November felt like a giant game of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Every weekend we were off in a different part of Spain or Europe, and now we have so little time remaining we can almost count the days left on two hands!
Amidst the final papers for Art, the theatrical events we attended for Theater, and our obsession with finding places that sell Palomitas for under 0,30 euros, we had too much fun. The first weekend of November was exhausting. My cousin invited a few of us to his concert in the Sala Caracol and we made posters to cheer him on in a Battle-of-the-Bands competition. The next morning we boarded a bus to Toledo to see the original capital city of Spain, complete with the union of the three major cultures of the country over time: Arab, Jewish, and Christian. Going with our Art and Cinema professors, we were given a short tour of the town, including a preserved mezquita, the cathedral, and a converted synagogue. We also finally saw the Tajo river we read about in Poetry as well! After eating our fill of mazapán we wandered around the city a little bit. The stores catered to tourism, but specialized in impressive swords, demasking, and chocolate con churros. While it was a very, very windy day, we enjoyed our visit immensely.
The following weekend was a cheap one for traveling and a lot of us used the occasion to fly abroad. My friends and I chose London for a change of pace, and we loved the city! While it took us a short bit to get accustomed to the accent, it was nice to hear everyone speaking our language once again. We took a tour of the major sights in the city, from Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral to the Tower of London and even Platform 9 3/4. I can't say I was a huge fan of pub food, but we are spoiled here in Spain with some of the best cuisines in the world.
I found it particularly amusing to watch how Londoners run their day in comparison to Madrileños. In Madrid everything is open until very late, and the night doesn't end until the Metro closes at about 2 AM. Yet in London your dinner starts much, much earlier than our usual 9-10 PM here, and if you plan on going out with friends you're home by the latest at midnight we were told. Unfortunately we didn't realize this, and when we would order dinner, often we were the last ones in the restaurant while the staff would be cleaning up.
Weekend three in November consisted of a journey to the south of Spain to Granada, the last Moorish stronghold that lasted in the country. To say we walked around is an understatement, and our legs were so tired after touring the city the first day we could barely walk the next. We had an amazing visit to La Alhambra, the palace of the sultans later converted for Carlos V. The gardens of the Nazaries, the last royal dynasty before 1492, was jaw-droppingly-beautiful. Small labyrinths of hedges, fountains and impressive uses of water, climbing ivy and combinations of flowers all left you breathless. The palaces and castle itself were equally impressive, with views of the city, Sacramonte, usage of stucco, and gorgeous columns everywhere. Our tour guide, José Antonio (whose name should be read as though shouting), was hilarious in telling us stories and secrets about the royal families and the construction of the grounds.
Our second tour guide gave us a view of the Cathedral and mausoleum of the Catholic kings, Ferdinand and Isabella. Walking around the buildings was extremely amusing as we encountered gypsies offering to read our hands everywhere. We took a nighttime stroll to the top of a hill to view the Alhambra at night, and passed through some calles filled with teterías. These places were so colorful and aromatic we lingered around there the next day and eagerly bought our kebab lunches there too. Granada is known for its mountain of tapas you receive when ordering, and we helped ourselves to some very, very tasty montaditos when out.
Finally, our last weekend concluded in Paris! This was a trip I'd been dying to take, and the four of us that went loved the experience. We hit up the famous parts once again, including Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, the Louvre, the Arc d'Triomphe, walking down Champs-Elysees, the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d'Orsay, Sacre Couer, seeing the Moulin Rouge, and visiting Versailles! Luckily I have a friend who is currently studying abroad in Paris, and she gave us a small tour of the Latin Quarter as well. We ate very, very well (who can say no to a Banana-Nutella crépe?) and ended each night watching a famous movie about France or Paris. I have to admit I felt very uncomfortable in some situations in which we couldn't speak French, but for the most part people were very kind in helping us out along our way. We made up for the windy, rainy weather by stuffing ourselves with delicious bread and cheese, and filling ourselves up at breakfast before our kind bed-and-breakfast host gave us good ideas on what routes to take to see the city.
Of the four cities we visited I think London was perhaps my favorite. I think this may have stemmed from the ease we felt speaking the language, which certainly knocked down Paris by a few points in my book, but also because the Brits were very, very friendly to us. We came back from each city appreciating Madrid in new ways, but particularly praising our metro here for being the cleanest and most efficient. We also love our city for staying up later than its European counterparts at 6 PM. Furthermore, who can deny that sitting in the front section at the Bernabeu Stadium to watch Real Madrid is a bad time? We cheered on Ronaldo's entrance into the field wildly.
Though I must admit, I'm a Barcelona fan first.
And now it's crunch time for finals!
Ciao,
Natalia
All of the semester’s work started coming to crescendo last week as we prepared to break for Thanksgiving. Each of our four classes played a roll in last Tuesday’s panel discussion with Ortalli and Donello, two friends of Professor Ammerman who are major players in the debate surrounding saving Venice. The discussion covered topics from the beginnings of Venice and its archeology through the art and architecture of the city and the current state of Italian and specifically Venetian affairs. And the whole discussion was in Italian.
A piu tardi!
Ciao.
Andy
I was talking to my mom today and she asked me: "are you settling in?" I immediately responded that I sure hope I've settled in because I have been here 3 months and if there is any hope that I'll "settle in " before I leave, I better achieve that soon. But, after we were done talking, I got to thinking- am I really settling in here in Ghana??
I guess i knew that everything would pretty much be completely different in Ghana and that I would have a hard time adjusting to the cultural differences, the foods, etc. But, to be honest I was more worried about classes and making friends. I have since realized that those have probably been the easiest part of the semester. The beginning of last week reminded me of a typical week at Colgate. I had a test on Monday, and a paper due the same day for a different class. Wednesday I had two papers due for my psychology class, so I spent most of Tuesday working on those papers. However, after Wednesday I found myself with nothing to do and completely finished with assignments for the week. If I were faced with this situation at Colgate, I would know exactly what to do: spend an afternoon at the COOP talking with friends, spend an extra long time at the gym and then maybe venture out after dinner, anything to avoid Case. Maybe a bit boring and typical, but it satisfies me. Here, though, my free afternoons usually turn into some type of adventure and cultural experience-- never typical or boring.
On Thursday, after class, a few friends and I decided to go to the Accra Art and Culture Center. The art center is the epitome of a typical tourist spot. The place abounds with low-priced jewelry, t-shirts and cheaply made dresses. An unknowing passer-through could easily be conned into spending $10 on a factory made necklace and all of the vendors are very good at convincing people that their product is worth the extra money. Fortunately, I have been in Ghana long enough to know that bargaining is absolutely necessary because vendors will quote ridiculous prices that are usually 2-3 times higher than what they will sell it for. In order to save money, we took a tro-tro, which is not my ideal form of transportation and is not for anyone who desires comfort or quick arrival. The tro-tro is usually an incredibly old van of some sort that goes from designated spots around the city. People hop on and off at random times and every person is expected to pay (usually about 20 cents). It sounds great in theory, but these vans are always packed with more people than were ever meant to fit in one van or minibus and the door is most likely held shut by a leather strap. People have their heads sticking out of windows trying to get fresh air and the constant movement of passengers in and out can get confusing. At the beginning of the semester, I was terrified of tro-tros, mostly because I thought i would get lost. The drivers have hand signals and abbreviations for the stations and if you don't know them, you could end up on the wrong side of the city.
Anyway, so we got to the art center later in the afternoon than we had originally planned and the vendors were beginning to close up their shops, but this ended up being an advantage because they all were really eager to sell. I walked away only spending about 15$ and had a necklace, 2 t-shirts, a soccer jersey and a painting. I was pretty proud of myself and my new found bargaining skills. It will be a little bit upsetting when I get home and can't argue for a lower price. As usual, I was completely exhausted when we got home (it took over an hour to get back because of the TERRIBLE Accra traffic), and we enjoyed an evening of movie watching!
Friday I have no class at all, so about 6 of us went to the pool for the morning, which is something I have never enjoyed in mid-November before. After tanning for an unhealthily long time, we went to lunch at one of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. And, even though the place looks like it could be in New York, the service was true to Ghanaian standards. Our food took about an hour and half, but it was delicious and reminded me of home. It was a pretty good end to the week, but I can't expect it to happen again as finals are approaching! -Kalin
This week was full of interesting conversations with friends and "family" comparing our lifestyles to those of people our age in Madrid and Spain at large. On Wednesday Kayleigh's mother was in town and invited us to dinner. Sitting across from Kayleigh's host mother we developed a conversation about politics, economics, and working. Unfortunately in Spain the current rate of unemployment is only climbing and hovers near 20% (which they often point out to us when we say we have it bad).
Searching for work here is an adventure I've seen my host sister and Nicoletta go through. Marcela's boyfriend, Alfonso, sent out 75 separate applications to jobs, and only heard back from one. Just coming away with his degree, his 9-5 job only offers him a 300-euro compensation per month; he's practically an intern. Shrugging his shoulders at the situation he told us he had to do something in the meantime. Marcela and Nicoletta are also searching for anything they can get their hands on, and Nicoletta wakes up every morning to do four hours of job-hunting before taking her house keeping post for the rest of the day.
Kayleigh's host mother told me that her daughters had chosen to move to the US where they were bound to find better opportunities, especially in pharmaceuticals. She told me that in the US we have a better mentality of what it takes to earn a job--if you work hard in school and submit the right application, you will be noticed. Yet in Spain the approach is different, and as told by my cousins in the past as well, it's not about how well you know your job, but rather who you know. To say networking is important is an understatement, as in reality it is all that exists currently. For example, at dinner the other night when Nicoletta informed us of her fruitless job search that day, Alfonso offered to call one of the employer's she'd submitted an application to in an attempt to put her foot in the door.
Interestingly, the adults our age here also don't strive as hard to find work. When telling people about our school year's length they ask us what we do with those summer months to ourselves. We inform them about our summer job's and internships, and they look at us astounded. Here, college students don't bother looking for work unless absolutely necessary, and interestingly, don't plan to leave their parents' house immediately after graduation. Instead it's very common to hear that someone nearing their 30s is still at home.
On Friday Nicoletta and I shared a heart-to-heart and she told me she was sick of the mentality of staying home with her mother and giving up part of her wages to send home. She told me she planned on moving out as soon as she could afford it and that she was going to begin her own life, independent of the wishes of her parents and the customs here. On top of it, she said she admired our American mentality of hard-work and trying things on your own, but admittedly, she seems to be one of the few in these last few weeks who sees Americans positively. Though she told me her expectations of us differed from how I present myself, and lately I've found that my purpose here is to be an ambassador of a positive image of the Western Hemisphere.
Here's to impressing London next!
Natalia