In The Words of Arnold.. I’ll Be Back

This will be my last blog post. Getting home was a disaster but I'm happy and it's definitely a relief to be back, even with all the snow. I meant to write this post before I left Madrid, but due to adventures, saying goodbyes, and packing, it unfortunately didn’t happen. I’m not sure why it took a couple days of being back in the States to prod me to get this done; could’ve been the unpacking and adjusting to life back here, or it could’ve been the fact that I had made my peace with leaving and I wanted to keep it that way. But either way, I figure it’s about time to write my closing post about my year abroad.

I made it to 9 countries and 17 cities in about 4 months; I drank Champagne under the Eiffel Tower, chilled out in coffee houses in Amsterdam, beached it in Barcelona and Ibiza, drank Guinness in Dublin, and did about a million other things.

I wasn’t very emotional those last few days. It wasn’t because I wasn’t going to miss it because believe me I’ve only been home for a few days and I already do, but it was easy to make peace with the fact that I was leaving. Sure, there were a few things I might have changed here or there, but overall, I have zero regrets. It was everything I had wanted and more. Even though those last couple days tainted Spain a bit, it is still a great country – people are friendly, the mullet and faux-hawk is still a stylish haircut, but hey, it’s Spain.

For four months, I got to live the dream, and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

Thanks for reading this semester.

Grrrrrrreat

Just got this email from the director of SU Abroad:

Dear Students,

I have just learned that the Spanish air traffic controllers went on strike at 7pm this evening.

The air traffic controllers are currently negotiating with the Spanish Government and we all hope that they quickly agree terms and go back to work. We are working with SU Abroad and Advantage Travel in the United States to watch this situation closely and will be sending updates if they are available.

It is possible that your flight may be delayed or canceled tomorrow. We advise all students to still go to the airport tomorrow and check in at least three hours before your flight takes off. I will be at the airport to assist with this situation.

Please continue to check your email for additional updates should they become available.

Best regards

Paul

madrid air traffic controllers. i hate you. i want to go home. get your s#!t together

The End

I had the BEST time here – and I’m sure everyone did too. But I have to say that it was not always the easiest, like everything else. There was definitely a feeling of being overwhelmed in a completely new place, loving and being scared of everything in it, missing and actually not missing home at the same time. Some people got homesick for a couple of days and got intimidated by the language.

Four months may seem like a long time, but it flew by. It seemed like yesterday I was just leaving the airport in Syracuse. I leave Spain and come back being a little bit different, more open minded in my perspectives, a lot more thankful for things that we have at home, and a hundredfold richer as persons. I have more than a couple thousand pictures from all of my travels this semester and will never forget what I experienced in Spain and across Europe (as well as the terrorist threats). You gain so much more than you can imagine and the effects can last you a lifetime.

After recovering from the time changes and jet lag, I hope to have some time to reflect on all the wonderful things I had experienced over the last 4 months. Whenever you come home from a trip everyone always asks about your favorites. After struggling with this question I came up with the simple answer — all of Spain, all four months of it.

My goal was to have fun, see all that Spain had to offer, and to practice my Spanish; and that is exactly what I did. In four months, I traveled 15 different cities and experienced the highlights of Spanish culture: bullfighting, flamenco, fiestas, siestas, Spanish tortillas, sangria, museums, cathedrals, synagogues, and mosques. There are very few things that I would change about my trip.

I was also very pleased with my homestay experience and glad that I did have the opportunity to live with a family rather than in apartment or dorm. Living with a family helped me to really experience Spanish culture. It forced me to eat and try Spanish foods, live a typical Spanish lifestyle, and practice Spanish outside the classroom.

Even now as I'm writing about this trip it still seems like a dream; not only Spain, but college in general. The people I have met and the relationships I have made as a result of being a part of the Syracuse family are countless. If someone were to tell me that at 21 years old I would have already traveled Spain, Paris, and London (as well as many other countries in Europe), I would have told them they were crazy.

I would highly recommend to anyone considering studying abroad to do it, no matter where you go or what you study. You can find your own program or sign up for one of Syracuse's programs to London, Strasburg, Florence, among many others. I promise, it's an experience that you will remember and cherish forever.

When we were going in the airport to leave the States, some girls were reluctant to say goodbye and some parents were beginning to cry. It IS hard to let go but deep inside I knew that the same parents would be happy and proud of the same thing. I knew that we were going to have the best time ever. And we did. Muchissimo.

¡Hasta Luego!

Farewell Party Speech

Since I won the essay contest, I had to give an acceptance speech at the farewell party in front of about 150 people, I went in a different direction with it and talked about my experience and what being in Madrid meant to me, here it is:

First of all, I would like to thank the professors, faculty, and staff that have allowed me to spend the semester here and for that I am truly grateful. It's been an outstanding experience and really has been a dream come true to travel around Europe for the past four months and spend time with all these great people. While here, I have had the opportunity to truly become a full-time student. Traveling outside the United States was an education in itself. In addition to enjoying and learning in my classes during the week, I learned some of the most valuable lessons outside of the classroom. Study trips and excursions to museums and cultural sites added to my academic and personal growth and it was one of the best things about being here. While in Madrid, even mundane activities – like shopping for groceries or going to order food suddenly became educational experiences. I can now say that, my perspectives are global, my attitudes are international and I have memories that I will carry forever.

Essay Winner

As most of you know I recently won an essay contest, and $100 for an essay I wrote about my experiences abroad and in Madrid, here it is:

Studying abroad at SU Madrid may be that defining moment in my education that I will look at ten years from now that changed my life. Now, my perspectives are global, my attitudes are international and I have memories that I will carry forever.
First of all, being abroad and living with a host family allowed me to learn a culture first hand. But, cultural differences are more than just differences in language, food, appearances, and personal habits. A person's culture reflects very deep perceptions, beliefs, and values that influence his or her way of life and the way that they view the world. Students who experience cultural differences personally can come to truly understand where other cultures are coming from. Being immersed in an entirely new cultural setting was scary at first, but it was also exciting. I looked at it as an opportunity to discover new strengths and abilities, conquer new challenges, and solve new problems. I encountered situations that were unfamiliar to me and I learned to adapt and respond in effective ways. I am returning home with new ideas and perspectives about my own culture and myself. My experience in Madrid challenged me to reconsider my own beliefs and values and the encounter with other cultures enabled me to see my own culture through new eyes.
Also, I think in comparison with citizens of most other countries, Americans tend to be uninformed about the world beyond their own nation's boundaries. After my time abroad and at SU Madrid, I feel like I am returning to the States more informed and with a much less biased perspective toward other cultures and peoples. I was able to gain a new perspective on the United States. Being immersed in only one country gave me a limited view of our world, but from the vantage point of someone else’s culture I can truly see my own. By being exposed to so many diverse traditions in Madrid, I understand the significance of keeping my own traditions alive. I have a better understanding of how I as an individual fit into this world.
Of course, there are so many amazing things to experience around the world. I was able to see different natural landscapes and climates that simply do not exist in America. There are historical landmarks in every country that helped shape the history of the globe. You can expand your knowledge of the world by actually being there, seeing it, touching it, and experiencing it. Pictures in textbooks simply do not do justice to standing under the Eiffel Tower or next to the Parthenon in Greece or inside the Vatican in Rome. Is there a place or landmark you have always wanted to see? This is how you can understand the world in a direct, all-encompassing way. Studying and living in a different culture will help you see the world from a completely different perspective. It is an amazing experience that will change your life. 


While at SU Madrid I had the opportunity to truly become a full-time student. Traveling outside the United States was an education in itself. In addition to enjoying and learning in my classes during the week, I learned some of the most valuable lessons outside of the classroom. Study trips and excursions to museums and cultural sites added to my academic and personal growth and it was one of the best things about SU Madrid. I learned to interact with people who may not necessarily think or communicate like me. While in Madrid, even mundane activities – like shopping for groceries suddenly became educational experiences.
SU Madrid is a great study abroad that is highly recommended and was by far the best decision I have made in my life up to this point, and I hope the students who come after me take advantage of all the opportunities that SU Madrid presents them

An afternoon in Retiro Park, Madrid

Wrote this for my global communications class, but enjoy

I arrived in Madrid’s Retiro Park after 4:00 p.m. on a Sunday, having spent most of the day asleep, and a further two hours of the afternoon eating chocolate and magdalenas at my host family's behest.

It was late now – to say nothing of the cold and glowering weather – and I was frustrated with myself for having wasted so much time. Had I woken earlier, I would have maybe stopped at the Palacio de Cristal, as I’d done some days before, or walked as far as the sweet potato seller who roasts potatoes and corn cobs and other starchy things on the sidewalk outside of the Reina Sofia.

But 4:00 was too late for any of that, so I wandered aimlessly around the west side of the park, idly looking for something to do.

Retiro Park is, in general, a very good place for idle people. In fact, it was originally created just for that purpose: the park was once the stomping grounds and gardens of Spain’s court and royal family, who idled there from the 1500s until the mid-eighteenth century.

Now, even in the cold or during the bustle of the week, madrileños flock here by the hundreds, just to sit on the grass, or to drink a café, or to skate through the lines of little orange cones that dot the streets and sidewalks exactly for that purpose.

But since I had spent half the afternoon in bed, I soon became determined to rent some skates and see Retiro like a jóven madrileña.

Little did I know, it’s impossible to rent skates in Retiro – or in Madrid at all, for that matter. I started by scoping out one of the rounded, vaguely silo-like kiosks on the park’s west side, expecting to see a sign or a poster of some sort. (There are none).

I then began to lurk around groups of skaters, waiting for an “in,” watching as they spun around their cones or passed a hockey ball around the circle, exclaiming loudly when anybody missed it. I got a few curious glances but no offers of low-cost rentals. In either case I was still wasting time, and by now it was getting dark.

Desperate, at this point, and feeling very severely that I had lost a day of my life, I stomped up to a bow-tied waiter outside of a café and demanded to know, in my accented Spanish, where I could rent some rollerskates. That is unfortunately a quite literal translation. Since I did not know the word for rollerskates, I had to finish with a lame:

“Sabes dónde puedo alquiler unos … rollerskates?”

Older Spanish men often take pity on my terrible accent and gaping vocabulary. In fact, I have found that it is best to ask them for help in nearly any situation.

“Alquiler?” He said, helpfully.

“Sí.”

“Bicis?”

This, I feared, would be the sticking point. He thought I wanted to rent a bike.

“No, no,” I said, emphatically, “para los pies.”

I pointed to my feet and did a strange little roller-dance to illustrate the matter. Nodding and smiling widely, the waiter informed me that the word I was looking for was patinas, and that I could not rent them anywhere in the entire city of Madrid – much less in Retiro Park.

Still smiling, he returned to refilling the napkins at all the outdoor café tables. It was almost dark, at this point, and the tables were full of people doing absolutely nothing: old men squabbling amongst each other, young couples talking quietly, an elderly grandmother pulling a leashed infant away from the nearby curb.

In fact, it suddenly struck me that this solitary waiter was the only one busying himself with productive work, and everyone else in the park was doing whatever the hell they wanted.

“Tienes café aquí?” I asked him.

“Claro,” he said.

And so this wasted Sunday, on which I did pretty much nothing, ended up being the most “Spanish” day of my trip thus far.

It’s strange, and strangely liberating, to pass time without any sort of goal or purpose. But al fin de todo, I think that’s largely what the Spanish are all about.

Photo: Snow in Madrid

This was the view out our kitchen window this morning. Miki said that before this winter, it hadn’t snowed in Madrid in years.