Back in Boston...but Missing Madrid

So yes, the summer is nearing its close. Though, I have to admit, i didn't get the summer of leisure that I was expecting. Soon after returning home, I was hired for an internship in Cambridge working on the company's database and using my Spanish to translate for a corporate event. Though I love the challenge of applying the business and foreign language knowledge that I have learned while studying in Madrid, waking up at 4am during the week to drive 2 hours to Cambridge makes me look forward to 8am classes in Boston. I am a sophomore, but "transferring" to Boston is, basically, a totally new start. I have no idea where my classes are going to be, who my favorite professors will be, or, at the moment, where I'm even living. The process back to Boston, I must confess, has not been the smooth transition for which I was hoping. But, even though I miss Madrid, I would not exchange this new adventure for any other.

The End

My year abroad is now over. I am home, and have startled to settle into old patterns and habits. But, though I am glad to see family and old friends I now realize that my outlook has changed. From my year abroad, I am now different, more independent, confident, and cosmopolitan. Though I may begin to readjust to old routines, I will never truly go back to the way I was before I went to Spain. I may participate in Tuesday movie night with friends and spend evenings at Starbucks just like last summer, but the conversations I will have will be entirely different. Boston and an entirely new college year is only a short summer break away, but I will never be able to forget SUMC. The faculty and staff in Madrid have influenced me in numerous ways and I will take the experiences that I have had in Spain with me on my new adventures.

Penultimate Thoughts

The greatly anticipated last week of classes has finally descended. Oddly enough, the campus library and computer labs are quieter this week than last, even though next week is finals. I am in the process now of trying to have my blog posted to the Boston campus website so as to continue blogging through the summer and into next semester when I attend the Boston campus. This past weekend was a giant celebration throughout Spain. The Real Madrid soccer team won the King´s Cup, later driving over it in front of national television and hundreds of fans, and the processions that accompany Holy Week. Though the processions are more elaborate in the south of Spain, such as Malaga and Seville, I was impressed with the hundreds of Spaniards in the streets in Madrid on Thursday and Friday. Though many of the processions were delayed due to rain, several proceeded in-between downpours. The final library newsletter of the semester is in its editing stages as well, and I can hardly believe that this is my penultimate post for the semester. The family of one of my roommates is in Madrid for two weeks and will be coming to dinner at our house tonight, so I´m looking forward to a small taste of the United States while they are here. It seems like there is hardly enough time to finish everything before I pack and leave for the U.S.

The Beginning of the End

Study, study, study! That is the very drumb rythym that every student at SUMC has been playing this last week. Even those who are more confident about their acadmeic prowess are spending mroe time with their notes and workign longer hours on their papers. The library, which is usually comofrtable during the semester, is now constantly packed with people researching topics via the databses, plannign projects, or reveiwing notes. As I enjoy a short break from my endeavors, I went to the Prado Museum to revisit some of my favorite paintings. I read that the museum is free most weeknights from 6 to 8. I arrived early and found an enormous line, almsot along the entire building with people waiting for the opening. I too entered the line, but it was scarcely 15 minutes and I was inside. I visited Las Meninas, Las Majas, the Mona Lisa ( yes, The Prado has one too) as well as the Rubens. My break over, I spent Sunday rewriting a final paper which my FlashDrive lost due to contact with magnets. I need to learn not to entirely rely on technology. As a salute to spring, I decided to take a walk in the Casa del Moro as well as in the Sabatini Gardens. Both were magnificent with lush foliage and early tulips and roses blooming. The commencement ceremony and banquet are on the  5th of May and shortly after I go home. Only 18 days left to finish savoring Madrid.

A Bit of Everything

Palacio Real, Evening

View from my bedroom, Sunset

This week’s post is a smorgasbord of thoughts from this week… time keeps rolling, I can´t believe that I´ll be DONE with finals this time in 3 weeks! Free book days starts tomorrow, and I cannot wait. This work week is half over, and the weekend is upon us again. With some free time I plan to work on my English project, and STUDY STUDY STUDY! I am also excited because my older sister was just accepted to a Study Abroad program with her University, where she will be studying in Scotland this fall. I cannot wait to have time home with the family, if only for the summer. As a major in Global Business and Marketing, studying abroad in my junior year is almost impossible, so I am now investigating Travel Abroad Seminars through Suffolk. For about a week and a half, Suffolk professors take a group of students to business centers around the world to study the country´s business and culture. There are seminars to Italy, France and Belgium, India, and China. I have always been fascinated with the Orient, and so, hopefully, I will be going to Beijing and Shanghai next summer. I am looking forward to being back in New England for the summer, but am also dreading having to say goodbye to the amazing faculty and staff I have come to know at SUMC.

Before the Storm hits...

I can hardly believe that in 4 weeks, as of this Wednesday evening, I will officially be done with my final exams for Spring 2011.  Similar thoughts are xx around campus. Papers are coming due, final projects are in the works (or should be), and I am eagerly reviewing semester materials in preparation for exams. I spent this weekend resting and studying after discovering an old 1940´s movie called THE BAT, taken from a play by Mary Roberts Rinehart, one of my favorite fiction authors. My roommate Leah was off to the Canary Islands with her Astronomy Class and my other roommate Daniele was in Berlin. During the weekend I decided that, in the next few weeks, I will post a list of "must haves" when studying in Spain, or anywhere in Europe, and another list of useful information for living in Madrid that I found out on my own. I hope these posts will help anyone considering Madrid for their study-abroad.The weather is increasingly warmer, and some students, desperate for summer, are now wearing shorts. The Student Council is currently selling handmade paper cranes as a fundraiser for Japan relief, and we have seen an exciting response from the SUMC community. In other news, Spain just played host to the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall who visited Madrid and Granada. There is so much work to be done in these next few weeks, though I am sure they will go by too quickly.

The Magic of Granada

At the River Darro

Part of La Alhambra

Gardens at La Alhambra and view of the Albaicin Quarter

The city of Madrid has been quite chilly the last two weeks and so I was grateful to be able to go to Granada for the weekend. In the south of Spain, Granada was ruled by the Moors as a separate kingdom until King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella forcefully decided that Granada should become a part of the united lands of Aragon and Castile.  Accordingly, Granada has an intriguing mix of Islamic, Renaissance, and Art Nouveau architecture, not to mention La Alhambra. The first day out, after 5 and a half hours in a small bus, the group went for a walking tour of the Albaicin quarter and looked at the Alhambra palace from St. Nicholas’ balcony. We then headed down to the center of town, Plaza Nueva, by the river, and were set free to drink tea in the various tea houses, or to shop in the bazaar-like alleys. We then met for dinner at a traditional Moroccan restaurant, where we had the best dinner of the entire trip-chicken cuscus, with outrageous lemonade, traditional soup, and Moroccan tea with pastries for dessert. The owner greeted us with perfect English and the warmest greeting I have yet to receive in Spain. As a Celiac, I could not eat the cuscus pollo, or the traditional soup, and so, after nicknaming me Bill Gates (because of my signature glasses), brought me an amazing rice dish with chicken and spices, along with a traditional soup. Both were some of the best food I have ever eaten, and the lemonade and tea were otherworldly.  That evening I took a taxi ride to the hotel with friends. Though not in the center, our hotel was within walking distance, with enormous rooms (mine had 4 beds, two bedrooms, and a kitchen), and the breakfast was easily suited to a Celiac’s need for no gluten, and plenty of protein. Saturday was spent totally at La Alhambra, a site I have wanted to visit since childhood. The palace is actually made up of several castles, built at different periods and for varying purposes. We saw them all, my favorite, and the most well-known, are the Nazarene Palaces, where the Sultan lived and held court. Our guide led us through a maze of arches and gardens, pointing out the room where Columbus asked for support from Queen Isabella, the hall where an entire family was murdered, and the cliff-top perch where Washington Irving lived while writing his Tales of the Alhambra. That afternoon was spent at the silk market behind the Cathedral. Sunday, with a bit of apprehension, a small group of us went to the Hamman. A Hamman is a traditional Turkish bathhouse that existed throughout Turkey, North Africa, and southern Spain for centuries. The experience was broadening as well as rejuvenating, and those who, like me, were a bit wary, greatly enjoyed the experience. The group then went to the Royal Chapel next to the Cathedral to see the burial place of King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, their daughter, Juana la Loca, her husband, and their Portuguese nephew and unrealized heir to almost all of Europe. After another trip to the silk market the group met back at the hotel to leave for Madrid. In all, I fell hopelessly in love with Granada, and cannot wait to return one day.