I got a great question about studying abroad from rme3 the other day and thought I would share the answer with all of you:

Studying abroad at Butler is easy to do (and totally worth it!).  We have over 110 programs in over 40 countries, so there is something out there to fit your needs.

The process goes like this:

1) Attend a study abroad info session.  These are offered several times every semester by the Center for Global Education.  They give an overview of the study abroad process, different programs affiliated with Butler, when in your college career is best to go, and most importantly – a list of websites for programs in every part of the world so you can start your own research.  You can go to these at any point during your academic career… I went during freshmen year just to get an idea of what options were out there.  There are also specific information sessions for Butler programs such as the Semester in Spain (my program), Semester in D.C., and Global Adventures in the Liberal Arts.

2) Start looking at programs and get a idea (even if it is very broad) of what you might be interested in.

3) Sign up for an advising appointment in the Center for Global Education.   The advisors will help you refine your plan.  They can give you more specific information on many programs, answer many of your questions and give you advice on the program that might be best for you based on your interests and goals for your study abroad experience.

4) Choose a program and fill out the application. This usually involves a short essay and one or two recommendation letters. 

5) Go to a pre-departure orientation meeting.  This goes over the details of how to transfer financial aid, getting your passport and visa, what to expect about living in a foreign country, adapting to culture shock, etc.  For the Butler Spain program, we had our own orientation (where we learned specifics about our program) as well as a get-to-know-each-other gathering at our professor’s house.  

So, as you can tell, we get a lot of support from the university.  I found the process very easy… when I first arrived in Spain I almost couldn’t believe I was there, because it really didn’t take a lot of pre-planning on my part.

Yes! Studying abroad is, contrary to many beliefs, NOT a wasted semester in your progress towards a degree.  The credit that you can get is very much dependent on the program you choose – what classes are available and which classes you sign up for.

 However, it is possible for students from every major to study abroad.  

For some people with very strict schedules (I’m thinking pharmacy, education and possibly dance majors) it might be necessary to take some summer/online classes or study abroad in the summer, but it is still possible.

For me, studying abroad actually allowed me to pick up a double major in Spanish that I probably would not have made the time for back at Butler.  And don't worry... I will graduate on time with a double major, a minor and the Honors Program.  I am choosing to count all my classes towards my Spanish major, but other students here are counting classes towards programs like Business, Literature, International Studies, etc.

I would advise finding a program that offers what you need – for example, some programs have science and business classes….some only offer the humanities.  Do your research! If you cannot find classes that fit your major requirements, you could always take more general classes towards your core curriculum: ie. your art class, your social science credit, etc.  There is even a Butler program called the Global Adventures in Liberal Arts which travels around Europe and gives you four core credits for Butler.  Core curriculum is credit that EVERY Butler student needs, so you can definitely fit it into your schedule if you plan ahead.  I know even the Honors Program is willing to give you credit for classes you take abroad. 

After you sign up for classes in your study abroad program, you email the Department Head for the department from which you want to receive credit with info about the class.  They evaluate the information and let you know if you can get Butler credit for it.  If not, they will advise you to take a different class. So, the key here is communication! (Oh, and just a sidenote... study abroad classes appear on your Butler transcript, but your grades from that semester do not factor into your overall GPA... BU understands that classes in a foreign country can be totally different and your grades might not be the same as usual.)

I know this can be kind of confusing if you’re not in college and don’t understand our curriculum requirements, so if anyone has specific questions, please comment and I’ll try to be more clear.

But, overall, I cannot emphasize it enough… STUDY ABROAD! When will you have this kind of opportunity again?! It was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made in college and I recommend it to everyone. 

Feel free to ask me more questions, or check out the Center for Global Education website, which includes FAQs and a list of our programs.

I hate to flake out on you guys without a "real" post this week, but it is already 1:30 am in Spain, I am leaving for England TOMORROW... and I haven't even started packing.  Typical Christina.  

I actually did have intentions to plan this trip ahead of time.  I was going to go in three weeks and stay with my friend Johnny who lives in London... but then Johnny's parents surprised him with a month long trip to South America... great for him but it meant I was back at square one.  However, this weekend three Butler girls here in Spain are going to London, where they are going to meet up with other Butler students studying abroad in London as well as one visiting from Scotland for the weekend.  You know i can't resist Butler love... so I last minute decided to tag along on this trip.

However, flights for the weekend were not so cheap, so I came up with an even better solution... Get a cheap flight on Tuesday, and stay for two extra days.  Yeah, this means missing 2.5 days of class... but you only study abroad in Europe once, and I have only missed one class all semester, so it's fine.  The crazy part is that for those two extra days, I will be on my own in England.  This is my first ever "vacation" alone!

I decided that my time alone would best be spent being a nerdy English major and going to Bath to see the settings of the Jane Austen novels I spent my life on sophomore year when I took a JA seminar. My prof will be so proud : )  The only crazy thing is that I am going to get into Bath at 11:45 pm and then I have to find my hostel solo.  Wish me luck and safety!

Anyway, I am so excited about London, because there are tons of free historical things to see during the day and then great theatre and nighlife in the evening.  Add that in to time spent with Butler friends from all over Europe, and it should be fantastic! Because it's so last minute, I really haven't planned everything out yet... and that's okay with me!  It's time to have some adventures.  I'll keep you posted!

From what I hear, Halloween has not been celebrated in Madrid for very long, but in the last few years, all the tourists, expats and study abroad students have brought the tradition of crazy costumes and big parties to Spain.  It is definitely not as popular in the States, though, because I got some strange looks walking from my house to meet my friends in the Plaza.

I dressed up as a flapper, which I soon learned was not an appropriate costume for Spain! Even though Halloween is not a huge holiday here, All Saint’s Day on November 1^st IS a national holiday and everyone goes to the cemeteries to put flowers on their family’s graves.  Since Halloween is more closely tied to this tradition, the idea of costumes is to scare away evil spirits… and flappers are not scary, as many Spaniards kindly explained to me.

However, although they knew I wasn’t scary, I was very lucky if anyone was able to figure out my costume.  I bought the feathered flapper headband in a Spanish Halloween store so I thought it was a safe choice, but now I realize that flappers are an American icon – not so much in Madrid!

I cannot tell you how many people asked me if I was supposed to be a Native American.  Yep, Native Americans typically wear black sequined dresses and silver headbands!

But, even if Spain needs a refresher on America of the 1920s, they are very much in tune with what’s going on in our country right now and the presidential election has been a media obsession here for at least the last month.

We had a mock election at our university, with a vote for American students and a vote for Spanish students.  It probably doesn’t surprise you that Barack Obama won both votes… but you might be interested to know that Paris Hilton beat McCain for second place in the Spanish vote.

Silliness aside, though, the mock election was really cool because tons of media came to capture the election and interview all the American students.  My friends and I were featured on the evening news that night.

The results of the real election didn’t start until about 11 pm our time, so Democrats Abroad sponsored an all-night party in downtown Madrid.  None of my friends wanted to go, so I ended up going with eight other Americans students from my program that I had never met before – but it was so much fun to meet new friends with similar political opinions.  Anyway, when we got to the party in Madrid, we realized that it was WAY more popular than we (or the Democrats Abroad) had anticipated.  The line was out of control and the event was sold out.  However, I was determined to see the election, so a few of us stuck it out and at about 2:30 am we finally found someone to sell us two extra tickets!

Once we got into the party, which was in a fancy museum, we found everyone crowded upstairs where there were big screens projecting the CNN coverage of the election.  I got there in time to see Pennsylvania and Ohio which were two very important victories for Obama.  Every time positive results came in, the whole place would start jumping and cheering.  After more results came in at 4 am, there was nothing for about an hour and we were so tired, my friend Miriam and I fell asleep on the floor!

BUT, at 5 am when the next set of returns came in, everyone woke up and stood up.  There was excitement in the air.  I don’t even remember which state came in for Obama, but we all started screaming, and before we even quieted down, the screen flashed, “BREAKING NEWS: BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT.” Here you can see the reaction in a quick video I took (there's more on our Youtube Channel):

Everyone went wild.  People were screaming, crying, hugging, and chanting.  Of course, the media was there to cover it all – I was even interviewed (in Spanish!) for a newspaper. It was kind of hard to express such strong feelings in another language at 5 am, but I did my best.

Of course, after the initial excitement, we had to stick it out for the speeches.  I really liked McCain’s and appreciated how he focused on the historic achievement of this election.

Up to that point, I had been really happy, but the weight of it all hadn’t really hit me.  However, when I saw the new President-Elect Obama walk out on the stage in Grant Park, in my home city in front of my home crowd, I knew this was for real. 

Just seeing him literally brought tears to my eyes.  I am NOT a crying kind of person, but at that moment the significance of that day for our country just hit me, and I was so proud to have been a part of this election and to see the joy and hope in so many faces across America and around the world. 

I was even more impressed when I heard his speech.  The story about the 106 year old voter really touched me.  For those of you who didn’t hear it, Obama spoke about a 106 year old African American women who had voted that day in the election.  He talked about how much our country has changed in her one lifetime.  I am a feminist and a Gender Studies major, so thinking about the fact that there are women still alive in the United States who were not born with the right to vote really made an impact on me as a woman... and I know African Americans felt this even more.  Our country really has come SO far in the last 100 years, and as Obama says, this leaves so many amazing possibilities for the next 100 years.  I know it might be political rhetoric, but it is based in truth of our country's history, and it made me so proud to be an American in that moment.

At around 6:30 am, we finally started heading back to Alcala.  I was still wearing my Obama button, and everywhere we went, Spanish people told us “Congratulations! We are SO happy that Obama won!”

As Spain was just waking up, we even got to deliver the news to some people in the train station and witness their reactions.  It was such a proud feeling for me.  It seems like Europeans have become so frustrated with America and the Bush administration in recent years, but this election has given them hope.  Someone even said, “Good morning! Welcome to the new world!” because the change seemed that dramatic. Yes, it is a time of lots of political hype, and some of it will certainly disappear when the media calms down. However,  if we as citizens can keep this sense of hope and commitment to change alive in the US and the world, then the potential for the future is amazing. 

Yes, we can : )

If this election has taught us anything, I hope it is that politics ARE important and our voices count.  Please don’t let that idea slip away – no matter what your political views are, stay informed and stay active.  Let’s keep this new administration accountable, so Obama and our government can achieve all the success the world wishes them.

I hope you all enjoyed watching the election from the States - I would love to hear about it!

When I first realized I would be out of the country during my first presidential election as a voter, I was really disappointed.  I mean, how exciting must it be to live on an American college campus now?? Every time I get emails from College Democrats or see announcements about the Election Night viewing parties going on around campus, I get a little jealous.  However, since moving to Spain, I realized that being abroad during the election is a really cool opportunity.   I feel like Americans always wonder about how other countries perceive us (and our politicians) and now I have the perfect chance to find out.

The thing you probably wouldn’t believe is how much foreigners really do care about American politics – especially now during election season.  When I moved to Spain, I couldn’t even tell you the name of the Spanish president (it’s Zapatero, for the record), but I was shocked to see Bush, Obama, McCain and Palin on the news here every single day.  People here definitely know a lot more about American politics than we know about Europe – they also love to hear about it first person from Americans.

Whenever people find out I am American, this is inevitably followed by one of two questions.

1) “What do you think of Bush?”

2) “Who is going to win the election?”

To the first question, it is appropriate to tell your new European pal, “Don’t worry, we don’t like Bush either.”  This will immediately cement your friendship….ha, but in seriousness, they don’t seem to like Bush or the war in Iraq too much.

When it comes to the second question, you better believe that they want to hear about Barack Obama.  I don’t remember the exact numbers, but in a recent poll of Spaniards, something like 70% of them said they want Obama to win.

I don’t know if you’ll even believe how excited people are here about Obama.  They talk about him all the time and he is constantly on the news.  When I went to Barcelona, I even saw Obama posters in the store fronts.

During our Barcelona trip, we had everyone from drag queens in a bar to museum officials ask us if we were voting for Obama.  When I told them that yes, I was an Obama supporter, the women in the museum said, “Thank God!” and went off on a rant about how much Sarah Palin scares them.

Tonight, on Mira Quien Baile – Spain’s version of Dancing with the Stars – one of the judges took a Spanish song with the lyrics “O Mama!” and changed it into an impromptu serenade of “Obama!” Everyone joined in singing and clapping and I swear this lasted for at least three solid minutes of singing Obama’s name over and over.  People here already seem to be celebrating Obama as the new president.  I really hope that they’re right, but I know that no matter what kind of lead he has, Americans still need to turn out and vote tomorrow before we can say anything.

Tomorrow we are having a mock election at my school – which the Madrid tv and radio stations are coming to cover!  There will be one tally of the American student’s votes and another of the Spaniard’s.  My friend Nate is pretty sure he will be the only one voting for McCain.  I think he may be right – a group of American college students and Spaniards almost guarantees a Barack victory.

My history professor is so excited to get to “vote.”  He told me that he thinks the whole world should get to vote in this election, because it affects everyone, not just Americans.  

My German friend advocates the same idea… he actually thinks that results of the election are MORE important to the rest of the world than to us.  “Either candidate’s domestic policies will be the same for you at home,” he told me.  “But the way the Democrats and Republicans handle international policy makes a big difference to us.” I disagree that the parties don’t make a difference at home, but it is interesting that he feels this way.

In any case, no matter what your political opinions are, I hope you take advantage of being around during this historic election.  It’s really cool to see our country – and the international community – get so excited about politics.

I will leave you with a thought from my Spanish art history prof:

“The president of the United State is essentially the president of the world.  Choose wisely.”

The world is watching you today – exercise your privilege as an American citizen and VOTE!

Well, friends, it’s that time of year again… midterms! I believe that Butler had them last week (during Homecoming? bad planning) but here in Spain, I have them tomorrow and Thursday. 

Midterms always stress me out more than anything else… it is the time of year when I am most likely to stay up late into the night hyped up on Cherry Coke and surrounded by notecards, papers and highlighters.  As an English major, I don’t usually even have that many exams, but I always have lots of papers to write.

I have to write papers for my finals, too, so you might be asking, why would midterms be worse? Aren’t those supposed to be less comprehensive?  Well, in theory yes.  However, finals week is completed devoted to exams – aka no classes and you get a reading day before they begin.  They also happen at the end of the semester when all the club activities and campus life is winding down.  Finals Week is like vacation! Sure, you have to study a lot, but you don’t have to wake up for your 8 am class and you don’t have club meetings scheduled from 5:30 to 11 pm.

Midterms, on the other hand, come on top of everything else in your normal life – and mine is already full enough.  Now, this semester abroad, I only have four classes and I am only in one club.  You would think I would have tons of free time and midterms would be a breeze, right?  False. 

I would have been fine if I had stayed around Alcalá all weekend to study… but when you weigh studying at home with weekend in Barcelona, Barca always wins.  My friends and I promised each other we were going to camp out in a park or on the beach in Barcelona to hit the books and cram for our art history exam… but Barcelona is one of the most exciting cities in the world, and we pretty much scheduled every minute with not-so-much room for studying left.  However, we did go to the National Museum of Catalan Art and saw five of the paintings that our on our exam…so that counts, right?

I thought, no worries, I’ll just study when I get home… which would probably be easier if I wasn’t so tired from four days in Barcelona.  Last night I fell asleep on my nineteenth century short stories at 8:30 pm.  After several attempts to wake myself up, I gave in and went to bed at 9 pm.  Love it. (Although I did have bad dreams about taking the AP Calculus test, even though I did that three years ago... I certainly hope this midterm isn’t like THAT!)

I woke up at 6 am feeling quite rested and ready to study.  I’ve been working on an intense study guide and some art flash cards all day.  Hopefully memorizing the names of Spanish paintings from 15,000 BC to the 17^th century won’t be so bad…  As we say here, no pase nada! No big deal.

Happy studying! J

Are any of you familiar with the old jazz tune "Autumn Leaves"?

When I was in the Bluecoats colorguard this summer, it was our corps song, so I got to know the words quite well.  My favorite is the line "I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall."

Well, autumn leaves are starting to fall in Indiana, and here I am at the halfway point of my semester in Spain.  I can't believe I've already been here almost two months, and in less than two months I will be packing up and heading home.  Anyway, it's about that point in the trip where some of the magic has worn off.  We no longer feel like we have all the time in the world here... and with midterms next week, we really don't have all the leisure time we thought we did.  

 I'm also starting to feel a little homesick for the first time.  Not in a big way.  I don't want to come home... but I do wish that I could eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant with my parents, or that I could just pick up my cell phone and call my best friends.  

Also, to go along with the Autumn Leaves theme, I miss AUTUMN most of all when autumn leaves start to fall in Indiana, and not Spain! For the most part, the weather here is warmer and I love it, but today was cold and rainy and felt like fall... but minus the beautiful yellow trees that we have on campus.

 I absolutely love fall and spring on Butler's campus.  During the winter, I won't lie, I'm pretty grouchy about having to walk through the snow or wind to get to class (a whole 6 minutes... yeah, my life is rough haha).  But during fall and spring I am just in love with campus.  I study outside on the mall, and I drink my coffee out on the patio and I take the long route if it means walking through Holcomb Gardens to see all the pretty trees.  I miss that.  I miss wearing a hoodie and a scarf and walking by the football game.  I miss going to the corn maze with the Student Foundation. I miss my best friend Betsy's obession with pumpkins.

I'm also a little sad to be missing out on Homecoming this week.  It's one of the times at Butler that is filled with tradition, activities and general college chaos. It is almost midnight here in Spain, which makes me think of Midnight Snack that will be happening in about seven hours Indiana time, when SGA brings in tons of free fast food (Hot Box pizza, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, McD's, oh my)... and now I'm hungry and jealous! ha.  I also wish I could be there to see my good friend Jacqui run for Homecoming Queen (best of luck, Q!) and I wish I was there to help out with Pi Phi's lawn decorations (although that did not turn out so well for me last year... haha).

Anyway, Homecoming is SO much fun, but it's also a crazy-busy week to live in a sorority house that is bustling with plywood and paint for the Lawn Decs Workshop and booming with music and clapping as our Yell Like Hell cheerleaders cram in their final practices before the competition.  

But, don't you worry... I will find my own chaos in Barcelona this weekend.  I hope one of the most culturally-rich cities in the world can rival Butler's Homecoming : )

It's funny... just writing about the things I miss made me feel better.  As much as I act like homesickness is for the weak, I'm starting to think it's okay to miss home.  If I didn't, it wouldn't really be a good home, would it??  But, the important thing is to know that it will be there when I get back, and for now, I've got a pretty fantastic continent to explore.

 I miss you most of all, my Butler darlings! Enjoy fall : )

I have mostly had good experience with my roommates throughout college, but studying abroad seemed a little scary… I mean, I moved into an apartment with two people my grandparent’s age who don’t speak my language! That’s a little different from life at Pi Phi, my sorority house. 

That said, it really hasn’t been bad at all.  I am actually really enjoying having someone who cooks my meals, does my laundry and gets really excited when I speak Spanish.  It is nice to have the feel of a real multi-generation family after living with college students for two years.

However, I was in for another surprise last week when my Spanish mama announced she was going to pick up “las Chinas.” What? You’re going to pick up the Chinese? “Yes, didn’t I tell you? Two Chinese girls are living with us for a month.” Nope… I’m pretty sure I would have remembered that.

So, when I arrived home from a trip that weekend, there were two Chinese girls in my bathroom.  Their real names are something along the lines of Jin Xin, but they have been dubbed Lupita and Sonia by my parents (who couldn’t even pronounce “Jared” and definitely have no chance with Chinese.)  My padres think the girls don’t speak Spanish very well and so they always ask me to translate or explain things to them… the funny part is that I am pretty sure Lupita and Sonia understand almost all of this dialogue about them not understanding anything.  When the padres are not around, the Chinese girls and I have a good laugh about this… the beginning of a fabulous friendship.

This is when I learned that living with strangers is basically the same, whether they’re from China, Spain, or even the same suburb as you.

Here are my tips for getting along:

1) Learn how to share and set up your rules right away.

The Chinese girls shower at night… I shower in the morning.  At Pi Phi, we would take turns napping on the couch (and everyone else would nap on the floor pre-school style haha).  My Spanish mama reiterates every day: “Turn off the lights and shut the door tightly.” Now that I am the “experienced” one in the study abroad bunch, I am the “Boss of Lights” according to mama.  (Yes, she really calls me this.)  This means I make sure that all the lights are turned off at night.  It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.  So, I turn the lights off, and we all go to sleep happy.

2) Find something you have in common.

My Spanish parents love ballroom dancing, and are huge fans of the show “Mira Quien Baile,” aka Spanish Dancing with the Stars.  They even get up and practice their moves during the show! haha.  I like dancing too, so we watch this together and have a good laugh. 

Sonia and Lupita love American music and talking about boys… so we do it up junior high style and sit on our beds in our pajamas listening to music and having girl talk in Spanglish.  (I told them I don’t have a boyfriend and they were like “What!?! We learned in English class that many young Americans have boyfriends.  You must be special.” HA! Special… thanks, girls.  They crack me up.)

 3) Make a peace offering (snacks always do the trick)

My freshman-year roommate and I used to bond over our late night Qdoba queso addiction.  My Pi Phi roommates would bring me soup and orange juice when I was sick  and we always shared the Cherry Coke when someone’s caffeine supply was running low.  I found that this is a cross-cultural phenomenon. The other morning, Sonia came into my room, told me “You are very beautiful,” and handed me an orange and two snacks from China.  I think we’re best friends now. 

Yeah, living with other people does take some getting used to.  But, college is as good a time as any to figure this out.  Embrace the late night bonding, be honest about what you need, and please, take your own hair out of the shower.  Don’t just survive your roommate experience… open yourself up to meet new friends and love the place you live.

Dearest readers, before we go on any further, I’m going to have to make a confession to you:

I am a huge English major nerd.

Last year, I took a Jane Austen seminar class, and I spent the entire fall trying to convince my classmates to come with me and do our reading in the English gardens across the street at the Indianapolis Art Museum.  I thought it would be cool to read Austen in a setting just like the ones she wrote about.  Apparently I was the only one who thought so, because it never happened.

However, I am so thrilled that I got the opportunity to indulge my nerdiness here in Spain.  Dr. Willem’s class for all the Butler students here is about 19^th century Spanish short stories, and right now we are reading Leyendas, which is a book of  Spanish folktales told by Gustavo Becquer.  They’re basically fairy tales with sad endings.  That’s just how Spanish Romanticism works – the sublime hero always has to be too cocky and then get killed by some supernatural force like a statue that comes to life, the spirits of dead Templar Knights, or a gnome.  Seriously, people, do not mess with gnomes!  It’s dangerous business.  Also, if you ever feel the desire to jump in an enchanted fountain, don’t.  That never ends well.

The really cool thing about Becquer’s work: even though it has all this crazy supernatural business in it, the stories are set in real places in Spain, such as Toledo and this town called Soria.

The really cool thing about our classes here: they all have at least two field trips! (This also means no classes on Friday! sweet life.)  So, as you can imagine, our literature class had to go to Soria! (This is much cooler than reading Jane Austen in the IMA gardens… as pretty as the gardens are, Austen’s novels do not actually take place in Indiana ;) )

Last Friday was the big day.  We had to leave at 8 am, which is basically dawn in Spain haha… we had a two and a half hour bus ride, which gave us time to sleep, and when we woke up we were in the beautiful countryside of Castilla y Leon province, which is full of mountains! (Indianapolis, sadly, has no mountains, so this was exciting for us.)

In Soria, we got to go to the Monastery of San Juan de Duero, a beautiful church and cloister built by the Templars. It is also located on the Monte de Animas (the Mountain of Spirits) where the ghosts of the Templar Knights come out and the wolves kill the hero of one of our stories… but don’t worry.  The ghosts only come out on All Saint’s Day. 

The cloister was SO cool, because it has arches from like six different periods of architecture, as different parts were rebuilt over time.  Many of us are taking an art class together, so we were pumped to be able to identify the different kinds of arches. We took pictures to show our teacher… extra credit, por favor?

Then we walked to the Hermitage, which is built into the side of a cliff overlooking the River Duero.  One of Becquer’s crazy heroes climbs up there to try and look over the river and find a woman he is chasing – who turns out to be just a ray of light from the moon.  Sorry, bud.  The hermitage was really sweet because it was basically a retreat for the monks carved out of the rock! Can you imagine how much reading you could get done living there? I would never get behind on my homework if I lived in a hermitage J 

There was also a really beautiful chapel there, where I learned about some religious traditions from one of our Spanish professors, Carlos, who comes on all our trips with us.  He’s a fantastic guide.  I am learning so much about the culture, and especially about Catholicism which is a dominant force in the history of Spain.

We got a few hours off to eat lunch and explore Soria, where Rebecca and I found this sweet mural of our bff Becquer! What a hottie.

We finished off the day to visit the Becquer museum, which was one room in a tiny town.  We literally had to wait for the owners to come from their house to unlock the museum for us.  However, this town had a SWEET 1000 year old tower, and we got to climb up it (up ladders, mind you) and see the amazing view of the countryside from up top.  Here's me and my friend Brian up there. Prospective students may recognize him... he's pretty famous for being one of Butler's best tour guides : )

So, I got to be a literature nerd in another language and see some beautiful places in Spain! (on Butler’s dollar. Thanks, Uncle Ovid!) I can’t wait till our next field trip! (…and now I sound like a first grader.  But it’s fine. I love my life.)

So I currently live across the Atlantic Ocean from all of my family, most of my friends, and both my homes (Chicago and Butler), in a country that does NOT speak English, in a tiny apartment with strangers...

This could be very intimidating... but not with my Butler family here! There are seventeen of us here, along with our professor, Dr. Willem, and her husband, and they really make me feel at home.

 We're always pretty tight, but I definitely felt the Butler love  most earlier this month, when I turned twenty! This was very exciting, but also bittersweet because it was the first birthday I have not gotten to celebrate with my parents and sister.  It was totally okay though, because I have a family of 18 people here to celebrate with.

We had our monthly reunion at Dr. Willem’s apartment on the night of my birthday.  The Willems had cake and ice cream for us (which is even tastier in Spain) and they taught everyone how to sing Happy Birthday to me in Spanish! Dr. Willem even got me a small present.  It definitely made me feel at home even though I’m across the Atlantic Ocean. Later that night, the Butler kids went out dancing to celebrate. 

All in all, a great birthday.  I feel so lucky to have all of them here as a support system but also a resource – they are great friends but I also learn so much from the other BU students.  We’re always teaching each other new words and phrases in Spanish and planning adventures together.

I really realized how lucky we are to have each other last week when one of my friends was going through some tough times.  First of all, she got sick in Spain! No fun.  Thankfully Dr. Willem was able to go to the doctor with her and help her communicate.  Then, to make a long story short, she decided that she would get along better with another host family, so she decided to switch. 

This isn’t a big deal… lots of people have issues with their hosts at some point.  For example, the first week I was here, my mama wouldn’t let me leave the house after dinner! However, I talked to Dr. Willem, and she had the housing director talk to my mama and let her know that I would be smart and safe and it was okay for me to go out.  Usually, it’s just a communication issue since we don’t speak Spanish as well as the natives! However, sometimes it’s just better to switch to another family that fits your personality better. 

This was the case with my friend.  However, she was understandably a little upset about the change.  The night before she was moving to her new family, she called me and asked if I could hang out with her that night to make her feel better.  I was about an hour away from Alcala, so I called our friend Rebecca, who immediately picked her up and kept her company.  When Nate and I got back to Alcala, we met up with them, too.  We were all sitting in the plaza eating ice cream, when Dr. Willem’s husband Steve found us.  He had heard that she was moving out the next day, and wanted to drop by and make sure she was okay! That night I realized that no matter what we’re going through here, our Butler group is a really strong support network, and we’re never alone!

I think that’s what I love so much about Butler.  I always feel like someone’s got my back and will help me out if I need it.  I’ve always loved that about our community in Indianapolis, and I’m glad that it’s even stronger here.  It’s kind of cool that the seventeen of us didn’t choose each other, but we’re a family nonetheless. 

We’re talking about building a tent on Schwitzer lawn so we can all live together when we get home J

To the Alcala Butler fam, I love you guys! Nos quiero mucho siempre!

Staying out all night is something all college kids can expect to do at some point, right? Well, last weekend the Butler students in Spain got to have our all night experience in one of the world's greatest cities - Madrid.  Last Saturday night the city sponsored a huge festival called Noche en Blanco, which basically means a night with no sleep... exactly what we did.  We may not have had the best of luck but we did have a good time staying up more than 24 hours...

6:45 pm           Nine of us from Butler meet at the train station in Alcala, along with Sarah’s Spanish brother, Alejandro, who we have conned into going with us to show us around.

7:40 pm           We arrive in Madrid.  Instead of taking the Metro to Sol, which is the center of the city, we decide to walk instead… aka: a poor life choice. 

9:00 pm           We definitely took the longest way possible to get to Sol.  We walked halfway around Retiro, which is the Madrid equivalent of Central Park, up through a ritzy shopping district and basically nowhere near where we needed to go.  However, we did get to walk by the apartment where the Princess of Spain lives, and two special art installations, and learned a traditional Spanish song from some drunk wedding-goers. The lyrics consist solely of the following: “I am Spanish and I am drunk.” Repeat.   Overall, a quality detour.

9:30 pm           We meet up with three other of our Butler amigos in the Puerta del Sol, which is literally the center of Madrid (the zero meter mark is actually there on the ground.) Cheap college kids want dinner...  McDonald’s it is.  It had to happen at some point.

10:30 pm         According to the guide, there will be acrobats performing on the walls of the Real Madrid soccer stadium.  Sweet, right? We take the Metro out to the stadium only to find that somewhere in the disorganization of Spain and our lack of reading skills, we were wrong.  The acrobats are on a tiny wall next to the stadium and won’t be on until 12:30… but we can go on a tour of the stadium and sit where the Real Madrid players do.  This would be the equivalent of a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium for all you Colts lovers… soccer players are rockstars here!

1:15 am           After Real Madrid, we headed back into the center of town for the main event of the evening… a tightrope walker going between two buildings on la Calle de Alcalá, one of the major streets.  My friend Nate and I estimate that there are somewhere between 30 and 60,000 people on la Calle de Alcalá (yes, I use the term estimate loosely, haha.)

1:40 am           Still no tightrope walker.  Then comes an announcement telling us that the stunt has been delayed because it’s too windy.  Boooooo.

2:45 am           After some regrouping and wandering, we decide our next stop is to see – I kid you not – “Contortionist Magicians.”  Sadly, when we find the place they are supposed to be performing, there is nothing going on.  We do, however, come across a fountain with gigantic rubber ducks in it.

3:30 am           We are in severe need of some caffeine and a place to sit down! We meet up with some of our classmates from the University of Arizona and we all hit up a Spanish chain for some café con leche and snacks.

4:15 am           Caffeine accomplished.  Next mission: Find “the Sea of Lights,” a special exhibition in the gardens behind the Royal Palace.  This involves a good deal of walking, though, and naturally requires some 4:30 am playground action.

5:45 am           We’ve seen the lights, and now we’re just tired. Some people head home, but seven us of decide to stick it out, and head to the Plaza Mayor to wait for morning. Plaza Mayor is one of the best people-watching spots in the city, and let me tell you, we saw some interesting people in the middle of the night.  Our advice: don’t try to take pictures of the Spanish goths.  They don’t really appreciate tourist humor (or the light from the camera flash…)  However, we did meet some nice Spanish guys who calmed the goths down and then chatted with us in English.

7:30 am           Dawn is coming.  Time for more coffee.

8:00 am           It’s finally day… time for El Rastro, one of the biggest flea markets in Europe! At this point my cash is dwindling, but I do purchase a sweet poster of flamenco dancers and several pashminas aka really cheap and fabulous scarves. We loved the experience (and the sweet deals), but in typical Spanish fashion, all the vendors showed up late, so next time maybe we’ll go a little later -  like after we wake up, instead of just camping out in Madrid. Just a thought… 

                        At the end of the day (or should I say night?), we were pretty proud of ourselves for making it through – and we now know the streets of central Madrid like pros.  We may not stay for 17 hours ever again, but Madrid certainly hasn’t seen the last of us, and I have a feeling we have not seen the last of Madrid in the madrugada*.

                        madrugada = the middle of the night

During our orientation, we had to go to a session where we learned about culture shock - moments when you realize another culture is really different than yours, and you might freak out a little.  The examples they gave were pretty tame, such as “In Spain, mullets are popular and do not actually symbolize a lack of education… so don’t judge people in Spain who have mullets.”  This last week as I’ve gotten to see more, I thought, so far, so good! Spain is a lot like the US, except more attractive and when they say football, they don’t think of Peyton Manning. What on earth would I have culture shock about? Then came the toros.

A few days ago, Angelines (my host mother here) found out that I had never seen “los torros”  fight before.  Toros, of course, are bulls, and they are a big deal here in Spain.  I feel like seeing a bullfight is part of the essential España experience, so I was thrilled when Angelines told me that she and her husband, Antonio, were taking me to a little town outside Alcalá to see a bull fight.  Thoughts of Ernest Hemingway novels and themes from the opera “Carmen” were running through my head.  I couldn’t wait to see the matador wave around the little red thing and watch the bulls run around and chase him.

Well, maybe I’m just naïve, but that’s not exactly what a bullfight is.  Yeah, the matador gets chased by the bull a little… but the point of this whole activity is to stab the bull and kill it.  In the plaza.  So everyone can watch it die.  I somehow missed the blood and death memo.

It starts out innocently enough… the bull runs out into the plaza and guys in fancy costumes run around waving colored cloth at it.  I thought, hey, this is pretty cool.  But then another guy comes out and I asked Angelines who was joining the matadors.  “Those aren’t the matadors!” she laughs.  “Those are just the helpers.  The matador hasn’t even come out yet.”  Hmmm.  So then, the picador comes out on his horse and takes a stab at Torro #1 with his spear.  “Is he hurting the bull?” I ask Antonio, thinking that maybe this is just a ceremonial jab.  “Claro!” Antonio responds with a chortle.  (This is the Spanish equivalent of “Duh!”)  This is when I figure out what’s going on.

I’ve never been much of a animal rights activist, but as a tree-hugging, blood-squeamish liberal-arts-student-who questions-tradition, watching the first fight was a little tough.  After the picador with the spear, comes the banderillero, who stabs the bull with these colorful darts that stick under his skin (you can see them in the picture below.  At this point, the bull is bleeding a LOT while still running around. 

Lastly, the torero (what we would call a matador) comes out with a sword.  He, does, in fact have the little red cloth thing to wave around (his inferior helpers do much the same, but their cloth is pink and yellow, which is apparently less cool in the realm of bullfighting).  Anyway, this chase & retreat sequence between the torero and the bull lasts basically long enough until the torero can get close enough to plunge his sword into the bull’s back.  If he is a good torero, he will get a solid stab on the first try, and the bull will start coughing up blood and die shortly after.  If he’s not a good torero, as was the case with most of the country amateurs we saw, it might take him a few (or eight) tries to get a fatal stab.

At this point in the first fight, I figured that the bull would be led back to the stable to die.  Apparently this was another extremely naïve assumption, because the death of the bull is almost as important as the fight itself.  Nope, the bull just keels over right there in the arena.  If it was a particularly good fight, the torero cuts off one of the bull’s ears and parades around the arena, waving the ear at the crowd.  The people cheer and throw hats, scarves, flowers, babies (just kidding), at the torero, and he kisses them and throws them back.   To finish the whole performance, the bull's horns are tied up to a team of horses who take off, dragging the bull around the arena in a ceremonial lap and then straight out the gate and into the streets, where it is taken to the meat shop to be sold.

My first fight was particularly gruesome, because the torero got a particularly fatal stab with lots of blood AND the banderillo (the second guy, who has to prick the bull with the darts) got too close and was trampled by the bull.  The helpers quickly grabbed the tail and dragged the bull off of him, but the guy still had to be carried out.  I never found out if he was okay, but man, what an introduction to bull fighting.

At the conclusion of the first fight, my Spanish parents asked me, “So, do you like it?” Feeling particularly horrified, a little sick to my stomache and contemplating the hypothetical reaction of PETA, I tried to come up with a diplomatic and culturally-sensitive response.   “Well, I really don’t like blood,” I told them, “but it was interesting.” “Yes, interesting,” they said laughing.  Angelines said, “Well, at least now you have seen it and you understand.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, no? For the rest of your life, you will remember the time you saw the torros in Spain.”

After six bullfights, I became desensitized to the blood enough to actually watch the toreros, and I decided that maybe there are some redeeming qualities to this tradition.  The good toreros are not just fighters, but actors and dancers putting on a play about strength, bravery and confidence in the face of danger.  As I learn about the Spanish War of Independence (in which the civilians fought back against Napoleon’s army) it becomes clear to me that the Spanish are a people who don’t like to back down. Maybe these are the qualities that keep them coming back to a tradition that seems so strange to us.  Or maybe, it’s just that this is such a strong part of their identity, something all countries are exploring in our age of globalization. 

At the end of the day, I decided that while I may not like the blood and gore, I can appreciate the passion and pride Spain has for bull fighting.  Angelines was definitely right – I will never forget the time I saw the toros in Spain!

I hope you can get a sense of the experience by looking at my pictures... I will put videos up on YouTube soon, so check back for those!

Hasta luego!

Hey everyone!

 I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get a post up, but I was busy getting settled here in SPAIN!

 So, the last time we talked, I was busy packing and starting to freak out... after I visited Butler it really hit me that I would be away from everyone I love for three months, and I started to get nervous.  I mean, I still wanted to go, but I would just look at my parents every 5 minutes and say "I am going to Spain.  Can you believe it? I will be in Spain. SPAIN."  On the car ride to the airport I was really nervous... I made my sister study Spanish flashcards with me! haha.  But then.... I got to the airport and saw 16 other Butler students, and I suddenly was ready to go.  It made me feel so much better to know that I WASN'T going to be away from everything familiar... I have all these guys to keep me company.

 We were all seated together on the plane, and we became friends in approximately the first ten minutes.  It's crazy... I mean, I knew several of the other Butler students before our trip, but some of them are new and yet it feels like we've known each other for years.  Nate and Anthony are already two of my best friends here, and I had only met Nate once before, and Anthony at the airport.  I think we get along so well because we are all interested in learning and travelling and experiencing as much as possible.  And we all like to try and speak Spanish with each other, some times more successfully than others.

 Anyway, after we arrived in Madrid, Steve, our Butler professor's husband came and met us at the airport and we took a bus to Alcala - our new home! Our host families were there to meet us in the plaza.  I am staying with a couple named Angelines and Antonio, who are 66 and 72 years old, respectively.  We live in an apartment about 15 minutes away from the university.  They ONLY speak Spanish, so I definitely get some practice speaking with them!

Angelines cooks all this amazing Spanish food for me - I especially love tortilla de papas, which is kind of like an omlette with potatoes.  Antonio is teaching me about futbol (or, as we call it in the States, soccer).  I have quickly learned that there are two teams in Madrid with a Cubs-Sox style rivalry. He told me that now that I live in their house, I am an Atleticos fan.  We watched the national Spanish team play earlier this week and he is making me memorize all of the players names! haha.

The first day we were in town, Antonio took me and Jared (another Butler student who is staying with a host family in the building next to us) on a tour of Alcala. 

Alcala de Henares is the home of Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote the famous Don Quixote. Here you can see me and Jared with the statue of Quixote and his sidekick Santo Pancho in front of Cervantes' childhood home:

Antonio also showed us around the University of Alcala which is 500 YEARS OLD! It is beyond gorgeous.  All the buildings here are just what I had hoped Europe would look like... old, historic, well-crafted, and BEAUTIFUL! I enjoy just walking down the street and staring at everything.  There is so much history behind this university, which is the second oldest in Spain.  During our orientation, one of our professors told us about the olden days of the university, when getting a college education was an extremely difficult process (even more than it is today! ha).  Therefore, university students were the most revered people in the town... people would get out of their way in the streets because they had so much respect for the scholars! It is so exciting to walk down the same streets (that have many of the same old buildings) and feel like a part of that same tradition of knowledge! Here is one of the courtyards of a university building:

So anyway, I am basically in love with this town.  Keep your eyes open for an upcoming post called "My Walk to School" which will be full of pictures.  You don't even know how amazing it is! 

The great thing is that Alcala is really quaint and comfortable, but we are also only a 30 minute train ride away from Madrid, which is a HUGE and fabulous city.  We took a tour there this week just to get a feel for the layout and figure out how to use the trains and buses.  Other than that we have been having some orientation sessions, and then we just started classes yesterday.  I am only taking 12 credit hours!! It seems like such a vacation after taking 18 at Butler... but remember that my classes are ALL in Spanish, so I have to pay very close attention!

But don't think we've been too busy studying.  There is so much to do in this town, and my Butler friends and I have been living it up.  We have explored lots of places for shopping, getting a snack or just hanging out.  There is a huge plaza in the middle of town where people hang out all the time...

People just live more communally in Spain than in the US, which makes it a lot like college.  All the cafes and restaurants have seating outside, and people spend tons of time in the streets.  We spent Sunday morning chatting over cafes con leche at our new favorite cafe... it was so relaxing! We just looked at each other and said, "This is how Europe is supposed to be!" 

We can't wait to keep exploring Alcala and Madrid, and of course, keep learning more Spanish!

 I have so many great things to tell you, but I don't want to make these posts TOO long... I'll try to do another one soon, because tomorrow I am