Five days in Stockholm has taught me to appreciate the sun. It was fun (and cold and dark and depressing). Vance, a fellow Foster student in Milan, and his German classmate Michael were in Stockholm as well. We saw museums and several typical tourists sites. When we weren’t penny pinching, we powered up on hot dogs and a Thai buffet (unfortunately, the Swedish Krona is valued even higher than the Euro). It’s amazing to be able to hop on a three-hour flight, and be in a place with a different language, different climate, and different way of living. Perhaps simply being close to the rest of Europe is the best reason to study in any European city.
On the other hand, traveling has its drawbacks. I only have two weeks left in Pamplona. I realized I have hardly been here. I have yet to see a game of Osasuna, the local soccer team, and I have not even been to the town’s market. Pamplona quickly became familiar to me, so I stopped exploring. And I realized, I live the same way in Seattle, never having to gone SIFF, the zoo, or anything else that makes our city unique. So, if living abroad has changed me in anyway, I hope this experience has inspired me to keep exploring.
Hi everyone! My name is Andrew Swanson, and I am here in Pamplona, Spain for the quarter studying at the University of Navarra along with Sohroosh, Yvonne, and Daraun from the UW. So far my time here in Spain has been a blast. Last weekend I went to Alicante with my roommate because he was from there, and I got to see the Mediterranean for the first time and visit the local hotspots of the city.
Tired and sore, but also preparing for midterm exams, I just returned from a two day stretch of the Camino de Santiago. The Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, is a pilgrimage that tens of thousands of people from all over the world make throughout the year. There are many paths, but one of the most common starts at Saint Jean Pied de Port, in southern France, and winds it’s way across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. This route normally takes more than 30 days to complete on foot. A student from Honduras and another exchange student from Taiwan accompanied me from the small town of Roncesvalles, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, back to Pamplona. The bus ride to Roncesvalles took one and half hours, but the walk through small villages, highways, and hilly farmland took us about sixteen hours spread over two days. We shared sleeping quarters and the path with a diverse group of pilgrims: Aussies who were out for an adventure, a man from Barcelona who had a “compromiso” or a moral obligation to make the pilgrimage, as well as a trio from Valencia who were also taking the Camino a few days at a time.
Madrid is one of the most happening cities on Earth when it comes to nightlife. It has more bars per capita than any European city, with plenty of clubs, late-night munchies spots, and a vibe that satisfies all ages. Take for example the seven story Kapital club, which plays a different genre on each floor, accompanying a gigantic rocket engine that intermittently blasts sweaty dancers with mist on the main dance floor. Madrid’s Joy Eslava, and many others, make it easy for students to get in free. All in all, Madrid clubs are unlike any clubs I’ve experienced in Seattle or San Francisco, and prices are reasonable if you do not plan on buying a drink. Also noteworthy to mention was the very efficient, economical Madrid Metro, which I used all the time.
The food opportunities in Madrid are mouth watering. Madrid, although land-locked, has the second highest consumption of seafood in the world, after Japan. It is famous for its Bacalao (cod) tapas, croquettes, and so much more. The La Rioja region in Spain offers exceptional, economical wine and Extremadura to the southwest provides jamoñ ibérico, the finest ham in the world. A typical late night or early morning treat is chocolate con churros (chocolate with churros), which surprisingly hasn’t caught on in the U.S. The truth is that one has to spend a little extra to be able to seek out and experience the truly inventive cuisine Spain has to offer. Within close proximity to San Sabastian and Barcelona, arguably the two most progressive culinary epicenters, Madrid holds its own and delights foodies if they are willing to pay. I only make this point because many of my friends felt that the Madrileño cuisine was not good (fried, nothing too interesting, not lots of options). This is completely false as I witnessed in disbelief many of my friends consistently opting for the cheap food that was boring and unoriginal.
Today, my coworker Elena asked what kind of image Americans have of Spain. “Do they consider it a lesser developed country and lump it with other Spanish-speaking countries?” she said. Personally, I have always lumped Spain with countries like France and Germany. It is hard to imagine that this democratic country was ruled under the Franco dictatorship only 30+ years ago! Spain has emerged from restricting women from opening their own bank account without a husband’s cosign just 30 years ago to becoming the world’s third nation to legalize gay marriage. Developing at a fast rate, Spain takes much pride in the things it does well. The metro system, for example, is extremely efficient, extensive, and well maintained. I saw a poster showing the Statue of Liberty stooping down, peering curiously into a metro entrance. The catchy phrase said, “The Metro the world wishes they had– is right here in Madrid.”
Also during our lunch, my coworkers love when I recount the tales of my home-stay experience with my “señora”. I am currently living with an older woman, single and retired. She is very kind, and happily cooks my meals and does my laundry. In exchange, I live by the interesting rules of the house. No bare feet on the floor, showers no longer than exactly 10 minutes (complimentary reminders given), and I must never share her hand towel. It seems notions of hygiene are different here. It is also bad form to relax with one’s feet on the furniture, as living rooms tend to be much more formal here. I must also make my bed every day and keep my room tidy, since here it is customary to leave doors to rooms open. My coworkers have explained to me that these tendencies are more specific to her Spanish generation, and that the younger generation lives with a more relaxed style.
It’s mid-November in Sevilla and I’m still wearing short sleeved t-shirts and catching rays. What a strange feeling for a Seattleite!
Now that we’re past the mid-point of the study abroad experience, I can reflect and say that those same sentiments that I had when I first stepped off the plane and asked for directions in Spanish still are with me – it’s so incredible to be in a foreign country and actually get by with the language and different customs! The everyday challenges are something that I really like, although I do admit there are times when meanings are lost in translation and you feel ridiculous when trying to describe exactly what it is that you want to say. The customs are different, too. I eat dinner with my family here around 10 pm at night, and I think that’s the hardest to get used to. The eating habits here are very different from ours at home, so for the first few days I was a little frustrated by the long hours in between meals, but then I learned how to manage that.
¡Hola, buenos días! My name is Martha, but here in España I am better known as “Marta” or even “Martita.” I am a junior in the Foster School of Business, focusing on Finance and CISB. I chose International Business because of my passion for traveling and learning about other cultures, and this opportunity with EUSA has been opening so many doors for me to explore career options. This internship introduced me to microcredit, which thus has become my newfound passion in life.
Hi, my name is Jon Geyer, and I am a senior in the University of Washington Business School focusing in Marketing and International Business. I am currently on exchange in Pamplona, Spain. Yes, it is where they do the running of the bulls. However, besides this festival the city is fairly small and is dominated by many students in one part of the city and other inhabitants in the old part of the city. The University resides on one part of the city, the new part, and many students live in the surrounding area. The Casco Viejo, the old part town has a very typical European look to it and is where the encierro (running of the bulls) occurs. This part of town has many different small bars and pubs and there is a higher concentration of Basque natives as well. Instead of tapas, in other parts of Spain, here they serve Pintxos, which are more or less small portions of the local cuisine. They are typically considered expensive as Pamplona is one of the most expensive cities in Spain.
We have special discounts on certain days in bars and discotecas, for example, on Wednesday we have Crazy Wednesday and we get into the best club in the world, Marengo, for free. The club actually isn’t that great, but its fun because we have a great group of friends. There are these three Portuguese guys who enjoy to party, and you can count on them always to be at the nearest bar or discoteca. Ricardo thinks he can dance… but he can’t. In all seriousness the international community is a lot of fun here. So despite the fact that there are only 2 of us from UW, I have many friends already.
