The Two-Weeks Blog

This is it: the blog post that is two weeks before my departure, de regreso a los EEUU. Here are my thoughts.

14 short days are all the time I have left in Madrid, Spain. To say “time flies” is an understatement. Recently, I met some outrageous Canadian ladies who were retired, and on vacation together. Their comforting words were “honey, talk to me about it when 25 YEARS has gone by, in the blink of an eye!” Their humor helped to lighten the mood, but my resonating thought was “well, I’ll be 25 in four (almost three) more years. Shall I call you then?”

I am excited, don’t get me wrong. I’m excited for Abel to come home with me and meet my family. I’m excited for our family reunion/annual vacation in Lewes, DE. I am excited to reunite with some old friends. I’m excited for my host sister, Paula, to come visit, and for us to take trips together to Annapolis, Washington DC, and New York. I’m excited to move to NC, and start my new Elon life in a quaint apartment with my dear friend, Stephanie. I’m excited to find a job, and start classes.

Despite the emotion, the upcoming two weeks will be among the most bitter-sweet moments of my life. While I’m going home, to where my heart is, I will be leaving a piece of myself here in Spain, among the new family I have loved, and with the international friends I have gained. A part of them will always be in my heart. I will be stepping back into an old world with new eyes. This time of transition will serve as a connector between the two worlds that have come to define my life. My role will no longer be “American sister” or “international student.” I will be renewing my position as “oldest sister” and “best friend” in a place where I will always be loved, accepted, and welcomed home.  

I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to connect my two worlds. Family values are incredibly important to me, and to have been able to comfortably establish myself as a daughter and sister with my family in Madrid has been the blessing of a lifetime. In April, my grandparents come to spend several days with us at my home in Madrid, and now, in July, they will also be among those welcoming me home, and welcoming Abel to his new temporary home. My extended cousins are also coming soon to visit, so Abel will have some additional familiar faces when he is welcomed to our family reunion at the beach. Paula will have the chance to serve in the same role in which I have become so comfortable, “Spanish sister” to my natural family, come her visit to our home in the US, in six weeks.  

A sour touch of apprehension is mixed in with the bitter tears and sweet laughs that dominate the anticipation surrounding the impending end to my semester in Spain. As Javier pointed out to me this morning, “summer always ends too quickly!” with which I readily agreed. The end of my summer will be marked by newfound independence and responsibilities, the thought of which is quite daunting. My senior year at Elon will look drastically different from the previously established norms that I have grown used to over the past two years. I will be the epitome of a “poor college student.” I will no longer have the luxury of a personal kitchen (aka. campus dining hall and convenient store) right outside my front door. Instead, if I want to eat, I will have to go grocery shopping and prepare my own food. I will not have a plastic card to confirm my identity in my living space, but rather I will have a regular key accompanied by a home-owner security alert system to ensure my safety. I will no longer be confined to the four square miles occupied by my university, because I will have the freedom to drive myself wherever I please, thanks to the availability of a hand-me-down Ford Explorer. I alone will be responsible for the calories I eat, the amount I exercise, the gas I spend, the water I use, the clothes I dirty, and the homework I do.

As one door closes, another door opens. The next page of the story of my life is yet to be written. Although I hate to see this chapter come to an end, I can confidently and contentedly say that I have made the most of it. I hope to be equally as satisfied by what is to come.

Love, ~Taylor

Salamanca

Welp, this blog post is a little late.

My day-trip to Salamanca, my last trip with my dear friends Crystal (New York), Jenna (New York), Leander (Belgium), Geminis (Mexico), Karen (Mexico), Ivo (Mexico), Alejandra (Costa Rica), and Angela (Honduras), was on Saturday, June 9. Here is a photo-blog story of our trip. 

(Captions listed under the photos, this time!)
(Some photos still not rotated, unfortunately. I don't know why that is...)

We left around 8:00am, to catch a bus from Madrid to Salamanca first thing in the morning. The bus ride lasted for about three hours.

Karen, Geminis, Jenna, and Crystal: bright, shinning faces early in the morning!

Geminis, Angela, Jenna: something REALLY exciting!

Karen, Jenna: there were catedrales and colegios EVERYWHERE. The town is full of huge, ancient buildings. The University of Salamanca was the first in Spain.

Ivo, Leander, Geminis: So much love

The front of the Universidad

La Clerecía (The Clergy) y La Casa de Conchas (House of shells)

Ivo, mimicking Maestro Salinas

The Plaza Mayor in Spain was also the original plaza, on which all other Plaza Mayores (including Madrid) were based.

The girls: Crystal, Karen, Jenna, Geminis, Alejandra, me, Angela

...and the boys: Ivo, Leander.

Alejandra, Ivo, Angela, Geminis: pretending to be Christopher Columbus. And Leander: pretending to be the New World.

Karen, Leander, me: in front of the Convent of San Esteban

Me and Crystal: what a pretty building

Jenna: such a doll

We were looking for the Caves of Salamanca…

And we stumbled upon this little cove. Something tells me it’s not EXACTLY what we were looking for… but oh well!
Ivo, Leander, Alejandra, Angela, Geminis

Don’t even know what this is a picture of. But my hair looks great!

After a failed attempt to climb the wall, I was instructed to “just stand there and look pretty” long enough for the photographic proof. Done!

View of the Old and New Cathedral, from inside the “cuevas”

Such architectural expertise!

Inside La Catedral Nueva

The organ. Wow!

Impresionante.

We walked all the way across town to get to the Puente Romano, another ancient staple of the city

By the end of the day, we were exhausted. Time to eat!
Waiting for food: Ivo and Angela, with the beautiful Catedral Nueva in the background

It was quite the adventurous, fun day. We arrived back in Madrid sometime after 10:00pm.

Throughout the day, the most impressive and beautiful things were saw were a bride, some churches, and some roman ruins. (The bride was beautiful; she was getting married in a cathedral!) The only things we didn’t get to see in Salamanca were the Frog and the Astronaut. The reason being: we didn’t know to look for them. Bummer! I realized the Frog was significant only when I noticed the symbol in the souvenir shops, and finally asked what it means. Apparently, there is a small frog on the door from of the university. The students who find it are destined to have good luck, and pass all of their exams. I was told about the Astronaut later on: the architect of the New Cathedral was instructed to leave his “signature” on his work, so what he elected was a small astronaut structure stuck in the midst of all the intricate decorations. Clever!

I wish I had a step-counter. I bet I've walked more (taken more steps) simply during this semester of traveling that in my entire life, previously.

Love, ~Taylor

That explains a lot.

I’m living every student’s dream: I have no official tests or exams, I don’t have to turn in my homework by a set deadline, attendance in class is not required, and I can get away with doing all of my research on Wikipedia. My classmates and I were even allowed to determine what would be our last day of class! But, be careful what you wish for. As a kid born and raised in the US culture, and furthermore, as a product of US academic culture, I have found the lack of structure and the extreme amounts of flexibility to be quite stressful and nerve-wrecking. I just don’t know how to deal with it!

In Culture Class, we’ve learned that there are three categories of problems that create clashes between cultures. The categories are: problems that stem from social relationships and interactions with people, problems that stem from attitudes about time, and problems that stem from concepts about place.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it is that I am definitely a product of my culture. Really, everyone is a product of their culture. No one has no culture. Everyone is influenced by their own culture. There is no way to avoid it, and there is no way to stay neutral. It’s inevitable, and unavoidable. No one culture is better than any other; cultures simply present different solutions of dealing with the same problems.

Here are some examples.

Don’t ask me what my last day of school is. I don’t know! It will be more frustrating for me to explain to you WHY I don’t know what my last day of school is than it would be for me to just bask in the complications of not knowing. In one class, we asked the professor, “what is our last day of class?” Basically, she didn’t know either. She told us that, as an employee of the school, she is required to say that she will hold class until June 13. As a nice person, she encouraged us to take advantage of her support, and she assured us that she would be flexible and respectful of our personal schedules. She said, “well, what day you want the last day of class to be? I can’t force you to come.” I finally said, “look, I’m uncomfortable making that decision. As the teacher, I would like you to tell me what I have to do to be successful in your class.” Instead of determining the last day of class, what I remember as the outcome of that conversation was that the deadline for our final homework assignment was extended because we (the students) indicated that “we would need more time” to work on it.

Don’t plan out the days for while you’re in Spain. I learned that the hard way (but of course, I still do it, anyway). The US has a very forward-thinking culture; we are constantly thinking about the things we “have to do” today, or the plans that we “have to make” in order to have a successful day or a successful life. Spain operates with a much more relaxed mindset, where they enjoy the present without worrying about consequences or other factors. They are much more in-touch with having important and meaningful social interactions, which will take precedence over any other plans. For example, when I “scheduled” an appointment with a professor for a make-up test several weeks ago, I waited for him in the classroom for an hour before I decided I was wasting my time. I sent a nasty-gram email saying “what happened? When can I make up my test? I thought I was supposed to do it an hour ago!” My professor apologized for getting wrapped up in conversation over breakfast and losing track of time. He assured me that we would be able to find another time to reschedule (again) my test make-up.

Food and meals are a different concept, all together. There is no such thing as “fast food” in Spain. There is no such thing “grab a bite to eat.” There is no such thing as “eat quickly, before we have to go.” No one is ever in a hurry, here. Rather, meals are always intended to be enjoyed as a sit-down face-to-face social bonding experience. Putting an end-time on a lunch-date is unheard of; that would come across as a slap-in-the-face to the person or friend with whom you’re eating. Because of that, meals in the middle of the day or nighttime dinners could take up to four or five hours to finish. The meal isn’t based on the quality of the food or the speed of service, but rather the intimacy of the conversation that is being enjoyed in the present moment. Eating isn’t just a necessary chore because we need the energy, but rather it is a vehicle for relaxing and spending time with friends.

Wikipedia is regarded as the best invention on the planet, since sliced bread. “If you aren’t familiar with Wikipedia, you should really check it out sometime.” “It’s a great site.” “Oh, wow, this is great: there is a summary on Wikipedia!” “Cool, maybe we should check the Wikipedia page for more information.” (--Things that have been said by professors, in Spain.) In line with not planning out their days, and not thinking about what will happen tomorrow, professors often pull up the Wikipedia page and read off of it, as they teach class. We have no syllabi or rubrics to follow. We can always have “off-topic” conversations during class, because there was no topic established for the day in the first place. This teaching style takes the meanings of “self-directed” and “student-run” to a whole new level; we (the students) are asked what we would like to talk about in class today. And, needless to say, as far as my school work is concerned, there is absolutely no need for: databases, time to do homework, stress over class, or even a notebook.

Forgotten how to study,
With love, ~Taylor

Cinema

When people in Spain ask me what I study, it’s sometimes hard to answer them.

If I were in the US, I would tell them the truth: Psychology, and Spanish.

But, in Spain, I have no Psychology classes. And all of my classes are in Spanish. Duh.

It seems too obvious to say that I’m studying Spanish in Spain.

There’s the technical answer: My degree program in Spain is in the Communications department: Translation.

But really, the simplest answer would probably be: Cinema. Which is ironic, because I know absolutely NOTHING about Cinema.

The thing is:

I’m taking a class on Spanish film, called Cine. I’ve have found that class to be the biggest waste of time, EVER.

In my Culture class, when I was assigned a presentation topic, I ended up with “Cine Español: the last 15 years.” Naturally, therefore, when I had to pick a topic to write about for Cine class, I picked “Cine Español: the last 15 years.”

Funny enough, out of seven assignments in Translation class, three of them (one article, and two tests) have been about Cinema.

In which case, while I know nothing about Spanish or English or American film-making, I am quite well-versed in the Spanish vocabulary of the Cinema field.

Interesting.

What I’ve gleaned from this conclusion: well, at least there was something worthwhile that came out of my school work in Spain. At least I learned a surplus of words and conversational topics pertaining to Spanish film. And, honestly, it makes me marginally happy to know that my courses here do actually complement one another, even if that overlap proves seemingly useless and unrelated to what I’m actually studying.

Should’ve studied Cinema,

Love, ~Taylor

London

I took a three-day trip to London with my friends Carlos, Karen, and Geminis. (I flew out on the night of Friday, May 11, and we returned on Tuesday, May 15. Our days in London were Saturday, May 12, Sunday, May 13, and Monday, May 14.) Some say that London is too big, and you need to know what you want to see before you go. I’m here to tell you that, while that might be a more time-efficient way to plan your trip, it is not entirely necessary. From someone who just walked around the whole of London in just three days, here are my recommendations (listed in the order that me pasaron a mí):

Speak English

My mind ended up so confused while I spent the whole weekend speaking Spanish in England. My friends are from Mexico, and translating English for them while also having to explain the differences between British English and American English was the biggest conscious effort I’ve ever had to make to constantly switch languages de repente and speak one or the other consistently.

Fly Cheaply

Ryanair is the way to go. (Left to right: Carlos, Karen, Geminis)

Take the Tube

The London Underground is an extensive metro system. It takes about two hours to get from one side of the other, and you may have to switch trains up to four times in one trip (I know from experience), and while it’s not quite as cool/easy/fast/well-organized as the Madrid Metro, it’s certainly better than the DC Metro, and it is a quicker and more economic option than taking a taxi.

I made some friends on flight on the way there: a woman named Alison who is from England but works in Madrid, and a nice Madrileño couple (Dulce and José) whose son is studying in London. As Alison explained to me, in an effort to calm my nerves about hailing a taxi as a worst-case scenario: “you know that image of the black London taxi with a yellow sign, and a red telephone booth? That’s real; you can’t miss it.” Here’s proof of the red telephone booth:

A one-day all-access travel pass costs ₤7.70 to ride the Tube as much as you want. We certainly took advantage of that opportunity! Our trip to Windsor Castle went like this:

From Wanstead Park, take the London Overground line towards Barking, to Barking.

From Barking, take the District line towards Edgware Road, to Paddington.

From Paddington, take the National Rail Service to Slough.

From Slough, continue on the National Rail Service to Windsor.

(Correction: The National Rail Service costs extra.)

Look Right

It is true that they drive on the “wrong” side of the street, (which is really the right side), and that the driver is on the other side of the car. It makes “look both ways” all that much more important. Don’t do what I did, and start crossing the street when you’ve only looked one way, because the likelihood is that you’ve looked to the left, but cars are approaching from the right. Because of this, walking traffic also moves on the right side of sidewalks and elevators. Weird.

Madame Tussaud’s

We didn’t actually go into Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, but it looked pretty cool from the outside! A mime approached us and encouraged us to go in. It’s right around the corner from the Baker Street Underground. There is a cool statue of Sherlock Holmes right outside of it, and a figure of Kate Winslet was on display.

Convent Garden

I still don’t actually know if Convent Garden is a real garden. If so, I didn’t see it. What we did see, however, was the Convent Garden Market, which was hopping with activity.

The Royal Courts of Justice

…were opened by Queen Victoria in December 1882, and is located on the Strand, a street in the City of Westminster.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

…is the highest point in London!

Millennium Bridge

…is a footbridge that crosses the River Thames. You may also recognize it as the “Brockdale Bridge” from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).

From it, you can see the:

...Shard London Bridge, aka. The Shard of Glass, aka. The London Bridge Tower, which is tallest building in Europe. Construction is to be completed later this year.

(more pictures of the Shard London Bridge, taken from the Tower Bridge):

…The dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral

...and some other landmarks.

Shakespeare’s Globe

…is another one that we didn’t have the chance to go into, but it was recommended to me by a friend. I took a picture of the outside. Shakespeare is buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-on-Avon, but he also has a plaque in the Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey.

Golden Hind Replica Ship

...is pretty cool. We walked right passed it. For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hinde

Southwark Cathedral

Tower Bridge

…is beautiful and iconic. Not to be confused with London Bridge, which is simply a traffic bridge crossing the River Thames (nothing exciting). The HMS Belfast is right in front of it, which was the largest cruiser in the Royal Navy, built in 1938.

The Tower of London

…was closed when we got there at the end of the day, so we didn’t get to go into the castle. From the view across the River Thames, you can see the water-gate called "Traitors' Gate."

  

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a shopping district in London said to look like Times Square in NYC. Some of its attractions are the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, M&M World, Chinatown, theaters, and shopping. So cool!

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is especially cool to visit during the Change of Guards, which we did! There were a ton of people. According to the Union Jack flag situated on top of it, the Queen was not in residence at the moment.

Westminster Cathedral

Westminster Abbey

Of course we couldn't take pictures inside, but believe me when I tell you that we saw the graves of tons of kings and queens, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Henry Irving, Charles Dickens, etc.

Big Ben

London Eye

Riding the London Eye Ferris Wheel, the tallest Ferris Wheel in Europe, was one of my favorite things. Our ticket included a short 4-D film about the skyline of London, which was really neat! I love skylines.

Golden Jubilee Bridges

National Gallery and Trafalgar Square

Entrance into the National Gallery is FREE, which is GREAT for a student budget! We didn’t have a lot of time to look around, but the artists I recognized included: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. It was also here that we saw the Official Olympic count-down clock =)

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

Hyde Park, most popularly known for the Speakers’ Corner, is one of the Royal Parks, which is home to The Serpentine River, a Peter Pan statue, and Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

Windsor Castle

Despite the light rain, the cold weather, and the train-mess involved in getting there, Windsor Castle was stunning, and I am so glad that I took the trip to see it. We took an audio-guide tour through the castle grounds, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, the Drawings Gallery, and the State Apartments. So beautiful!

Apollo Victoria Theater

Another highlight was seeing Wicked with Geminis in the Apollo Victoria Theater. I was not familiar with the story, but the show was fabulous. (Although, The Wizard of Oz was kind of ruined for me after that.) We had nosebleed seats, but it was still a great time. Also playing in London this weekend was Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, and Singing in the Rain. 

En fin…

En fin, I would love to go back and spend some more time. I think you could easily spend at least a full day in any one of the attractions I just mentioned. Ojalá que tuviera el tiempo y el dinero para hacer eso. This wall-hanging in our hotel pretty accurately summarizes the weekend:

Wishing I had more time and money to vacation to London,

Love, ~Taylor

(**Source Note: All statistics and historical information have been verified by material published on Wikipedia.)