Final Reflections

With only one more week left in Madrid, I must reiterate my acknowledgment of the failure of this blog. However, as I reflect on the past four months abroad, immediately precipitated by the announcement of Usama Bin Laden's death, I feel that one more post is necessary.

I've spent four months in an identity crisis. Separated from my friends, my family, my hectic lifestyle, my food, I found myself floating in limbo. As I see it, there are two philosophies to the 'study abroad experience.' 1. Completely immerse yourself in the surroundings, adopt all customs and assimilate into the culture of your new, temporary home. 2. View the culture as an outsider, through the lens of your context, and acknowledge that your new home is just that: temporary. I spent most of my time here attempting to do the former, and only succeeding in the latter. But last night I finally realized there's nothing wrong with that.

I am an American. I was born in the United States of America and my allegiances will always be to the United States of America. I've lived there for 20 years and plan on living there for the rest of my life. I have a United States passport issued by the United States Department of State. I have a Pennsylvania State driver's license. Hell, I have a GWorld.

But, just because I willingly subscribe to the communities that I come from does not mean that I have squandered my time in Madrid. I've been able to embrace the siesta, eat squid in its ink, and learn more about the welfare state employed in Spain. I've made great friends in the GW Madrid Program and with native Spaniards. I've become a part of my host family and Pon doesn't bark when I come through the door anymore. Talk to me in Castellano and I'll understand and respond. I undoubtedly made the right decision in studying abroad in Madrid and am thankful for the opportunities I've had.

The experience; however, has reaffirmed my love for my country and I cannot wait to return in one week to the land of freedom, hamburgers, and strength. There's a reason that the United States is the world leader, and we should not be ashamed of our status. I'm proud to be an American and proud to return. Judge me if you want. Tell me I haven't 'opened my eyes' to other customs. Tell me I'm too capitalistic. Tell me I'm too Republican. Oh well.

Adiós Madrid. Hasta Luego.

Good Reasons for my Lack of Blogging

Ok. I suck at blogging. But I promise I have good reasons, as are presented now:

1) I'm in Europe. Aka not on my computer 24/7 as at GW.

2) I started watching the West Wing via illegal avenues online and therefore do this in my free time. (Anyone who has seen this show knows that a) this qualifies as a "good" reason and b) the show was made for me and I'm about 8 years behind.)

3) I usually think of things to blog about, and then get mad at myself when I can't be witty enough in a post.

4) I have about 4 followers. (Thank you Kat, Marisa, Sam D, person I'm forgetting). Even my boyfriend wouldn't read my blog. (Although he claims differently).

But, updates, nonetheless. London was spectacular. I loved the city a lot more than I thought I would. Molly and I are great travel buddies! And although I tried to keep my America lovin' in check, I did of course get myself into trouble with some British lads at a karaoke bar. "We won that war." Between Oxford Circus and Harrods, I realized how much money I did not have, but I did leave London with some tea and British flag boxers. Success.

21 in 6 days!

Reflexionar

Europe can be defined by two C's : Churches and Castles. I'm not complaining. I love both.

The GW Madrid program went to Segovia today, a town in the mountains about an hour and a half away from Madrid and saw just that, churches and castles. As anyone who knows me is aware, I'm not very religious person. But, being in Spain, one of the most Catholic countries in the world, requires you to open yourself to Jesus (pronounced hey - zus) a little. When you're surrounded by statues of the Saints, sky-high altars, and stained glass windows, religion seems a little less contrived, and a little more real. As far as the castles go, they're just pretty darn cool. Moats and everything! Ferdinand and Isabel, if I could hang out with any historical figures, it may just be you two.

Oh, and frolicking in the rain by the castle in the little pueblo today with GW Madrid. Best time so far here. The group is wonderful, and keep your eyes peeled for Jeremy's umbrella routine :)

Una Vida sin Las Citas

You notice a lot of things about your surroundings when you're not running from meeting to meeting to meeting. Last semester, and probably for the past 5 years, most of my days were planned around meetings. Play practice, Exec meetings, Work meetings... Many even joked last semester as to what meeting I had at 2 am.

In the past month, I've had no meetings. (Well, unless you count my meeting with my intercambio student, but I don't consider grabbing coffee and swapping language skills work necessarily).

It's been an odd change and has certainly taken some adjustments. I've had to consciously stop defining my life by meetings, and instead define my days by interest, by my studies, by my relationships with the people around me. Although incredibly liberating, the change has been suffocating at times. Who would've thought that a lack of a schedule would be so confining?

But maybe this easygoing horario is something that Spain's got right. Although Madrid's metro is just as busy, if not busier, than DC's, everyone seems in a little less of a hurry. All I see on the metro are couples! Holding hands! I've never seen so many people in love in one place. Maybe it's because they're not allowed to get divorced, maybe it's because this is Europe, or just maybe it's because they have less meetings.

Great Expectations

I'm pretty sure this was a title of a Sex and the City episode, but as I'm sitting on my Mac overlooking a city view, I feel entitled to borrow it.

After more than 2 weeks in Madrid, and an eighth of the way through my four month Eurotrip, I've come to the realization that expectations are dangerous. This is probably something that, if realized earlier, would have saved me a lot of anxiety in life, but alas, at least I'm here now. I spent the past weekend in Lisbon, Portugal. I went into the trip with no expectations and surprisingly very little knowledge of the country itself. In fact, upon arrival, our group was clueless even as to what the main tourist attractions were. And because of my lack of any concrete expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by the charming city.

"Shoot for the moon and you'll land among the stars." Found plastered on the walls of elementary and middle schools, this 'inspirational' saying is supposed to encourage kids to have lofty goals, high expectations. The theory is that if you try your hardest for something, even if it's realistically unattainable, you'll have exerted enough effort to have reached something else valuable. What they don't teach you in school, though, is that sometimes the disappointment from not walking on the moon may ruin the experience of floating among the stars. Why not just shoot for the stars (successfully) in the first place?

As long as you're putting in your best effort, expectations are useless, I'd argue even detrimental, to success. Maybe that's why I like rain so much. You're allowed to have a bad day on a rainy day, and usually, that relieved pressure makes the day that much more productive. And as it starts to rain on my window overlooking Madrid, I'll leave off here. (Not to mention I should be working on my PSC essay due tomorrow).

I'm going to make the most of my time in Madrid. Sin expectativas. Charles Dickens was always being sarcastic after all.

Aqui.

I'm here! Recently reminded that I've been remiss in updating my blog, I figured it was time to update.

Differences of Spain compared to the United States:

1) They have only three breeds of dogs here: bulldog, westie, and stray.

2) Every place that serves coffee also serves beer (including the University's cafeteria).

3) Everyone drinks outside, at all times of the day.

4) "Weed Day" is an actual event at the University, comparable to GW's Fall Fest.

5) Eggs are eaten in some form every night for dinner.

6) Textbooks are essentially a thing of the past.

7) Fish have heads.

8) It's perfectly acceptable for men to stare and tell a girl she is pretty while passing on the street.

9) The sun does not rise until 10am.

10) CVS or anything of the like does not exist.

More tomorrow.

Un Día!!!! (Sin nieve, por favor)

ONE DAY!!!!!!!

YAYAYAYA! In one day, I will be on my way to Madrid. (Barring any snow delays).

Oh, and the phone status changed. Caved and got an international blackberry.

Goals for this trip:

1) Become fluent in Spanish

2) Lose weight (5 lbs)

3) See Paris, Rome, London (at least)

4) Become a traveler, not a tourist.

5) Secure an awesome job for the Summer in DC

6) Become Madrileña

See you on the other side!

P & P

4 days.

As the day of my departure to Madrid approaches, my daily routine is quickly transitioning from R & R (Rest & Relaxation) to P & P (Packing and Preparing). Contact Lenses? Check. New Debit Card? Check. Prescriptions? Check. Mental Preparedness? ..........

Although I couldn't be more excited to live in Madrid, and explore Europe, sometimes it's all just a little too overwhelming. I've been getting A's in Spanish since 7th grade, but my skills are merely conversational, my accent far from native-sounding. Guess we'll see just how useful my education has been.

I have no idea what my class schedule is; I don't even have any textbooks to take with me! My Blackberry (as I know it) will cease to exist at 6:35pm on Wednesday and after that, the source of my cell phone usage is unknown. But I guess that's the point, right? I'm going abroad for a lot of reasons, but mostly to push myself as an individual. Although I have nothing to escape here in the United States (in fact, I'm going to miss DC and my friends dearly), I know that there's more out there, more for me to see, more for me to experience. And as cliche as my views may be, I'm sticking by them. A little triteness never hurt anyone.

My intent is to keep this blog as current as possible, to catalogue (mostly for myself) my travels in Madrid and my trips to other locations in Europe and Africa (yes, I WILL go to Morocco). As my friends get ready to go back to DC, I get ready to go to Madrid.

4 months in 4 days.