I´m almost done with my year- I´m getting pretty homesick because it´s always on my mine, but I´m in a funk because I have to leave these amazing guys and this wonderful place.
Things that will remind me forever of my Erasmus year:
-I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas
-any song with an Electronic beat (it´ll remind me mostly of Germany)
-Chorizo
-Hard Baguettes
-Any hot weather that is strong enough to take your breath away
-wine
-people shouting
-Compact cars
-Cafés
-Communists (not because the Spanish are, but because we lived in a commune)
-Not Studying
-Clapping
-Public Transportation
-Beer Pong
-The sky
“Man. Probably the most mysterious creature on our planet. A mystery of questions without answers. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? How do we know what we think we know? Why do we believe at all? Countless questions without answers in search of an answer. An answer that will give rise to a new question. And the next answer will give rise to another question so on and so on. But in the end, isn't it always the same question? And the same answer? The ball is round, the game lasta 90 minutes. That is a fact. Everything else is pure theory."
- From Lola Rennt
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Lift your hopeful voice...
Six and a half weeks is what´s left until my journey here comes to an end, and I go back home. I leave on the 1st of July if everything goes well and am able to catch the plane on that day. Most of my friends are leaving before that, so we´re all thinking about the end now although final projects and exams are helping take our minds off of it. I´m not ready to embrace "goodbye" yet, so I´ll not talk about that until the absolute end. I´ll focus on just normal life.
Well, I have a final in El Mundo Actual, Alemán, and Bioética. I have projects in El Mundo Actual and Psychology. I finished my project for Alemán which included giving a ten minute presentation in German which was a blast being as I have taken a few months of German lessons and DEFINITELY don´t speak that complicated language, but I did fine in relation to everyone else, so now worries. As if University here isn´t keeping me busy enough, I´m in the process of applying to medical schools in teh US, and this isn´t an easy task- it´s coming slowly. I would just like to have my application submitted by June 1 or somewhere around that date, so that I can travel with Bryan and Jacob when they come.
My travel plans for Bryan and Jacob are the South of Spain: Granada, Sevilla, etc. I also want to travel out of the country once or twice: definitely Rome and maybe Paris. I am going in June with one of my housemates to France- about two hours from Bourdeaux, and I´m pretty excited about that trip.
It´s pretty crazy what happens when you put about 500 twenty-something year old students from all over the world in one city. I´ve made some truly profound friendships here in Alcalá- and in record time. There´s something about it. I´ve had many late nights that included a friend, life-conversation, and wine; and I really can´t think of a better way to unwind.
I´ve figured out how to really just enjoy whatever is thrown my way-
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Growing...
Maybe it´s just a normal " I´m-22-and-trying-to-figure-out-my-life" thing, but I have spent, believe it or not, a lot of time this year thinking about, well, basically everything- the main thing that is always on my mind is- how can I better myself today?
I´ve met a lot of people in the past year- most of the people I probably won´t see again, but a few I will keep in contact for the rest of my life.
I have recently found myself growing tired of meeting people and having meaningless conversation. Maybe this is a little harsh, but the truth is, is that I try to treat everyone I meet as an opportunity to grow and open my eyes a little more. We all have our particular ways of doing things and ways of seeing the world- I may not agree with everything or even ANYTHING that a person does or thinks, but I always note the difference.
I´ve had some incredible conversations with some extraordinary people during my travels. The freedom that comes when you can just sit with a person and talk about whatever comes to mind is absolute.
I believe that building a friendship that will last a lifetime doesn´t take a lifetime.
I believe that time or distance can´t change the impact that people make on you and this makes any time you spend with someone worth the while.
I believe that everyone you meet changes you a little, so why waste time talking about inane things when the small amount of time I may have with a person I meet is precious. Tell me about what you think, about who you are, what makes you mad, happy, sad- The words you choose say a lot about you and impact whomever you speak to.
It feels good to speak your mind, be passionate about your interests, and connect on a fundamental level with people that are probably different than you.
This I believe.
“When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self." - Confucius
I´ve met a lot of people in the past year- most of the people I probably won´t see again, but a few I will keep in contact for the rest of my life.
I have recently found myself growing tired of meeting people and having meaningless conversation. Maybe this is a little harsh, but the truth is, is that I try to treat everyone I meet as an opportunity to grow and open my eyes a little more. We all have our particular ways of doing things and ways of seeing the world- I may not agree with everything or even ANYTHING that a person does or thinks, but I always note the difference.
I´ve had some incredible conversations with some extraordinary people during my travels. The freedom that comes when you can just sit with a person and talk about whatever comes to mind is absolute.
I believe that building a friendship that will last a lifetime doesn´t take a lifetime.
I believe that time or distance can´t change the impact that people make on you and this makes any time you spend with someone worth the while.
I believe that everyone you meet changes you a little, so why waste time talking about inane things when the small amount of time I may have with a person I meet is precious. Tell me about what you think, about who you are, what makes you mad, happy, sad- The words you choose say a lot about you and impact whomever you speak to.
It feels good to speak your mind, be passionate about your interests, and connect on a fundamental level with people that are probably different than you.
This I believe.
“When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self." - Confucius
Alemania- 31.4- 11.4
I was fortunate enough to have the chance to go to Germany in order to visit a great friend who would prove also to be a really good host and provide me the chance to see a lot of Germany
I flew to Frankfurt on the 31st of March to visit my good friend and to see a bit of Germany. I was really impressed with what I saw of Germany. I think it reminded me a bit of Mississippi because of all of the forests, and it was really easy to get out of the city and into nature which for me is awesome.
So I flew to Frankfurt where I was picked up by Erik, and then we went to Darmstadt to hang out with other guys. After Darmstadt, we drove to Pützchen, which is a small suburb of Bonn, to Stay with Erik´s family for a few days before driving to Holland. Bonn was a great city on the Rhine river- really pretty-.
After a couple of days in Bonn, we decided to make our trip to the Netherlands. It was an interesting drive because we picked up some hitchhikers (it´s an organized hitchhiking thing on the internet) and drove them to Aachen, Germany and then we went directly to Maastricht, Netherlands. We just spent a few hours walking around the city and just relaxing. After a few hours in Maastricht, we went to Eindhoven- this is where our hotel was. We didn´t really see too much of Eindhoven because we arrived late and basically just crashed at the hotel in order to be able to get up and drive to Amsterdam the next morning.
Amsterdam was an INCREDIBLE city. The architecture is REALLY beautiful and typically Dutch. The canals really make it a special city. So yes, there is TONS to see and do in Amsterdam besides prostitutes and Coffee Shops.
We didn´t spend the night in Amsterdam because it was around easter time, and all of the Hostels were even more expensive than normal. We left at night to drive back into Germany and stay at Erik´s grandmother´s house. On Easter morning we got up and had breakfast at this house and left to spend Easter with the Koppermanns in Bonn.
After the trip to Holland, we stayed and did around Bonn for several days. I saw Köln- another beautiful city on the Rhine. Towards the end of my trip, Erik, his friend Moritz and I took a road trip down to the South of Germany to München. The drive takes about 3 and a half hours but is a scenic drive- makes things easier. We spent two nights in München at one of Erik´s friend´s house, Tony. München was probably my favorite city that I saw while in Germany, although Köln was close too. Having a Maaß (Gigantic beer) in a sunny Biergarten while having some Fries and half a chicken- well it´s hard to beat that, isn´t it?
A lot happened in Germany, but I feel like it gets repetitive to say everything, but I´ll leave on this note.
It´s an incredible opportunity to travel to another country and be completely submerged in a "normal" life there. I lived for about 2 weeks with a German family and saw how they live. It can be difficult because I was sinking in German (Ich spreche KEIN Deutsch), but the people I met were REALLY emphatic about speaking English around me. I enjoy hearing the German and learning a few words, but after much time of not understanding, your head hurts and can get a little frustrating. For the most part, no problems on that part. But I digress.
It´s a different feel when you can stay with people from the country you´re visiting. Doing tourist things is fine and often very interesting, and I did tourist things; but it´s great to be able to just hang out and sit and talk to people from that country. It really opens your eyes and is a great opportunity to learn. Travelling and learning has been my goal this year, and all of my trips and the people I come across have taught me something different. I found the people in Germany really easy to talk to and extremely warm. Truly a great first impression of the country- I must go back.
I met a lot of really interesting people and had one of the best times of this year if not my life.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Germany
I´m in Germany now- I have been to the Netherlands: Eindhoven, Maastricht and Amsterdam. In Germany I arrived in Frankfurt and then went to a small city of Frankfurt (Darmstadt) for the night. Most of my time has been spent in Bonn with a few visits to surrounding cities like Cologne. Also, I went and spent Easter in Erik´s grandmother´s small city.
I am packing as we speak to go to Munich to finish off my trip. I´ll describe more in detail later.
More to come.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
A bit late
Better late than never- I went home to visit family and friends at the beginning of March, and it was a great time. For some reason I had in my head that things would change, but that was far from the case. At first it was a bit awkward upon first arriving, but I think the majority of that awkwardness came from the fact that I really didn't know what to say. It's one thing being away from home for 1 or 2 months and having a lot of stories to tell, but I had been away from home for 6 months and basically had been living another life filled with a ton of new adventures and friends- there was no way to even begin to talk about what my life had been like in any detail. After realizing that the best thing was to just go about as if I hadn't been away, and this was the best approach. Quickly the awkwardness faded and life resumed its normal flow.
I was only home for a week which is just enough time to get over the jet-lag, but it was well worth it. I made a visit to MSU to see some friends there, but I spent most of my time with my family on the coast.
At the end of the week I was ready to get back to Spain and finish up the year enjoying the time with people there and visiting different places.
Home is where the heart is- I guess this means I have more than one heart.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Where are you from?
Where to begin? The last two weeks have been insane for me.
One of my housemates, Georg, had two of his friends over for a couple of days two weeks ago, and I spent those days doing around with them- always fun going around with visitors and doing the normal tourist stuff. Also, my friend from Madrid, Sergio, came for one night and we had a great time hanging out in Alcalá. This is on Friday the 12th of March. The following week was supposed to be an down-week for me because I was getting tired of constantly going and doing during the past week, and the truth be told, I can only do la noche en blanco(all-nighters) like once or twice and then I´m needing some heavy sleep for a while; but of course, things don´t go as I´d have liked. The week of the 15th got off to a good smooth start and then kicked off with St. Patrick´s day on that Wednesday and another housemate´s Birthday party on Thursday (Camille). This birthday party was GREAT, but the electricity shuts off completely that night. It wasn´t a simple flipped breaker, it was major ´call your electrician´ electrical problems. We decided to rough it out that night and wake up the following morning in order to call our landlord, Rosa and have the problem solved. Little did we know that Señora Rosa was in Rome. "No worries! We´ll have a few days of no electricity or hot water!" - this is where it begins.
The following day, Friday the 19th, the entire house wakes up early (there were 9 of us at the time) and go have lunch at the local Mexican restaurant- don´t get excited, it´s not good Mexican- and afterward we go to our grocery store Carrefour in order to buy a grill and food to go with it. We get back home and start preparing all of the food that we bought along with food that was going to ruin in the fridges.
As night falls, we begin to light all 10.000 candles we bought and light up the grill. The night was incredible- literally one of the best nights I´ve had this year in Spain (nearly :) ). We sat around and talked, sang, played games and just bonded in a way that I haven´t experienced in a very long time. The conversation was light yet at times deep and thought-provoking. We stayed up until about 7.30 in the morning doing this.
The next day was a lazy day filled with the same things except a little bit of reading and studying too. Everything was just so much easier without the clutter of the constant stimulus of THINGS invading your senses at all times. We decided to put 3 of our individual mattresses together in the common area on the third floor and make "Supermattress" so we could all just have a place to lay, talk and read. That night we all cooked the remnants in the fridges and 6 of us watched a film and then slept. On Sunday, we were able to get in touch with our landlord, and she had someone come and repair the electrical problem by mid-afternoon.
It was a great yet simple 3 days filled with a lot of different conversations and a lot of thinking on my part. One conversation I had with a really interesting character made me think a lot.
We were talking about nationalities and things- The first thing you ask someone you meet is "where are you from?". Why is this? I believe it´s because we as humans love to put things into boxes that are labeled because by doing this we give order to our crazy lives, but I honestly think this is ludicrous. At best, knowing someone´s nationality gives you a minute inkling of what they COULD have been exposed to throughout their lives, but in reality tells nothing of value. All it seems to do is make people think they know things about you, and the majority of those things are probably not positive. Me being from the United States of America- What does that say about me? What does someone being from Germany say about them? Nothing- yet we all are obsessed with this question, myself included. Why?
Each person is their own- French, English, German or American. Yes, we are a product of our environment, but our environment is so much more than our nationality- it´s who we associate with, our parents. It´s that one time we were embarrassed in front of the entire class or that one trip to a foreign land. My nationality is only a small SMALL part of what defines me.
Asking someone where they are from or what their parents do for a living are good questions to point you in very broad direction in getting to know a person, but once you do get to know a person you can quickly trash any ideas of their nationality. If you want to get to know someone; sit, talk, ask questions and listen. When you make first contact with a person and ask ´Where are you from?´ you will have a marble slab and by bonding with this person and just having personal conversation you will slowly chip away at this "slab" until slowly, very slowly what´s left is a unique person that no country can claim as their own.
One of my housemates, Georg, had two of his friends over for a couple of days two weeks ago, and I spent those days doing around with them- always fun going around with visitors and doing the normal tourist stuff. Also, my friend from Madrid, Sergio, came for one night and we had a great time hanging out in Alcalá. This is on Friday the 12th of March. The following week was supposed to be an down-week for me because I was getting tired of constantly going and doing during the past week, and the truth be told, I can only do la noche en blanco(all-nighters) like once or twice and then I´m needing some heavy sleep for a while; but of course, things don´t go as I´d have liked. The week of the 15th got off to a good smooth start and then kicked off with St. Patrick´s day on that Wednesday and another housemate´s Birthday party on Thursday (Camille). This birthday party was GREAT, but the electricity shuts off completely that night. It wasn´t a simple flipped breaker, it was major ´call your electrician´ electrical problems. We decided to rough it out that night and wake up the following morning in order to call our landlord, Rosa and have the problem solved. Little did we know that Señora Rosa was in Rome. "No worries! We´ll have a few days of no electricity or hot water!" - this is where it begins.
The following day, Friday the 19th, the entire house wakes up early (there were 9 of us at the time) and go have lunch at the local Mexican restaurant- don´t get excited, it´s not good Mexican- and afterward we go to our grocery store Carrefour in order to buy a grill and food to go with it. We get back home and start preparing all of the food that we bought along with food that was going to ruin in the fridges.
As night falls, we begin to light all 10.000 candles we bought and light up the grill. The night was incredible- literally one of the best nights I´ve had this year in Spain (nearly :) ). We sat around and talked, sang, played games and just bonded in a way that I haven´t experienced in a very long time. The conversation was light yet at times deep and thought-provoking. We stayed up until about 7.30 in the morning doing this.
The next day was a lazy day filled with the same things except a little bit of reading and studying too. Everything was just so much easier without the clutter of the constant stimulus of THINGS invading your senses at all times. We decided to put 3 of our individual mattresses together in the common area on the third floor and make "Supermattress" so we could all just have a place to lay, talk and read. That night we all cooked the remnants in the fridges and 6 of us watched a film and then slept. On Sunday, we were able to get in touch with our landlord, and she had someone come and repair the electrical problem by mid-afternoon.
It was a great yet simple 3 days filled with a lot of different conversations and a lot of thinking on my part. One conversation I had with a really interesting character made me think a lot.
We were talking about nationalities and things- The first thing you ask someone you meet is "where are you from?". Why is this? I believe it´s because we as humans love to put things into boxes that are labeled because by doing this we give order to our crazy lives, but I honestly think this is ludicrous. At best, knowing someone´s nationality gives you a minute inkling of what they COULD have been exposed to throughout their lives, but in reality tells nothing of value. All it seems to do is make people think they know things about you, and the majority of those things are probably not positive. Me being from the United States of America- What does that say about me? What does someone being from Germany say about them? Nothing- yet we all are obsessed with this question, myself included. Why?
Each person is their own- French, English, German or American. Yes, we are a product of our environment, but our environment is so much more than our nationality- it´s who we associate with, our parents. It´s that one time we were embarrassed in front of the entire class or that one trip to a foreign land. My nationality is only a small SMALL part of what defines me.
Asking someone where they are from or what their parents do for a living are good questions to point you in very broad direction in getting to know a person, but once you do get to know a person you can quickly trash any ideas of their nationality. If you want to get to know someone; sit, talk, ask questions and listen. When you make first contact with a person and ask ´Where are you from?´ you will have a marble slab and by bonding with this person and just having personal conversation you will slowly chip away at this "slab" until slowly, very slowly what´s left is a unique person that no country can claim as their own.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Todo Nuevo
Well, the new semester has come. This is the first new year that I actually felt EVERYTHING would start fresh. I start new classes... new people come....old friends leave... It´s a little refreshing but nerve racking at the same time. I´m a big fan of constants and this year is not one of constants. I like to be comfortable and know what will happen, and this doesn´t happen very often here. So I´m learning to thrive on the uncomfortable situations which I feel is good for me.
I used to love the fact that if I wanted to get things done, I had only to ask any of the brilliant people that I was surrounded by and I would have almost any problem solved, but this last semester a friend showed me the satisfaction that comes with figuring everything out on your own and the huge amount of learning experiences that surround us everyday- no matter how small. I thought I knew that, but then I looked back and realized that it wasn´t the case.
I love my new house and the guys that I live with- we have a lot of fun.
The weather has been getting nice, then it randomly snowed, and now it´s back to "normal." I assume that the weather will start warming up nicely soon, and I´m excited.
Lanzarote- I spent a 5 days in Lanzarote which is one of the Canary Islands (Spain) off of the West coast of Africa. The islands are Volcanic. The weather was amazing there- My body took 2 days of pure beach and made me look like a black man. We rented a car for 2 days and drove around the entire island almost. It was a great feeling to drive for the first time in 5 months although I drove a Kia Picanto- it´s the equivalent to a go cart. Our four-wheelers at home in the States have more power... literally. But nontheless, it was really fun driving for 10 euros for 2 days. One day we went to a national park (Tinyama.....something). It was super touristy, but really was incredible to see the landscape that was formed by a volcano. As far as your eyes could see, there were lava rock formations and the earth that you could see was red. I felt as if I was on Mars. One final remark- we stayed in a hotel that had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen for 8 euros a night- awesome.
Classes:
Psychology
Bioethics
The Recent World
German I
I really love my classes- it´s good to take Psychology (only had it in High School) and Bioethics is going to be an incredible class because it´s taught by a doctor and a pharmacist and seems to be really clinically based which is great for me.
My last 5 months in Spain will prove to be just as incredible as the first 5 months even with the change of tides.
"Know yourself and you will know the world."
I used to love the fact that if I wanted to get things done, I had only to ask any of the brilliant people that I was surrounded by and I would have almost any problem solved, but this last semester a friend showed me the satisfaction that comes with figuring everything out on your own and the huge amount of learning experiences that surround us everyday- no matter how small. I thought I knew that, but then I looked back and realized that it wasn´t the case.
I love my new house and the guys that I live with- we have a lot of fun.
The weather has been getting nice, then it randomly snowed, and now it´s back to "normal." I assume that the weather will start warming up nicely soon, and I´m excited.
Lanzarote- I spent a 5 days in Lanzarote which is one of the Canary Islands (Spain) off of the West coast of Africa. The islands are Volcanic. The weather was amazing there- My body took 2 days of pure beach and made me look like a black man. We rented a car for 2 days and drove around the entire island almost. It was a great feeling to drive for the first time in 5 months although I drove a Kia Picanto- it´s the equivalent to a go cart. Our four-wheelers at home in the States have more power... literally. But nontheless, it was really fun driving for 10 euros for 2 days. One day we went to a national park (Tinyama.....something). It was super touristy, but really was incredible to see the landscape that was formed by a volcano. As far as your eyes could see, there were lava rock formations and the earth that you could see was red. I felt as if I was on Mars. One final remark- we stayed in a hotel that had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen for 8 euros a night- awesome.
Classes:
Psychology
Bioethics
The Recent World
German I
I really love my classes- it´s good to take Psychology (only had it in High School) and Bioethics is going to be an incredible class because it´s taught by a doctor and a pharmacist and seems to be really clinically based which is great for me.
My last 5 months in Spain will prove to be just as incredible as the first 5 months even with the change of tides.
"Know yourself and you will know the world."
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Mia gets 2 birthdays?!?!
It's been 3 years since my youngest sister became apart of our family, and it's absolutely incredible to look at pictures of her then in China and see her now with us. It is really difficult for me to be away when my youngest sister is changing the most, but I know she knows I love and miss her. A lot is going on with me in Spain, but I just wanted to update and wish Mia a happy birthday and let my family know that I have all of the respect in the world for them. What a privilege to be apart of a family that has the will and ability to change the life of a little girl.
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