February 2013 – Page 4 – GW Blogs from Abroad

Anxiety and Thrill

AdminFebruary 4, 2013December 14, 2018

A few weeks before I left for Madrid, I went rock climbing with a few friends. Rock climbing is one of my favorite things to do. There’s a certain degree of thrill and exhilaration of heights. When you’re high up and you look down, it’s definitely scary, but I still love it. An extremely similar feeling has carried over to my experience in Spain. I’m scared and anxious all of the time, but it’s all so amazing.

I clutch my bag very tightly when I’m out in the streets, I get flustered while I’m trying to decipher metro signs, and I feel my cheeks turning red whenever I can’t figure out how to phrase something in Spanish. But I’ve never been happier.

I am absolutely obsessed with the city and the people here. This week I attended art history classes at the Prado museum, ate the most delicious food, saw an adorable movie at the cinema, attended an exhibition at an art gallery and hung out with friends at discotheques.

The architecture of the city is absolutely marvelous and I’m positive that I could spend hours and hours just staring at buildings. Madrid is filled with little neighborhoods that are each unique and stunning. I’m so excited to visit more of these neighborhoods and to experience more of Madrid. Every day is a new adventure and I’m learning so much.

Under The Sea: Venice

AdminFebruary 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By jahdaimoriah

For weeks, I had been looking forward to go to carnivale in Venice. As a product of Caribbean parents, carnival is like the second coming of Christmas. I love every aspect about carnival, from the masks, to the bright colored costumes, to the musics, and groves of people having fun. I have a dream of attending all the worlds biggest carnivals: Trinidad, Barbados, Brazil, New Orleans.

I was ready to hit Venice, see the parade, and hitch a ride on a gondola. But did that happen...of course not. It was a monsoon when we got to Venice. The bright colored buildings that I saw in movies like the Italian Job and the Tourist were muddled by gray fog and clouds. Venice as you may or may not know is a city made up of little islands connected by bridges and traveled by boat. Because it is more water then land, when it pours it also floods. My beautiful Venice dream carnival turned into my wet gray nightmare. ...continue reading

The Halftime Show

AdminFebruary 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By jadoerge

As I sit writing this blog only one week away from my two-month long semester break, I think it is a good time to begin to reflect upon my time here before I leave my second-home here in Germany to go touring around Europe.

Since arriving here, my time here has been nothing short of a whirlwind. My three-week long orientation with the Junior Year in Munich program went by in a flash of meeting new people and trying to speak to each other in what our director calls “Mickey Mouse German” since we were all on different levels of speaking ability and had all been out of practice for most of the summer. ...continue reading "The Halftime Show"

Working Hard

AdminFebruary 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By Adar

I've been spending a fair amount of time with two of my Israeli roommates, who come from very distinct backgrounds. Iris is a Sabra. She was born and raised in a small town nearby, made up of almost all Israelis. She did the IDF and then worked in Tel Aviv for a year; then she started studying Communications and Sociology in Haifa. She's a tough girl, but with a friendly smile and jokester attitude. She wakes up late, stays up late, and is thoroughly annoyed (rightfully so) if there's too much noise in the morning. She goes out with friends often, and is holed up in her room studying for finals much of the time I've been here. I met Iris the first hour I arrived, and she offered me delicious food that she and a friend had just made. She's a no-nonsense kind of person, and gets right down to the point of things. ...continue reading "Working Hard"

Food Food Food

AdminFebruary 4, 2013December 14, 2018

By aubreygunnels

Belgium is known for amazing food and drink. The stereotypes hold true and Belgians know a little something about waffles. They are absolutely everywhere. Downtown, there are copious amounts of shops and bakeries that specialize in the Belgian tradition. We have waffle food trucks on campus and at the exit of most metro stops. As if this weren't enough waffles are Belgian's version of a Twinkie. They are wrapped in cellophane in every vending machine and packaged in grocery stores. They are enjoyed plain of course but one can't help but try a delectable waffle covered in whip cream, chocolate, ice cream, and a delicate fruit topping. I've seen peanut butter, Nutella and a spread called Speculoos spread on top. I feel like it is Belgium’s version of a crepe? ...continue reading "Food Food Food"

In 1945, when the Army told me to find my own job, I stayed on

AdminFebruary 3, 2013December 14, 2018

By unprofoundobservations

As a final excursion before classes begin on Monday, my program took a trip to Normandy this past weekend. The weekend was an adventure into the culture and history of one of France's northernmost regions and an excellent reminder of everything wonderful outside of its capital city that I call home. Early Saturday morning 20 of us in the program loaded ourselves onto a bus with our three intrepid directrices and Daniel, the fantastic and stalwart driver. Our trip north was punctuated with stops in small villages, a tour of a cider distillery, and numerous bathroom breaks. We were able to shop through farmers markets for the fruits de la mer and Camembert that Normandy is so well known for, and learn about the rich farming and distilling traditions throughout the area. Each town we passed through was a beautiful amalgamation of French, British, and German architecture and food, and seemed straight out of the medieval fairy tale. Each street we walked down was far older than any man-made structure I've visited in the United States and the ancient, wooden bell towers were breathtaking. ...continue reading "In 1945, when the Army told me to find my own job, I stayed on"

You Can’t Catch a Cab on Shabbat

AdminFebruary 3, 2013December 14, 2018

By Adar

In Israel, as is Jewish tradition, the weekend is one day from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, or Shabbat -- the day of rest. While in most places the weekends are busy for businesses and public transportation, on Shabbat Israel shuts down. This happens more in some places than others, and because Haifa has a large non-Jewish population, many things are still open and running. But much is still closed down or very much reduced. ...continue reading "You Can’t Catch a Cab on Shabbat"

Time to Adjust

AdminFebruary 1, 2013December 14, 2018

By ahblackwell

My first week in Rabat is not even over, yet, and I already feel as though I could not possibly take in anything more. I’m excited to see myself after the end of the program. The amount of adjustments we (the other students in the program and I) have made over the past few days are endless, and yet we still seem to stick out. The biggest adjustment so far has definitely been learning how to walk through the souk (market) in the Medina (the old Arab part of the city). As a woman, especially a woman who is noticeably foreign, it is best to walk through streets without making much eye contact. I have never been so aware of my body language as I have been in the past few days. The more I have gotten to know the streets and the people, however, the more comfortable I feel about saying salaam (hello) and smiling at people. The first day that we arrived in Rabat, we dropped off our luggage in an old hotel and then headed for the Center for Cross Cultural Language, the center that hosts our program for the semester. From the outside, buildings in the Medina look old and worn down and poverty-stricken. However, when I walked inside the CCCL’s building, I was pleasantly surprised to see this is not truly the case. The whole building is covered in colorful tiles and curvy Andalousian architecture. A large enclosed courtyard dominates the middle of the first and second floors with archways dripping with engraved flowers and tresses. In order to get up to the cafeteria and the roof, or the terrace as our directors refer to it, you have to climb winding tile stairways that branch off into tiny doors and other mosaic-filled hallways. After exploring the building and meeting our directors, we headed down Rue Mohammed V and through the souk to a restaurant where we were having dinner. At first the souk terrified me because of its masses of people and smells and noises. However, after navigating it a few times and bargaining in Arabic with shopkeepers over the prices of the items, I’ve learned to love the souk. ...continue reading "Time to Adjust"