chain of stores that sell things I can only describe as “things you didn’t know you needed until you see them”. I think it’s pretty aptly named because you’ve probably never thought of a flying tiger before, but now that I’ve said it- how cool would a flying tiger be? That’s exactly what everything in the store is like. Little knickknacks that you don’t really need, but are so interesting you’ll just need to have it. One of my favorite things were these little balloon clips that let you reuse the balloon instead of tying it. Like how cool is that??? It’s a dangerous shop to go into for sure, and you’ll probably end up buying something. But embrace it and go visit Flying Tiger for yourself.
This weekend, I took a quick trip to Barcelona. Having already been there with my family back in 2019, I took the time to walk around, explore the more artsy districts, re-visit the Sagrada Familia since it’s just that beautiful, and went to the flea market. We also went to the Bunkers of Carmel which had gorgeous 360° views of the city. I remember liking Barcelona better than Madrid when I first visited with my family, but now that I’ve been living in Madrid for almost a month, going to Barcelona has made me realize how much I appreciate Madrid. Both are beautiful cities, but there’s just something about the liveliness and deep history and culture in Madrid that’s unmatched.
So…you probably noticed there’s no drawing of the week today. Basically, I got my first Fluid Dynamics homework assigned and the time I would’ve spent drawing was spent on that. But I’m going to go ahead and say maybe there’ll be two drawings next week.
You’ll have to wait and see :)
Isha Venkatesh
Mechanical Engineering
Comillas — Madrid, Spain
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid Week 12/13: I got got (Morocco, part 1)
Hola a todxs! Niko back here with week 12/13 of studying abroad in Madrid! Don’t fear, I will not be going on any esoteric rants about time or something this time (except for the fact that I have 45 days left in Madrid, damn). Instead, I wanted to take this blog to write about the experience I had visiting northern Morocco this weekend with a tour group. Spoiler alert, it was awesome, and I’ve had a ton to reflect on. Moroccan culture is unlike any that I’ve experienced in my life (which makes sense, as I’ve only ever traveled in Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas), and I had the pleasure of being immersed in it while simultaneously meeting new people. Since there’s so much to unpack, I decided to split this blog up into two parts, for the two legs of this trip. Let’s dive in!
Smart on the inside
This trip has definitely been a highlight of my travels thus far, and looking back, I really got the best of both worlds. I went on this trip with a tour group from a company called Smart Insiders, which helps young people in Madrid (especially those coming from abroad) find housing, get involved in community activities, and most importantly, travel. I would not recommend Smart Insiders, or any tour group for that matter, if you’re a serial planner when it comes to travel and need to fit in every item on your bucket list — or someone who prefers to wander a city, choosing what to explore based on vibes alone.
With that being said, I would highly recommend Smart Insiders — or tour group experiences in general — if you fall somewhere in between those two extremes. Traveling with a tour group means that there’s a pretty rigid schedule to every day, but if you don’t mind letting go of the reins and can just ride the flow set by the tour guides, you can have as amazing of an experience as I did (given that the tour company is good. Smart Insiders was).
A month or two back, I signed up for the trip alone. A friend had recommended it based on a trip he took to Spain’s Basque country. When I saw that they had a trip to Morocco, I immediately resolved to sign up. I had wanted to experience traveling in a tour group again after my first time in Buenos Aires (where I met Gaia, my italian friend I visited and wrote about many weeks back!), and Morocco was a bucket list travel destination for me. Given that the culture was so distinct from what I was used to, I figured that it might be nice to have the whole trip planned out for me ahead of time.
So, I paid a reasonably low price for the group (~200 euros for 3 days of travel, tours, housing, etc), bought the plane tickets fro Air Arabia, and forgot about it until last weekend. Flash forward a month or two, and I was immediately buffeted by an arid wind as I stepped off Plane that had just landed in Tangier. Once we were through customs, I was greeted by a Moroccan man named Saied and a large congregation of around twenty familiar faces from the flight over, mostly 20-something year-old Americans with some Canadians, French, and a Belgian sprinkled into the mix (majority of which were English teachers). Smart Insiders collaborated with a Moroccan tour company to put together this trip, for which the entire itinerary had already been laid out.
We piled onto our little tour bus and started getting to know each other. As we departed towards our first destination, Asilah, I was flashed with deja vu from the bus scene on the way to Iguazu Falls, Argentina. A highlight of that trip was the people I met, and I stepped away from it with one key takeaway: people who like to travel are, almost by definition, open to new experiences. That attitude extends towards their interactions with others. Consequently, I knew that I would meet interesting people this weekend, and if not, I was assured that I could always keep myself company — especially with an entirely new landscape and culture to explore.
Both Worlds
Which two worlds was I referring to in the section above, you may ask? Solo and group traveling.
I came alone on this trip, which meant that I had no allegiances or obligations to anyone but myself and the schedule set by the tour leader. During our blocks of free time on the trip, I could choose where to go, what to do, and who to do it with — and to be honest, I spent most of my free time in Morocco wandering around by myself. Call me fascist or impatient, but I don’t really like the democracy (and associated waiting) that comes along with traveling in a large group of people — especially if they don’t know each other well.
When I travel alone, I can do whatever I feel like, at my own pace, which was a luxury in the ultra-dense Souks in Morocco. I’ve found that my self confidence in new environments has really blossomed this semester simply because of the amount of weird cultural situations I’ve had to navigate by myself. Without this, I would have never had the confidence to break away from the group, and I’m proud of myself for getting to the point that I could do so comfortably.
“But wait Niko,” you may ask, “Didn’t you just say last week that traveling with close friends is always better”. Why yes, my friend, I did (might I add, very conveniently, and actually not on purpose). Seeing the world with close friends gives new depth and meaning to the things we experience while traveling.
I chose to be alone a fair amount on this trip, true. However, the majority of my time spent was with the group. Together, we went on guided tours, shared meals, spent many hours on the bus chatting (and sleeping), rode camels, and more. I can’t say for certain if I’ll meet up with anyone on this trip again in the future (shoutout Gaia again :) ), but I learned something from everyone I met (especially the two french girls on the trip! merci!) that I’ll take with me now for the rest of my life. By the time we rolled up to the airport together on Sunday, I felt that we had all really bonded. I knew almost everyone’s names, and relished in the feeling of being part of the tiny temporal community we had formed — a community which would never exist again, which made it all the more special. If you have the opportunity sometime, join a tour group and go somewhere cool for the weekend! It’s a unique adventure that I think everyone should experience at least once (and it’s soft on the bank account, too ;) ).
Hell-o Morocc-o!
So, now about Morocco itself, the focal point of the trip, which was one I’ve been looking forward to for the entire semester. As I mentioned, this trip would be my first time in Africa, and my first time experiencing a non-western culture. I certainly was not disappointed (sorry about the lame title of this section. I’m embarrassed).
Moroccan culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African, and European cultures, but to an outsider like myself, the Islamic/Arabic influence came across most strongly. We visited Asilah, Tangier, and Chefchaouen, all of which are located in the northernmost tip of Morocco, bordering the strait of Gibraltar. Consequently, Spanish is a very common second language to Moroccans, after their native dialect of Arabic. More often than not, Moroccans would start interactions with our tour group in Spanish (and oftentimes, we would respond back to them in Spanish, too B) ). French and English are also very commonly spoken, and an impressive number of people I interacted with were fluent in all three.
We started the trip in Asilah, a small town on the west coast of Morocco’s northern tip, known for its quiet beauty and art scene. It was very calm and incredibly peaceful. One of our local tour guides, Hasan, led us on a short route through the city where we took our first look at a Moroccan city. We had lunch (freshly caught swordfish) and departed, spending the rest of the day hopping around different sites in the region: the caves of Hercules, the Cap Spartel lighthouse, and a beach on the side of the highway where we all took our turn to ride on a camel (which I wasn’t a big fan of — more info in the picture description).
We finished at Tangier, where we checked into our hotel and departed for a group dinner at a traditional restaurant. The food was delicious, and we got a little surprise too. I finished the night drinking some mint tea and eating some flatbread at a little bar in a square. Yum.
In general, the food in Morocco was amazing. I’m a big fan of the Mediterranean/Arabic spice palate (and mint tea, although it was a little sweet to my liking), and that’s all we ate the whole weekend. One mini takeaway that I realized: I think food in America has trained my palate to desire more salt than is used in other countries. In Morocco (and Spain, Italy, at times) I often found the a bit undersalted. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this (or maybe not… nearly 90% of Americans consume sodium at levels which exceed amounts recommended by the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans), but it’s interesting to be aware of.
We spent the next day exploring Tangier’s Medina (historic city center). The streets were narrow, the architecture was beautiful, and the shopping was plentiful and diverse. The shopping district had a vibe that was completely distinct to any I’ve visited before, people were bustling, things were colorful, and every few steps we’d get a whiff of some heavenly spicy soapy or incense-y smell.
We visited a pharmacy (where I picked up authentic Moroccan Argan oil), a textile shop (I got an epic cotton-cashmere scarf), and various shops selling artisan goods and souvenirs (a sick black woven belt, some postcards). Shopping in Morocco has a distinct vibe for one very special reason: none of the items have set prices.
Dance battle in the souk
If you weren’t aware, if an item has no price tag in a Moroccan shop in the Souk (market area), you have to bargain/haggle to get a good price. Crudely and metaphorically, haggling is somewhat like a dance battle, with each dancer attempting to gracefully undercut the other’s bluff with their words, body language, and actions. You can’t make a starting offer that’s too low, because then you’ll risk the vendor laughing in your face (consequently relinquishing all your power). You can’t show too much interest in the product because then the vendor knows that you would be willing to pay a higher price. But you can’t show too little, or you’ll hit a stalemate and they won’t be willing to negotiate further. Maybe it’s like judo or something, using the opponent’s body weight against them, something like that.
Having watched a few youtube videos about haggling strategy on the plane ride over, I was ready to roll when I stepped into a huge artisan shop. Every action was intentional. I found a woven leather belt that I really fancied — but focused my attention towards other items until I was ready to make an offer. The vendor gave me a starting offer of 350 Dirham (Moroccan currency, ~35 euros). I countered with 100 (seems low, I know. you’re supposed to counter with ⅓ of the original price and go from there). After a good amount of back and forth (trying desperately to hide my steadily rising heartbeat and sweaty palms from showing on my face or in my voice while a few other shopkeepers and another member of the tour group watched the battle ensue), we reached a stalemate. I pulled out my ultimate trump card: I started to leave, to show that I I didn’t care that much (I totally did, this belt was sick). He called me back to make me a cheaper offer to keep me around, around 200 Dirham. I said 150, take it or leave it. Deal made. Boom. Great success, and now that belt holds a little more meaning that it would have if I had just picked it off a shelf.
My biggest fail? In a shop shelling scarves. The vendor was hyping me up, saying I must be so smart if I speak so much Arabic (I knew like 4 phrases), where am I from, what languages do you speak, etc. etc. Then I found a scarf. He offered me 100 dirham for a Pashmina scarf (which was not handmade, but beautiful nonetheless), I countered with 30. The vendor pulled out the “he’s not like other vendors” tactic, said that he prefers not to start with a crazy high price, and thus doesn’t have much room to go down. He was a really nice guy, I believed him. We settled on two scarves for 170 Dirham, and I left happy. I proceeded to walk through the Souk, seeing scarves of the same maker hanging up at a nearby shop. I asked how much for one, he told me 80 dirham. Damn, I got got. The other guy was intentional with every action, he knew what he was doing. Well played bro.
Haggling like this was exciting, it let me practice a skill I didn’t have, it was totally new. I felt culturally immersed, and got some cool things out of it that I’ll have as a memory. Although at times it was stressful, I kind of wish more people did business like this in the USA. It would be fun.
But simultaneously, I felt a good amount of resistance when I first started practicing the skill. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being incredibly cheap offering a third of their asking price, especially when in theory, I could have afforded it. There’s a lot of nuance with this surrounding the privilege I carry with me when I travel — more on that in the next blog.
Overall, Tangier has a good vibe. Downtown is very modern, which is in stark contrast to the old-town artsy vibe of the Medina. We left in the late afternoon to Chefchaouen, the “Blue Pearl”, which was my favorite leg of the trip… more on that in the next blog, along with some important commentary/reflection…. Stay tuned!
As always, thanks so much for reading :). Check out the image descriptions for more details, and I’ll see y’all in the next post!!
Salam,
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid Week 11: Basque-ing in Nature
Hola a todxs! Niko here, back again with week 11 (writing this during week 12 oops [I had a huge databases project that I grinded on all of last week, expect a double blog week soon]) of studying abroad in Madrid!! I’ve got a little over a month and a half left in Madrid. Near the beginning of the semester, I mentioned a VSauce video about time that I enjoyed a lot. Recently in my culture class, we discussed the same concepts. Upon reflection, I think that I’m experiencing time in an incredibly ideal way.
What do I mean? Time flies by fast. It feels like weeks go by in the blink of an eye. Last week, what seems like yesterday, it was March, and now we’re already halfway through April. Time flies when you’re having fun, and I think that much is true. I’m having a blast, experiencing a new world every week, and as a consequence, I’m not thinking about time as it passes. It doesn’t drag; It goes by quickly.
But I’m still in lecture every week. And two of my classes (the engineering ones) are oftentimes unbearably boring. I feel time pass when I’m sitting in those chairs waiting for the time to go home. My life during the week is simple: go to class, cook meals, go to cafes to study. But on the weekends, I’m traveling across Spain and Europe, meeting new people, partying, the list goes on. So it’s kind of like a long-short time sandwich. I get to experience time dragging on in the moment, and I also get to experience it flying by. And, because the exciting experiences happen regularly and frequently, weekends fill up huge blocks in my memories that make it feel like I’ve been here for years. I would say that “it feels like just yesterday that I stepped foot off the plane” but no, it really doesn’t. It feels like an eternity ago, truly.
So, I’m kind of milking time for nearly all that it’s worth, which I think is a W. We’ve only got so much of it in this life. Anyways, there goes my bi-monthly rant on time. Hopefully it didn’t drag on too much. Or hopefully it did. Or both. 🙂
Anyways, last weekend, I learned a very important lesson. Two of my roommates (Eli, Max) and a close friend (Jack) rented a car (#JeepTrailhawk) and took a trip up to Northern Spain (Please don't mind the terribly cheesy title), splitting our time between Basque cities and Spain’s best national park. The lesson? As much as I love cities — incredible amalgamations of culture, humanity and energy — I’ll never experience the same type of awe and amazement looking out over a skyline as I do gazing upon a range of staggeringly huge snow capped mountains. Let’s talk about the trip:
Gatzetelugatxwho?
We set out from Madrid late Thursday evening. After a short-lived yet intense fiasco with google maps sending us in a couple of loops around Madrid after someone (the driver) (Max) missed a couple of turns, we were on the highway headed North. We had about 4 hours of driving until we reached Bilbao, where we had rented an Airbnb for the night. It was a pretty drive — Madrid is surrounded by a beautiful Sierra not even 30 minutes outside of the center. We arrived at our Airbnb (which was situated in a weird liminal space-ish neighborhood) and crashed, ready to tackle the morning task: Gatztelugatxe.
Huh? Yes, I was as confused as you probably are the first time I read that word. Especially the tx, which is pronounced as ch in Euskera, the mysterious language of the Basque people that has no known origin or connection to any modern tongue. It looks and sounds weird, and in the Basque country you’ll see it everywhere. It almost feels like it could have been spoken in some far off kingdom in Game of Thrones.
Speaking of, we went to Dragonstone, AKA Gatztelugatxe. Shout out whoever the location scout was for those scenes, because they absolutely killed it. The site was beautiful, and I think the pictures will speak for themselves.
After that, we drove a few more hours to San Sebastian and explored. The energy was incredible. Sunny weather, beautiful city side beach, Burnt Basque cheesecake, calming sunset and delicious food (pintxos = tapas in Euskera!). There’s not much more that I can say other than the fact that simply walking around and taking it all in was an absolute joy.
We proceeded to drive 4 hours west that evening to our second stop of the weekend: Picos de Europa national park (driving quickly through Bilbao, which has a really cool modern architectural style). We arrived at our Airbnb in the pitch black around 12 am, stumbled our way inside, cooked a comically oversized dinner (1.5 kg of pasta is too much for 4 people btw) and prepared for our big hike the next day.
The Hike
We woke up bright and early (it was like 10am) Saturday morning, ready for the 7.5 mile, 3000 foot climb ahead of us. I’d done a 13 miler with a similar increase in elevation once before in the Texan desert (Marufo Vega trail in Big Bend, highly recommend), so I wasn’t too concerned with the difficulty — only with whether we picked a worthwhile trail. I was silly for underestimating “Lon - Río Burón - Peña de Mañimoco”.
We started by driving into a tiny town in the national park, parking on the side of the road and setting off into a dirt trail that winded shallowly up the mountain. At this point, I was unimpressed. Most of our view of the mountain ahead of us was blocked by trees, and the path felt too well kept to be the basis of the true rugged backcountry experience I desired. Jokingly, we pointed to the top of the mountain we were hiking towards when we got to a clearing, asking damn, wouldn’t it be crazy if we went up there.
Yeah, it would have been crazy, but I guess 3000 feet is not to be underestimated, especially if you start at 1000. The paved trail split off into a smaller one once we broke through the treeline, which split off into a gravel shoot winding up the ridge of the mountain we had joked about a mile or two earlier. The wind started picking up, threatening to throw us off the mountain at any second as we climbed higher and higher (it was seriously intense wind. Jumping up, we actually caught a little extra airtime).
Each switchback revealed a view of the mountain and the valley below that was more stunning than the last. We passed through a huge diversity of different terrains, each so distinct they felt like Minecraft biomes stitched together. We even happened upon a herd of domesticated cows (which we were terrified of passing out of fear that they would attempt to butt us off the face of the mountain... we thought they were wild at first). At one point, we came across a meadow that looked like it came straight out of a studio Ghibli movie. We quite literally frolicked in the grass as another hiker (the only other person we saw on the trail) watched us from behind a tree, hiding from the wind. We talked to that guy later, we called him the Wind Wizard.
On this hike, I felt something reminiscent of the feeling I got as a 6 year old playing imagination games in the basement of my childhood home — unashamedly wide-eyed excitement. Looking out over the Picos de Europa (literally, the peaks of Europe) I couldn’t help but smile. This is the feeling I mentioned at the beginning of this blog that I think I can only experience whilst totally immersed in nature. At its core, it’s rooted in mindfulness and gratitude for the present moment -- something that I try to practice as much as possible in my everyday life.
However, the reason this trip ended up being one of my favorites I’ve taken so far wasn’t just for the things that I saw — it was for the people that I spent it with. As much as I enjoy the independence and exploration of solo-traveling, I think that experiencing new things with trusted friends will almost always be more enjoyable. Being rooted in that feeling of wonder with others makes it feel more exciting, more significant, more real — both while it’s happening, and in the memories that stay with us forever.
We finished the hike with a steep decline down the mountain and ended up back at the car, where we drove into the larger town and got some drinks at a local cafe (where they had original craft beers on tap, and where I tasted the best Vermouth I've ever had). We left our airbnb early the next morning, but not before buying a block of cheese from the local Queseria (which was also absolutely fire). En fin, this was one of the most beautiful and rewarding hikes I've ever done, rivaled only by the aforementioned Marufo Vega. I think we chose well!
So, my key takeaways from this trip? Nature is awesome, and so is experiencing it (and life in general) with other people. At the end of the day, we’re just really smart animals who evolved (in nature) to be biased towards social behavior, so I guess that makes sense (#evolutionarypsychology?). I’ll be in the Bay Area this summer for an internship, and I’m really excited to go backpacking over the weekends in all of the epic nature that surrounds the area, meeting new people along the way.
Here's the itinerary list for this week's trip:
Basque Country Google Maps List
That’s all for this week’s blog! As always, check out the picture descriptions for a little more info. Thank you all very much for reading, and I’ll see y’all next week 🙂
Adios,
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Parents Weekend! (Week 10)
As soon as I landed on Sydney as my study abroad destination, my parents began planning their trip to visit. Traveling and intercultural experiences have always been a priority for my family, so the opportunity for me to spend a semester abroad was something we were all excited about. Even more exciting was the chance to show my parents and brother around my new home - something I had been looking forward to since the day I arrived. Having just over one full weekend with them before they continued their travels, I planned to hit all my favorite spots and walks. The Friday they landed I met them at their hotel in Randwick, a nearby suburb and the location of my university, and we went straight to Thaithae which has one of the most flavorful Massamun Chicken Curries I’ve ever had. From there, we took the bus to Coogee where I showed off my hostel accommodation, Coogee Bay Road, and most importantly, Coogee Beach! Needless to say, the fam was thrilled. The shining sun and calm ocean water were like paid actors in a film, ready to play their part and impress. The jellyfish, on the other hand, were like TV extras gone rogue – they just wanted their time in the spotlight. I had never seen many jellyfish at Coogee before, but they didn’t stop us from taking a dip and soaking in the sun. After a few hours, we embarked on the coastal walk to Bondi where we planned on eating dinner. The journey, though gnarly at times, is one I would recommend to all visitors, especially as the sun starts to set and the blue sky turns into a whole palette of colors ranging from pink to yellow. I’ve walked the path countless times and each trek I feel the need to take more pictures that never quite capture the beauty. After dinner, we made our way to Bondi beach where we treated ourselves to Anita Gelato, the best gelato in town (or, at least, the gelato with the longest line in town)! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a loyal customer to Gelato Messina (an Australian classic), but something about Anita’s just never disappoints.
^^ Just another picture of the Coogee-Bondi walk!
Saturday was just as packed. We woke up early and made our way into the city where we had an opera show booked in none other than the Sydney Opera House!! This was my first time getting up close to Sydney’s most renowned landmark, so I was very excited to share the moment with my family. This was also my first time watching an opera! I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I was sorely disappointed by the lack of monocles in the audience. That said, I was incredibly impressed with the production of La Traviata, a dramatic love story set in 19th century Paris in which a dying courtesan, Violetta, finds true love with a young nobleman and they flee to the countryside together only to be forced apart by the man’s father. Upon reconnection, she passed away. Though in a different language, the singing and performing was one-of-a-kind and the screens with a rolling translation to English made the show very accessible. I was also enamored by the view of the city and water from inside the Opera house despite the architecture being slightly less impressive on the inside compared to the beautiful exterior.
^^ Pic with my Dad and brother!
^^ Pic with mom and brother!
The rest of the day was filled with a quick visit to the Museum of Sydney and a long walk through the city. Even without a concrete plan, I love walking around the city and finding my own little detours, foods to try, and adventures to embark on. We made our way down Pitt street and ended up in the bustling Chinatown full of restaurants and desserts.
On our last full day together, I was adamant that we take the ferry to Manly where we could chill on the beach all day and explore a different part of Sydney. I also just love the ferry ride which takes you down the Sydney Harbor and showcases all the coastal neighborhoods atop hills and cliffs along the water. In Manly, we walked over to Shelly beach which is actually known to be one of the best snorkeling spots in Sydney, but we sought it out for the calmer water. Catching the sunset ferry back proved harder to time than expected, but we came pretty darn close!
^^ Sydney Harbor during sunset as seen from the ferry.
Before their flight to Melbourne, my parents and I walked around the University of New South Wales campus in Randwick and then we went up to Paddington to see the Art and Design campus where I have my photography class. We also visited the Sydney Jewish Museum in Paddington which was very educational regarding the culture and history of Judaism in Sydney. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the museum constantly hosts students on class field trips as we were met with hundreds of students on tours making their way through the exhibits. I highly recommend this museum to anyone in the area!
Showing my family around my favorite and most frequented spots in Sydney was extremely rewarding and made me so happy throughout the weekend. I would never have made it out here without my parents’ support and I am extremely grateful for everything they have done to get me to Sydney and ensure I enjoy my time here. Thank you, Mom and Dad!
David Bayer
Biomedical Engineering
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Stockholm Week 10: Grind Before Barcelona
Hi! I can’t believe that it’s already the end of March. Isn’t that crazy? It still feels like late February to me.
I’m bringing this up because my trip to Barcelona is coming up real fast. I am leaving on the 27th when the Explorative Travel Week begins! We get a week off as a travel break; certain elective courses travel as a class during that week, but I am not in any of those electives so I get a week off from school. Hurray!
The number 1 country I wanted to travel to was Spain, and I am finally going there next week. That also means that this week has been rough, catching up with all the homework and finishing up projects before the break.
3/18 Mon: (the best news) Class Canceled!
On Monday, the only class I had switched to online at the last minute due to traffic issues.
I took the opportunity to call my boyfriend and my mom while I worked on my assignments the entire day. I slept earlier than usual, around 11 pm, to treat myself :)
3/19 Tue: Spicy Uno
We have been watching this Netflix series called The Chestnut Man in the Scandinavian Crime Fiction class, and I have been on my nerves since the start of the show. The plot and the music interact too well to the point that I have to cover my ears and close my eyes every now and then. I hate horror movies but I would say this is an extremely well-played thriller/detective show. I recommend it to anyone who likes mystery/crime genre!
When I’m at home, I always have to try very hard to refrain from watching the rest of the episodes on my own. It has been a difficult battle but I made it to the 5th episode (out of 7) without binge-watching it alone.
I didn’t know (and wouldn’t have known) that crime fiction was so popular in the Scandinavian region before I took this class. I can see why it’s so famous; all the books and films are quite good! I always look forward to starting a new book or series in class. This course has been my absolute favorite class in Stockholm :)
During lunchtime, I surprisingly met a new friend who’s going to Barcelona on the same day!!! She and her friend booked their flight yesterday, so I never heard about them when I was asking everyone if they’d like to join our Barcelona trip. The most surprising part was that her friend turned out to be my friend who always sat next to me in two classes! We exchanged numbers to talk more about the trip.
Afterward, I went to Arkivet, a second-hand store on the higher end. There are high-quality clothes that are in good condition—all the way from H&M and Zara to COS, BOSS, and Coach. Although it is a bit more expensive than other stores like Myrona or Stockholm Stadsmission, the pool is much better in my opinion. I bought a Tommy Hilfiger trench coat for $70!
There are so many buttons on this coat
Happy with my purchase, I came back home and made Alfredo pasta for dinner. I have been CRAVING creamy pasta and it momentarily satisfied my yearning. I need to go to an Italian restaurant and get a good alfredo spaghetti soon.
I threw some chicken and sausage in there too :)
That night, my friends and I all gathered around my room to play Spicy Uno. My friend taught us the extra rules and it was a lot more fun than I expected. Towards the end, we even incorporated Never Have I Ever into the game (ง˙∇˙)ว
After they all left, I couldn’t sleep right away because of the sugar rush from all the goodies we ate (ice cream, jellies, chips, chocolate bars, and wafers).
I blame this sugar rush for the catastrophe that happened a few minutes later.
I was peacefully putting on a new set of fake nails until the nail glue fell down on my joggers. I can definitely say that it was an exothermic reaction because where the glue spilled was hot. Thankfully, I was able to separate my pants from my thighs by lifting it up a little bit, but my pants did not survive the accident.
Picture that captures the moment of the tragic incident
If anyone knows how to remove nail glue on clothes please let me know ( •́ ̯•｡̀ )
3/20 Wed: Skansen Open-Air Museum!
Today’s field trip for our Swedish class was Skansen, the world’s first open-air museum!
The escalator was endless and the area of the museum was unparalleled to any other museums I visited. We had a full experience with the tour guide—we even got to go into houses from the 1700s and see reindeer!
Us inside the houses
More cool photos:
Some cool facts:
Going to church was obligatory: people were officially tested on their bible knowledge and the answers were recorded!
Each house was numbered (well over two thousand pieces for each house), deconstructed, relocated, and reconstructed in the museum!
After free fika with the entire class, my friend and I hung out around T-Centralen. We went to cafes, second-hand stores (again), and the system. We headed back to the hog together.
For the rest of the night, I worked on the insurmountable group project for my online ChemE class until 4 am… ;)
3/21 Thu: Reeeaaaading
I woke up early to do the pre-lecture homework for the classes. Despite dozing off for a few minutes here and there, I finished the assignment!
For Friday’s class, I started and finished reading half of The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag. I’m starting to spot the similarities in the settings of the crime fiction novels!
3/22-3/23 Fri-Sat: Zoom Meetings
I devoted two whole days to working on the group project. I had a series of Zoom sessions with the Professor and then with teammates.
Cooking and doing laundry was my time off from work!
When I was done with the project around 11 pm Saturday, I started scavenging for English-guided tours for Barcelona. The tickets were rapidly selling out!
I managed to get an English tour of Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. They were expensive, but when would I ever have the chance to visit Spain? With that mindset, I joyfully paid for the events.
3/24 Sun: Planning Barcelona..
My body weighed 200 tons today and wouldn’t have gotten out of bed until 2 pm if it wasn’t for the Barcelona planning meeting I scheduled with my friends.
We met at Downtown Camper Cafe in T-Centralen and stayed there for three hours, making reservations and finalizing schedules. We are ready to fly to Barcelona!
The bathroom was fancy
Again, when I got home, I cooked and did more homework.
Tada!
With the energy I gained from dinner, I was able to work on the group project until I got burnt out at 9 pm. I called my mom for a little (meaning 1.5 hours) and did some more work before going to sleep.
I am SO excited to share my experience in Barcelona next week!
Stay tuned for new, rejuvenating adventures coming soon!!!
Tack,
Jiwoo Kim
Chemical Engineering
DIS Study Abroad in Stockholm, Sweden
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Bring on the Blue Mountains! (Week 9)
After returning from Tasmania, it was time for me to recharge again before my family came to town. This meant some more local traveling, as well as catching up on sleep! On Tuesday, once my photography class ended in Paddington, I took to the streets to find a new route to explore which led me to Rushcutters Bay Park along the water just a bit east of the Opera House. The park and nearby pier reemphasized my love for the Sydney coast.
Not pictured: dozens of dogs playing in the field.
More than the incredible beaches and vast ocean, the coast is full of the greenest parks and forests, houses climbing up rolling hills, and people. People exercising, playing with their dogs, picnicking like there’s no tomorrow, or just enjoying the beautiful weather. Even at night, the cityscape illuminates the water and makes Darling Harbour the perfect place to take a seat and catch up with friends.
Darling Harbour at night!
Along Coogee Bay Rd, the central road of Coogee beach, I finally got to try a Vietnamese food stop which always has the longest lines in the area and runs out of food before the sun sets. The chicken banh mi I got instantly became my favorite local meal and I got it again only a few days later.
My week ended with a hostel group trip to the Blue Mountains just about 2 hours from Sydney. Known for their vast canyons and incredibly diverse greenery, the Blue Mountains are a popular site for both locals and tourists as they’re full of hikes and unmatched sites. In fact, the most popular hike which we took is called the Grand Canyon trail which takes you to Australia’s own Grand Canyon! I can’t say it compares to the one in Arizona, but it sure makes a mouth drop. The several mile hike winds down into the valley where you’re immersed in a rocky rainforest before taking you uphill to a much drier walk full of completely different flora. The hike exemplified Australia’s endlessly diverse landscape as well as the easy access to nature from the city.
^ The start of the Grand Canyon hiking trail.
^ The Grand Canyon! It sure is greener than the one in Arizona, but can you also spot the blueish mist? They are called the Blue Mountains, after all!
^ The squad!
The trip to the Blue Mountains did expose a harsh reality of day trips - the logistics of getting there and back. Tired of taking public transport everywhere, my friends wanted to try Uber Carshare which lets you borrow someone’s car for hours/days at a time without going through the hassle of renting. The problem was that the car we booked was a 40-minute transport away anyway, and didn’t cut down the travel time compared to the train at all. And when it came to returning the car, we spent 20 minutes trying to parallel park it into the exact same spot we got it from despite the fact that the car simply did not fit into the spot. We then realized that the Uber app had a different drop-off location specified which prompted us to try again at this new location, but to no avail. Between the one-way roads and cones in our path, we couldn’t even reach the parking spot and had to park as close as we could manage. Then, as Shaunak went to take pictures of the car to submit to the app as proof of good condition, his phone died! At that point, we suggested the others go home and the two of us set off to find a USB-C charger. Adamant that we didn’t need to go home or find a store where we could buy one (there were none in the vicinity), I led us to a nearby student accommodation apartment building. I was confident that if we asked enough people, someone would help. As luck would have it, the very first person we talked to who worked in the lobby happened to have a USB-C charger right there with him! He was generous enough to let us use it and hangout in the lobby while we waited.
The logistics of planning trips, between finding housing and flights, coordinating activities, and figuring out how we’ll get around is not an easy task for a bunch of procrastinators, but with each trip and excursion we get just a little bit better. The fact that we haven’t quite planned a week-long trip to New Zealand for 14 people in just two weeks is a little worrisome, but a reality for many students studying abroad. I look forward to sharing a bit more about that in the future! Until then, cheers!
David Bayer
Biomedical Engineering
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid Week 8: Surfing a singular couch
Hola a todxs! Niko back here with week 8 of studying abroad in Madrid. I just realized that I never fully explained my usual intro ‘Hola a todxs’ so I took the time to do that in a footnote* for anyone curious :).
Anyways, this week I’ll write a little bit more of a traditional blog format — I’ll talk about some recent trips I’ve gone on. For those wondering how my progress is going on waking up earlier and appreciating Madrid, I’ll report some small successes: I ventured out to study in a cafe last week and enjoyed the warmer air (spring is starting to be sprung!!), and went out to dinner in the oldest restaurant in the world last night (called El Botin) :).
This weekend, I was in Amsterdam, and the weekend before that, I was in Sevilla. Recap time.
Couchsurfing in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a very special city. Immediately when I stepped out of the train station, I was hit with the bustling scene of Centraal — the combination of the castle-esque buildings poking up in every direction, bikers going every which way, and canals slicing through the streets created a unique energy that I haven’t felt in any other city I’ve been to. It felt distinctly Dutch, and clearly had a subculture that can only be found in Amsterdam.
This weekend I was meeting one of my best friends Charlotte in the Netherlands, a friend I’ve had since middle school who’s spending her spring break in Europe. She arrived on Saturday, so I had the time to explore the city solo for a little bit before she arrived.
The second thing that struck me about this city: everyone speaks English, and they all speak it very well. Although the same can be said about many young people in countries in Spain and Italy, in the Netherlands, English almost felt like the default — not Dutch. There was not a single time that I felt the uncomfortable feeling of being disrespectful for not attempting to speak the local language, and there was not a single time that I came across someone that I couldn’t communicate with. Learning English has clearly been ingrained in the culture of the Netherlands (along with many Nordic countries), which calls attention to the question of how this occurred in the first place. At the very least, it makes tourism much easier.
The first thing that struck me: bikes. If you’ve never been to Amsterdam, the first thing to know is that everyone bikes everywhere, all the time. It’s said that pedestrians rule the streets in NYC. In Amsterdam, bikers rule — there’s actually more bikes than residents in the city. There’s bike lanes everywhere, and you’ll never be farther than a 20 minute trip to any centrally located destination.
So naturally, I rented a bike, and I felt pretty awesome joining the hoards of commuters zigzagging through Amsterdam. I made my way over to the Van Gogh museum, which I can confidently say now was my favorite museum I’ve ever visited.
I took a trip to Amsterdam with my family when I was around 10 years old and actually visited the Van Gogh then, but I can’t say that I remember it too much. Now, with 21 years under my belt, an appreciation for art, and a greater understanding of the human experience, the main exhibit in this museum quite literally brought me to tears.
Something about the way this museum told Van Gogh’s story through his art — from his starting place, through his simultaneous progression as an artist and mental health struggles, to his ultimate suicide — really touched me. I could really feel the emotion Van Gogh had imbued into his paintings with his brushstrokes and colors in a way that I had never felt looking at visual art before. The painting “Almond Blossom” was a highlight — a painting that Van Gogh considered to be one of his best works, which was a gift to his nephew. I would highly recommend a visit if you enjoy impressionist art.
On Saturday, I explored the Rijksmuseum (which is massive) before Charlotte arrived. When her train got in, we found each other and went together to meet our host for the weekend: A film student at the University of Amsterdam named Tassos, who hails originally from Athens, Greece. Tassos graciously offered up his pull-out couch for us to sleep on for the weekend, in his apartment overlooking one of Amsterdam’s many canals.
So, how’d we connect to our gracious host in the first place? Through a website called couchsurfing.com. Couchsurfing is an app that connects its members to a global community of travelers. Hosts can offer up their home for travelers to stay in free of charge, and travelers can message hosts to find lodging (and connection). Couchsurfing communities in various cities also organize events — meetups, tours, even parties — for members of the community to join at their leisure. People use couch surfing to meet interesting people, form connections, and to exchange stories/wisdom, all of which is right up my ally.
Admittedly, the idea seemed sus to me at first. You have to have trust that your host will be truthful, responsive, and safe to spend time with. The reference system alleviates this greatly (you write reviews of the people you spend time with), but the process still requires a healthy amount of trust. From Charlotte and I’s interaction with Tassos leading up to our trip, I had built up a good amount of trust — and that paid off last weekend.
A clear pattern is emerging from my travels: experiencing cities through the guidance of a local enhances the experience 100 fold. No matter how much research you do, there’s such a large part of cities that can only be discovered through lived experiences — which, oftentimes, is where the most direct connection to local culture can be found. This connection is what I seek wherever I go, and is something I felt greatly staying with Tassos this weekend.
Over the course of the weekend, Charlotte and I explored the city and its parks (highly recommend Vondelpark) on our bikes, shared delicious home-made Pastitsio with Tassos (his grandma’s recipe), went to the largest flea market in Europe (I got a sick Matrix-style trenchcoat), ate tons of delicious food (someone say stroopwafel?) and went out to an amazing community centered techno party in the outskirts of the city. It was wonderful to spend time with Charlotte outside of Virginia, and connecting with Tassos through our shared cultural background, interests, and life experiences was fulfilling. You can only get so close to someone over the course of a few days, but I know that I’ve made an friend that I’m looking forward to crossing paths with again sometime in the future, wherever that may be.
(Not so) Sunny Sevilla
I know that I’ve been mentioning this trip for a long time in these blogs without actually talking about any of the details, so I think it’s about time. Sevilla is a city in the south of Spain, famous for its flamenco, sunny weather, interesting architecture, and distinctly Andalucian vibe. This was a trip organized by CEA, the company managing the study abroad program I enrolled in with IPE. Me and around 80 other students in the program took a short train ride down to get there, lodged in a nice hotel (amazing buffet breakfast), and got to take a few tours of the major sites to see in the city.
It never rains in Sevilla — except, somehow, the one weekend we were there. It put a bit of a damper on our first two days, but it made the last 1.5 all the more marvelous when the sun finally shone out from behind the clouds. I figured that telling the details in the form of pictures might be more interesting (and would help keep the word count of this blogpost down a bit). Check on the ALT description for more details on the trip :).
Making lists has become (yet) a new hobby of mine this semester. I bookmark all of the places that I visit and write little personal notes to go along with them with two goals in mind: one, that I might keep a better digital footprint of my trips so that I can remember them better (especially if I ever want to return). Two: for all of you! If just one of my lists can help one of the readers of this blog find something worth seeing, I would be more than content.
Here's Amsterdam...
and here's Sevilla!
As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions about more specific recommendations/vibe checks for any of the cities I go to.
Hasta la proxima semana!
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
*Hola a todxs translates directly to “Hello to all”, or “Hello everyone”, which is simple enough. However, the x in the final word might seem out of place — why do I use it? The word todxs is usually written as todos or todas, as many nouns and adjectives in Spanish are gendered. When you see an x at the end of a Spanish word, it’s likely because this word has been made gender neutral, which exists outside of the accepted rules of the Spanish language but is widely used in online communities and in the media. An @ symbol is also commonly used (tod@s). In the gender neutral form, the x/@ is pronounced with an ‘e’ sound, so we would say “Hola a todes”. Consequenly, some words like ‘amigxs’ can be written as ‘amigues’ so as to take a more ‘normal’ looking form. Now you know!
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Madrid Week 6: The Honeymoon Phase
Hola a todxs ‼️‼️ Niko here again, and welcome back to week 6’s blog of my study abroad experience in Madrid. This post is a little more text/personal reflection heavy. We'll get to some more fun stuff next week :).
This past week was filled mainly with schoolwork and cooking — not too much exploration of the city — and I stuck mainly to my established routes between home and university. However, looking forward, I think that this routine will be significant in my international experience, too.
For the first few weeks living here, I got out as much as possible and tried my best to take advantage of everything Madrid had to offer. Trying all the cute cafes, seeing all the tourist attractions, exploring new neighborhoods, going out to all the clubs. But now that I’ve been here for a month and a half, it feels a bit like I’m actually ‘living’ here, and less like some kind of extended vacation.
I actually have schoolwork to do now — projects, papers, presentations — and that leaves me much less time to simply exist. I think I can take that as both a blessing and a curse. For one, it’s a curse, because in reality, I would love to just skip around Madrid all week without any responsibilities, who wouldn’t?
But now, I think I’m living more like how a student would who’s here year round. Let’s be honest — are Michigan students constantly going around Ann Arbor, discovering all the little nooks and crannies, experiencing all the most hyped up spots and exploring all the paths less traveled? Not really. Maybe I’ll hit the Kerrytown farmers market or the Blind Pig on a weekend, but honestly that’s few and far in between. Majority of my weekends at Michigan are spent around campus and at home.
I don’t want to say we’ve “become complacent” with Ann Arbor, because that inherently has a negative connotation. But we’ve certainly gotten used to living in this city, and simultaneously have tons of other things on our plate that we’ve got to attend to. Things aren’t as shiny and exciting as they were the first month of freshman year, and we simply have less time. It feels like something similar is happening here in Spain, for both reasons (although maybe to a lesser extent — I still have more free time than I do in Michigan, and Madrid is still, well, Madrid, Spain. Not quite like Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA).
Now, my perspective of Madrid has shifted slightly, and with it my experience. Maybe one could say my “honeymoon phase” is over, but to be honest, I haven’t really started to find a lot of things I really dislike about the city. Things are just a little more like real life, which I think I'll end up being happy for.
As some of you may know, I studied abroad over the summer after my freshman year in Buenos Aires. That program lasted 6 weeks, and I stayed an extra with my parents after the program ended. School wasn’t as demanding, and I had ample free time all week. Those six weeks were incredible. It was my first time living outside of the United States for an extended period of time, my first time ever living in a big city, my first time immersed in another language and culture completely different from my own.
Upon reflection, I think my ‘honeymoon phase’ lasted all 7 weeks of my experience in Buenos Aires. And now, I’m reaching week 7 here in Madrid. I’ll be here for a total of 15.
My experiences in Buenos Aires and Madrid have been similar in a lot of ways. The architecture of the cities, the language, the general warmth of the people and culture. Simultaneously, they’ve been different in more ways than I can count, and I think a big one I'm slowly transitioning into will be due to the amount of time that I have here.
Now, I’m left with an awareness of the challenge that comes with living in a foreign city, in a culture completely different from my own. In a class that I’m currently taking, 'Social groups and their cultural imaginaries', we had a lesson on Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. One of the main themes of the book: Our interpretation of a city or landscape is based on how we are feeling, or what we want at that particular moment.
How will my experience of this city change with my perception and feelings towards it? What will I desire then, and what do I desire now? How will I interact with Madrid in week 15? How will that be different from week 1?
How will I continue to adapt to Spanish culture? What pieces of US culture will I still be holding on to, and what pieces of my identity will change?
Will I continue to find excitement and novelty in this place in week 15, or will I have to make an active effort to do so? Will living in Madrid at week 15 feel like living in Ann Arbor, or Arlington VA? Or are the places and cultures so different that the experience will never be comparable?
Will this lifestyle be something that I want to continue, or will I find that I’m most comfortable in the culture and community I grew up with?
I’ve asked a lot of questions here, most of which I have no semblance of an answer to. Some of them are small, some of them are pretty big. I’ll plan on coming back to this blog, maybe in week 15, maybe in a post-reflection — and I’ll try to answer as many of them as I can. Just writing them here increases my awareness, which enables more active reflection and growth in my day-to-day life.
One action item I’ve realized after writing this blog: I need to start taking a more active effort during the week to continue appreciating Madrid for all it has to offer me. At first, it came really naturally, but now, it’s harder. Moreover, as I’ll be traveling around Europe for the next few weekends, I’ll have less chances to experience Madrid without the pressure of everyday life squeezing around me.
Taking an active effort means giving myself more opportunities to be mindful, present, and appreciative of the environment I’m in. That includes waking up earlier and trying to establish more of a schedule with schoolwork, which will give me time to do things like going out on walks to take photos in the morning, or finding a new bar to enjoy a drink at during the evenings. Also, I hope to start meditating again — which has been something that has served as a point of stability for me throughout college.
Transition periods are never easy, and I've found myself in one yet again. The best advice I can give myself for now is to remain appreciative and accepting of all of the everything lives throws me, knowing that each one is an opportunity for growth — and I'll come out the other side more experienced, wise, and grateful that it happened.
In other news, this week I saw Dune 2 (highly recommend, ESPECIALLY in IMAX), kept cooking, and did a good amount of studying. Also, this past weekend I went to Italy (for the first time ever) and spent the weekend with an old friend. I’m headed to Sevilla this weekend, and I’ll detailing both a little more in next week's blog. Wishing everyone a happy hump day and a strong finish to the week.
Hasta pronto,
Niko Economos
Aerospace Engineering
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Just Me and Manly (Week 7)
After having some sort of traveling trip almost every weekend of my time here, it was time to take a break and embrace the first week of school. Even more, I realized how valuable it is to spend some time with myself - especially when you are living with over a dozen other students and are constantly on the go. This term, I’ll be taking a Fluid Mechanics class, a Biology class, and Photography! As interested as I am in all three subjects, I have yet to take an arts class in college, so photography has been particularly exciting for me. Also, the photography class is located on a different UNSW campus located in Paddington which is farther away from me, but closer to the city, creating the perfect recipe for solo adventures! Right after my class ended, I went exploring by choosing a street and just seeing where it took me. The lively, upscale neighborhood of Paddington turned out to have incredible Thai food at Thai Tharee as well as unforgettable ice cream at my favorite first-class ice cream chain called Messina. I spent a whole hour in a bookshop called Berkelouw where books towered high above on two levels until I ultimately found myself at Elizabeth Bay overlooking the water. Traveling alone is something I have wanted to try lately as this idea of “solo trips” has been floating around the hostel. But, to ease myself into the idea, I will continue to venture out into Sydney after my photography class and just see where my shoes take me.
With the end of a nice week to myself, my hostel-mates gathered together and coordinated an excursion to Manly Beach which is just a train and ferry ride away. Manly Beach is one of Sydney’s most famous beaches renowned for its surf and was actually the birthplace of Australian surfing! There, we meandered through the morning markets full of fun tchotchkes and unique craftsmanship, we relaxed on the golden-sand beach, and explored the surrounding area. Manly quickly became one of our favorite beaches and we made a promise to return soon.
The view from the ferry to Manly^
Us on the beach!
The ferry ride back!
David Bayer
Biomedical Engineering
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Kangaroos at last! (Week 6)
With the summer semester over by the start of February, it was time to get serious with the beginning of Term 1. But first, O-Week! O-Week stands for Orientation Week and is the week prior to the start of classes where, everyday, there is a never-ending community of booths all around campus. Each booth is there for a society, club, or organization ranging from Rubik’s Cube club to Surfing society! I was personally excited by the Social Volleyball club, Soccer club, as well as some wilderness and rock climbing ones. After scanning countless QR codes and meeting tons of students who were eager to sell their clubs, it was time to try an Australian sausage sizzle! Imagine a hotdog, but replace the curated, curved bun with a piece of bread. Quite literally, the sausage sizzle is a sausage on a square piece of white bread. Beyond being confused, I was simply a little disappointed. Maybe hotdogs are better left in buns freshly toasted off an American grill…
My roommates and I wanted to capitalize on the extra week of no classes, so a last-minute road trip was in order. In just two days, we rented a car and planned a trip all around Southeast New South Wales, just south of Sydney. Before we knew it, Lauren, Charlotte, Shaunak, Evan, Anthony, and I set off towards the Jenolan Caves just a 3.5hr drive away. Full of wallabies hopping around on beautiful trails around the conservation reserve, the little Jenolan town more than exceeded our expectations. Not to mention the incredible caves! Stalagmites, stalactites, crystals, and a perfectly clear river were just a few of the attractions we witnessed on our guided tour.
From there, we made our way towards Narooma, a small coastal town with an incredible beach and coastal view. On the way there we passed through a small national park, and I laid eyes on my first wild kangaroos! As soon as I saw one, I saw dozens. Some were single, some in pairs or small groups, but all blended in well with the surrounding trees. It was hard to contain my excitement in the car, but soon enough we would get up close and my excitement could infect my surroundings. While standing at the Narooma coast, we were pleasantly surprised to see seals sunbathing on rocks and even dolphins surfing the waves! As someone whose happiness levels directly correlate to the number of wild animals I’ve recently seen, I was beaming.
I haven’t even mentioned the infinite number of cows, sheep, goats, horses, and chickens we laid eyes on during the drive. I was honestly astonished at how similar rural Australia is to the rural areas of midwestern states. Just add some more hills and ocean beaches to Wisconsin, and before you know it you’ll feel like you’re in Australia. After Narooma, we drove to Jervis Bay where we watched the sunset and the next morning went to Cave Beach through Booderee National Park. There, we were greeted by two dozen kangaroos at the entrance to the beach.
We had only spent 3 days outside the city and all of a sudden, kangaroos were commonplace. The trip ended with a drive through Kangaroo Valley to Fitzroy falls where we did a quick hike before heading towards Kiama, another coastal town not far from Sydney.
Famous for Kiama’s Blowhole, a rock formation which shoots big ocean waves into the sky, Kiama was a cute town with nice shops and restaurants.
Just like that, we were back in Coogee and I was back to soaking up the beauty right outside my own front door.
David Bayer
Biomedical Engineering
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
3 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
handofayesha
Hand Of Ayesha
dinnertie33
The Blogging of Klavsen 483
aakritcreativedesign
Ankit Garg ANGAD
kernyen-xo
kernyen
guangyaw
guangyaw