My last week in Spain and my last university classes EVER

I don't even think this is going to hit me until I finally make it back home, but I have spent 4 entire months in Spain. I just have this weekend left--5 days--and then I'm leaving Alicante forever (okay, hopefully not forever).

It's hard to believe I've been here this long, because it felt like just yesterday that I got off the plane in Valencia, exhausted and completely lost trying to find the bus station from the airport. Since that first day forward, Alicante has become my home away from home. I have really enjoyed myself and accepted my situation here, even if that meant struggling with difficult classes and (some) difficult people for 4 months. 

I am very excited to come home to see my amazing family again, and of course my wonderful best friends and for all of us to celebrate together at the annual Komblevicz Christmas Eve Bash, but it's very bittersweet to say goodbye to Spain. 

After study abroad, I have a feeling Michigan is going to seem pretty dull and I'm going to forever have an unquenchable thirst to travel. I won't even be returning to a routine of classes and work since I just graduated with the Class of 2014! (which is possibly the best Christmas present ever)

No more university, no more studying, no more exams--just cracking down and working. If I could make it through college packing my schedule to the rim with full-time classes, 30 hours per work week, a part time internship, and was able to make time for PRSSA meetings and PR Central, then I think I can handle just working. Life may not be easy past this point, but I sure know it will be less stressful. I made it! 

In this last week of reminiscing of my study abroad experience, I'm going to share a recap of some of my favorite and memorable moments of Spain, but of course this blog would be 100 pages long if I shared it all. Hopefully this inspires some people to travel! 

Taking the bus from the Valencian Airport to Alicante and seeing the mountains for the first time!

Meeting the Josés, our directors at UA. 

Visiting the beach and the Explanada for the first time.

Meeting the entire U.S. crew! 

Trying my host mom's healthy cooking 

Looking out my bedroom window and seeing the beautiful landscape 

Seeing the Festival de los Moros y los Cristianos 

Studying at the most beautiful campus 

Visiting Alcoy with my new friend Jorge 

Halloween in Barcelona! (My favorite city I visited in Spain, by the way) 

The crazy island of Ibiza. 

Madrid 

Enjoying a drink--or two...or 10--with new friends. 

To sum it all up...I absolutely loved Spain and 4 months has definitely gone by way too fast, but that will motivate me more to return again some day!

Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream.

10 things I learned about Spain's culture

I only have two weeks left in this wonderful country of Spain, and I truly can't even believe I've been here for over three months. It absolutely flew by, like I knew it would. I've been through a lot, both positive and negative, and have had a chance to reflect on my experience this past weekend.

Before this turns into a sappy emotionally-driven rant, I'm going to organize this blog in my favorite way ever--you guessed it--with a list!

In this list, I'm going to share things that were only easy to see because I could compare them with the culture in the U.S. So here it is.

España vs. the United States of America:

1. Time isn't that important in Spain. In the U.S. time = money, but really the only thing it does it cause us extra stress. I've never thought of myself as a punctual person because I showed up on time, but showing up on time in Spain is actually being 15 minutes early. Think about how much easier life would be if it had a little bit of flexibility?

2. But, health IS. People here don't eat comida basura (junk food) nearly as much, and it makes a huge difference. There are markets with fresh everything: meat, fish, dairy, fruits and veggies. The food seemed bland to me at first, only because I was accustomed to eating food loaded with sugar and salt. Funny how in the U.S. we stress about time so much, but we don't realize that unhealthy food is cutting loads of it off of our life.

3. People enjoy knowing about their culture here. I've never met so many people (around my age, even) who knew where every museum in the city was, or the historical significance of *enter street name/building/person here.* While Americans do have a sense of pride, it's not the same as the patrimonio that exists within the culture of Spain.

4. Partying has no time limit. What is this word "time" you keep speaking of again? Bars sort of decide to close when they feel like it, usually around 3 a.m., but then you can just head down to the puerto and keep going until 8 in the morning. I don't know how they do it. It would be locura in the U.S. I guess we'll see how this whole 4 a.m. scene works out for Detroit...

5. It's unusual to hear about theft or murder (at least in Alicante). Yes, it happens, but way less. Maybe it's just because I live so close to a murder capital in Michigan, but I'm a little more used to hearing about horrifying things on the news. Maybe it's just me, but I would never walk around Detroit at night alone, but here, I haven't once felt unsafe doing so.

6. People are more liberal. It's not unusual to see a couple making out and groping each other on the public transportation. Swearing is also for the everyday folk. The words coño and joder get thrown around like any normal, non-offensive word. Girls wear provocative clothing and high heels absolutely everywhere. Women go topless on the beach because boobs are not sexualized. Thse are just a few examples of the liberal culture here.

7. Everyone smokes. Okay, not everyone, but according to this study, 27% of females and 36% of males smoke in Spain compared to 18% (total) in the U.S. It seems like everyone, though, seriously.

8. College is cheap and affordable. Just from my personal experience of chatting with a few friends here, I've learned that an entire year of college only costs around $1,500. That's equivalent to about a month's worth of income. Therefore, we pay nearly 12 times as much in the U.S. for our education. Such ridiculousness, if you ask me.

9. The culture is very family-oriented. While Americans pride themselves in being individuals, Spanish people are very proud of having close-knit families. My host mom sees her sons and grandchildren every week. Not to mention, there is no pressure to move out of your parents' house here. You could live with them until you're 40 and that's fine. In the U.S., if you haven't moved out already, you better at least be trying to fend for yourself at age 18.

10. American culture is everywhere. Even though it seems like Spain has us beat in a lot of categories, hey at least we have worldly influence of our awesome music, movies, and TV shows. Spaniards love Breaking Bad and Justin Bieber just as much as we do! Wait.... You get the point.

As a friend mentioned to me today, you really only notice things about your own culture once you have the ability to compare them to another, which is precisely what I feel like I've been doing since I got here. These are just a few examples of the obvious culture differences I've noticed, and I can only imagine how much broader my thinking will be upon my return to the U.S. in just 15 more days! Hopefully I'll have the chance to travel again in the future, and I'll never forget this as being my first experience to expand my horizons.

Happy Holidays!

The strange things I miss about America

I'm going to start by saying, Spain is a great country to study abroad in. However, as Americans, we take for granted the influence that cultures have made on our way of life. First thought that comes to my mind: Mexican food (but there's obviously a ton more).

 So, you know how they say you only know the true value of something once it's gone? ..Or something like that? Anyway. I've noticed after 3 months of completely, and I mean completely, changing my lifestyle to the Spanish way, that I've come to miss some classic American things. Of course, the majority of  this list will most definitely be food. But, here goes nothing.

1. American pizza. As much as I like almost any kind of pizza, there's just nothing that quite compares to a deep dish pizza from Jets. The cheese here is just too darn salty. I want some greasy, warm, gooey heart-attack causing pizza, and I most definitely can't wait to eat it again.

2. Craft beers. You know, I never even really thought I liked beer that much, until I didn't have the option to have a nice craft beer once in awhile. Don't get me wrong, they have craft beers here, but they're just too darn expensive for my taste. Bartender, what do you mean you don't have Oberon? (As we know, Oberon is created by Bell's Brewery from my good ol' home state of Michigan, which is one of the best craft brew states in America).

3. Taco Bell. Yes, we as Americans might be fat, lazy and eat garbage (not all of us). But you know what? Taco Bell will always have a warm place in my heart. What am I supposed to do when I want a cheap taco around here? Even Mexican food is basically non-existent which I miss just as much as Taco Bell. As many of you might think, no, they actually do not eat tacos in Spain. The food here is more like bread, cheese, wine, tapas, paella, and a looooot of seafood. I don't know if I can ever eat seafood again after I leave here. 

4. Having a car. Don't get me wrong, public transportation is incredible here. It's not bad for basically a dollar a ride, but sometimes I just don't want to leave an hour early from my house to get somewhere on time. And if you miss the tram, you have to wait 20 minutes for the next one, which means you'll definitely be late.  

My baby, oh how I miss you so

5. Having a job. Who knew being jobless would get me so frazzled like this? No source of income equals frugal spending, which I'm not so good at. Not to mention, I just feel darn lazy. 

6. Slurpees. You never need an occasion for a Slurpee. Somehow, my day could be crap, but getting a Slurpee would just make it all better. They just don't exist here and it makes me very sad. Especially when it was 90 degrees every day, it's all that I wanted. Guess I'll have to wait to get one in the dead of winter when I return!

7. The snow. BAHAHA. Just kidding.The Mediterranean climate out here has Michigan beat any day. You'll never hear the words "I miss snow" come out of my mouth. And I mean, the beach. I can WALK to the BEACH. This beach, in fact: 

Well, there you have it. All my cravings and things that I miss the most all in one list. However, I'm not trying to paint a negative picture of Spain here. You better believe there will be a blog titled "The strange things I miss about Spain" upon my return to America!  Follow my blog to keep continue hearing about my journey in Spain and reflections afterwards. Only 24 more days here and I fly home!

Week 11: Overcoming and accepting my host situation

So, here I am: sitting in the same bed, typing on the same computer, in the same room as the first day I got here… 11 weeks ago. But somehow, I feel way different.

Succeeding the theme of my last blog, where I explained the stages of culture shock, I can honestly say this hasn’t exactly been a “4 month vacation” for me, rather I’ve been constantly learning, struggling, overcoming and changing as a person.

Sure, Spain has been great. I love the weather, the culture, the myriad of things to do, the lifestyle and even the food isn’t too bad. On the other hand, I’ve been going through stress that is completely unnecessary from my host situation, that I’ve finally overcome.

There are many things culturally different here which weren’t as obvious when I first arrived. For example, the family. It’s not abnormal for children to live with their parents until they’re in their thirties. It’s totally acceptable and part of the culture, which leads to why I believe I’ve been butting heads with my host mom for a while.

It took me awhile to see that while living with families in Spain, they’re just treating you the same way they would treat their own children. Especially for an older host mom like mine, she’s very traditional in her ways. She cooks and cleans which is great, but likes to dictate things in my life and give me her two cents about everything, which is probably exactly how she treated her children when they lived here.

I shrugged things off for as long as I could until I finally broke down and got teary-eyed to my director. It made me realize why this was happening to hear it explained from another Spaniard. Not to mention the support of Damaris and Katie that day—I sincerely thank you!

Damaris also pointed out that the meaning of being a woman and "independence" has a different meaning here than in the U.S. My host mom loves to cook, I don't. She doesn't drink, I do. She doesn't like that I go out sometimes at night, I say oh well. She calls me unorganized, but I know no one's perfect and I believe I'm quite organized. Maybe she's judging my "womanliness" by these factors. Do I care anymore, though? No. 

I have been taking their advice into consideration and it's changed the way I've reacted and felt, such as “why do you care what she thinks?” “you don’t have to like your host mom—think of it as a bad roommate situation at school” and finally, “you don’t have to do everything she tells you—just say no gracias. Estoy bien. No hace falta” (no thank you. I am fine. Don’t worry about it).

I won’t go into every detail about why I've been extraordinarily stressed about my host family, but I will lend some advice to those of you who plan to study abroad in the future: every host situation is different. Maybe you expect a motherly figure to tell you what you should do, or if you’re like me, that absolutely gets on your nerves. Maybe your personality fits perfectly with your host family, or maybe you’re so completely different that you can’t even fathom knowing these people if you weren't forced into this situation to begin with. Just do your best to understand the situation without letting it get to you, like I did.  

Finally, I realize now that I was completely misunderstanding the final stage of culture shock (acceptance). I thought I accepted the culture all along, until I realized it was the exact entity that was the root of my stress.

What I learned about my situation is that you and only you have the power to control your own happiness. If you focus your attention on the things that aren't making you happy like I was, you'll lose focus of what's important. 

To wrap up this blog, I'd like to conclude with a quote that is quite fitting: 

“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”
-Dale Carnegie

Exploring the beautiful new places is a reminder of what makes me happy in Spain. This is a picture of the bridge connecting the shopping center in Barcelona. 

Stages of "culture shock"

Before I came to Spain, I told myself: "I'm adventurous. I'm confident. I like traveling. I like meeting new people. I love to learn about culture." On top of that, I also told myself: "I won't get culture shock. That's ridiculous and won't happen to me."

Then, before I could even realize why I was experiencing emotional mood swings like a pregnant woman deprived of chocolate, I thought back about that little thing we learned about in orientation: culture shock.

It's not anything like I thought it would be, and it's not nearly as bad as they make it out to be. It's kind of hard to explain, but this article on Matador Network does a great job at detailing each stage.

Depending on the source, the stages may vary a bit, but generally they are: wonder, frustration, depression and acceptance. 

I'd like to think there aren't really "concrete" stages that just abruptly end as the next one starts, rather a mixture of all four of these stages appearing and disappearing throughout the entire length of your stay.

I'm still experiencing wonder every single day. I don't know if I'd ever get bored with the incredible and new things I've seen here. There's just too much to do and see.

As for frustration, I've experienced that a few times, and sometimes without even knowing why. Sometimes I would wake up frustrated for no reason at all. Other times, I felt frustrated solely because I didn't understand the entirety of a situation. Language barriers don't help. Finally, living with a host mom can be great at times, and extremely frustrating at others. (Keep any eye out for my personal blog on why). Maybe it's just a culture thing.

Overall, I'd say I'm way more happy than I am depressed, but I've had a few bouts of distress due to the difficulty of making new friends. I'm a bit more shy when it comes to meeting new people if I have to speak in Spanish. Sure, I've met some awesome people here, but it's taken nearly two months to actually find regular people to hang out with. Not to mention, I miss my ladies back home. So, while I haven't shed a tear since I've been here--I'm not a big crier--I've had some moments where I just decided to stay in bed and pout.

Acceptance. The final stage. Not going to lie, the culture here isn't so much different from ours that I couldn't stand it, it's almost that the things that are different here are just so much better. I haven't really had a big problem accepting the culture. Boom, that stage is easy.

So in conclusion, I've experienced some of the emotional distress while studying abroad, but I'd never let this keep me from recommending it or even traveling more in the future. Depending on the person, culture shock can be like falling into a giant sinkhole of grief you can never climb out of, or it can just be tiny little bumps in the road. It all depends on your perspective!

My Alicante rant post, because every blog needs one

Don't get me wrong this place is great. Actually, it's not just great, it's amazing. However, you can kind of compare studying abroad to being in a relationship. In the beginning of a relationship, you're in lust, awe, and see no flaws in the other person. After dealing with the same person for awhile, small things might start to annoy you, but you learn to deal with them because you love the person anyway.

Studying abroad is kind of like that. I still love this place, but there are definitely some differences in culture I'm beginning to notice a lot more. I also miss having certain things that only being at home could provide, which I have listed below. 

1. Common courtesy

Not that people are intentionally being rude here, but it's just part of their culture to not say "excuse me/pardon me" in public. The only time I hear anyone say "excuse me" is when they accidentally bump into someone else. People just kind of squeeze by or push you out of the way. And on the street, people just don't get out of your way. It's also not super common for people to say "thank you" if you open the door for them, or pick up their dropped papers, or anything of the nature. It may come across as rude to us, but I just think that's the norm here and they think nothing of it.

2. Junk food

Never thought I would say this, but being away from salty, fatty snacks creates this indescribable craving that you can't get rid of. I splurged on a hostess-style brownie the other day from the vending machine--and then to my surprise, thought it was disgusting and felt horrible afterward. Weird, weird, weird. I want it, but can't even enjoy it anymore. Even the delicious looking croissant below gave me a stomach ache for nearly 8 hours. 

3. HUGE coffees 

A normal size coffee here is literally a cup. No, not a coffee cup, but like a measuring cup size. If you want an "american sized" coffee, the only place you can find them is at McDonald's (and even then, their sizes are smaller and cost the same).

Coffee and Nutella-filled croissant, which can be found at any café. This coffee was actually a bit larger than at most other cafés, but still not enough to satisfy my coffee addiction.

4. Normal dinner time

Dinner in Spain is optional, or something very small (like a plate of steamed vegetables or bread and cheese). Since the main meal, lunch, is at 2 p.m., you have to eat quite a bit to hold yourself over. If you do eat dinner, it's at 9 p.m. which is a 7-hour gap between the meals. Tough.

5. Free water

Fresh water is a lot more scarce here, so if you go out to eat or are out and about, you have to actually buy water, which can add up. One tiny water bottle is 1 euro. To satisfy my thirst (due to all the heat and sweating) I would have to buy like 5 waters per day. And then if you decide to have a drink or two at the bar, you can't re-hydrate between drinks unless you want to pay the price. I decided to buy a large water bottle that I could just fill at home to bring with me to class and such.

6. Long, hot showers

Like I said, water is scarce. Don't leave the water running, ever. Also, the shower stays hot for about 2 minutes, so I prefer to turn the water off while I'm lathering so I can rinse with hot water before it runs out mid-shower. Showers here are not to enjoy and relax, they're to get yourself clean. 

7. Accessible bathrooms in public

Restaurants and fast food joints won't let you use the bathroom unless you buy something. I've only found one place that I've been able to get away with using their bathroom without a purchase and that's at 100 Montaditos. And then many times, there's no soap and toilet paper and the guy/girl bathrooms are combined. Blasphemy! 

8. Last but not least: A car

Public transportation is great for the environment and usually pretty darn convenient, but there's so much walking involved everywhere. I can't just hop in a car and be somewhere instantly. And then there's still places that the tram doesn't reach, so you don't always have that option. I better lose some weight from all this walking, that's all I have to say! 

So, there you have it. It's not always butterflies and rainbows here, but I can manage to give up these few American conveniences to experience Alicante's rich culture, friendly people, sight-seeing, diverse shops and restaurants, beaches, perfect weather and healthy lifestyle!

Week 2 in Alicante: The start of classes and meeting people

So much has happened since my last blog post, but I'll try to keep it quick and to the point. I'm going to divide the following sections by topic.

PUNCTUALITY: Our first classes started on the 10th, but apparently the first week of class is optional for some professors. Out of four that I went to, only two professors actually showed up. And one of the two was a half hour late. The culture is a bit different here.

CLASSES: I have decided to "try out" five classes, but I need to drop the two I decide I don't want. It's extremely difficult to try and translate in my head while also understanding material. Fortunately, the directors here are offering an advanced Spanish grammar course that is tailor-made for our group. They are bilingual in English and Spanish so it's helpful that they understand the struggle.

Another beautiful image of the campus

In addition, they don't offer as much flexibility when choosing your classes. My schedule is basically all over the place with huge gaps and class Monday-Friday. Also, the classes here are two days a week but two hours per class, so actually for the same amount of credits, I'm going to class for 4 hours extra per week.

PEOPLE: We also sat in a couple of classes of Spanish students trying to learn English. Many of them were very shy but very interested in learning about American culture. It's amazing how much people know about U.S.A. here. Many of them are fascinated with our culture and our music and movies. When asking many students' favorite movie, many of them told me an American movie. Odd.

DIVERSITY: It's super easy and cheap to travel on this side of the world, so there's a ton of people from all over. I've met some Irish people, Belgian people, English people, French people, Russian people and Algerian people.

Our new Irish friends. We watched soccer at their apartment

FOOD: There's different kinds of food for different areas of Spain, but one plate that is authentic to Alicante is patatas bravas (potatoes with a barbecue-like sauce). Tapas and monteditos are also EVERYWHERE. It's like fast food for Spaniards. Tapas are small appetizer plates that are meant to be shared. They can literally be anything. Montaditos are tiny sandwiches that are about 2-3 inches.

Sharing tapas in Villena

Montaditos

The one thing I really miss though is junk food. They eat super healthy here and eat fruit with EVERY meal. My host mom got mad at me one day when I didn't eat fruit after lunch because I was already too full. So she made me eat twice as much the next day. They also drink coffee which I was afraid they wouldn't have, but it's all mostly espresso.

As many of you probably know, lunch is the biggest meal of the day (during siesta) where everyone comes home, eats together, and everything is closed between about 2-5. Then dinner is optional or they eat something small around 9 p.m.

OVERALL: I really enjoy Spain. It's different, it's beautiful, and the people are super friendly. I also have a beach in walking distance. There's never a dull moment (unless I chose to sit at home and relax). I'm still trying to get used to taking public transportation and walking everywhere, which does eat up a lot of time, but it's pretty darn convenient to get around. My host mom is nice, I've been making friends and have gotten closer with my CMU group.  Now, all I need to focus on is passing these classes and trying to make the most of my time here!

They have "American parties" here! I had no idea that was a real thing.  

City landscape near the beach

Downtown is just gorgeous