Honestly what can I say about Barcelona…

Here’s a quote from one of my idols who summed it up perfectly:

“A tourist to Europe hasn’t lived until they have visited Barcelona. The culture, the weather and the atmosphere is awesome.”

–Anthony Jocius

Honestly, if I can describe utter perfection, that was my time in Barcelona. The people, the food, the culture, the weather, and everything else was impossibly perfect.

We were able to stay with some family friends who lived right by La Sagrada Familia…  Waking up and being in walking distance to the Barcelonetta, Parc Guell, Las Ramblas, and Port Olymic was incredible.

We were met with amazing weather and wonderful people. I was able to meet with friends who my family hadn’t seen in years and we were able to catch up and talk about Peru (which is where they were all from).

By day, my best friend and I explored and walked absolutely everywhere, and by night we explored the amazing Barcelona nightlife (which doesn’t start until 2am, which means it ends at 9am). It was intense haha.

The last day we spent the day at the beach, which was a nude beach. We were completely unaware we had stumbled upon one until we saw a man laying out in all of his pride and glory. It was a culture shock, to say the least.

But honestly, if there is any place I would recommend for anyone to go on their travels, it would be Barcelona.

I have held it dearly in my heart since the first time I went and the glory never died. This past time I went just emphasized my love for it even more.

Until next time my dear Barcelona

Love,

B

Spring Break couldn’t have come any sooner.

Here at JFRC we get to have spring break a week after our friends back at home at Loyola Chicago. It’s really nice though because a lot of LUC students came to visit friends here at JFRC. It was like a little piece of home coming to Rome. So after that week of seeing friends from home and getting midterms out of our way, we were finally able to pack up and leave.

Our first stop was the lovely little London Town. Of course London is a must-see for those who have never been and also for those of us who have! So, like typical globe-trotters, my best friend and I were on our way.

The first day we arrived we went to Windsor to “visit the queen.” The funny part is, the queen was actually there when we went.

We did all the typical touristy London attractions, but here are just a few highlights so I don’t bore you with the gory details:

1. We found the queen’s secret entrance into Buckingham Palace.
2. We took pictures with a black velvet Ferrari that later ended up getting featured on iFunny.
3. We spent an entire day eating crumpets, scones, and fish & chips while watching the Grimm series on Netflix.
4. And lastly, we made a Palace Guard smile

Love,

B

Midterms are bearing down upon us here in the Czech Republic (although you wouldn’t really know judging by the lax state of most of us in the USAC program), which means the semester is half way over. It’s odd how you can be in a place for such a short period of time yet, you can’t remember what life was like 6 months ago in your natural habit. I’ve learned quite a bit in this first part of my semester abroad, most of which comes from experiences outside the classroom (except for Art and Architecture). Here’s a list:

1. Slow internet is worse than no internet.

2. I would never have been able to survive 4 months living in a country with the euro or the pound. Thank the heavens for the exchange of 1 US dollar- 18 Czech Korunas.

3. Apparently ramen isn’t soup, just flavored noodles (I still haven’t gotten over the shock of this one. My whole life is a lie.)

4. Nothing in Europe is free. So, if you see a pamphlet on a desk at the Sherlock Holmes Museum, DO NOT pick it up and walk out assuming it’s for the taking. It’s not.

5. British food? Not that bad.

6. It’s not necessary to buy 2 masks for Carnivale in Venice. Also, don’t buy a full- faced one. Your roommates will NEVER, EVER let you forget it because according to them, it’s so creepy that it’s hysterical.

7. Going off of #6, don’t buy the first of whatever you see. Odds are, the touristy shop 15 meters ahead will have the exact same thing, possibly cheaper.

8. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have the proper transportation pass in whatever country or city you are in (Looking at you, Berlin). If you don’t, you will be fined and then it’s really awkward and embarrassing as the ticket police (not the technical term but close enough) herd you to the ticket booth and then proceed to bleed you dry (Yes, their just doing their job but it’s hard not to fantasize about them getting a really bad paper cut from your writing ticket).

9. Universal adapter= new best friend.

10. There’s a term for throwing people out of a window for political reasons, defenestration. Apparently, this has occurred enough times in history to warrant it’s own word.

11. Prague had 2 major defenestrations, the 2nd of which those that were expelled from the window survived by falling into a… well, think about the sanitary conditions of a city in the 17th century and you can probably imagine into what they landed (I think I learn more about history in my Art and Architecture class than my Modern History course). The physical injuries they sustained eventually healed but the bruises to their ego and dignity I’m sure followed them forever. This event was also a precursor to the 30 Years’ War.

12. Walking up all the way up Petrin Hill may seem like a good idea at the bottom but by the time you get halfway up, you begin to realize how incredibly out of shape you are and start convincing yourself the line for the funicular really wasn’t that bad. But the view of Prague from the top is breathtaking. Especially if you’re my roommate and are afraid of heights.

13. Going off the beaten path is the best way to stumble onto the hidden treasures you didn’t know city had to offer. Such as an orchard dedicated to a British man, Sir Nicolas Winton, who saved nearly 700 Czechoslovakian Jewish children from the Nazis. My roommates and I might never have found that if we hadn’t gone a less direct route down Petrin Hill (and by less direct I mean totally out of the way).

14. It’s impossible walk by a trdlo (or trdelník) stand in Old Town Square and not purchase a delicious, cylindrical pastry. I’ve stopped trying to convince myself that I don’t want one. I do. I always do.

15. Tea fixes everything and cheese ramen is the greatest broke, college student meal known to man.

16. No matter how long I live in Prague or how often I wander around, I will never understand how the street system works. Ever. Whoever said Prague isn’t a hard city to navigate is a liar. Apparently Wenceslas Square is a lot closer to my apartment than I originally thought. As in, it’s almost right down the street.

17. It’s not possible to find a new store, landmark, restaurant in any city in Europe without getting lost. Looks easy on the map? We’ll still end up wandering up and down the same street for 15 minutes before giving up and asking people for directions. Usually this process is repeated 2-3 times before we find what we’re looking for (Also, I’ve learned that putting me in charge of directions is a terrible idea).

18. Talking about dragons is a great way to relieve tension and make new friends.

19. Churches in Europe are some of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I have ever seen. From St. Paul’s Cathedral in London to the church of Saint Nicholas in Prague and the Berlin Cathedral, I am ceaselessly awed by their beauty and flawlessness and astounded by the idea that humans have the ability to create such magnificent structures.

20. One semester in Europe is not going to be enough. There are too many amazing places to see and things to do that it’s not possible to pack it all into 4 months. The places I have been so far (Venice, Berlin, and London) are just the beginning of what I hope to be a lifetime of European exploration.

 

 

It’s been a long time since my last post, but in my defense, I’ve been very busy and on the move for the past three weeks. My vacation finally concluded on Tuesday as I arrived in Santiago, and now I am going through orientation before classes start. So obviously, I have a lot to cover this post, and naturally I will start in the beginning. By the way, I will be naming a lot of places so if you have Google Maps out and just punch in the names you can see where I’ve been!

Theo and I had planned to leave on Friday, February 7. We had bus tickets to Puerto Varas and our bus left around 10 or so. As it turns out, we missed our bus but thought the driver lied to us because we were foreigners. Fortunately, we were able to procure tickets for Sunday night. I sure was disappointed that we lost two days of traveling, but Theo didn’t mind much so I got over it pretty fast. To make the most of our night, we went to a bar across the street from the terminal that had a very cool, working-class vibe to it. There we met some Chileans (they were Mapuche, basically Chile’s Native Americans) and a Peruvian who were all very nice and friendly. We shared a table with them and talked for a few hours before dipping out, and they invited us to a party they were having on Saturday night before we left (we discovered they were joking after calling them Saturday evening, lol).

In Puerto Varas we met two Chileans, Simon and Bryan, who we camped with for a few days in Petrohue. Petrohue is beautiful. Our campsite was located on the beach of Lago Todos Los Santos, a picturesque lake surrounded by lush green mountains and Volcan Osorno (a volcano) towering over our backs. We also met another Chilean, Mathias, there and he camped with us as well. The time spent there was a lot of fun – we did some kayaking, trekking, saw some impressive waterfalls and rapids, and I topped my time off in the park by going whitewater rafting for the first time! That was a lot of fun, with water splashing in my face, cruising down a crystal-clear river as our guide shouted directions to us.

From Puerto Varas we went to Chiloé where we met up with Simon, Bryan, and Mathias again in a campground called Cucoa. Again we were on a lake, but this one didn’t compare to Petrohue. There I tried kuchen (Chiloé is known for its food), a cake with blueberries or some other fruit on the top as icing, and a soft bread on the bottom. I really like it, although milcaos were definitely my favorite food from the trip and right now my favorite Chilean food in general. Milcaos are like hashbrowns that look like pancakes, although they are much bigger and they middle is filled with potatoes and meat – usually chicken. They were amazing! When I was in Castro, I ate one every day (they only cost 1 mil, or $2 a piece). For those of you that might visit Chile, the best milcaos are in Castro without a doubt. Other places in the south sell them, like Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt, but they’re not the same. Unfortunately, my host mom told me they only exist in the south and are not in Santiago.

Castro was a nice city with a cool vibe to it. The city located on the water, it’s basically an inlet, and has lots of sea influence. It’s well known for its old wooden church built by the Jesuits (and colored purple and yellow on the outside!) and the palafitos, which are houses that stand on poles built right up on the water. It was great to stay in a hostal there after some uncomfortable nights of sleeping in the tent. While there, Hayley, Brenna, and Dee came down from Ancud and we hung out for two days with them. Theo left for Puerto Montt where he would fly to Coyhaique. I decided to try and follow him but through a different and cheaper route, first going south to Quellón, then to Chaiten by boat. However once I got to Quellón, I knew I didn’t have enough time to make it down to Coyhaique and back to Santiago in time for my bus ticket to La Serena with Dee and Gaby. Because I got there a day early by accident, I was able to go to the end/beginning of the longest road in the Americas and maybe the world (there’s some debate), the Pan-American Highway, or Ruta 5 as it is known here in Chile! It stretches over 21,000 kilometers and runs from Chile to Alaska.

Right before getting into Chaiten, I snagged some pictures of dolphins close to shore. They were grayish and had small fins on their backs. Chaiten is unlike any other town I saw on the trip because a volcano erupted there in 2008. The town is still recovering from the damage, and it was harrowing to see some of the destruction in the town and in the adjacent Parque Pumalín, where I camped for four days with another American I met, Arthur. This park was sweet! While there, I saw some 90ft waterfalls, hiked through a temperate jungles, saw the second oldest trees on the planet (Alerces), climbed to the crater of the volcano that erupted in 2008, and did a 30 kilometer hike to see a glacier! All in four days! I knew my time was limited to get back to Santiago so I sure did everything and anything I could in the park. I loved my time there and wished I could spend more than just a few days in Patagonia (the park is at the northern border of the region), but I was extremely grateful to discover the park because I really didn’t know anything about it when I entered.

Those two weeks traveling the south of Chile were amazing. I have never seen so much nature and beauty in my life before, and in such a pristine state too, especially in Patagonia (for example, the water from rivers was see-through and perfectly safe to drink). I met so many wonderful Chileans and foreign travelers too, and I definitely know my Spanish improved throughout the trip. Obviously, God has blessed me incredibly and I cannot thank Him enough for the amazing experiences I’ve had down here.

That is part one of mis vacaciones! I will make another post describing my trip north of Santiago to La Serena because I know this one is getting long. Also, I think I have figured out how to allow comments so ask away. I’m still working on the pictures, but my Facebook account has a bunch you can browse through.

AMDG,

Tom

First blog post of the semester!

I’ve officially been in Prague for almost a month and let’s just say it feels as if I’ve been here at least 2, but in the best possible way. The first days were  jam packed with city tours, pastries, illness, and an intensive course in the Czech language. But as a result, I have fallen in love with this beautiful place that is unlike any city I have heretofore experienced (and remember).

First of all, Prague has plenty of its own twists and quirks. The streets, for example, are set up in an unsystematic jumble. Some cities such as Chicago are built upon a grid with a neatly organized system, which makes finding your way around relatively easy if you have a general idea of where you’re going. Praha, on the other hand, is all, “Grid? Nah, sorry. Good luck with that. We prefer the winding, cobblestone set up of the 16th century”. I have wandered back and forth between my apartment in Praha 8 to Old Town in Praha 1 (which, fun fact, is around 1,100 years old) and still have no idea how I got there. Thankfully, my roommates have a better sense of direction than me.

Another eccentricity of this old city are the random English words spray painted in the most random of places. “Ladder” was plastered on a wall, “time” carved in the snow, but my personal favorite is “crab salad” on the side of a building seen on the way to class. There’s speculation as to whether the artists knew what those words meant or just decided to use random English in order to confuse the general population. But most of the younger generation speak English rather well.

Since I have been terrible with updating this blog so far here’s a quick rundown of the first month:

Since Prague doesn’t use the euro prices here are pretty fantastic. Well, at least when it comes to groceries. Walk through any of the touristy areas and suddenly a 35 Kr cup of coffee skyrockets to 85 Kr. I spent the past weekend in Venice and it nearly broke me. Seriously. I’m so happy I chose to live here.

Although our program directors insist that we aren’t tourist, we’re students, there are touristy attractions that are impossible to resist. The Museum of Communism is a big one for, as most people know, the Czech Republic operated under the Communist Regime from 1948 until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. It’s amazing how this centuries old city managed to retain it’s identity after years of oppression, including Nazis and Communists. The Museum of Communism runs through what it was like to live during the Communist regime and includes a video of demonstrations and the police brutal handling any sort of protest. Another more grotesque tourist museum I’ve visited was that of the Medieval Torture Instruments. Let’s just say I’m glad I live in the 21st century and not the Middle Ages. Some of the inventions were so simple, yet so terrible. The graphic pictures and descriptions are not for the faint of heart.

Prague is not a terribly large city, which means walking most places isn’t totally out of the question if you know where you’re going (I usually don’t). However, a lot of walking isn’t necessarily good on the knees if you aren’t accustomed to it because at one point I was pretty sure I broke my knee. Not literally but it wasn’t happy with me for about a week and a half and I don’t blame it considering I kept walking on it, up and down incredibly long escalators and uneven cobblestones.

One of my favorite parts about Prague though are the pastries. The best, in my personal opinion, is the koláč, which is a round pastry with fruit filling in the middle. I can’t even count how many I’ve had so far but I strongly recommend to anyone who visits this beautiful city to buy one in a bakery or from a street vendor because it will change your life. Well, maybe not but you’ll never be satisfied with a mediocre bread product ever again.

That was the TL;DR version of my first weeks here in Praha. As hard as it may be to live in a country where I have only a weak grasp on the language and in a city whose streets continue to disorient me, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. Every stone and brick contains a secret story of rich history that maybe, with time, will reveal itself to me. 

 

 

In my time in Morocco, I’ve been so fortunate to experience many different aspects of life: Living with a different family. Eating different foods. Learning about a different culture. Observing a different religious tradition. Meeting different students from different universities. There are lots of differences here. However, today I’ve realized one important part of Moroccan life that is not different at all. In fact, it’s exactly the same… Sick days.

I won’t say that I have strep throat, because I haven’t been tested by a doctor. Or even seen one. But I do have some strep-like illness of the throat, rendering me mostly speechless and pretty much useless all day. However, I’ve been able to seek comfort in the familiar process of waking up late, practically begging my parents to let me stay home from school, sleeping, going to the pharmacy with my (host) mama, sleeping some more, taking medicine, and eating Nutella out of the jar (oops… slipped that in there, didn’t I?). The more things change, the more they stay the same, and all I want right now is a nice big bowl of soup. But it’s not chicken noodle that I’m craving, not even tomato. I asked my host mom for a nice, big bowl of harira, the traditional Moroccan Ramadan soup. I guess the more things stay the same, the more they seem to change as well.

I am kind of mad at myself, because I have so many amazing stories to tell from the past week including a trip to Fes, a ‘funky’ hostel, Western creature comforts, and some actual ACADEMIC-related stories (because, oh yeah, this is STUDY abroad). Alas, I will have to save those for when I have more energy. Perhaps post-soup…