Resolve to do it

Now that I'm back in the whirlwind lifestyle that is being young, being a student, and being an American, there seem to be 1,001 things floating around in my head all at once. Between finalizing transportation arrangements for my summer job to packing and unpacking for the 8th time in the past 9 weeks, I feel like I'm a bit rusty on my ability to tackle multiple things at once. So after traveling (again) and (mostly) settling in to my new place on the other side of the country, I was inspired by my sister writing at her blog to make a list of things I want to see and do this summer.

1. Train for my half-marathon. And this time, I'm serious about the "training" part. I ran a 10K race in April but celebrated my 21st birthday a little too eagerly in the days leading up to the race. I was still proud of my finish - and didn't come in last place! - but I want to push myself to actually train for the 13.1 miles that await me in October at the Nike Women's half marathon.

2. Visit the national monuments and museums in DC. I know that 10 weeks is much too short a time to actually get to know in a city, but I hope to share some of the great sights in the area with friends.

3. Keep in touch. Being abroad made me appreciate the relative ease with which we can communicate while being on American soil. I went from a smartphone with email, texting, and calling capabilities to a small, prepaid phone that charged me 20 cents each time I wanted to make a call or send a text. Add that to the 7 to 9 hour time difference between me and my friends & family and I definitely missed being able to call or text someone on a whim.

4. Read the newspaper every day. I've grown out of touch with current affairs, partly because I've been out of the country for the past few months, but also partly because I simply have not been reading as much as usual. I want to read at least one newspaper article each day.

5. Make friends! One of my favorite things about being abroad was getting to know tons of incredible people, both through my program and through my travels. I am looking forward to meeting other summer interns and making friends in a whole new city.

6. Dabble in the art of being vegan. My roommate in the spring in Madrid was a vegan, and, frankly, most of the time I didn't even notice a difference in our meals. I do have a great love for eggs and cheese, but the last time I was living on my own, I became a vegetarian, who's to say there won't be another change? I can't guarantee anything but I think it's an interesting thought to consider.

7. Prepare for the GRE exam. This one isn't so much fun, but if I want to be ready to apply for grad schools this coming fall, I need to take my exam in October. Yay for studying even when you're not in school!

So here's to the start of summer - a summer filled with humidity, research, running, eating, reading, friends & family!

Where am I?

I've made it back to my hometown, but it somehow feels even more foreign than when I make my annual trips back from Stanford. There has been a significant amount of change, some of which feels like more drastic change in the past 6 months than there had been in the previous 3 years, but overall it still gives me a sense of comfort unparalleled by any other place.

It goes without saying that I missed the important people in my life - I'm really happy I was able to come home even if just for a short time to see my family before heading off to yet another adventure in the DC area - but leaving Madrid was still like leaving a part of me on the other side of the ocean. My only comforts are rediscovering the simple treasures I forgot existed in the US. One of the most obvious for me regards food. I was extremely fortunate in Madrid for having a host mother who genuinely cared about me and respected my choice to be vegetarian, and while she did amazing work in the kitchen, Spanish vegetarian food is not MY vegetarian food. It's not the hummus, avocado, and bean sprout sandwiches that remind me of summer, it's not the mango and black bean salad that I like to eat with chips and salsa, and it's definitely not the aloo palak Indian food that has become one of my all time favorite dishes. Spanish food is great - I fully intend on replicating some recipes! - but I missed the freedom of a kitchen.

I also desperately missed having a gym. It took my stay in Madrid to make me realize how much I took the gym at Stanford for granted. I found a great introductory deal to a Bikram yoga studio, but unfortunately couldn't afford a full membership. Soon after, I signed up for my first 10K race. Running kept me busy for a while, until I broke my toe trekking through the Spanish countryside on el Camino de Santiago just one short week after the race. My unfortunate toe kept me from walking without a limp for about a week and certainly kept me from running for at least 2 weeks after that (mostly because I never really took care of it or rested appropriately). Monday I walked into a gym for the first time in way too long and damn it felt good.

Then, of course, there is the world of smartphones, cable TV, Netflix, and Pandora that has opened up to me. A world of entertainment at my fingertips, for better or for worse.

But just as I expected, the reality of my presence at home makes my entire experience abroad seem like a dream. El Paso has a way of doing that even with my life at Stanford, but the greater physical and psychological distance between the US and Spain makes it much harder to bridge the two. Now it's on to the next chapter in m life - summer research, here I come!!

The time has come

I am sitting in my nearly empty room staring at my packed luggage, still slightly in denial that I will be flying back to the US tomorrow. My life over the past few days has only been slightly different from my usual life in Madrid - watching soccer games, going out at night, packing for my next trip - so it has been difficult to imagine that this time, I won't just be leaving Madrid for the weekend. My goodbyes to friends aren't a "see you on Monday," they are a "see you in September."

The hardest thing may be realizing that after tomorrow, I will (probably) never experience these sights and sounds again. The simple sights, like children playing in the plaza near my house or the bustle of people in the metro, make up the essence of Madrid, the true Madrid that I have lived in and not just visited. I could look back at pictures of monuments and views, but that isn't the Madrid that quietly grew on me.

After looking back at my first few posts and reflecting on my personal experiences before arriving in Madrid, I hardly know where to begin describing the immense changes I have undergone. It goes without saying that I no longer feel like a tourist in Madrid - in fact, it has become such a part of my sense of self that I am already planning a way to come back in the future.

More than anything, I am grateful to have been blessed with an incredibly supportive and enriching environment, one that has allowed for psychological, social, and emotional exploration not tied to the norms that have been ingrained in our minds as American youth. I have grown to love my host mother like true family and I credit a substantial portion of my personal growth to her thoughtfulness and understanding. I have met incredible people that I am so grateful I can now call my friends. I have thoroughly taken advantage of non-traditional learning and happy to say that I finally feel competent in my abilities to discuss intellectual topics in Spanish.

I constantly refer to our stay here as not "real life" simply because our life here - and the ease with which we can live it fully - is completely surreal. Stanford strives to create the optimal environment for us and I'm sure they want every student to experience all those things I just listed above, I am just grateful to have been one of those granted the opportunity. It has been life-changing, in every sense of the word.

So here we are nearly 6 months later, thinking fondly of my experiences and wondering what it will be like to return to the life I knew before going abroad. I guess tomorrow we will see...

Overdue! Paris, part II

My last day in Paris was like walking among the clouds.

I lost myself along Champs Elysee and the Luxembourg gardens, the Pantheon and the Rodin museum. 

I stumbled across the Latin Quarter discovering gem after incredible gem of beauty and history. I spent it unexpectedly alone since my phone credit expired just as I was heading into the city center, and though that was just one more item to add to my long list of unfortunate circumstances, I couldn't have been more grateful to be alive. 

And finally, I managed to find some internet and see my friends in Paris one last time. After touring the city at dusk, we made it to the Montparnasse tower just in time to get an unbelievable view of the City of Lights, complete with the Eiffel tower and all.

Even though it's been just over a week since I returned from Paris, it seems unreal that I actually saw and did those things I just wrote about. It's even more weird considering one of my friends in Paris has already returned to the states and begun his summer job!

And even though our adventures abroad are shortly coming to an end, I know our bittersweet goodbye is a small price to pay for all the wonderful opportunities we have been given over the past few months.

Voted city most likely to surprise you: Paris, part I

Even with a slight housing disaster and expired phone credit, my trip to Paris is one that I will remember for a long time to come.

The first day was a whirlwind of traveling and trying to find my way around in this beautiful new city. I came across some beautiful sights and managed to meet up with friends before meeting up with my Couchsurfing host.

Louis XIV square

Jim Morrison's grave!

Yes, I did Couchsurfing. If you don't know what that is, it's a system of hosts all around the world who offer a space in their home for people traveling through to stay relatively free of charge. In an expensive city like Paris, Couchsurfing was ideal. I thought I had covered all my bases before going through with the experience, unfortunately a misunderstanding with my host about what the word "compromise" means eventually led to a state of temporary homelessness in Paris. One minute I'm sitting out by the Eiffel tower admiring the twinkling lights, and the next I am frantically searching hostel sights for any available space. Cue mini crisis.

But, as always, the gods looked favorably on me and found me a solution before my anxiety could evolve into a full-scale panic attack (holla Dan & Randy!). I somehow managed to keep a bright outlook and visit some of the monuments that have lived only in my dreams.

Notre Dame cathedral

I was continually delighted by the beautiful nooks that I stumbled across in my wanderings around the city. I already expected to see the beautiful iconic landmarks that characterize Paris, but there is so much more to discover.

Sainte-Chapelle

The next night was then spent celebrating a friend's birthday and spending time with other friends studying in Paris. It was a great way to relax after 2 long days of traveling and living like a nomad. I had the intention of seeing as much as possible during my time there despite the various challenges that crossed my path, even though I knew I could not see and appreciate everything in such a short visit.  

Versailles

I was excited and deeply grateful to be in this great city, and more than anything I was glad to see that  my perception of the city thus far had (more or less) not been as awful as some of the descriptions others had shared.