The colloquial term for boyfriend/girlfriend in Chile is “pololo/a.” One of the very first things I noticed in Chile is that there are many young couples. Not only are there many young couples, but they are not afraid to show their love each other in public. In the parks, on the streets, in restaurants, and the metro, there are couples embracing each other as if there were no other people around. South America itself is a very touchy region, it is common to kiss cheeks as a greeting. One of my classmates even theorized that these young couples show their affection publicly because they usually remain in their parents’ home until late twenties, or whenever they get a job. I’m assuming living with the ‘rents for that long doesn’t entail a lot of privacy. Even in the host family that I’m staying with, the two boys still live with their mother and they are both in their twenties. It’s easier and more affordable for the children to live with their parents while going to school, which is the case of both my host brothers. Anywho, yesterday my class went on a guide of Santiago. We started out in Plaza de Arma, and for about 4 hours we walked around all of central Santiago city. One of the places we stopped at was Moneda, which is the equivalent to the White House in America. It’s considered their president’s house, and attached is a picture of all of us in front of it! (Check out my palm tree pants!!) There are 11 of us students that are in the program at Universidad Alberto Hurtado, and they’re all pretty awesome. 

 

Anywho, I’m off to bed, I have class tomorrow morning.

Ciao!

 

I’ve officially survived my first week in Barcelona, a beautiful city that stretches from the mountains to the sea. It has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least, each day packed with overwhelming adventure. They definitely weren’t kidding when they told us that culture shock was real… so here are some things I have already learned in the short time I have been here:

1. Catalunya is not Spain.

Of course, technically it is, but Catalans see their region (Barcelona), culture and heritage entirely unique to that of the rest of Spain. Spanish is spoken everywhere, but Catalan is still the official language of the city and most maps, signs, advertisements and menus are in Catalan.

2. Eating hours change once you cross the Atlantic.

Lunch is the largest meal of the day and the time when most Spaniards want to sit down to a three-course meal, followed by a nice siesta when shops are closed from around 2-5pm. Then dinner is typically from 9 to 11:30pm. If your stomach can’t hold out till then, it’s common to snack throughout the day on little sandwiches and coffee. It was definitely hard to get used to at first but I’m really starting to enjoy this lifestyle.

3. Iced coffee doesn’t exist *gasp*

It’s true folks. Ice coffee is not common this time of year. If you order “café con hielo” in Spain, you are served two glasses: one with coffee and the other full of ice. It’s up to you to pour your coffee onto the ice cubes.

 And taking it to go is true American fashion.

Spaniards are in no rush. It is traditional to sit down at a cafe and enjoy your cup of coffee over a long period of time. With that being said, they call it “take away” coffee here, which only exist in certain chains like Farggi, and is frowned upon.

4. Eating out can be hard on the wallet especially with today’s euro exchange.

To avoid this, you can find off the beaten path neighborhood cafes that have daily deals. For 2 euros you can get a light meal of a sandwich and coffee or for 10 euros you can get bread, a glass of beer, a starter dish, an entree, dessert, and coffee.

5. Blending in is hard, but confidence is key.

Barcelona is a main tourist destination, and almost every Spaniard speaks English. Once they figure out you’re American, you are almost immediately treated differently. As if on command, they will speak to you in English, or hand you a menu in English without really giving you a chance to try out your Spanish. It’s a little discouraging but once I start to blend in and improve my language skills with confidence, I’ll get the hang of it and feel like a Spaniard in no time!

One week down, so many more amazing to look forward to.

Besos!

Ciao !

After spending the last day in America sick with the flu, I made it to Chile! For all you Chicagoans, it is ridiculously hot over here. It’s been 90+ degrees and I’m already super tan. ;] The language barrier is real, it’s only been 2 days, but it has been very frustrating communicating with my host family at times. However, they’ve been nothing but nice to me and more than accommodating to my needs! I think my new favorite word is qué? Atleast, I’ve been saying it after every comment made towards me since I’ve landed. Like typical me, I’ve already been to the mall in Chile. It’s apparently the tallest and biggest in all of South America,which does not surprise me because I went three times today (for various reasons) and I still haven’t seen half of the mall. It’s absolutely gigantic. The currency exchange here is also crazy. I’m not exactly sure what the conversion is, I’ll have to double check, but I feel rich ;D. Anywho, I have class tomorrow at 9:30am, so I’m heading off to bed.

 

-Christine

 

As I am writing this post, my plane is about to take off For China! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am. I have already met up with many of my classmates from Loyola & we are eagerly awaiting our future adventure in Beijing. Now I have to post this before we take off, so best wishes & more to fellow.

Matt Kugler

After arriving a day later than planned, with a sore back from my backpack and completely exhausted, I am glad to finally report that I am safe and sound in a cute little apartment in Cork, Ireland. My first night in Cork was spent how I am sure many study abroad-ers find themselves once they arrive in their new home country– dazed and confused. Armed with three new friends I had met in the airport, we decided to head out on the town to find something to eat. This all seemed easy enough seeing as it was only 8 o’clock and we were all starving, but as soon as we walked down the road from our apartment, it became clear that we were completely clueless with no real plan on where to go. After walking into two different pubs and being told that they didn’t serve food, 45 minutes of walking later, we finally found a restaurant where we could have a meal. While it had taken us much longer than planned to arrive at a destination, it did give us the opportunity to see some of Cork at night. All of the row houses packed tightly together, leading us down narrow cobblestone streets, to a river near the city center, was the first sample of picturesque Ireland that we were now living in.

University College of Cork is home to over 400 international students this semester alone. This morning, we all sat in a giant auditorium to listen to a number of speakers explain both the academic aspect of school as well as all of the clubs and different opportunities that will be available in the coming semester. All of this information, while extremely overwhelming, was also extremely exciting and I look forward to all of the adventures that this semester will bring to me. But for now, I am in desperate need of a nap and a Guinness.

Cultural side notes:

~Everyone here speaks extremely fast, and a variety of different accents, which is making me feel a lot less alone in the fast talking category.

~If you want to quit smoking, Ireland is the place to go. There is a €3,000 fine if you are caught smoking in a place that is not designated as a smoking area.

~The pub to restaurant to barber shop ratio in Cork is very bizarre. On our night trip to a restaurant, we could barely find one compared to the large number of pubs that did not serve food. As for the barber shops, on our 15 minute walk to the grocery store in the city center, we spotted at least 8 barber shops, we couldn’t even find that many restaurants the night before.

That’s all for now, so as the Irish (used to) say, slán!

It’s my last night in Vietnam.

Wow. That’s a statement that I’ve been dreading admitting to myself, for a few weeks now. To be honest, I’ve been putting off writing this post for the last few days because I knew it would be strange and somewhat upsetting. I’ve also been touring Vietnam with my family for the past week, so that’s been a good excuse to avoid blog writing too. But even now, as I write this, I’m realizing that this is going to be a little more difficult than I realized.

While I suppose all good things must come to an end, I don’t quite know if I’m ready to leave yet. There is a big part of me that is quite excited and happy to go home … snuggling in warm cotton socks, cuddling with my goofy puppy, snacking on American food. (Oh my gosh macaroni & cheese, brownies, cinnamon rolls, sautéed spinach, delivery pizza, grilled cheese, Chipotle… I have a list, don’t worry!) I cannot wait to see my dear friends too; grab twin lattes at Metropolis and catch up with them. I miss both of my homes, Chicago (of course) and even little Dayton, Ohio. I know that it will be good to go back.

But the other part of me knows how much I will miss Saigon, and this beautiful, peaceful country I’ve been living in. I went back to my dorm today in District 10, grabbed an iced ca phe sua da, sat on the stoop just outside the front gate, and watched the motorbikes speed by. It was weird knowing that Ash wasn’t going to run out to meet me, or that the whole group wasn’t meeting to grab a cab to District 1. While I was enjoying the solitude for a little bit after a long family trip, it was also nostalgic and somewhat heartbreaking. I realize that even if I return here someday, the incredible experience that I’ve had will never, ever repeat itself. Things will change here, and life will go on. Sometimes it’s just a little hard to let go.

I also know that when I arrive home, I will get asked over and over by my lovely friends and family, “Well, how was Vietnam?” … And how do I answer that? I have no clue!! Do I tell them about the craziness of living in Saigon for four months? Do I tell them of my international travels and very sketchy eating all over Southeast Asia? Do I tell them of all the wonderful and hilarious new friends I’ve made? All of the absolutely incredible things I’ve learned? All of that and more, I guess. It’s just a little bit daunting to answer that question in two sentences… to sum up a life-changing semester in just a few minutes of casual conversation.

When I flew into Genoa, I was absolutely stunned at the landscape.  The airport was located right next to both mountains and the downtown business district, which made for an absolutely gorgeous landing.

Upon arrival, I immediately headed to the center of town to eat lunch.  I decided to do a bit a research before travelling to Genoa, and I found that this city is not only the home to pesto, but they also have many fresh seafood dishes.  Of course, when I went to lunch, I got both of these types of dishes.  I went to a back alley kitchen called Trattoria dei Maria, where I was the only person who actually spoke English.  I ordered the pesto gnocchi, octopus stew, and of course, a half liter of red wine to wash it all down.  The pesto was creamy, unlike anything I have ever eaten before; it was almost like a pesto Alfredo sauce, which was topped on some of the freshest gnocchi I have ever eaten.  The seafood dish was different, but had many flavors, and it was like I had a Nonna (aka an Italian grandmother) cooking for me.

After lunch, I decided to do something different; seeing as though Genoa has an oriental art museum, one of just a few in Europe, I decided to go there.  The art collections mostly focused on Edo Japan, a time period in which there was a Renaissance in Japanese art and literature.  Because I have taken an East Asian History class recently, I was able to not only experience Japanese culture again, but also to experience Italy’s take on Japan, thus combining a pervious culture experience with a current cultural experience.

Once I finished up at the Oriental Art Museum, I looked at a map of Genoa to see if there were some interesting other attractions.  In the harbor of Genoa, I found that there was a rather large aquarium.  Although the ticket prices were steep at 24 euro a person, it was worth it to see examples of Mediterranean aquatic life.  Moreover, there were additional exhibits relating to both biodiversity in the Mediterranean, as well as the issues that face our environment today, specifically dealing with aquatic life.

After experiencing the food and the aquarium, I noticed many parallels between Genoa and Monterrey, California.  Like Monterrey, Genoa is on the coast, has a mountainous backdrop, a very large aquarium, and a beautiful harbor.  As such, I will be revisiting Genoa next semester, since I not only loved the food, but also the city as a whole.

Ciao e buona giornata-

-I

Things have be so busy lately! With school and trying to be the best, tourist on a budget ever, I’ve managed to stay on my toes always. Since the last week of November though, there has especially been less time to breathe and think.

Due dates are coming and finals are just next week. I leave in TEN. DAYS. I don’t know if I’m stressed or in denial but work and social responsibilities are social responsibilities are piling quite high. …

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Hiya!

I just realized that I’ve had a saved draft for this blog called ‘Reading Week and a trip to Europe’ for a month now. I best catch up!

In the middle of December, City University as well most other European schools had Reading week, which is the equivalent of Loyola’s fall break. In this time, I took a trip to Madrid, Barcelona, Nice, and Monaco. Spain and France, two of the most dreamy countries in the world gave me good food, my first great cocktail, incomparable wine, the ability to practice my Spanish and some fantastic picturesque backgrounds.

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Hola readers!

It’s been so busy here with my last week here in Costa Rica I have barely had time to fill you in on my whereabouts!
During our semester here, we unfortunately had to miss a family celebration, Thanksgiving. I thought it would be fun to celebrate this hear and I offered my friends a potluck type of dinner. Seeing as we can’t have that many friends over in our host family’s homes, we gave up for the time being. Later, I ended up working with our program directors to get a program dinner going. An email and sign-up sheet later, we were rolling. Our program rented a bus and a finca (a small house in a field up in the mountainous area) in Heredia. We all signed up to cook/bake/buy something. This was a blast! We felt like home, eating delicious food and well, overeating. 😀

The weekend was a long one after that. My friends and I set out on a journey to Santa Teresa, which was the most beautiful place I had visited in all of Costa Rica! If you ever find yourself in this wonderful country, this is the place you need to go! The journey was long, but oh so worth it!

After we got back, it was finals week. With 4 papers, 2 presentations and a test, I was not sure I was going to be sleeping at all! On top of this, the stress of packing and getting those last few souvenirs was really crazy. But, as the Costa Ricans say, tenga paz, which means keep calm. I had to take a great ton of deep breaths, but I made it. Last night my friends and I went out to a last dinner together this semester.

You know that torn feeling you get when you know you need to do something but don’t really want to? Yea, that is what I feel about going home tomorrow! I have said this so many times in my blogs, but it’s very true, I have fallen in love with Costa Rica! PURA VIDA has become part of me.

I just checked into my flight about 2 hours ago. My host mom has a friend coming to pick me up at 6am to drop me off at the airport and my friends back home are counting down the hours if not minutes! I already know that I will miss this new home I created. But in the words of Jimi Hendrix, “The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye…until we meet again.”

Do yourself a favor and STUDY ABROAD! You will not regret it!

The USAC Thanksgiving dinner (:

 

Santa Teresa beach