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Finals and feeling sentimental

Finals and feeling sentimental

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12 days. I have 12 more days in Vietnam. I swear this last month has went faster than any other time in my entire life. I came here with 100 and something days to explore and live, but I am almost left with single digits now. This has been plaguing my mind this entire week. When I first came to Vietnam and had orientation and settled in I thought reverse culture shock wouldn’t even be a thing that would concern me at all. I thought I would just come here, go to class, and travel and be ready to head back home to the US. But now I just don’t know what life is going to be like. Other than having to figure out apartments and classes for the fall, returning to the US is going to be quite the adventure. It really really sad to think I’m not going to eat pho and fresh mango every day. I’m not going to see the wonderful women outside the dorm at KTX Coffee who know my order down and are just so lovely. Mainly I am going to miss the people and daily interactions I have. The people I have met here are some of the sweetest people I have met ever. My Bach Khoa partners are so helpful and so funny and so kind and I could go on forever and list how much I love these people!!!! I have so many conversations and talk to so many people everywhere I go since I’m a foreigner but I have so many wonderful talks with people. Going back to Chicago is going to feel weird because everyone on the street avoids eye contact while here I get stopped almost every day just to talk to people. There is also the aspect of culture quirks I am probably going to take back with me like waving my hand a certain way to say no and flagging down buses. Not to mention, it is an icy tundra back in Illinois and I’ve been living in 80-90 degree weather and its only been getting hotter this week too. I am just going to truly miss Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Butttt I don’t even have time to think about all this because of my final papers due soon! Who knew the semester would creep up so quickly and now I have 3 final essays, a final poster, and an actual final by the end of my time here. I was an ignorant fool thinking I wouldn’t wait till the last two weeks to get everything done because guess what? It’s the last two weeks!!! I am trying my hardest to just bang out these papers and all this work before I leave, but I have been taking my time too as I can just forget that I have to leave in 2 weeks. I know I will get this work done, but it would’ve been a lot smarter to get it done early but here we are. If I disappear for a few days to those that are reading this, no worries I am probably stressed and in a coffee shop furiously typing my heart away to meet the page limits. The upside is that the topics of my papers aren’t boring or one dimensional. They really do tie everything I’ve learned and experienced all together into one huge assignment.
I probably only have one more blog post here because I fly home on a red eye 2am flight on April 27th to the US. Funny thing is I land on April 27th at 12pm so it will be 10 hours difference but 22 hours flying because of time zones. Maybe my last post will be during those flights? We will see. Till next time Goglobal.

Ps: Please forgive me on my lack of pictures these final projects truly have taken over my life and I have no food pictures 🙁
Leaving TRG

Leaving TRG

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I’M DONE WITH MY FIRST INTERNSHIP!!!

I’m so happy with how far I’ve come, oh my goodness. My last day was this Friday and it’s my longest day in office all week. This gave me plenty of time to complete projects I had and wrap everything up. I completed my final events post for May. I added some content to MeetEdgar for the events posts to get it out there on all the social media accounts. I created a thread on Twitter for all of the food tours The Roman Guy offers so it’s easily accessible to whoever goes on their page. Finally, I went over everything I’ve accomplished and what struggles I’ve faced throughout the course of the internship.

Facebook:

  1. YouTube Videos get the most interaction.
  2. Best time to post: between 6 and 9pm
  3. Posts with a longer description do better.
  4. People aren’t as engaged on Facebook, so they aren’t really into answering questions about their favorite places or anything like that. They prefer visual content that doesn’t involve much interaction which is why YouTube videos do great.

Twitter

  1. Live tweeting does well and I think it’s much easier than scheduling into Meet Edgar.
  2. Testing: Scheduling a few key posts into Meet Edgar such as events posts, and live tweeting while in the office. I think live tweeting does best because it seems more authentic in my opinion.
  3. Constant content creation/ Updating is key!
  4. Best time to post: any time/all day. With twitter there isn’t really a set time because people tweet so often that in order to be seen we also have to constantly tweet.

Instagram

  1. Stories do well and I’m a such a fan of saving the whole story as highlight because it organizes content by what people would like to see. Polls are best in thestories because they’re easy to followers to use. “Foodie Adventures” were my favorite thing to do once a week because it involved the least amount of work with the greatest engagement.
  2. Posts: Sweets, cheap food, trip advisor recommended restaurants do the best
  3. Best time to post: between 6 and 9pm
  4. Testing: posting on Saturdays instead of Mondays seems to be doing really well and hitting a bigger audience.
  5. Tested: Putting borders around pictures with a common theme, but it takes too much time and doesn’t really add much to the value of the posts.

Enjoyed:

  • I really liked running the Instagram because it allowed me to see immediately what posts did best and the analytics are easy to have a look at.

Highlight:

  • I really enjoyed the tour. It was a super interesting to see the quality of what the Roman Guy offers first hand because I spent the past few months hearing about the tours so it was cool to finally see what all the hype was about.

Enjoyed the Least:

  • Twitter: I feel like Twitter could be really fun and has a lot of creative potential, but with the new rules in MeetEdgar it’s difficult to keep on renewing content.
  • I wish I had more time to try more creative things with twitter. For example, I think it would be a good idea to create a thread on twitter of food tour information and pin it to TRF twitter so its the first thing people see when coming to the twitter. This would also be a good way to link TRF Twitter to other social media accounts.

Challenges:


  • Having enough photos for posts. Since constant has to be constantly flowing, it’s important to always have new pictures and places to talk about. That can be difficult if one week there isn’t time to go out and take more pictures.
  • TIME! I just wish I had more time here. I feel like I could have accomplished so much more. By the time I got used to how everything works and what I’m supposed to do, it’s time to go!
  • Sometimes tasks seemed a bit disorganized. Sometimes I’d have assignments on google calendar, then there was the google doc, now there’s asana so it was a bit confusing figuring out what to do at time.
  • Some weeks I’d have the main things I’m supposed to be doing like the FB, TW, INSTA, content creation, stories, monthly blog post, follower growth for TRF, but then I’d also have follower growth for TPG and TRG along with Pinterest, and Trip Advisor reviews which ended up being a lot considering I’m only able to come in for 10 hours a week. It did get a lot easier once more interns came do tasks weren’t so heavy.

What can TRG do to help future interns?

  • Show them exactly what posts should look like or what key points to hit. For example, on Instagram, name the place, food item, price of food item, recommend it.
  • For blog posts, I think formatting is helpful to go over because it’s so important in making TRG look professional.

After going over all of this with my supervisors, they gave me a run-down of improvements among their social media accounts. Engagement and website traffic went up for all social media 

accounts which is awesome! Although I didn’t reach my goal of 4,000 followers on Instagram, I have brought Facebook engagement to a record high. I had no idea I was actually doing well because I wasn’t sure of myself throughout the course of the internship considering I’d never worked in Marketing before. I was really shocked because it kind of felt like I was drowning a bit, but I pulled through.

That night we all went out for aperitivo and gelato in Testaccio. It sad to go, but I’m beyond grateful for the time I’ve spent with the Roman Guy.

 
Walking Assisi and Biking Via Appia Antica

Walking Assisi and Biking Via Appia Antica

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     On Saturday, April 7, I went with SLA Vanessa and some other students for a bike ride along the ancient Roman street known as the Appia Antica. Getting to the road took two buses and a train, about an hour of commuting each way, but it was well worth it. The important road was used for military transportation in the 4th century BC. It connected ancient Rome to Brindisi, a town in Southeast Italy. The area is now a huge protected park. The stone road is flanked on both sides by beautiful green fields and ruins of walls and castles, probably used as military bases and outposts hundreds of years ago.

     The trip was the highlight of the weekend. We had perfectly sunny and warm weather that day and I had a blast riding a bike for the first time in a couple of years. I even got some color on my arms from the sun! We watched as a herd of a hundred or more goats passed by on their way to a nearby farm. We stopped for group pictures at the best viewpoints. After riding for almost two hours down the road and back, we grabbed a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant. The special that day was pasta with salmon. I asked the waiter for formaggio to sprinkle on top and I was laughed at. I forgot that putting cheese on any pasta dish with fish is frowned upon. I did not get cheese.

     Saturday was an even longer day. Got up at 6 AM, headed out at 7 for a pilgrimage to Assisi. This is a study trip offered by the JFRC, so I had been looking forward to it since January. Unfortunately, I finally got sick this past week, probably from insufficient sleep over Easter break. Not wanting to miss the trip I had been waiting for, I stumbled out onto the bus, groggy but excited for the day. The trip was full of beautiful churches in an awesome location. Assisi is a hilltop town built above acres of farmland. It is significant because it is here in Assisi that Saint Francis and Saint Clare lived and worked to help improve the lives of others. Saint Francis was somewhat of a revolutionary figure in his day. He spoke openly about the need for all creatures to live in harmony. He is the patron saint of the environment. If I had a favorite saint, it would be him. The weather was great and I was relieved each time I stepped out of every chilly basilica and into the sunlight.

     We must have sang 100 “alleluias” that day, as it was still Easter Season and we spent a lot of time celebrating Jesus’s infinite love and mercy. If I had been feeling better, I would have appreciated the time spent reflecting and praying during mass and the prayer services more. Despite my sore throat, I sang when I could and tried to get the most out of the experience. All the while, I eagerly awaited dinner.

     Dinner was a delicious, extravagant, four course meal at an agriturismo (bed and breakfast/farm) 30 minutes away from Assisi. The wine flowed freely and the servers kindly offered seconds of each plate. The thing about these big Italian meals, is that instead of making you terribly full, feeling like you’re going to burst, they usually leave you perfectly satisfied. This is because each course is smaller than meals at home in the states, and there is enough time in between plates to digest and enjoy.

     What made the meal so great were the jokes and burns exchanged between Father Ted and Father Al, the two priests who lead us on our trip. They had us cracking up. At one point, Father Ted, an older, usually quiet man, stood up and asked if we had ever heard his impression of a German Shepherd. When we said no, he proceeded to shout instructions at an imaginary herd of sheep in a terrible German accent. (There were many more similar jokes and puns throughout the evening.) A little girl of about 7 or 8, holding the hand of one of the waitresses, walked up to Father Al, and wordlessly handed him a drawing she had made. The drawing was of two people lying on a beach under some palm trees. There was no explanation, it was just a simple and sweet moment. One teacher, Sander, known for his long-winded speeches and toasts, shared some lovely thoughts on his time spent with the two fathers as the meal was winding down.

     Sander remarked that the Assisi trip is a great way to bring people back to their roots, spiritually and emotionally. This was the last official trip of my semester and I feel closer to home than I have since the winter. The trip was exhausting but it reminded me of how much I have to be grateful for, and gave me some new ways to get closer to my roots when I get home.

 

 

 

Views of Assisi
A herd of goats passing by
One of many ancient ruins along the Appia Antica
The group stops for pics on our ride
One of the many times I dropped back to climb on something
Can you spot the biplane?

      

 

Strutting the Streets of Barcelona

Strutting the Streets of Barcelona

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Ah, Barcelona. Before this trip, most of what I knew of Barcelona came from my extensive knowledge of The Cheetah Girls 2, which they don’t even have on Netflix there… The city definitely exceeded my expectations. The colors, streets, food, language, and company all made Barcelona one of my top visits this semester.

Our flight landed at about 5pm or so. While traveling is one of my favorite hobbies, it’s definitely exhausting to say the least. Plane rides somehow suck all the life out of me so the last thing I want to do is take an hour commute to some crummy hostel where not even the towels are complimentary. But you know me, anything to save a buck. When we got to the hostel, we settled down and knew right away our first destination had to be for some paella near La Rambla, a famous food market. I didn’t really know what this was, but paella and I got very acquainted over the next few days. Funny thing was, although we had two native Spanish speakers aboard, myself included, we were drastically misunderstood and brought one medium sized paella for all six of us to share. I guess those two bites were tasty? Being the Americans that we are, we ended up at KFC about an hour later.

After our makeshift dinner, we decided to get some drinks and explore the night life. We ended up at an Irish pub, indulging in some Women’s Passion (the cocktail of the day). When we realized the pub catered to an…older crowd…we attempted to find a livelier scene. To our dismay, we were told that the nightlife doesn’t truly come alive until after 1am. We hightailed it back to the hostel and crashed for the night.

On day two, we took a tour of the Gothic quarter and were able to walk the lovely streets just before it started to rain. Rain in Spain is something I can’t quite explain, as even the showers look graceful on the cobblestone streets. We stopped at a hole in the wall restaurant for some more paella and patatas bravas and croquettas, and ate till our bellies were full and our spirits were high. We went back to the hostel for a true siesta and woke up feeling truly refreshed. What’s a trip to Spain without a visit to the beach? We trekked the mile or two to the sandy refuge and basked in the sea salted air, feeling wind in our faces and giggling at Spanish men who tried to spit game at American tourists. That night we experienced a true Spanish club and danced the night away. 5am rolled around and tapped us on the shoulder which was our cue to get going.

We turned in for the night and woke up just in time the next day to make our visit to La Sagrada Familia. From the outside, the massive cathedral is a mix of muted colors with signs of construction clinging to the walls. We managed to prebook our tickets and found ourselves in the midst of a church that was decorated with the prettiest stained glass windows I’ve ever seen. The interior was bathed in reds and golds and greens and blues, accentuating the intricate details of the amazing architecture. The building itself was a force to be reckoned with, although I’d beware of the 15 euro entrance fee, as most of the structure is under construction and unavailable to the public.

After our visit we went back to La Rambla and found a fantastic flea market. We walked along the booths and found little treasures that went past a typical keychain souvenir. There was jewelry, hair wraps, clothes, shoes, and other trinkets that made for great keepsakes. After the flea market we went back to the hostel to regroup. A few of my friends and I bought tickets to the much-anticipated Barcelona soccer game, which we could not have been more excited about. We had a great tapa dinner and made our way to the stadium. My favorite thing about soccer culture is the unwavering support from the fans. With everyone decked out in the team’s gear, it’s quite hard not to get hyped. The game itself was amazing. Seeing Messi on the field is truly once-in-a-lifetime and I wouldn’t trade the experience of bouncing off the seats for a goal for anything.

Overall, Barcelona was a trip that was full of good company, great food, and unforgettable experiences. While it’s been recommended to me by many, it’s my turn to recommend it to all of you. And don’t forget to try the paella.

-Andrea

 
ONE WEEK LEFT

ONE WEEK LEFT

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Next week is the last of my internship and honestly this came really fast. Everything after Spring Break tends to go super quick, though. To celebrate the end of my internship, I’m going to be going to Santorini, Greece next weekend and I’m so excited for it. Treat yourself, why not? My roommate and I are going together so hang out on the beach to destress from this semester. I know I need it.

…

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Pretty in Paris

Pretty in Paris

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Make sure to visit this at night for a stunning light show every hour on the hour
If you can afford it, the views from the tower are breath-taking

I’ve been lucky enough to have visited Europe before. I saw some cities in Spain, France, and Italy, and loved them all enough to come back. Recently, I returned from a trip to Paris, which I saw last time I was in Europe.

I thought I wouldn’t have much to do, since I’d been to the Eiffel Tower, seen inside the Louvre, and entered the Notre Dame, but I didn’t have enough time to visit half of what I wanted to.

As preparation for this semester abroad, I hunted down works of fiction that took place in Europe as inspiration on where to visit during my stay, and I had a few new ideas on what to see in Paris. This trip was so fun because it was like a scavenger hunt, I was either viewing the touristic attractions in a new light or visiting places a tourist would normally walk by.

Be sure to look for the cat if you don’t have the time to read part of a book in there
A complicated, beautiful work of art. If you think it’s pretty on the outside, wait until you walk in

I highly recommend reading a couple books that take place in the countries you’d like to visit, because that way you’ll learn about new places to visit, or gain more knowledge on places you already know of.

Thanks to the books I have read, I was able to visit the church of St. Etienne du Mont, Shakespeare & Company, and learn more about Point Zero.

I learned Point Zero is where all distances in France are measured. Apparently if you make a wish on it, it’ll come true, and if you don’t make a wish, you’re bound to return to Paris again one day.

Don’t worry, I made sure to stop at Point Zero before I left Paris, but I can’t tell you what I wished for, or it won’t come true!

It’s worn away from the tourists walking past, to Notre Dame
Coasting Through to Spring

Coasting Through to Spring

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     On Thursday, March 29, I hopped on a bus and headed down to the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy. I went on the trip alone using tour company Bus2Alps. The company provides all types of trips for students studying abroad. They boast that they are “Europe’s #1 Student tour operator” and their most popular trips are to the Swiss Alps and Amalfi. Back in January I took the ten hour drive with them to Switzerland and had a great time taking in the beauty of the alps and glacial lakes there. Since then I had explored a number of cold destinations like Poland and Florence and I was looking forward to laying out on a beach under the sun. Back in January, the thought of a trip to the picturesque coast at the end of March sounded like a distant dream. The semester has come and gone so fast, and now Easter weekend is behind me too. The trip to Amalfi was certainly one to remember, though the chilly weather wasn’t ideal for the swimming and tanning I spent the last few months fantasizing about.

     We arrived late Thursday night, with only enough time to get our room keys and go to bed. For my last Bus2Alps trip, I was with my friend Kate. This time, I was on my own. Of course, traveling with a group of 200 other American college kids is not exactly a brave, lonely venture, but the experience of traveling alone is different than traveling with friends. My roommates were all friends studying in Barcelona for the semester. They were halfway through their weekend of drinking and having fun together on their trip. Wherever you travel, odds are there will be times when you want to relax, or take a moment to breathe and take inventory. Sometimes this can be difficult when you don’t know anyone besides the tour guide who emailed you the itinerary weeks ago. If you’re planning to travel alone, even with a tour group, be prepared for some time to yourself, and maybe some situations that are less than ideal. For example, because I had 7 strangers for roommates, I had to take the only bunk bed in the room. Of course, the bottom of said bunk bed was occupied by one of the frat guys – and his girlfriend – both nights. Like I said, less than ideal.

     Moving on, I wasn’t going to let minor discomforts ruin my trip, and neither should you when you travel! Friday morning we left the hostel early and took a boat ride to the nearby island of Capri. Capri is beautiful and the best part was taking a chairlift up to the top of Mt. Solaro, the highest point of the island, for a 360 view of the surrounding blue waters. The colors around Capri are unbelievable when the sun is shining. (See images below) If you like citrus, Amalfi is the place for you. Known for their lemons, nearly every shop offers some sort of treat featuring the fruit. Lemon desserts, chocolate covered orange skins, and, if you can stomach it, limoncello.

     Day two was beach day, but the overcast weather forced me to stay in my jeans and sweatshirt. Thankfully, Positano has tons of shops, cafes, and art galleries tailor made for tourists. It’s easy to spend a whole day walking around looking at the art and ceramics, or sampling gelato. This is definitely a trip meant for summer or late spring. The Bus2Alps itinerary includes private boat tours, cave exploration, and swimming under the sun. We had to skip several of these activities due to the windy weather. If you go before April, there’s a good chance you’ll have to skip the beach or brave some chilly water.

     On Sunday I got to hike Mt. Vesuvius, and tour the ancient ruins of Pompeii. In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, covering the thriving city of Pompeii in ash and smoke, destroying buildings and burying citizens. Pompeii is famous because so much of it was preserved by the volcano. You can even see plaster casts of people in their last moments, frozen in time by the cooling liquid rock that buried them. That part can be a little depressing but it really is a beautiful place. I walked down the once-bustling avenues and intersections of the city. Pompeii is a lot bigger than I thought. I recommend paying for a guided tour, or at least using an audio guide like on Rick Steves’ travel app so you don’t get turned around.

     I had been most excited to hike to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. I didn’t realize how windy and cold it would be on the way up. I tightened the hood of my windbreaker and kept marching up. The top was cool, but a little underwhelming. I couldn’t actually peer down into a vast pool of lava. It was just a sunken valley of gravel and rock. The volcano is still active today though. I still recommend the hike to any adventurers out there. There are some stunning views of the city and ocean along the way. If it was a sunny and clear day it probably would have been amazing.

     We ended the trip with margherita pizzas in Naples. Best pizza ever. I went to Naples earlier in the semester and had a vegetarian pizza. It was disappointing. If you get the chance to have pizza in this classic Italian city, you have to get classic margherita. Trust me when I tell you you don’t want to ruin it with other toppings. Less is more here.

     By the end of the weekend, I had gotten a little bit of sun, taken a lot of good pictures, and I felt ready to return to Rome. Some of my favorite things were the stray dogs and cats that lounge around the islands, the views from the top of Capri, and the pizza at Pompeii Pizza. I recommend the trip, but it is best taken in the warmer part of the year.  As for the solo aspect of the trip, I’m glad I went by myself. Traveling alone is a great way to test your self-reliance and do some reflecting. Bring a journal on your next solo trip so you can jot down your thoughts throughout and look back on them later.

 

 

 

Views of Capri from the water.

 

One of the beautiful art pieces in free galleries of Positano.

 

Classic Amalfi Coast spot, but a little cloudy

 

Beach Dogs

 

It says “Explore”

 

Statue at Pompeii

 

Wow, this is a real place!

 

Cat Nap

 

It’s good with or without the vodka
North-Central and Nearing Goodbyes

North-Central and Nearing Goodbyes

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Have I ever mentioned how much I love Vietnam? Some people and loved ones that read my blog posts probably think I’ve spent much of my semester miserable because I almost always find a way to squeeze into my blogs about being homesick. Yes, I’m homesick, but I also really don’t want to leave. I want to bring all my loved ones to Vietnam, so I can stay here without missing my people back home. This past week we went on our last excursion of the semester to the Northern and Central regions of Vietnam. The regions of Vietnam all have distinct characteristics about them which I heavily learned on this trip, but I will get into that in little bit.

Our first stop was the Central region. We spent just about 24 hours in a central city called Hue exploring some of the more historical parts of our trip. Some highlights were the Imperial Palace, Thien Mu Pagoda, and the Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang. It was a day heavy with information, but information I had no idea about from out ~Eurocentric education~. Afterwards we took a bus ride to a city called Hội An. I’m not going to lie, this was my favorite city on our excursion. Before we got there, we passed through the Hai Van Pass stopping at a colonial military post. It was cooler in temperature and looked like what I thought would be “tropical Colorado”. Hội An itself was definitely a tourist area, but not in a negative light. It kind of felt great to be a tourist. We walked along the river and visited the markets and bargain for souvenirs (no spoilers for my friends and family) and relaxed. Something called Earth Hour was occurring one night we were there where the entire city turned out the lights for, you guessed it, a whole hour. I was in the streets at that time and walked around and it felt like I was in another dimension. People were selling glow sticks, eating dinner lit by candle lights, and lighting candle lanterns to float on the river. The real question is why doesn’t America institute this??? I hope to return to Vietnam one day with my loved ones and Hội An is definitely a stop I want to take again.


Our last stop was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. I know majority of the people reading this don’t know what Saigon looks like, but Hanoi is Saigon with less sidewalk, more condensed streets, and more foreigners. In Saigon I feel like we are the only foreigners living in district ten which is great for immersing us into the culture and not just living along side other travelers in districts like one and two. We stayed in the Old Quarter where a lot of tourists congregate so it was bizarre to hear English all around us and to have conversations with Australian and British people in English rather than my sad attempts at Vietnamese with local people. We had a lot of free time in Hanoi, but we visited a few historical sites as well. First, we waited in a really, really, reallllly long line to see the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. Colloquially known as Uncle Ho, he is the single most important historical figure in Vietnam. His body is preserved and kept in a mausoleum that is open to the public, so we waited in the longest line I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been to Space Mountain at Disney, so this was the real deal). It was very interesting as we waited for a very long time to walk through the actual mausoleum in about 30 seconds. It was interesting to see just how devoted Vietnamese people are to Uncle Ho and to get to be a part of that experience. We also got to see a water puppet show which is something very common usually in northern Vietnam. They have roots going back many decades and it was amazing to look at although I had no idea what was going on (curse the language barrier). We finally hit Ha Long Bay as our last trip before the airport. We took a boat out to the bay and got to kayak and visit a cave before we came back to Saigon.

   
Coming back to the differences in the regions in Vietnam, there are quite a few. Norther accents are wild. The tones of the Vietnamese language are completely different, and I had quite the adventure ordering coffee and learned there is a completely different word for coffee with ice and milk instead of what I know and have memorized from the south. The food is also spicier. No lemon, which is by the way a small green lemon that looks like a lime but is a lemon, with my pho so I had some trouble in that area too (I cried while eating super spicy curry in Thailand). It was also quite cooler and dare I say I was chilly in 70 Fahrenheit degree weather.
I am now back in Saigon preparing for the amount of school work that is about to slam into me and locking myself away in coffee shops to work. I went out to dinner with my roommate and a few Vietnamese friends as the rest of our group is still up North as we did not optionally extend our trip for an individual trip and came back to Saigon. It is going to be hard to say goodbye as we have less than a month left, and it is going to be quite bittersweet.

  
Halfway done??? What???

Halfway done??? What???

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This weekend I took my first solo trip. I spent the weekend in a hostel in Granada where I explored the city and built relationships with the others in my hostel. As I wrote this, I was on the bus home from Granada; I went first to Madrid and then I had a shorter ride back to Salamanca. I am exhausted from this weekend, but it was so wonderful and will absolutely be a trip I remember for a long time.

I began traveling at about 8:30 on Thursday evening, and I arrived in Granada at 6:30 AM on Friday. Overnight but travel wasn’t necessarily the most comfortable way to do this weekend, but I was able to spend the full day on Friday exploring Granada because of it. My hostel was about a 35 minute walk away from the bus station, so after a cup of cafe con leche I hauled myself and my backpack towards my home for the weekend. Throughout the semester I have been collecting photos of graffiti that has caught my eye, and the graffiti in Granada did not disappoint.

It was pretty early and I technically wasn’t supposed to check in to my hostel yet, so on my way I just wandered, took my time, and took in the sights of the city. I lived in the neighborhood Albaicín, which is located above the city center which means that it has some of the most amazing views you can find in Granada. I stumbled upon a beautiful view on the way to my hostel and decided to sit and journal for a little bit. I wanted to spend a weekend by myself in part because I wanted to relax and recharge, but also to reflect on the semester as it has gone thus far.

In the past few years I have realized how introverted I am, so even though I am very social and love spending time around others, it drains me of energy. I anticipated a weekend where I didn’t really talk to other people and would just be spending time with myself, but what I did not anticipate was how wonderful my hostel would be. I spent the weekend in Makuto’s backpackers hostel, which is unlike any other hostel I have stayed in. Immediately upon arrival, I felt like I was being welcomed into a home. It still wasn’t technically time to check in, but one of the employees got me set up with a shower and breakfast. In all other hostels I have stayed in the people living there keep to themselves, but at Makuto there were multiple rooms designed just for people to hang out and be in community with one another.

After I got showered and changed, I went back out into the city to explore. I walked around the city center, ate some lunch, stumbled upon a beautiful garden, and wandered. The beautiful thing about traveling alone is that I was able to wander without a destination without having to be mindful of what others are wanting to do. I just walked without any intentions, and experienced the sights of the city. After checking in later, I took a siesta (because I am now adjusting to the relaxed Spanish lifestyle and get a little cranky if I don’t get my daily nap oops), and began to talk to some of the people in my hostel. I ended up going for tapas with a group of 5 people– it felt like a group of friends though, rather than people I had just met. We went to a few different tapas bars, and spent the night enjoying each others company.

The next day, rather than going out by myself, I went on a journey to the Alhambra with a few new friends from the hostel. We didn’t have tickets, but there are a lot of places you can visit for free! We spent a few hours there, but we could have spent the entire day because it is so huge. Afterwords, we got chocolate con churros and pizza for lunch which was exactliy what I needed at that moment. We then relaxed at the hostel for a bit, before it was time for the guided walking tour!! Every night at about 6, the hostel provides a free walking tour of the neighborhood, which takes you to all the beautiful viewpoints. The last viewpoint was on a MOUNTAIN!! We climed a mountain for one of the most beautiful views I have ever experienced. We came home, and it was time for dinner. The hostel has a family dinner every night, and last night we had paella. We didn’t do much for the rest of the night, besides spend time with each other, and it was so wonderful.

I miss my mom. A lot. I miss my friends and family, I miss Chicago, I miss the kids I work with, I miss my apartment, I miss my dog– I miss home. A few days ago, I talked to my mom over facetime and I told her how much I missed her and how hard it is to be thousands of miles away from her. She asked me, “do you regret going to Spain?” because she said it worries her, how much I miss home. I was actually talking about this with a friend a few days before my mom and I talked, but I didn’t come to Spain to have an easy time, I came here to learn and grow. I’m not in Spain to feel comfortable, because if everything were comfortable I wouldn’t be growing. I have been in Spain for two months now, and these months have been incredible but they have also been so difficult. Despite the hardships, though, I have grown so much in both my Spanish but also as a person. I just spent the weekend in Granada by myself without having second thoughts. Two months ago, I would not have been able to just up and go to a city I didn’t know for the weekend without another person, but here I am.

This upcoming week marks the beginning of Semana Santa, Holy Week, but it also marks the beginning of me walking the Camino de Santiago. For about ten days I will be walking a section of the ancient pilgrimage trail by myself. I won’t be fully alone because there are going to be many other pilgrims walking the trail, especially since it will be semana santa. I have gotten all my gear, bus tickets, know where I will be sleeping each night, and now it just needs to be time. This is something that I never would have been able to do prior to being here.

I may miss my family endlessly, and I may want nothing more than to be in my apartment surrounded by my best friends, but if I were to have spent this semester in Chicago I would have had a regular semester and wouldn’t have gone so far out of my comfort zone and wouldn’t have grown as much as I have. I miss the comfort of my life in Chicago, I miss the monotony of every day life: walking to class, taking the train to work, being at the IC all night; however, I am so thankful for the experiences I have had, because without them I would be stagnant rather than growing.