Portugal: A Dimond in the Rough

This weekend I visited Lisbon and Porto, two beautiful cities in Portugal. The country is located to the left of Spain and they share the same peninsula. Although it’s a small state, the native there seem to really pride themselves on being a separate entity of their big brother, Spain.

Lisbon, a 9 hour bus ride from my city Oviedo, is situated to the west and on the Atlantic coast. All over the center there are little trams and trollies, very old school, that take you up and down the hilly city. There you will find the amazing St. Jorge Castle that was built in the mid-11th century. After being used as a defense fortification it became a royal palace for the first King of Portugal.

Castelo de Sao  Jorge

There are also ruins that date back before the birth of Christ on the grounds near the castle. The castle overlooks the entire city as well as over the river. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Lisbon.

Porto, home to over 1 million inhabitants, was my absolute favorite of the two cities. Not to many people think to travel to Portugal when planning a trip through Europe but I promise this city will not disappoint. My friends and I have quite the story of our time there.

We travel with an organization for international students and it gets a little slow when traveling with 60 plus people. So for the afternoon we went to do our own thing and meet back for a boating trip / wine tasting in the late afternoon. Our exploration led us up this big bell tower in the center of the city. You walk up a seemingly never ending amount of stairs to get to this gorgeous view of the city at the top. The bell tower has many bells and an operating station where the conductor can play concerts and songs from all the bells. After we tried to visit the cathedral that was there but it seemed to be closed. If I had the opportunity to go back I would go through the cathedral as well as a photography museum they have in the city. Porto is known and famous for the huge bridge that is over the Duoro River.

We were suppose to meet the group at the bridge to go to the boat together but they weren’t in site. We didn’t know that there were two levels of the bridge and we saw the group at the dock of the boats from way up top. We rushed to find a way down, and the quickest seemed to be the car cable that goes down the hillside to the ports. But when we were traveling down the cable we saw the boat pull off and leave. But everything happens for a reason right?

It was a blessing in disguise because we got a free wine tasting coupon with our car cable ticket and we decided to stay positive and do our own thing. The wine tasting was at Quevedo Port Wine. It was a fancy little place with a live pianist and singer. The woman was singing a traditional Portuguese music genre, Fado. The music originally was characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics. Now it’s sung about most anything but the tradition of clapping your hands and the woman that is singing wears black is still upheld. We ended up having a great time ourselves at the place and walked along the riverside after, which is a spectacular view.

On another note, my weekend trip consisted of us staying in hostels and it was my first experience staying in this form of accommodation. In America, there really isn’t anything like it so it was interesting to experience. Basically, you are in a room of bunk beds of either 6, 8 or 12 and share a community bathroom in the hall. Usually there is a common area as well and a kitchen that guests can use. This style of accommodations is the cheapest and a great way to meet new people. Apparently though, the ones we stayed in were considered top notch in hostel standards. My bunkmates were telling me of how dirty they can be and with bad service. So it’s good that I stayed in a nice one for my first time but also bad because now I have “high” expectations if I ever plan to stay in another one.

I did notice one thing very particular about the locals of Portugal. They are very prideful people, with every right to be, but they prize their culture as being different than Spain. Their language is slightly similar to Spanish and I can read basic Portuguese sentences since they have the similar words. But the Portuguese surprisingly know English better than they do Spanish. The Portuguese seem slightly rebellious to the association of being Spain’s little brother country and do everything they can to separate that association.

Río Duoro

I really wish I had more time in Portugal and might even plan a trip there again before I leave so I can fully enjoy my time in the city. It was so fun to finally visit a country outside of Spain. It was my first other in Europe and I can’t wait to see many more countries and see the differences in their cultures and language.

Until next time!

XoXo,

Erica

Foreign Friends with Common Interest: Amigos Extraños con Intereses Similar

I came to this country not knowing a single person, besides my native flatmate I talked to virtually. I was most worried about not doing any of the things I wanted because I wouldn’t find good friends to go out with. The first two weeks I was a little bummed because I was staying home with no plans on the weekends. But it was just a matter of time before no friends became a sea of familiar faces when I went to Tapas Tuesday this week.

It all stared because of this beautiful oxymoron we call social media. Many today believe social media is actually making people antisocial but depending on how you use it, it could be the only way to begin being social in a foreign place.

Someone posted on the ESN (Eurasum Student Network) Facebook page that they wanted to go hiking on the weekend. An great response of people suggested we meet up the day before to prepare the details of the trip. I decided to meet with this group of strangers whose only common interest established was hiking. And it was the best decision I’ve made. I met ten people, none of which were from America, and we planned out the trip to Mieres, a city 25 minutes south of Oviedo. Afterward a gentleman made small talk with me about school here as an international student. Somehow this led to an invite of a party he was attending that night. Now, yes we all know not to ‘go out with random strangers’ but I feel in this situation it was quite different. He was a fellow international student who I would be hiking with the following day so it made sense that I would accept my first night out to this party. We met up and he introduced me to some others that he’s met, which was a girl from Portugal and the other from China. We went to this party where I met more students from Ireland and the UK. It was a great beginning to my week of new friendships.

My hike up the asturian mountain!

The following day at hiking, the 12 of us made the most gorgeous hike I’ve ever endured. It was a six hour hike on the Vegalafonte trail and although my foot’s blister worsen, it was beyond worth it. I mingled with students from Germany, Whales, Czech Republic, and of course Ireland. We packed a lunch and sat at this small meadow that overlooked the asturian mountain range. The pictures don’t even give justice to the view that I saw for hours. I would highly recommend this trail to anyone planning to visit Asturias, Spain.

Aside from hiking, the past weekend still commenced the festivities of San Mateo. There were fireworks Saturday evening down at Parque Inviernes (where I took that breaktaking hike I mentioned in a previous blog). Sunday the girl I met from Portugal invited me out and it was one of the last days of the festival. I was so excited to realize that someone wanted to hang out with me. That night we met up for drinks and she introduced me to some friends she met that are from Turkey! How incredible is it that there are so many foreign students and yet we all become such great friends and find so many common interests.

Through ESN, I signed up to go surfing Monday at San Juan de Nievas. We had school off that day because it was the official Day of San Mateo. I went there already seeing a few familiar faces, even though when I signed up I didn’t plan on knowing anyone. One girl was from the UK that I met at the first party I attended and two German girls that are in my project group for one of my classes! From connections they have made, I continued to meet new friends from Italy, Belgium and another Irish girl. I can’t believe I can say that I’ve been surfing in Spain, how cool is that! It was extremely difficult, rained the entire time and was pretty cold. But weather aside, it was such a fun and exhausting experience. I can see why people have such a passion for it.

All of these events lead me to the Tapas Tuesday night where I saw I little bit of everyone from who I’ve encountered over my past few excursions. Never had I imagined that I would be out so often (and so late) with people who are all over the world, yet all so similar to myself. The coolest feeling ever was being with a group of people and conversations were held in four different languages in the same sitting. And the beautiful thing is the majority of students know more than one of these languages so no one is left out. Sometimes people don’t even realize they started talking to me in a language that I don’t know!

Really and truly I never imagined to meet and befriend so many people so quickly. I can’t believe this is just week three of school and already so many events have happened. Let the festivities of studying abroad official begin!

My surfing buddies, Kimberly from Belgium and Jenny from Ireland.

Adjusting to a Spanish World & Culture: Ajustando al Mundo Española.

What an adventure these past two weeks have been! After coming as a tourist for a week visiting Barcelona, Oviedo, Gijón and Madrid I have finally been knocked in the face by reality as an exchange student.

Enjoying the abundant amounts of Sangria found here.

After waving goodbye to my family as they rushed away in a taxi my whole world came crashing in the realization that I’m alone. 100% truly alone in another country across “The Pond” called the Atlantic. Anxiety put my heart through my chest traveling back to Oviedo from Madrid by a five hour train ride. Once getting back I mapped out my schedule for the semester since class started the next day. It was a hard pill to swallow when finding out all three of my classes were at different campuses and one was even outside of the city! I had no idea that Marketing would be in Gijón and I couldn’t find a way to justify going all the way out there while having other classes in the same day.

That’s when I met my first angel (besides María, my amazingly helpful roommate). Alan Wall, the director who handles the exchange students of economics, calmed my fears when he told me there was another Marketing class that was in the close campus, in Oviedo. Only this class is in Spanish and hadn’t been approved by my director at home. I quickly got in contact with my Director at home and got my class approved by the department head and my academic advisor. I had no clue I would encounter so many difficulties upon arriving.

So two of my classes are in Spanish: Marketing and Español Normativo. My third class, Business Management, is in English. But things just couldn’t be that easy for me, now could it? After my first day of class I was working on my computer when it died. I plugged it into my converter (that a friend so generously lent to me) and it wouldn’t charge. The converter works fine for my phone and ipad but my computer was utterly useless, extremely strange.

My gorgeous view from the walk I went on in Parque Invierno

So week one went by rather slow and I encountered some difficulties, academic and personally. I’m not accustomed to being in solitude for large quantities of time. But the weekend was the most painful because I had no plans and finished the entire second half of a book. Looking at the map, I had seen a huge park that I wanted to walk through. Oviedo is in the mountains and nothing makes me feel God’s presence like when I see mountains. I spend 3.5 hours just walking this seemingly endless trail that winds through the mountains and streams. I just put my headphone in a praised God the entire time. I spent time self reflecting on my weaknesses and what I really want to get out of this trip abroad.

Parade from the San Mateo Festival

The other highlight of my time here has been the wonderful festival happening called San Mateo that lasts for ten days. Last weekend was the beginning of it so Saturday my roommate, her boyfriend and I headed down to the central park “Parque de San Fransisco” where rows of booths are set up selling authentic food and wine of different Spanish dishes. The amount of pedestrians here, and Spain in general, is dumbfounding. I have never walked so much in my entire life. The festivities continue into this weekend and oddly enough today was the “Día de America en Asturias” and there was a fantastic parade that marched down the central shopping street, Calle Uría. It was so neat to see how they celebrate my country and the different floats that interpreted their idea of our culture.

Parade from the San Mateo Festival

When the parade concluded I met with a group of Erasmus Students (name for exchange students within Europe) to make hiking plans for tomorrow. My favorite part was that there were ten of us and no one else is from the US. People from Poland, Germany, Whales, Ireland, and even Czech Republic were there! I’m so blessed that the ESN Organization (Erasmus Student Network) has helped me find people with the same interests and going through the same thing I am. It was because of that meeting that a new friend helped me find a working adapter that, praise the Lord Jesus, works!

And that, my friends, is how I came to be where I am at this very moment. I’m still getting settled but nonetheless better every day. Below are some pictures of my highlights so far. I can’t wait to keep you posted on the next crazy adventure! Hiking tomorrow and maybe surfing Monday. Also I’m official signed up for a trip to León next weekend. I can’t wait to travel and meet as many new people as I possibly can in my short four months here.

Read about the major differences I found between Europe and America.

Madrid, Spain. Inside the Royal Palace

Grandest Church in the world, inside of La Sagrada Familia

The most amazing site of Barcelona Skyline is at La Iglesia Tibidabo!

European Culture from the Eyes of an American

I have been in Europe for only one week and there are already so many differences between the culture and the way of life. I am studying abroad in Spain for a semester and the first week I have traveled with my family all over the country.

Transportation:
First, in Barcelona I immediately noticed how the culture has embraced and adopted the public transportation system. The subway in Barcelona was built about 20 years ago for the Summer Olympics. The system is very easy and it’s the most common way to get around the entire city. In America, we consider ourselves very independent and own at least one car in a family household. Pubic transportation systems in America could be implemented and transform our culture in the way it has created such efficiency in Europe.

Housing:
I also noticed there that although there are houses in Barcelona, many people choose to live in apartments. Many more people flock to the inner cities since it’s close walking distant to all. Which leads me to my next point, you walk EVEREYWHERE in the cities of Spain. I’ve never seen so many pedestrians in my life. America has far and few cities that are modeled in a similar light as Europe. New Orleans, New York City and Boston are one of the few.

Food:
Bread and Ham are eaten all the time and can be found almost everywhere. Jamón is eaten here the way chicken is eaten in America. There are bakeries and meateries all over. The food in general is so much fresher here: instead of grocery shopping once a week or even once every other week like us American, the Spaniards shop for fresh food a couple times a week. Therefore their fridgerators are much smaller in comparison.

After Barcelona, we took a flight to Oviedo. This is the small town in which I will call home for the next four months. There I learned a few more things about the culture.

Living the simple life:
Once leaving the big cities, you will come to find that the smaller places enjoy living the simple life. Both in Gijón (a beach town half an hour from Oviedo) and in Oviedo the buildings are old and have been preserved in that manner to keep the culture and history. But because of this, the apartments and hotels run a simple lifestyle. I moved into my apartment and met my Spaniard roommate Maria. I discovered that I have no air conditioning, I have no dryer, and I have no dishwasher. All are things most Americans would consider a necessity.

Nightlife:
Us Americans seem like duds compared to the lifestyle Europeans live out at night. Most stores close during the day, anywhere between 2pm-5pm. This is meant to be a “siesta” time of rest and relaxation. At night all the stores open back up until well past 11 p.m. Dinner for the locals can range anywhere between 9:30 p.m. and 11p.m. On another note, the bars and “discos” (which are clubs) are open and busy until around 4 a.m.

I’ve only been here a week and not only have I started to appreciate the American cultures, but also learned to embrace and enjoy the European culture. Next I am headed to Madrid to learn and see more of what this country has to offer.

Follow me to keep up with my adventures abroad at my Abroad Category.