In Vogue

Among the daily sights and sounds that bombard my senses, I appreciate (and slightly envy) the beautiful, stylish men and women who inhabit this great city. During one of our orientation sessions back at Stanford, our student advisors gently warned us that people in Europe dress, well, better than most Americans. In order to avoid looking painfully touristy, we should minimize the frequency with which we wear jeans, hoodies, and workout attire in public. Oh, and those Rainbow flip flops that Stanford students seem to live in year-round? Better stow those away now because no one will ever be caught dead wearing such casual footwear in public.

For most, these dress norms require some adaptation but are of no real inconvenience. But for others - myself included - this discussion of American vs. European style prompted a series of thoughts like "Crap, my closet just shrunk to half it's size," "I can't wear my Rainbows?! Now I have to buy 'real' shoes." and "Now that I think of it, I can't remember the last time I didn't wear jeans, a hoodie, or workout clothes..."

Obviously I am slightly exaggerating, but it really was a point I personally had to address. I'll be the first to admit I have no style whatsoever. I still remember a particular day sophomore year when I put significant thought into my outfit, my then-boyfriend took note and said (I quote) "You know, you dress better than you used to." I wasn't sure whether to  take it as a compliment or an insult, mostly because this was a person who had less interest in his personal style than anyone else I knew. If after a year of knowing each other, not to mention a year of trying to impress him with good looks, one outfit was deemed only good enough to be called "better," then I clearly must look like a buffoon to the normal world.

Thankfully, I had a beautiful and stylish roommate at Stanford in the fall to prepare me for the world of European style. This is a woman who wore more dresses, cardigans, and silk blouses in one week than I probably did all quarter long. She is most likely the best-dressed female undergrad Mechanical Engineer at Stanford, so basically all I needed to learn about style was living in the same room with me. I definitely became much more aware of my own appearance, but I really only feel my style improved slightly throughout the course of the quarter. I lack the natural insight into the way clothes look and how different pieces fit together which is necessary to be truly fashionable.

Now I try to draw inspiration from the women I encounter on the streets. I see boots and scarves and bold colors that I feel I would have the courage to try. But after trying on a series of trendy pumps and boots that I have seen to be quite popular among women right now, I realize that ultimately I can't try to make that style my style. This means I may lose the edge that comes with flashy clothes or those new trendy shoes, but I like to think its a "timeless" look (or at least "hey, I'm trying"). I'm sure that at some point between now and June I'll find a way to dress less American than I do now.

(As long as I don't look like this ^^ I think I'm ok)

Agradece los pequeños detalles – Be grateful for the little things

Being in my third year at Stanford, a large proportion of my friends and acquaintances have studied, are studying, or will be studying abroad. My Facebook feed is continually flooded by statuses in foreign languages, funny anecdotes regarding culture shock and foreigners, and photos of beautiful landscapes and monuments. A little part of me has traveled through Paris, Florence, Barcelona, London, Marrakesh, Prague, Berlin, Lisbon, Beijing, and all over Australia vicariously through these friends.

Aside from getting the opportunity to explore a beautiful city and take classes through our own university program, another hidden bonus of studying abroad is having an entire new continent at our fingertips. Our program director has suggested that we resist the temptation to travel through Europe every weekend, encouraging us instead to explore the depths of Madrid and the beautiful country which is Spain. Yet, the relative ease with which we could travel to, say, Paris or London can be overwhelming. For example, my friends and I found plane tickets to London for 13 euros a piece --> that's about 17 American dollars.


Seventeen dollars?! I have spent more that that on a single meal in the US! But, a trip does not only consist of a plane ticket, and there is plenty of history and culture in Spain to fill every moment of the next 6 months. So as much as I would LOVE to travel to the Canary Islands, Lisbon, Paris, and London with my friends, I think my itinerary will be much more focused. In just under two weeks I will be traveling to Rome, Italy. We will only be there for 3 full days, but I am incredibly excited to visit a beautiful city, eat delicious Italian food, and drink some authentic Italian wine ;) And don't worry, I will certainly post about that trip as well!

The meticulous planner inside me has restrained me from buying plane tickets to every major city on the European continent, though it was a struggle to pass up the 13 euro London tickets!. It's easy to get caught up in the splendor of traveling, of living in Europe without adulthood responsibilities and having what seems like every opportunity open to us. I had a wonderful conversation with my host mother last week about Stanford, goals for life after graduation, and simply life in general. She reminded me that I am incredibly privileged to be here, as are all the members of the Stanford study abroad program, and that conversation set off a cascade of appreciation that I haven't been able to shake. Even though I am hundreds of miles away from my family and some of my closest friends, I have a million and one things to be grateful for each day.

From the beautiful sunshine that Madrid has seen over the past few days...

 to the countless laughs shared with friends...

From curling up with coffee and a fantastic book to the amazing cheese-stuffed dates my host mother keeps feeding me- happiness is already within reach <3

A change of pace

I am a creature of habit. I'm constantly torn between a feeling of restlessness and need to keep myself constantly entertained and the peace of mind I get with a routine. I like knowing things ahead of time and can get rather distressed when I don't know things ahead of time, with exceptions, of course. Vacations and short trips are often filled with exciting and novel impromptu experiences, and I'm not about to argue that I don't enjoy a good vacation :)

But this is probably why I haven't been able to see this trip as an actual Stanford quarter yet. Though we are now officially more than 1 week into classes and have spent approximately 14 days in Spain, our days and nights are filled with excursions around the city. My once weekly commute to and from one of Madrid's 3 world famous museums means that my art class does not feel like normal class, but rather a series of guided tours at amazing museums. (One of my classes meets once a week in one of Madrid's museums, mostly the Prado but we also visit the Thyssen and the Reina Sofia. How awesome is that? We basically spend an hour and a half each week looking at world famous art pieces and learning about thematic elements of their time.) 

We also have class with a rather small population of students in comparison to the normal school year- 29, to be exact-  but even then it's likely there are several people with whom you do not have class. This is strikingly different to Stanford where you are surrounded by hundreds of different students in your classes and residence. 

My schedule each day differs from that of the day before, and as exciting and thought-provoking each of these experiences have been, I am looking forward to settling down a bit. Not to say I won't take advantage of the Spanish night life or all the wonderful things I have yet to see, I just anticipate the day when this begins to feel more like a life in Madrid and not so much a touristy vacation.

La vida Española

The Stanford abroad program in Madrid is strictly home-stay, meaning that every student who comes from Stanford is placed with a Spanish family, either by his or herself or paired with another Stanford student. Each student fills out a living preferences form to discuss eating habits, family structure preferences, etc., much like the form every one fills out before arriving to Stanford their freshman year to pair them with their roommates. No information about the family is shared with the student until he or she arrives in Madrid, and even then we are only given a name, address, and phone number to contemplate while we travel on our orientation trip. After the 5 days of orientation, we arrived back at the Institute to have dinner with our families for the first time.

Anyone who has been in a romantic relationship knows it can be stressful meeting parents. First impressions can be difficult to navigate under any circumstance - so now imagine attempting to make a good first impression to your soon-to-be parents, in a foreign country (culture shock, anyone?), while required to speak a foreign language. I may have had the language part more or less under control, but I still was apprehensive about meeting my host mother for the first time. Am I dressed appropriately? Will I like her food? What will she think of my nose ring? (Hot topic of winter break)- All of these questions and more plagued me in the moments before meeting her.

Fortunately, my host mother is absolutely wonderful. She has hosted Stanford students for many quarters now and thoroughly enjoys helping students become acclimated to the Spanish culture and lifestyle. She is sweet, attentive, and very caring - assuring and reassuring my own mother back in Texas that she will care for me like if I were her own daughter. (Yes, my 2.5 mothers have already skyped together and bonded quite well)

I can certainly vouch that she feeds us like a true mother would! Spanish mothers can be very insistent on giving you seconds, thirds, snacks, dessert, coffee, tea, fruit - you name it. Additionally, it is considered bad manners in Spain to leave food on your plate, so balancing your physical capacity to eat without being rude to your mother can take a little practice. We were also given a multitude of guidelines that different families expect of their students regarding meals, snacks, and cooking, so I was a bit nervous about surviving the long hours between meals and what exactly my host mom would consider to be "vegetarian" cooking. Would I be eating patatas fritas (basically French fries, which are a staple in Spanish dishes) for every meal? Would I have to resort to buying food at a cafe between meals to satisfy my hunger? I breathed a sigh of relief when my host mother told me she has hosted vegetarian students before (students who were much less flexible than I in terms of vegetarian food choices) and that she herself has been raised to cook dishes that are primarily vegetable based.

Hallelujah! She has turned out to be an AMAZING cook who is very attentive to mine and my roommate's culinary likes and dislikes. She makes healthy, flavorful, vegetable-filled dishes including tortilla Española, eggplant & dates stuffed with goat cheese (amazing!), and homemade paella, just to name a few. My only complaint would probably regard Spanish breakfasts- which are usually coffee and a small croissant or piece of toast. I was raised to eat a hearty breakfast almost every day, but I am slowly becoming accustomed to this new schedule.

The only other notable difference of the Spanish lifestyle are the living spaces. Homes are usually apartment-like spaces because living space is limited. My roommate and I share a room, but there is plenty of space throughout the house for us to study, skype, or simply have some time to ourselves. The bathrooms, however, are absolutely tiny. I have difficulty making a 360 degree turn in my shower - and I fear the day when I have to shave my legs because I honestly don't know how I will maneuver my body to make it work.

All in all, I am learning a great deal about the Spanish culture - through school, conversations with my host mother, radio broadcasts, and casual conversation with other Spanish students. I have a pleasant schedule this quarter (12 units, yeah!) so I look forward to exploring various monuments and historical sites around Madrid and beyond very soon. Here is a preview of some of the things Madrid has to offer:

El Palacio Real

Catedral de la Almudena

I will be updating my Facebook with pictures I have taken, though I am sure you have seen the various photos I am tagged in so far. Also, per request, I will be taking pictures of my school and some other places nearby to give you a picture of where I am living- though maybe not today because it is raining outside (and it was forecast to snow!).

Hugs & kisses!

Drinks + free tapas, salsa dancing, chocolate + churros - just a typical night in Madrid

It's hard to believe that we have only been in Madrid for 3 full days. Adjusting to city life has meant pretty late nights (even on weekdays), plenty of people watching on our walks to and from school, and learning to navigate the metro, buses, night buses, and taxis to get around. Ever since we arrived in Nerja last Saturday night, we have eagerly explored the night life in hopes of experiencing the Spanish lifestyle that we have heard never sleeps. Our orientation scheduled called for early mornings, usually an 8 or 8:30am wake up call, and required lots of energy to keep up with the lengthy Spanish history and grammar talks we received as well as the countless hours of walking, climbing, and visiting we did. We were all exhausted from our jet lag and knew we needed to (try to) sleep at least 6 or 7 hours to keep up with our schedule.

The problem with this is that Spanish night life starts late. So late, in fact, that when we asked the concierge in our hotel at 11:00pm if there was anything to do in Nerja, they laughed and asked "You don't think you'll find something open now, do you?" They basically told us there would be plenty of bars and music pubs open, but anything more exciting wouldn't open until 3:30am. We thought we would have better luck with Cordoba because it is a bigger city than Nerja, but there was always just something missing in the few places we found.

Wednesday night a group of students went out to explore some of the places we had heard would be fun on a weekday from previous students in the program. I opted to stay in that night to catch up on emails, applications, and to skype, but my roommate came back with some interesting stories about the atmosphere and the people they encountered. Thursday night the original plan was to visit Kapital - a 7 story discoteca that has free entry + 1 free drink specials on Thursday nights. Somehow that didn't end up happening, but we visited a place near Puerta del Sol that boasts having the best sangria in Madrid. We spent the night talking and laughing (and later got pizza to calm our American-food cravings), then we met up with a few other people and spent time at an Irish pub. I had a great time, but most of us were still looking for that crazy Spanish night life we had heard so much about.

Then it was Friday. We all decided to visit Chueca which is the LGBT neighborhood in Madrid and we have heard can be really fun. Our first stop was El Tigre, a bar frequently visited by American college students studying abroad that serves large drinks and free tapas. It definitely was not an authentically Spanish spot but it was a great atmosphere to start the night and helped us all mellow out. We then really wanted to go to a discoteca, so we walked along a few streets to see what specials different club promoters could offer us. We walked back to the plaza at Sol and found a place that gave a pretty good deal. They had good music but not very many people, and our night had been long and not terribly exciting so a few people left and a couple others were considering leaving. We finally convinced everyone that we should check out a salsa place one of our friends recommended called La Negra Tomasa.

At the entrance, the promoter told us entry was 10 euros. We were skeptical, definitely not wanting to spend 10 euros a person for a bar/club we weren't sure would be fun. I talked to the promoter and convinced him he did not want to lose us as clientele (there were 6 of us total at this point) and he agreed to reduce the entry fee to 5 euros a person and offered us 3 free drinks - not too bad, eh? We walked in and immediately were impressed. There was great live salsa music, plenty of people dancing, and plenty of people looking for partners to dance. Within minutes of arriving 3 of us had been asked to dance - and we all ended up dancing well into the morning. Right around 5 am we decided we wanted to get some of the famous Spanish hot chocolate and churros so we made the trek out to a nearby Chocolateria that is open 24 hours. Considering it was 5 am, the Chocolateria was completely full. Young Spaniards our age, older adults, high school aged kids - the Chocolateria had them all, and more people continued filtering in the entire time we were there.

The problem with night life is that the metros close at 1:30 am and re-open at 6 am. Considering that people usually arrive at clubs and bars around 1 am, this means you take a night bus home, a taxi, or... stay out until the metros re-open. Students in previous programs have told us this will happen rather frequently, and that is precisely what we did last night. There was quite a number of people waiting for the metro when it opened and I got the feeling that most of them had spent the night out dancing and having fun.

One of the staff members for the Stanford abroad program had once told us that we should send our host families a text message if it gets to be around 7 or 8 am and we will haven't arrived home. I found that comment amusing but only half-believed that that could be a real possibility. Now I realize that its typical for Spanish nights out to turn into Spanish mornings with chocolate and churros. And the public transportation system here is great (safe and operates on decent hours), so it really isn't terribly inconvenient to get around from place to place.

Overall this was quite an eventful and interesting first week - the exciting part is that we still have Saturday night left :)

P.S. I'll definitely write about my host  mom soon, I just felt it was important to share my night life experiences because it honestly was a little surreal that it happened haha

My first adventures in Spain...

After experiencing a crazy, eye opening, sleep depriving, yet delicious and beautiful 5 days in Spain, I am not even sure where to begin sharing my stories. I could write for days about the things I did this weekend, but to spare you all, I will try to be brief. I guess I'll begin by describing my time at the airport...

I got to the Dallas airport with a bit of a knot in my stomach. The idea of being unable to simply reach for my phone and text or call someone from the US over the next 6 months, paired with an 8 hour time difference, had me uneasy from the start.  I was looking forward to savoring a few minutes of online communication with some friends and family before boarding my international flight until I learned that the Dallas airport does not have free wifi internet. Great. Luckily for me, two other students from my program would be on the same flight to Madrid with an equally long layover in Dallas. In retrospect, this is probably one of the best things that could have happened to me at the start of this trip. Aside from helping to distract me from my anxiety of traveling, they are two of the funniest and most easy-going people I have met on this trip thus far. I am sure we were all quite grateful to have each other as we waited for American Airlines to find a plane for our flight  (yes, our original plane was damaged and for about an hour we did not have an aircraft available for our flight), entertained ourselves through a 3 hour flight delay, navigated through the trendy and large Madrid airport, and managed to go about 24 hours without eating. Needless to say, we had already experienced plenty of adventure before even arriving in Madrid!

After arriving to Madrid, we made our way to the Instituto Internacional, which is the building where we and several other American universities have class. We were set to have a meeting and then promptly begin traveling to the south of Spain where our orientation trip would begin. We stopped for the night at a hotel to have dinner (at 10:30pm, not too much later than is customary in Spain) and resumed our travels the next morning. Our first stop was Granada, the last city to be under Moorish control and resting place of Fernando and Isabella, the Catholic kings responsible for unifying Spain. We visited the historic town of Albaycin and the magnanimous Moorish palace known as Alhambra. The city was beautiful and full of history, especially Alhambra.

Alhambra

Albaycin

After our day in Granada, we traveled to a coastal city named Nerja. We stayed in a beautiful hotel right on the edge of the beach and enjoyed wonderfully warm weather for the day and a half or so that we were there.  This was also our first night we had free time to explore a Spanish city; we were all excited to head out to a bar together and (legally) drink and be merry. At this point it felt almost impossible that most of us had only really met the day before

The view from the castle in Frigiliana 

Oh- I also need to explain that my study abroad program in Madrid is strictly Spanish-only. This means that at home, at school, in the streets, out at restaurants, etc. we are expected to only speak Spanish. (Yes, our classes are taught in Spanish as well). This was a bit daunting and can be a bit challenging at times, but is actually probably the reason why we all bonded so quickly. I am fortunate enough to have been surrounded by the language my entire life and to be able to speak and understand it quite well, but not all are as skilled. I really praise and admire all my classmates who have done such a great job so far functioning in daily life in such a foreign language.

We visited a traditional Moorish village in Nerja called Frigiliana and learned some history about the coastal Mediterranean culture and the different religious influences on the architecture. We climbed a mountain (literally) to see the remains of a castle and had an incredible view of the village, the surrounding mountains, all the way out to the sea. We had some traditional, sit-in-a-classroom class time as well, but this was actually kinda nice because we had spent so much time walking (and at times hiking) the previous days.

On Monday we traveled again, this time to the city of Cordoba where we visited a mosque turned cathedral. We learned about the Moorish influence on architecture and the interesting way in which Christian and Islamic influences coexisted closely, so closely, in fact, that the majority of the mosque is still completely in tact and simply had a cathedral built inside of it.

Afterwards, we traveled to a place outside of Cordoba to visit the castle of Almodovar del Rio. It seems like most of the landmarks we visited required climbing very steep hills - a tiring, but certainly much needed workout after all our delicious Spanish meals.

Early Tuesday morning, we traveled to Toledo which is known as the religious capital of Spain. This city more than any others saw the coexistance of Muslims, Christians, and Jews for a many years. We visited a beautiful church called San Juan de los Reyes and a church turned synogogue turned church that was originally built by the Moors. It was fascinating to learn about the different influences each had on each other and how Fernando and Isabella ruled their country based on the Catholic religion.

We also stopped briefly in Consuegra before reaching Toledo to see the windmills that Cervantes wrote about in Don Quixote!

But after all these fun trips and cultural insight, we had yet to face one of our biggest culture shocks of all: our host families.

[to be continued...]

Big.

Being from Texas, I know the meaning of the word “big” (the phrase “everything’s bigger in Texas” is generally true). But despite my experiences with big football pride and big family reunions, the past couple years have expanded my understanding of the word big beyond anything I knew before. Stanford, my home away from home for the past 2+ years, has found a place in my heart rivaling that of my hometown where I spent 18 years of my life. Everything about this campus has redefined the word “big” - the people, the classes, the scenery, and more recently, our football team. As much as it pains me to see my beloved team lose the Fiesta Bowl, the flood of Facebook posts boasting our everlasting Cardinal pride reminds me of the overwhelming blessings I have been granted in just attending a school like Stanford.

I am, in fact, about to experience one of the biggest blessings I have received so far – traveling to Spain to live and study in Madrid for 6 months. The past few months have been a flurry of emotions; from the excitement of obtaining the visa that will allow me to stay in Europe for my entire stay to the stress that came from studying for finals and moving out at the same time, I don’t think a day has gone by over the past 4 months that I have not thought about my upcoming trip. It seems surreal to think that this is really happening and I am just immensely grateful to everyone who has made it possible. First and foremost, I want to thank my family for all the encouraging words and loving thoughts they have shared with me. They have provided monetary support to make this trip a reality and have provided emotional support to ensure I can fully appreciate this experience. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. I am also incredibly grateful to my school and the Bing abroad program for making a trip like this accessible to students. I know that otherwise I would not have the means to experience Europe in such an intimate manner.

So here I am – less than 3 days away from the biggest trip I have made in my life. I will attempt to update the blog as often as possible because I know there are many people who want to know what my life in Spain will be like. I will provide contact information as soon as I get addresses and numbers squared away, so until then send me an email or a message on Facebook!