“Nick’s Feelings and Conclusions about Living Abroad in Alicante, Spain for 4 months.”

Ok first off:

I’m going to really try not to try to explain my feelings and conclusions about my semester abroad by replacing what I actually feel and think with vague clichés to define what I was supposed to feel and think after living abroad for four months. Too convoluted? OK, we’ll see how it goes. It's doubtful I can even stick to my own advice. Probably better to stick to some facts to support any waxing philisoph I’m throwing in there, so I’ll try a list format. I’ll call it “Nick’s Feelings and Conclusions about Living Abroad in Alicante, Spain for 4 months.”

1. I’m proud of the amount of Spanish I’ve picked up. That being said, I could’ve improved more with a different scenario. Different scenario would mostly entail a hell of a lot less interaction with my American friends and a hell of a lot more with Spanish people, their movies, and their literature and periodicals.

2. I’ve made a few good friends here and get along real well with everyone in the group. Definitely drew a good hand.

3. One of the issues I have when thinking about wanting things like ‘study-abroad,’ backpacking (the gap year style Europe/SE Asia/S. America variety), and ‘traveling’ in general is that I feel like I’m really only thinking about living out the ‘bourgeoise dream. ’ The ‘adventurous’ goals of the small percentage of the world that can afford such goals that is.

4. There was a lot of downtime this semester due to school not being too difficult and me not being a part of any organized sports team. People use their downtime in different ways. I successfully instigated a reading binge for myself and read more books and articles these past four months than I have in any period of time since before I had my license (when social things became very easy to organize reading pace slowed down significantly). I think reading books of all genres and eras and also trying to read about different perspectives on current events (globaleconomictrendanalysis.blogspot.com is a decent spot to start if you don’t know where to look) are important things. I’ve always thought these were important things and Alicante has given me a bit of a break from a life of ‘constant socializing’ mostly because I’ve been living in a house with a 65 year old Spanish lady.

5. Expectations before going abroad are always going to be way different than what the experience actually is. This can be evidenced by what people bring. For example, I was convinced that it would be totally unstylish to wear sneakers in Spain. I believed I would be going out until 6am every night with a large group of Spanish troublemakers who also played pickup soccer. Thus, I didn’t bring sneakers. A little philosophy for you right here: if you are something at home, like a kid who likes going to the gym and running, you should not abandon that thing. I got myself a pair of sneaks after a couple of weeks and life improved.

6. I think my ability to ‘go out’ and actually have a good time has been steadily improving in Alicante. Going out when it’s not just me and close friends and acquaintances is something that has never given me good vibes, but I’m getting more into it. A good skill to take back to CU.

7. Going into study abroad I would’ve been far more gung-ho about doing things like traveling somewhere where I can’t even converse with the locals.

8. Communication among people about their lives is something that I’ve increased my belief in since being abroad. I think I’ve actually improved my English from trying to speak about ‘real-ish’ things (more real than what I had for breakfast or how drunk I got last night at least) when I’m passing it with my American friends.

9. I’ve changed in four months. But I change every four months.

10. I’m fascinated by how easy it is to let your life go in a given direction without giving much thought to that direction. Last night I had one of my few dinners out of the house and I let myself be led halfway across Alicante to a MALL where we took the escalators to the third floor, entered a restaurant where you order mini-sandwiches full of processed meat and condiments, and sat on a stool. The sandwiches were not sufficient in terms of quantity or quality. Etc.

Nick

Life in Norway

These pics are out of order. However, they should still give you a good feel for a random 5 day trip to Norway in December. Here we go.

The sunset in Rygge, Norway (a happening town where there also happens to be a Ryanair serviced airport). My flight from Rygge-Alicante direct was 6 Euros (+5 in administrative fees).

Roofs in Bergen, Norway. On another note, it rains a lot in Bergen, Norway in Decemeber.

View from higher up in Bergen, Norway. Very pretty, no?

Me at the Leprosy Museum. I would've been happier had the museum been open. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. A good motif for my stay in Bergen. In all seriousness, I really would like to learn more about the history of leprosy and this seemed like a real missed opportunity.

Sunset and snow in Selje, Norway, the terminus of a five hour ferry boat north out of Bergen.

A Sudanese refugee camp in coastal Norway

Is that sunrise or sunset? (picture by Miguelito)

The Atlantic Ocean. Hollah.

View from hill in Selje, Norway. Hollah.

Note the hand symbols. Mike believes in many things. Among them; 'peace.'

Rapid Fire

About a month ago Nick and I did a nice little leisurely hike along some cliffs north of Benidorm, a city about an hour north of here by tram.

Hampton Beach on steroids

Where the city meets the sea

Juice!

Cliffs ranged from 300 to 600 feet tall

Hard to capture the hugeness

Oh hey Nicholas watcha doin?

Could see until the sky and sea merged into one

Well heres a video that might give ya a better feel eh?

Michael

Miguelete

Alright so for about a four hour period on Thanksgiving day  I briefly became Miguelete.  Nick would probably rather recount those fleeting hours to you.  But here's a pic:

December Break

Alright so the my mom's camera wasn't working so I don't have pictures.

Thursday I wished Nick a buen viaje in Paris while I left for Amsterdam with some friends.  Stepping off the RyanAir flight I felt an excitingly refreshing rush of cold air!  The ground was blanketed in snow too.  The first night we explored the city for a bit to get our bearings.  We woke up the next morning and wandered over to the Van Gogh museum.  They don't have Starry Night, but they have the largest collection of his works in the world. I enjoyed the visit.  It was interesting to get close to the paintings and see the thick brush strokes on many of his works in person.  It adds more feeling to it than just viewing the pictures online or whatever.  The painting below is titled "Wheatfield with Crows" and was completed in 1890, the year of his death.  Supposedly he sensed his coming death and was inspired to draw this:

That afternoon we ventured on over to the Heineken Factory for a tour that was actually excellently devised.  It was my first brewery tour, and it was both informative and fun.  Apparently Heineken has its own secret yeast strain that only five or so people in the world have access to the instructions how to create it.  The yeast is what gives a beer its distinctive flavor, so I am told.

Here's a picture that captures how beautiful the city was (credits to Adam and Corey):

One of the many canals

So cool at night

Heineken Brewery Tour was a good experience!

That night we wandered the city including the Red Light District, a place like no other I have ever seen.  Very excellent area to people watch.
The next morning we took a tour of the Anne Franke house.  I had never read any of her journals, but knew the relative jist of the story.  It was quite depressing to go through the attic in which she and her family spent so many months trying to evade the Nazis.  Of course in the end they were discovered and taken to interment camps where she died of illness.  Made me very sick to think about how cruel people can be to each other.

Gearing back to positive things, that Saturday night I had a 12:30AM bus to Weeze, Germany for a Ryanair flight to Milan.  The van didnt exactly have heat.  I woke up in the middle of the ride and briefly thought I had lost control and feeling of my right leg.  I had to shake it around til the feeling of flowing blood came back.  It was as if the arteries and veins of my right leg were slowly freezing into ice, so if felt.  Anyways, made it to Weeze at 4AM and ate some gummy bears then passed out til the flight.

So I could go into detail about how the flight was delayed a couple of hours and how I missed the train from Milan to Lugano as I was sprinting to the platform, but I'll spare you that.  Lugano was great fun!  Lindsay and her friends welcomed us right off with a big ole family dinner!  Yummy!  We passed the days going to a chocolate factory, exploring, riding trains, climbing castles, etc.  I even tried a yoga class and ate Indian food for the first time.  Switzerland is very beautiful.  Nick and Micaela and Lindsay have pictures.  Heres one from Micaela:

Four of us

Finally on Wednesday it was off to mysterious Norway for me and Nick.  We spent about 32 hours moving our bodies across the Earth.  Train to bus to flight to overnight train to boat to hike to boat.  Heres how it goes:  As soon as we arrived in Oslo we discovered the true nature of Norwegian living.  Its incredibly expensive!  And it involves working in the Norwegian kroner currency.  Food and lodging are expensive.  Anyways.  We took the overnight train from Oslo to the coastal city of Bergen.  We arrived in darkness at 7AM, wandered the city and impulsively took a 10 hour roundtrip boat ride along/through the fjords of Norway.  Quite the ride.   Nicks got some good video and pics.  We had a 3 hour layover in Selje, Norway (population 800?) and saw a hill and went for it.  The view from the top of the hill was gorgeous.  The sunlight reflecting of the water, snow, and clouds was impressive.  As the sun never climbs to high in Norwegian winter it creates interesting lighting.  After a boat ride back to Bergen through the dark we secured a hostel for the next three nights.  Bergen is a very pretty city nestled on the coast with small mountains surrounding it. Hopefully Nicks got some pics.  Tried to not let the city steal all our money.  Beers at the bar were $9, cheapest.  Base your CPI or whatever its called off that.
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Alright, so when I told the story (in pictures) of Mom and Kelly in Spain, I somehow neglected that Micaela graciously gave us a wonderful tour of Barcelona.  Reverting to the idea of story by picture, here you go (thanks Micaela!):

Micaela and I in Barcelona!

Ever seen a sting ray from its underside??  From the aquarium.

Oh and here:

Living the Suite Life at a four star hotel, paid for by the kind folks at CIEE during our trip to Valencia in November

Anyways, finals and essays here.  Last weekend for everyone in Alicante!  Let the good times keep rolling.  Sorry for the lack of pics.

Michael

Back from Week Off

Trips to Paris, Switzerland, and Norway completed for me over the last ten days.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend repeating all of what my travels entailed to others (though living like a bachelor king in Paris two Thursday nights ago was pretty awesome). The rest of the trip does not bring up images like that.

Below is the romantic image of my life in Norway.

I like to picture myself wearing a wife-beater tanktop that is largely a smudged black stain along with my black winter hat and an old paint-stained pair of trousers. I would be in the hostel kitchen in Bergen, Norway, just cooking pasta and trying to get on with life. 'Down and Out in Bergen, Norway' would be the title.

I've returned to excellent news, my madre here in Spain just got the good news that her broken foot/toe is healed! She can walk now! Yeeeehaaaawwww!

More to come perhaps.

Nick

Buen Viaje

Quick Look at Nick's Current World-Wide Network

Blue= Friends from Exeter

Yellow = Friends from Boulder

Green = Family/Family Friends

Red = Two or More Friends in One Country

List of my Family and Friends Studying, or Traveling Abroad

Alicante, Spain – Mike Anson – Exeter/Soccer-Semester Abroad

Sevilla, Spain- Alissa Eggli- Boulder-Semester Abroad

Barcelona, Spain- Micaela Bloomer- Exeter-Semester Abroad

Lugano, Switzerland- Lindsay Hodgman-Exeter-In her 3rd year at Franklin College

Bern, Switzerland – Ben Utter-Cousin- Studying International Law and Trade Policy at the WTI

Dublin, Ireland- Dave Meline-Exeter/Soccer-Semester Abroad

Florence, Italy – Deven Tentindo-Exeter-Semester Abroad

Copenhagen, Denmark –Jess Blais-Exeter/Family Friend-Semester Abroad

Athens, Greece – Jordan Clarke – Exeter -Semester Abroad

Nairobi, Kenya- Katharine Wilson- Exeter- Semester Abroad (boot camp edition)

Moscow, Russia-Wilson Zinnurov-Cousin-Acting (has since returned)

China – Kaleigh Armitage-Boulder – Traveling (will be in Thailand soon)

Chiang Mai, Thailand – Matt Pope –Exeter/Soccer- Semester Abroad

Wollogong, Australia- Sam Lanman- Boulder-Semester Abroad

Melbourne, Australia- Helen Lederman-Boulder- Semester Abroad

San José, Costa Rica- Anna Nicolopulos- Boulder – Semester Abroad

Río de Janeiro, Brazil – Evan Farr- Boulder/Soccer-Semester Abroad (+traveling?)

Thanksgiving Day Pictures

Beach football post-game shot. Note 'Miguelito' front and center.

Note the bib-style napkins; Pat and I ate until we couldn't eat any more (and drinks were never-ending as well, which never hurt anyone...except for that one guy).

Migueléte really slaying the crowd with harmonica, guitar, and vocals. He's got the works!

Post-"Turkey Bowl" shot of the group. Good people right here.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day in Alicante was a great time. Group football game on the beach during the day (with a gamecap dip in the Med for me) coupled with a giant banquet dinner that night made it a really great day.

Miguelito (or should I say 'Miguelete') put on a performance of two OCMS songs in front of the entire group (close to 150 people?) along with our friend Adam. Mike sang and played guitar+harmonica and Adam provided additional vocals. He closed it out with "Wagon Wheel" which was a huge hit as would be expected!

The last two days have been another group trip, this time to the nearby city of Valencia (3rd largest city in Spain). Today we visited the newly famous "City of Arts and Sciences," which included giant aquariums with whales, sharks, heaps of other fish, and a dolphin show. Dolphin show was really cool. Dolphins jumping 15+ feet out of the water, throwing humans around, and being very impressive and well-trained.

Pics to come.

Nick

Kelly and Mom come to Spain

Alright.  Well Mom and Kelly came all the way to Spain to bring me a camera and this is what I have to show for it.

And for that, this is a tale of pictures (who likes reading anyways).

Background: Pics are from Alicante and Barcelona.

Helllllo there

Queen of the Castle

Fire Away

La Mar

La playa de San Juan

Madre real

Ahhhh

Sooooooooooo good

Of course, upon arrival back home after Barcelona!!  Oh Lucio, you are in my bed as often as I wish Jessica Alba was.
Yeah, all the time.

Michael

Update!

Drenthe (A Dutch guy who used to play for Real Madrid) scored one of the best free kick goals I've ever seen live to give Hercules the lead and 2-1 victory in their game against Real Sociedad last night. Click icon in the bottom right for full screen.

Last Couple of Weeks and Sevilla

Saw my second bullfight (two weeks ago now). I knew what was going on a lot more after reading Hemingway’s guide to bullfights, Death in the Afternoon…went with my friends Craig and Mike L. We saw the 16 year old matadors we'd seen fighting two months prior sitting in the row in front of us. I'm maintaining my prior stance on bull fights in general. It's culture! This was a top end novillada (amateur bullfight), with the winner gaining rights to be a full on matador next season in Valencia. Lots of extremely dangerous contact with the bulls. A banderillero had his leg broken after being tossed a solid 7 or 8 feet in the air.

The night before that had been spent with those two friends and 3 other girls (two of whom were full on Spanish). Great night of practicing Spanish and staying up late. Now on to a recap of Sevilla.

Columbus' tomb!

Flamenco performers.

Trip to Sevilla was a total success really. Jennifer and the good people at CIEE really put together a great trip for us all. This was a 2 day trip that is included in the study abroad experience. Nice 8 hour bus ride each way and $40 of spending money for four meals. Not great for the students who don’t like bus rides…luckily I am considering joining the endurance driving circuit, so it suited me just fine to be passing the time in my seat as we were making moves back and forth across southern Spain. Upon arrival we very quickly made our way to a private Flamenco performance, the type of dance that Sevilla is very famous for. Very technical and emotional.

We were then free to go out and take in the Sevilla nightlife. One of my favorite nights out since I’ve been in Spain; most everyone in the bar area is hanging out on the street and it takes the form of a giant block party. Pretty awesome scene, and I had several successful and relatively long spanish speaking interactions as the night progressed. Good times.

Large-scale breakfast buffet upon wake-up! Hell yeah. Had a group visit to the Catedral de Sevilla in the morning, the third largest cathedral in the world. Some real cool history lessons to be had about the Muslim-Christian influences in Sevilla and specifically the Cathedral which was formerly a giant mosque and was actually totally modified/changed (but not fully razed and replaced like most mosques were after the Christians retook Spain). The Cathedral was a real center for the conquistadors and mariners of Spain to come and pray before their voyages, and Christopher Columbus’ remains are actually currently in the Cathedral after a journey back and forth across the Atlantic (back to Sevilla due to the Spanish-American war in 1898). I discovered these facts from our tour guide who spoke Spanish for us at the slowest pace imaginable. Nice to know I can comprehend that a bit at least. Also visited the Gardens of Alcazar, the Plaza de España, and an oldtime Jewish barrio?(something about Don Juan having lots of women there? I was becoming less attentive at this point…)

It was a funny scene throughout the weekend with many of us not having gotten our full night’s sleep either night and most struggling with their abilities to embrace the historical/architectural/ cultural aspects of the weekend. There were several groups of us…mostly attentive, partially attentive, and disruptively unattentive!

Catedral de Sevilla

Glimpse of Sevilla from high in the cathedral, you can just make out the famed Guadalquivir River (provides boat access to the Mediterranean).

Gardens of Alcazar

Gratuitous palm tree and statue.

This should leave Miguelito room to tell the epic tale of his night before the departure to Sevilla in addition to other anecdotes of the past few weeks.

Shout outs to the EHS boys soccer team, tough luck with another semifinals loss, and to everyone back home reading this, miss you all.

Nick

Long Time No Write

Alright well the past few weeks have been busy busy.  And what that means is we've had a few four day/three day weeks due to holidays and what not.  Longer weekends = busy.  This past weekend our entire group went to Seville.  More or less 75 Americans all together.  Needless to say it provided for quite some excitement.  By the end of the weekend I couldn't even control myself:

Mierda!

 Please excuse me...

Well I don't have the time to write a proper entry tonight, but look for one tomorrow.. if you are devoted so to this blog.

Michael

Random Extra Pics from Fall Break

One of the finer places I've taken a leak

Wild horses in Andorra

Look closely and you'll see Nick

Not quite as good as New England

Herd of goats.  This I did not see, but Nick says they were roaming the town without being given direction from anyone

Midterms this week.  Seeing Real Madrid vs. Hercules here in Alicante this weekend.  La Liga game #3.  No complaints here.

-Michael