Search results matching tag 'traveling'

Road Trip: Toronto Fringe Festival!

ChristinaL — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Hello again! Can you keep track of where I've been in the world this week? : )

As some of you may remember, I am interning for the IndyFringe theatre festival here this summer. Last weekend, my coworker Justin and I went on a "work" trip to check out the Toronto Fringe and see how they run things up north. We drove all the way there from Indiana... so we spent two days on the road and two days in Toronto! haha. We did have some interesting stops, though, and it was definitely worth it because we totally fell in love with Toronto... I love Butler, but don't be suprised if I transfer to U of Toronto in my final semester and try to become a Canadian ; )

Our first stop was Frankenmuth, MI. This is a German town in northern Michigan that has been developed into a tourist attraction involving chicken, polka and Christmas (and some kitschy Bavarian buildings.) It takes me way back to my Michigan childhood - I have fond memories of going on vacation there at age four or five. My return trip at 20 was slightly different, but of course, we indulged in some of the world famous chicken and ran around taking tourist photos. It is also home to the World's Largest Christmas store. They aren't lying; the place is so big, they give you a MAP when you walk in the door!!

The most entertaining part of the Christmas store was definitely the culturally horrendous "international ornament" section. Most of the European countries were pretty well represented, but guess what my beloved study abroad country was symbolized by?

Hmmm... must have missed the cowboys and jalapenos in my Spanish education! I guess Spain and "Mexico" are kind of the same thing... No, no they are not, Christmas store.

After our Christmas in July adventures, we eventually did make it Canada, where we stayed in a backpacker's hostel in downtown Toronto. It was just like studying abroad and bumming my way around Europe again! I loved it.

We started exploring right away - Toronto has SO many cool neighborhoods. Here are just a few pictures:

The Old City Hall - beautiful!

The Distillery - historic industrial district now filled with art galleries, boutiques, cafes and a theatre. Quite adorable.

We also got to visit the University of Toronto. I was a little jealous of their ivy/overall Hogwarts vibe. The best part was accidentally stumbling across the Toronto Pi Phi house, though. Yes, they do have sororities in Canada.

Queen St. - lots of fun shops and, as you can see, interesting street performers! This man stacks rocks.

Augusta Avenue in Kensington Market - aka my hippie haven. SO MANY great restaurants; we could barely choose. There were also lots of independent stores, public art, and environmentalist elements like green roofs, bicycles, and this statement about cars!

We saw even more cool neighborhoods - downtown on Yonge St., Chinatown, Little Italy and the Fringe home base on Bloor St. - and that was only in two days! It was such a blast riding the street cars around and just exploring. Toronto definitely had a very liveable, cultural, European feel to it and it is one of the most diverse cities in the world. Also, all the Canadians were out-of-control nice to us! What fabulous people. I need to live there someday.

So, you may have noticed that I went to Toronto for the Fringe festival, and yet I have no pictures of that. The reason is because when we were at the festival, we were SO busy! Since we were visiting from another Fringe festival, we got VIP passes so we could see any show we wanted to for free!!! AMAZING. We had to take full advantage of that.

If you are not familiar with the concept of "Fringe," it is a term for a theatre festival that allows total artistic freedom. The participating groups are chosen by lottery or first-come first and can do whatever they want. The festival takes care of securing venues, promoting the festival, etc. but the performers keep ALL the money they make, so it is very supportive of independent artists. It's also low cost at only $10 per ticket. Because it gives support to smaller companies and younger artists, Fringe festivals tend to attract new works and performers, so we definitely didn't see the same ole thing you could find at any theatre!

We saw six plays in two days!

- Killing Kevin Spacey (two-man comedic play about a man who realizes his life is a mixture of Kevin Spacey characters)

- Quarterlife: The Musical (... a musical. About quarterlife crises in NYC. Except that the actors were Canadian. We called them out on their accents!)

- It's Just a Phase (musical comedy about lesbians)

- Dancing in my UnBirthday Suit (dance/physical comedy)

- Head First (aerial dance set to indie rock by an all female troupe!)

- Politically Correct Bedtime Tales (fairy tales sarcastically reworked to invoke PC values - so funny)

All very interesting and entertaining shows!

Hanging out around the festival was such a blast. The Toronto Fringe staff were ridiculously nice. They made us feel like part of the family and gave us great ideas! We also had an awesome time chilling at their headquarters and meeting cool people. We spent like three hours talking with the producer of Quarterlife and met some of the actors from various shows. I think that is an experience that not every theatre festival can provide!

Overall, it was such a great trip. We ran all over Toronto, made some great new friends (including our waiter at an Indian Tapas place. We're bffs.), fell in love with Canada, laughed until we cried, and got mildly interrogated/had our car searched at the border before we could re-enter the United States... apparently wearing matching t-shirts from our edgy festival made us supicious! Okay, that part wasn't great, but it was funny, and definitely worth it in the end.

There used to be a billboard at the US/Canada border that always cracked me up which refered to Canada as "The World Next Door." Toronto, at the very least, is a world of its own, and one I couldn't love more. I can't wait to go back to visit again... and i especially can't wait for us to have our Fringe festival here in Indy!

Deep in the Heart of Friendship

ChristinaL — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:38:00 GMT

Well, I am back in Indiana... temporarily! We finished up with the conference on Monday night and spent Tuesday sightseeing and traveling home... I already wasn't feeling too good, and when I woke up in my own bed on Wednesday morning, I was definitely sick! I had to take a day off and rest up, because I have just been doing too much traveling recently. But, now that I'm feeling better, let me give you a recap:

The last day of the convention was so much fun and full of surprises and special guests.

We had tons of great speakers that day!

In the morning, US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson - a Pi Beta Phi alum from University of Texas - came to speak to us! She is the only female senator ever to be from Texas, and when she joined the Senate, was one of only seven women. She talked about the importance of having women well represented in every aspect of society. Her speech was a great introduction to the two other Pi Phi alumnae who received member of distinction awards - one is a noted journalist who is the editor of an African American newspaper in NYC, and the other is a doctor at Johns Hopkins.

The day also had a strong focus on philanthropy. Pi Phi supports literacy, and we partner with First Book, a national non-profit that donates books to low-income children and schools. Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, came to speak to us at the convention. She talked about all the excuses that people give for why they can't make a difference... and then gave examples of women throughout history who have proven those excuses wrong! She is such an intelligent, funny and passionate woman - I really admire her and LOVE her organization! I am so glad that we support it and I was thrilled to see Pi Beta Phi present First Book with $240,000 on Monday!!

We also gave $10,000 to The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation (TAKE), which was very emotional. Ali Kemp was a Pi Phi from Kansas who was murdered a few years ago. Her parents started a foundation that teaches women and girls self-defense techniques so that deaths like Ali's can be prevented in the future. We had the chance to go through the TAKE training on Monday and learn some moves! It was definitely a great experience and something that I think all women should go through... not to mention it was fun practicing my defense moves on my friend Erikaa! : )

The last part of the evening was the Wine Carnation Banquet, when the fraternity awards are given out and the outgoing national officers speak about one another. It was so sweet to hear about the friendship that our national officers have shared together. All in all, the day showed that Pi Phi is about making a sincere difference in society with our volunteer work and our fundraising... but it's also about the connections and friendships we create with one another along that jouney.

On Tuesday, the convention was all over and so we had some time to get out of the bubble of our hotel. The Gaylord Texan, where we stayed, was massive and included its own versions of some Texas highlights including the facade of the Alamo and a faux San-Antonio-style riverwalk!

But, we wanted to see some of the "real" Texas, so we ventured to the nearby downtown of Grapevine. I think some of its historical Texas charm has been amped up for tourism, but it was so stereotypically Texan that we had fun with it!

Of course, every cowboy town's gotta have a jail for the outlaws:

Overall, it was an amazing trip. I learned so much and feel inspired and ready to help lead my chapter in my last year at Butler. I am so proud to wear the Golden Arrow of Pi Beta Phi!

IN Gamma <3

Pi Phis Take Over Texas

ChristinaL — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:13:00 GMT

Howdy ya'll! ; ) I am writing to you from DALLAS, TEXAS where I am on location for the 67th convention of the Pi Beta Phi fraternity for women!

I'm not sure exactly how many Pi Phis are here, but there are 134 active collegiate chapters with at least one representative (most have two or more), and there are even more than 150 (I think!) alumnae clubs represented by at least one woman. Okay, so my by-the-numbers approach is lacking some substance but let me just say that there are A TON of Pi Phi women and we have taken over the Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center in full force!

On Friday morning, our chapter president Erikaa, one of our alumnae advisors Kristi, and I all flew down from Indianapolis. It was a long day because we had to take two flights and the only thing on tv while we sat around on our layover was Michael Jackson tributes, so I had "Billy Jean," "Thriller," and that "The Way You Make Me Feel" song that's in Center Stage stuck in my head all day.

But, it was all worth it when we arrived at this HUGE convention center in Texas with *insert very large number* of our fraternity sisters! They don't lie - everything is bigger in Texas. This resort is like a small city with everything you could possibly need; until Erikaa and I took a walk this afternoon (Sunday), we hadn't been outside since Friday afternoon... crazy. There are also a LOT of Pi Phis, so everything is en masse this week.

So what have we been up to?

meeting sisters from other colleges! The best thing ever is learning how many amazing women are part of the larger sisterhood that we share. I love hearing about all the cool things they do personally... and stealing ideas from the awesome things they do in their chapters at home.

meeting alumnae!* It is a common misconception that a Greek organization is something for college students. College is only the beginning, and with so many alumnae of all ages here (literally! there are a lot of "Golden Arrows" here, which means women who were initiated 50 years ago!!), it is so inspiring to see how many women are able to stay involved in Pi Phi activities long after their graduation day. Not only do alumnae clubs support the Pi Phi chapters at colleges, but they also do their own community service and philanthropy and provide a network of friends to support any Pi Phi. If I ever move to a new city, I know that I can look up the nearest Pi Phi alumnae club and meet some passionate, intelligent, engaged women in that community. That's a great network to have wherever I go. I especially loved getting to meet alumnae from our chapter at Butler. I got to hear about what BU was like in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Some traditions like Geneva Stunts have been around FOREVER at Butler...and they're still going strong.

learning about our values. Greek organizations are different from other clubs because they are based on values. Pi Beta Phi's values are Intergrity, Lifelong Commitment, Honor & Respect, Philanthropic Service to Others, Personal and Intellectual Growth and Sincere Friendship.

voting on legislation and electing new leaders for the fraternity.

learning how to create more effective and meaningful programs for our chapter members. Greek life is about developing yourself as a whole, well-rounded person, and at our convention we've talked about the ways that we can help our members to grow as students, women, friends, etc. while upholding and reinforcing our values. It is a huge responsibility to put on programming that educates our chapter, but that's one of the things I love about sorority life - college women take on this great challenge to teach their peers about ideals and qualities they value.

discussing some of the challenges facing college students, like binge drinking and hazing, and how Pi Phis can be a force of positive change on our campuses when it comes to these kind of issues.

learning more about our initiation ritual and discussing why it is so important to us.

eating a lot of really tasty food. mmmm!

singing Pi Phi songs, most of which are meaningful and beautiful... and some of which are really old and silly and have ridiculous lyrics about how Pi Phis won't hold men's hands because they are angels (and thus not promiscuous enough to *gasp* hold hands) ; )

hanging out, having fun and enjoying the fellowship!

It is such a cool experience to see the larger picture of what the fraternity is all about and how it works. We also have the chance to give input into our organization and learn from its top leaders.

At dinner tonight, I sat next to the Grand Vice President of Membership! Luellen is a really big deal... and I got to pick her brain for an hour about how to really recruit the most quality members who live up to our values and will be committed to the chapter. Awesome! While she was there, the former Grand President (aka the leader of the entire fraternity), who also happens to be the most adorable little old (and feisty, intelligent, well-spoken and loving) Southern woman came up to talk to Luellen and gave me a hug. The former Grand President! Highlight of my day, for sure. Her name is Sis Mullis, and she is on my short list of very inspiring women.

I also had a great experience tonight talking to the Risk Management Officer for Pi Phi. We watched a documentary about hazing and binge drinking, and I shared with her an idea I had about a discussion that chapters could have that would be honest and open and try to get to the real issues of why college students sometimes drink excessively. Sarah was really interested in what I had to say, and we're going to stay in touch via email and our discussion might lead to new programming for the whole fraternity!

I guess I say all this to emphasize how great it is to be surrounded by the leaders that are making amazing things happen for a community of over 200,000 fabulous women. I am learning so much, but I'm not just here as an observer, and it is exciting to take an active role in my fraternity family.

More updates - and pictures - will come soon. Tomorrow is the last day of business... I'm not ready to go home!

*Christina's Grammar Public Service Announcement regarding Words That Describe People Who Graduated From An Institution:

Alumnus = singular male

Alumna = singular female

Alum = short, slang version of singular

Alumni = plural verson of alumnus - can describe a group of all males, or a mixed gender group)

Alumnae = plural version of alumna - describes a group of females

I say this because these can be very confusing for people to keep straight and as someone who works in the Alumni Office and with many alumni through campus organizations... this drives me slightly crazy. But, I will chalk it up to a lack of awareness and rectify that situation by explaining the right terminology and trust you to check yourself. My English major, grammar-lovin' soul begs of you:

Please do not use "alum" as a plural form. (I will cry.) As in: "Our alum are such great people. They have so much Butler spirit." ALUM IS NOT PLURAL, PEOPLE!

Ok, now stepping off my grammar soapbox! Have a good night : )

On the scene - N(orth)C(arolina)AA!

ChristinaL — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:30:00 GMT

Good evening ya'll! I'm reporting tonight from Greensboro, North Carolina, site of the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Whenever the team travels for the NCAA, they get to bring along 12 cheerleaders and 30 band members to support them, and I got to be part of the band again this year! Last year I followed the team to Birmingham, Alabama (see Sweet NCAA, Alabama! and We beat the USA!) for the Class of 08's final games in the first and second rounds, including an EPIC game against Tennessee (definitely Sweet 16 quality!) This year we were sent to Greensboro to beat up on the LSU Tigers. The band got an early start the night before:

Not only is it totally amazing to get to be right here and witness MARCH MADNESS live... but it is also a pretty nice spring break, part II, courtesy of Butler. Yes, that's right... to come on the fan bus and stay at our hotel costs around $600... but for the band, Uncle Ovid (he's like Uncle Sam, but for BU) pays for our bus, hotel and food. This is what we call a sweet deal. (This is also the third time Butler has paid for me to travel in one semester... Panhel sent me to a conference in St. Louis, and the Student Foundation put me up in Cincicinnati for another conference. Thanks, Ovid!)

So how was the game?

Well, I pretty much never stopped yelling.

I like to talk to our players, whether they can hear me or not. I address them by first name: "THANK YOU, Willie!" or "Nice shot, Gordan! I love you!" (He's my new favorite now that Pete and Drew have graduated.) Other standard Christina phrases include "Let's play like we're from Butler!" "Cmon, Bulldogs, we can do this!" "Let's play some D!" (picked up from my father) or, my personal favorite, "Calm it down!" accompanied by a downward patting motion (This is what I use when they try to get all crazy and not play slow and smart.)

The first half was kind of devastating to watch. Two many turnovers for my taste, and the refs were a little foul happy (they called more on us, but they were foul happy in general. let the men play!)

We were sad.

The second half was much more encouraging and exciting,

We were even winning or tied for some parts:

...but I wish we could have played the whole half with the urgency we showed in the last minute when we were down to the wire. Maybe today is what we needed to learn that the NCAA first round means bringing your A++ game. I forgive them... our team is almost entirely freshmen and sophomores - they are learning (although along their learning journey, they do tend to kick butt and take names). And LSU played very well yesterday.

Sadly, we did lose by just a few points (5, I think) in the final seconds. But, we put up a pretty darn good fight! We might lose the game, I might lose my voice, but we will never lose our Butler pride. We are already excited for next year.

Let's go BU! Congratulations on an outstanding season.

Meanwhile, I am off to bed. It's been a long, emotional day and we've got a 10 hour bus ride back to Indy tomorrow.

What I Learned from Studying Abroad

ChristinaL — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:58:00 GMT

Although I’ve been back in the States for about two months now, I still find myself thinking about study abroad on almost a daily basis. Almost everything reminds me of something from Spain. I talk about my experience in my classes all the time! It is ridiculous how much you can learn about the world in 4 months.

I am taking a Comparative Lit course this semester, and I think I mention something I learned in Spain at least once per class (three times a week! yeah, my class is sick of me haha). During one class period, I was able to draw on knowledge from three of my four classes in Spain (Spanish History & Civilization, Great Masters of Spanish painting and 19^th Century Spanish Short Stories)… and we are studying India in Comp Lit. Learning about one country in depth makes it so much easier to understand other foreign cultures.

Spain has also been on my mind because last week the three Pi Phis that were in the Alcala study abroad group (me, Rebecca and Chelsea) gave a presentation to our sorority house about our experiences. We told a lot of funny stories, but I tried to make it a little more educational by reading my sisters this list I made on the plane ride home from Spain. I hope this helps to give you a better idea of what studying abroad is all about and why it is so important!

Shooting the arrow (our Pi Phi symbol) at a Templar church in Soria, Spain.

What I have learned from studying abroad:

There is so much out there that I don’t know about! For example, this year I have discovered the European Union, Spanish politics, history, literature, etc. If I lived twenty years without knowing about all these interesting things, just imagine how much there still is to learn about in the world. I’m just getting started.

Being a tourist has helped me realize that there are fascinating things to see everywhere! It’s not just Europe. I will definitely take more advantage of all the cultural opportunities in my hometowns, Chicago and Indy.

I now have a very strong desire to be multilingual. I am definitely on my way to being bilingual in Spanish, but after I met so many people who speak three or more languages and then I fell in love with France (I speak no French), I became anxious to add more languages to my repertoire. They say the third language is easier to learn than the second! Let’s hope it’s true.

I definitely have an increased love of talking to strangers and trying to learn from absolutely anyone I meet. Take the bus. Sit next to a stranger. Say hello… and get ready to meet the coolest people in the world.

Rebecca and me and Jose - a Guatemalan UMass alum with a Boston accent who returned to Spain with the book his Spanish ancestors wrote about their move to Guatemala. Basically one of the coolest people I've EVER met. He taught me all about the corruption in Guatemlan politics and the non-profit he started to help kids on trash heaps. We met him on a bus....Talk to strangers.

I’ve learned how to do what I want - not just what other people tell me is best or what they want from me. I’ve gotten better at listening to myself and my needs. I need to go to sleep at 9:30 pm on a Saturday? Okay. I am sick of art museums and churches and cannot handle looking at every single painting in Paris? No big deal. No guilt. Sometimes you just have to do what will make you happiest and not what seems like the cool or sophisticated thing to do.

I have found my independence. If I don’t take care of me in Europe, who will?! There is nothing like being halfway across the world from your parents to help you grow up.

I am not so uptight! Everything will be okay in the end. We miss buses, we buy the wrong ticket, we get sick…but now I just stay calm and let it be. There are some things I can’t control, and that is okay.

I am not so afraid of looking stupid. My friend Jared really helped me with this one in the beginning when I saw him speak terrible Spanish to anyone with no qualms (we were all pretty much terrible, but I was way more shy!) and even go to an old-woman-aerobics class with me. Everyone looks like an idiot sometimes – especially in a foreign country. That’s okay. You learn from it, you laugh about it, and you move on. If you don’t risk looking stupid every once in a while (or every day, in my case), you will miss out on so much.

My Spanish is SO much better. I couldn’t even remember “DINERO” when I got on my plane to Spain and now I could probably hold a conversation with anyone on the street and more or less read a newspaper or books.

I have a genuine interest in art… and now I actually know something about it! (I was a huge art museum nerd in Madrid – you have to be with three of Europe’s greatest art museums all within 10 minutes of the downtown train station!

I actually like wine now and will try almost anything to eat… seriously! even the slimy-looking clams covered in lemon juice that my friend’s host mom made us. And guess what? They were amazing!

fabada = bean stew with blood sausage - one of my favorite Spanish dishes!

I appreciate hanging out with myself and the beauty of down time. One of the greatest and worst things about college life is that you are always surrounded by your friends… Spain gave me some time to go solo. It was nice to know that I can have so much fun on my own, and to get inside my own head and have time to think. There is also something to be said for not being SUPER busy like I always am at Butler. I found myself just walking around town, enjoying the trees and the buildings and watching the people and smiling at how beautiful the world is when you take the time to slow down and look at it moving by. I think for the rest of my life that will be my gauge of happiness; when you walk around and find yourself smiling all the time for no reason other than you love being alive, then you know you are truly happy!

I think I have a lot more options for my life after college. My Spanish university has a graduate program for foreign students called Teach & Learn where you can come back and get a master’s degree in multicultural education while working as a teacher in a Madrid school… and they pay you for all this! I will definitely consider this and any other option that will take me back to Europe. I know living abroad has to be part of my life in the future.

This was my second time living abroad, and yet I learned so much more in 4 months than I ever expected. Studying abroad is scary, and exciting, and liberating and messy and comical and amazing in ways you will never expect.

When I was trying to plan my study abroad semester during the spring of sophomore year, there were times when I thought I didn’t want to go. The application seemed like too much work, or I was scared to speak another language, or I just couldn’t bear the thought of everything I would leave behind at Butler. But, I remembered what my AP Lit teacher in high school told me: her greatest regret from college was not studying abroad. She said that was the one thing she would urge all of us to do.

Whenever I thought of not going to Spain, I remembered Ms. Hitzeman’s advice, so listen to me now and remember this when you start to make excuse or have doubts:

STUDY ABROAD! It will change your life.

England Experiences... on my own!

ChristinaL — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:01:00 GMT

You all know that I love living in Spain, and that being here has inspired me to declare my double major. Still, my first love – and my first major – is English Literature. Luckily, I was able to ditch Spanish class for a few days and head off to the land of Shakespeare, Dickens and Jane Austen for almost a week. The craziest part was that I decided to go solo.

Travelling alone was definitely a learning experience. There was one point when I missed my bus, couldn’t get in touch with my hostel and thought I might be stranded in London without a place to sleep. In that type of situation I would normally: 1) Freak out. 2) Call my parents. However I was: 1) On a bus surrounded by British strangers. 2) Unable to call the US without incurring an approximately $17/minute cell phone charge.

So, I stayed calm, figured it out, and everything turned out alright in the end. I think that experience was one of the reasons that everyone tells you to study abroad: so that you might come home with the feeling that you can take care of yourself, wherever you might be in the world.

…and that was just my first two hours in England. I couldn’t possibly tell you about everything I did, but I think I have a good way to give you the highlights. Throughout the semester, I’ve been glued to my Rick Steves’ travel guide, which is based on his “Europe through the Back Door” philosophy of digging in and experiencing the culture like a local.

He encourages travelers to collect experiences, not souvenirs – which is the perfect motto for a cheap college student in Europe. I can always tell when I’m having one of these moments, because I just look around myself in awe of the beauty or cultural significance… and sometimes just because they made me laugh or smile or think I can’t believe that just happened. Either way, I know I never want to forget these experiences.

Here’s my “collection” from England:

Bath

Being alone in Bath Abbey in the morning. The abbey is filled with so much stained glass, it’s known as “the Lantern of the West.” I visited early in the morning when the church was empty –with sunlight streaming through the windows and the sounds of the organist getting in an early morning practice, I wandered through an eclectic collection of gravestones marking Bath’s history since the 1700s.
Jane Austen come to life! The city of Bath features heavily in Jane’s novels, and as you may have noticed from the size of the Jane Austen tag for my blog, Jane features heavily in my college career. I first read Persuasion in my very first English class at BU and have since presented a paper on it at our undergrad research conference and taken a Jane Austen seminar where I read her all her novels… so it was gratifying to finally see the actual locations from a story I have spent so much time with. Here’s the path they are walking on in Persuasion when Captain Wentworth declares his love for Anne:

...but, um, where's Captain Wentworth?

London

Sitting in on sessions of both Houses of Parliament, and visiting the War Rooms where Churchill and the Allies leaders hid during WWII bomb raids… It is impossible not to feel immersed in all the history that has gone down in those buildings.
Attending church at Westminister Abbey. The choir sang an amazing evensong service… and we were in Westminister Abbey. On my way out, I walked by Issac Newton’s grave. You know, just a normal Sunday at church.
Being a huge English major nerd. If following Jane Austen’s footsteps in Bath wasn’t enough, I also went on a free Charles Dickens’ tour, visited his house, saw manuscripts from Charles, Jane, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf and more at the British Library, and walked by the Globe theatre on the South Bank. This was when traveling on my own was a good thing, because none of my friends had the attention span to accompany me. They’re not English majors – they just don’t understand! Unless it comes to literature a little more popular in nature…

Seeing the Changing of the Guard. This extravaganza is, in itself, overcrowded with tourists, long and drawn out and not my favorite thing about London. However, you will NOT believe what song the royal bands played …. the Austin Powers theme song. In front of Buckingham Palace. I couldn’t believe it either, but there is video evidence on our Youtube page. I mean, I guess Austin Powers is a Brit…

[YouTube:qv7ee3zm3aw]

Bargaining on Portobello Road. I may be the only one who remembers the song about this classic London market from the old school Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but if you've ever seen Notting Hill with Hugh Grant, then you know the neighborhood. Notting Hill is full of adorable antique shops and vintage clothing boutique that are fun to look in but nothing I can afford, but on Saturday the Portobello Road market is full of cheap and unique finds... and I got an even better deal bargaining for my clothes. Even if you don't want to buy, just wander around, look through the antiques, listen to the street musicians playing the Beatles, or get a snack from the fresh food market that pops up halfway down the road. Definitely my pick for the most fun shopping experience in Europe.

Getting rained on at the Tower of London. If the weather was good the whole time, it just wouldn’t be England, would it? Besides, there’s nothing like a nasty day to make you appreciate the merits of an almost 1000 year-old stone roof over your head.
Eating everything but Spanish food. London is a cultural melting pot… so grab a fork and dig in. I had sushi off a conveyor belt, tasty Indian curry and rice, cheesy Italian pasta, American fast food and finally a British classic:

Talking politics with an old British man in a pub. On my last night in the UK, I realized I still hadn’t tried traditional pub food, so I headed out in search of some bangers and mash (see above). An old man making his nightly rounds of the pubs saw me sitting alone and struck up a conversation; we ended up talking for almost an hour about the state of the world! Greasy comfort food and random intellectual discussion is all I could have ever wanted out of my pub experience, and I nailed it on the first try.

I am so glad I decided to go to England on my own. When I first found out that my London friend Johnny wasn’t going to be around to host me, I was really bummed, but going on my own was such an adventure. Sometimes it was really awkward eating dinner by myself or wandering around the city alone, but it gave me so much time to get inside my own head and notice all the small, beautiful moments.

Now here I am, back in Madrid with only two weeks to go. Is it possible to race to the finish, max out every moment, but still slow down enough to enjoy it all? That's the goal. I'll keep you posted.

The Valencia Virus

ChristinaL — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:47:00 GMT

In case you thought the bloggers only wrote about the rosy, happy times of being a college student, here’s a post to prove you wrong. I am about to tell you about the plagues of being a college student…literally.

Last weekend was our last group trip for all the Butler students. I was really excited because we had so much fun on the last trip, and this time we were going to Valencia, a beautiful city on the southeast coast of Spain, famous for its beaches and festivals.

We got there on Friday night and had a day full of sightseeing on Saturday: the aquarium, the cathedral, medieval architecture, and a really cool museum about “fallas” which are these HUGE floats that the city builds in March for one of their fiestas… and then they burn them all in giant bonfires. We all had dinner together at our hotel and were thinking about going out that night, because we found a club called Indiana, and thought that would be fun for a laugh.

But, around 11 pm, while I was in my hotel room getting some homework done before we went out, I started to feel really tired. I decided to call it a night and go to bed early… and woke up the next morning SICK.

I couldn’t stop throwing up, and I couldn’t eat or drink anything. My wonderful roommate went to talk to our professor, who arranged for me to stay in the hotel all morning. One of the Spanish professors, Ana, stayed there with me, but when she saw I wasn’t getting any better, she decided it was time to take me to the hospital, where we found out that I was one of the victims of a virus going around Valencia.

I was very proud of the fact that I was able to communicate with the doctor’s in Spanish… but I was not so happy about having to get a shot to stop the vomiting, which I had a reaction to and almost passed out. Thankfully, Ana did a great of taking care of me and I never felt scared or alone… but I did feel very, very sick. Although the injection stopped me from throwing up anymore, the five hour bus ride back to Madrid was still not so much fun.

Thankfully, this bug didn’t keep me down too long; I was able to eat again the next day, and after resting up on Monday and Tuesday, was back in class in full force on Wednesday. However, how ironic that on Wednesday I received an email advising me to be careful of a virus going around Butler… with the exact same symptoms of my virus!

My explanation is that I am just so attached to Butler, I got the virus all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. However my friends at Butler will tell you that I am actually the cause of the current BU plague. Okay, you guys caught me… I sent it to you (with love) so that you wouldn’t forget about me. Sharing is caring!

But really, Butler kids, be careful! Wash your hands, drink your Gatorade, and take care. Sickness spreads faster on a college campus than rumors on Facebook, but if you’re careful, get enough sleep and carry your antibacterial soap, you should make it through alright.

Oh, and I on an unrelated note, I PROMISE that a fabulous photo-filled post about my London trip is coming your way soon (like Monday at the latest). Don’t be anxious…I’m just helping you practice delayed gratification so you can make it all the way to Christmas : )

Last minute trip to LONDON!

ChristinaL — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:28:00 GMT

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!

Why Midterms are Worse than Finals

ChristinaL — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:50:00 GMT

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

My BFF Becquer

ChristinaL — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:45:00 GMT

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.)