Seville with Ash and our plans for the end of the trip

Hi everyone I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I wish I could have been there with all of you for the holiday but I'll be home soon. This weekend Ashleigh came to Seville to spend the weekend in my home town in Spain. We had a great weekend and I was able to show her where I studied and some of the cultural life around the city. We even took a short trip to Granada, Spain which is about 3 hours away from Seville via train. Granada was a little bit cold since it is centered very close to the Sierra Nevada mountains, but the scenery once again was nothing short of beautiful. The end of my program here in Seville is coming to an end and it seems like I haven't been here for very long. The last week I've been thinking about all of the things I've seen and am going to see in this next couple weeks I have left in Europe and it's really surreal to think about. Learning another language and adapting to another culture for three months although short has been difficult and it feels good to be able to say I was able to do it successfully. Now that I only have a week left before finals Ash and I have been preparing for our end of the trip journey to Italy. While in Italy we won't be able to update our blogs or post pictures so everyone will have to wait till Christmas. What a bummer! When my program ends on the 12th I'll be flying out to London and catching a plane with Ash to Pisa on the morning of the 13th. We'll spend a few hours in Pisa before continuing our journey to Florence on the evening of the 13th. In Florence we'll stay for 3 nights before leaving to Venice for another two nights. After Venice, Pisa, and Florence we'll be wrapping our journey in the ancient and historical city of Rome. Ash and I are very excited for the trip and believe it is going to be a great trip to wrap up an amazing experience abroad. The afternoon of the 21st we'll be leaving Rome for London where we'll pick up our bags and move over to the next and final departing airport (HEATHRO, LONDON). I hope you're all doing very well and are all in good moods as the holidays are now upon us. I can't wait to see you all again soon.

Bri

PAMPLONA, SPAIN

Tomorrow morning I'm setting off for another trip, this time by myself to a smaller city in Spain. Pamplona, Spain which you may very well have heard of because of it's annual "Running of the Bulls" festival is situated in central northern Spain very close to the Pyrenees mountain range. After my big trip last weekend to Paris I thought a smaller Spanish city with more natural beauties than historical, would be a perfect and relaxing option. I leave tomorrow morning (friday) at 7:45 by train to Madrid where I catch another train at 10:35 to Pamplona and eventually get into Pamplona around 1 p.m. my time. I'm very exited for the trip and can't wait to take a nice relaxing weekend to myself. I'll be returning on Sunday afternoon or night depending on which trains I decide to hop on but I hope you all have a very good weekend and I'll be updating the blog a little more now that midterms (exams) are done.

From Stacy to Paris

Well I’m back again, this time from Paris. I went this last weekend to Paris with my study abroad group for a nice long weekend starting on Thursday evening through Sunday evening. Ash and I were lucky enough to have the trip on the same weekend and were able to spend a lot of time together. Before arriving to Paris I had heard the people there (the French) weren’t very sympathetic and especially to Americans. Again, I heard wrong, most of the people I spoke with were more than nice and I would love to go back someday. My group arrived about 8 p.m. on Thursday the 14th. Although we arrived a little late, we had enough time to settle in and take a nice trip over to the Eiffel Tower, an amazing site. When we got within sight of the amazing structure, we were all awe struck at the complexity and enormity of its dimensions. The tower was completely lit with neon lights and was clearly visible from a long distance. Our hotel fortunately was less than one mile from the tower and we’re able to walk directly underneath it. Although I loved seeing the tower for the first time, I would have to say another instance of being at the tower was a little more surreal. That was being able to sit underneath the tower kissing Ashleigh. Something I never imagined being able to do at the age of 21. Ash and I made two trips to the tower, one simply enjoying the view from underneath and another from the second floor of the tower overlooking the 11 million population city. Friday morning our group toured the city on bus for two hours looking at some of the many historical sites throughout the city. After we finished we were able to enter and tour Notre Dame! What an amazing structure. The church was immaculate and had amazing architecture. While waiting for Ash to arrive later in the afternoon, my friends and I walked around the city and looking at some of the many street venders along the river. The venders sold everything from little mirror souvenirs to beautiful paintings. I’ll soon tell you what I decided to spend all of my money on soon. After returning from what seemed to be miles of walking throughout the city we were able to rest a little while before meeting with Ash and her friends for a trip through one of the most humbling museums I’ve ever visited. The Louvre Museum, also the museum discussed in the “DaVinci Code” had some of the oldest paintings and sculptures I’ve ever seen. The most humbling amongst them being “The Mona Lisa” painted by DaVinci himself. Amongst some of the others were sculptures of Michael Angelo’s work! After seeing some of the most famous artwork I’m likely to ever to see in my life we went out for dinner at a nice traditional French restaurant not far from the Museum and Notre Dame. There I had an amazing dinner of salmon, mussels soaked in white wine, and rice. The dinner surprisingly was very affordable. Saturday consisted of another trip around the city with my group via bus and ended at the Louvre which we again took a more detailed and toured trip through the historical museum. After the Louvre my friends and I made another pass through the street venders where I found one of my best finds yet, “The Wall” by Pink Floyd being sold for 15 euros on vinyl. Don’t worry, that wasn’t the only thing I found I ended up returning to the same guy but I’ll tell you about that in a little while. After shopping for awhile we met up with Ashleigh again and her friends for a long walk throughout some of the busiest and most popular streets in Paris, some of the most expensive as well. On our journey we walked through some of the most beautiful gardens (formerly royal gardens), stopped by a Louis Vuiton store, and stood in front of “The Arch” and amazing arch built tall and wide with battle scenes sculpted into each side of the structure made to honor Napoleon Bonaparte’s many victories. Later that evening Ash and I enjoyed a romantic walk to the Eiffel Tower and a nice dinner consisting of pasta and steak dinner accented by a glass of white wine. After dinner and the Eiffel tower we wanted to rest up before another big day in the morning. In the morning I joined Ash’s group for a tour beginning at the Moulon Rouge and stretching through one of the nicest and most historically known suburbs of Paris. Throughout the little suburb we were given a detailed history of each zone by a Frenchmen who seemed to be very informative. We were able to see flats that famous painters stayed in during their time in Paris one of such being Picasso! The trip through the small art filled suburb was an amazing experience and after we finished up we went over to a Salvador Dali museum, one of my favorite artists who just so happens to be Spanish as well. The Dali exhibit was extremely interesting; I won’t spend much time talking about it since I know not many know who he is but if you’re interested just ask me. After the exhibit Ash and I left with her friend on the metro back to do a little more shopping along the river. I wanted to look for more records and happened to find the same man from the day before. This time I was looking I happened to see a very rare Led Zepelin album, Let it Be by the Beetles, and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I spent enough; we can say that, however I’ll be lucky to ever run across those albums again. After getting my fix for classic rock we continued to walk a little while longer until I needed to head out and catch my bus to the airport around 5:30 p.m.

Granada

Que pasa?... whats up? Well I hope you're all still doing well as I'm sure you are now preparing for the more bitter part of the Minnesota climate. This week has been a good week and I've realized that time is starting to fly by a little faster than I would like it to. School has been good accept one class in which is mind numbing to say the least. Well what can you do? ... all of the other ones are good anyway. We've been meeting a lot more people this week and it's been a lot of fun getting to know "Sevillanos". My spanish is getting a little better each day I get to talk and spend more time with the locals. I think I could come back to España and stay for a few years when I graduate but who knows, thats so far away! Oh thats right... I'm supposed to graduate in May. Well anyway, this weekend we're going to Granada, one of the more beautiful cities Andalucia has to offer. I'm excited for the trip and can't wait to stay in a Hotel with food paid for instead of a hostel without food. We leave tomorrow morning at about 9:45 and return sometime on Sunday. Tonight I'm going to try and get all of my homework done, or at least most of it before I leave tomorrow and hopefully get some rest as well. I've heard a little bit about whats going on in the U.S. with Palin and Mc..... donalds? I mean McCain sorry. I read the news that Powell is going to back Obama and is crossing party lines to do so after having known McCain for 25 years... all I have to say is "WOW". If that isn't a testament to the current status of the United States and it's international and national obligations I don't know what else could be. No no no... I'm not going to get into a political discussion on my blog but what I am going to say of the matter is this and I think it is a positive thing at that. By Powell taking such a strong position and obviously having put a lot of thought into it before taking such a stance... I think it shows that in a time of RED vs BLUE we're finally starting to realize it's important to look both directions before crossing the street. People are neither completely republican nor completely democrat and it's time we as a nation started realizing this and so when I read what Powell did in the news I was happy. Not because McCain didn't receive his support but because finally someone had the tenacity to overtly express recognition and respect for their opposing party. When I get back I'll let you know how Granada was and I'll try and stick to just writing about the sites I see : ) You have to understand that I haven't been able to talk about politics a lot since I've been here so well sometimes I have to vent. Hope you all have a great weekend, love you all and tell anyone I haven't spoke to lately that I'm doing well.

Hasta luego,

Brian

And finally we begin to migrate into the spanish social life

Hi guys I hope you're all doing very well, I'm doing great here. This weekend I'm spending my time in Sevilla (my host city). I thought about traveling outside of the country again but I'm here to learn spanish and to adapt and welcome another culture. In order to learn spanish and really understand the setting I'm living in I should spend more time here I've decided. Lately my roomate, other friend, and I have been trying hard to get to know spaniards our own age and to stop hanging out with the other members of our group all together. Yesterday I got to talk with my new language partner and we're going to meet twice next week to chat and enjoy the city. The school helps us meet spaniards and learn spanish by setting us up with people our own age to hang out with and we take it upon ourselves to call them or email them... they're called intercambios (interchange). Last night we went out with Phil's (my roomate) intercambio for a couple hours and it was a lot of fun. Her name is Sescillia. I'm not entirely sure if I spelt that right but what does I'll correct that later. We bother realized how much spending time with actual spaniards makes a difference. Last night we went out to a part of the city that we have been to before during the day but never at night, needless to say the place was packed with spaniards our age and was a great atmosphere. Sescillia was a very nice and we had a good time. I'll defintely go out with her and Phil again. After we got done spending time with her we went out to another bar where we met more spaniards and even played foosball with them... It was a blast. It's been hard getting to know locals here so far so now that we're finally getting to know some of them everything is starting to feel right. I hope you guys have a good weekend and I'll update you again in about a week or so. This weekend we're thinking about going out for a Flamenco show, bullfight, and probably an international fair tonight. Hasta luego.

Un fuerte abrazo,

Brian

Four Planes, 9 buses, 2 taxis, 1 train, 3 tube rides, 3 Countries!

Hey guys, this weekend I went to London for a few hours and Cork, Ireland for the weekend. The trip was an amazing experience, one that I'll remember for a very long time. I left for Stansted airport in London on Thursday evening and arrived to be greeted by my beautiful girlfriend. I was able to meet some of the students from her program before sleeping on the floor with them while waiting for the plane to leave at 6 in the morning. The trip from London to Cork was a short one hour flight. Our landing in Cork was a little a nerving as came through the clouds, the fog, and the rain and set down immediately after a tree line (a little rough). Oh well I'll take a rough landing for an amazing experience. We arrived in Cork around 8 in the morning and went to eat before checking into the hostel. The hostel lacked what is said to be luxury but oh well who needs luxury when you're a poor student trying to make a dollar squeeze into a euro. On Friday we went to see the famous Blarney castle where each one of us separetely kissed the stone, which in return gave us the gift of eloquence. The castle, the history behind the castle and the stone as well as the surrounding scenary were all very beautiful, something only understood through standing in the middle of all of it. After going to the castle we ate lunch at a small diner in Blarney. The meal was pretty good until I ate something I had no intention of eating. We'll leave that for later but the meal was good all around and afterward we returned to Cork before taking a nap and heading out to a traditional Irish bar. The bar was a lot of fun, we didn't get too crazy with the 4 euro beers but I had two before we returned a little early to get some rest before the morning. I have to say Guiness out of the tap in Ireland could be better than finding a lake in the desert. Anyway before I fall into thinking about Irish beer again, lets continue the voyage. The next day we woke up nice and early to head out to Killarney National Park, my favorite part of the trip (besides seeing Ash again). Killarney was a two hour bus ride from Cork and was worth it. When we arrived in Killarney we went out to the park for a nice long walk around its beautiful lands. While we were there we were able to see streams, lakes, mountains, a waterfall, and an amazingly green setting. Hearing the natives speak was like being in a story tail, each and every word they spoke felt like I was being told to finsih some sort of life quest. After a beauftiful walk around the park Ash and I decided we were both Minnesotan and crazy enough to jump into the icey lake and go for a swim before we left. Hey we're only in Ireland once for the first time, and why not do something as rediculous as swim in a 45 degree lake. Well we did it, and I don't think I would take it back either. After the swim we continued back to the taxi which took us back to the city. In Killarney we ate at a traditional Irish pub and watched football (soccer) on tv and were quick to begin talking with the Irish couples next to us about why thiey were cheering for khazakstan. Lol yeah... well hey their opponent was an English team so I guess Khazakstan makes more sense than cheering for the English lol sorry Ash. That night we didn't do much more, I went out for another Guiness before we got some sleep for our 5 O' clock alarm clock in the morning. Ash and I left early on Sunday for the airport where we continued our trip into the big city (London). Sorry guys I think I'm going to have to tell you about London in another post, my fingers are tired and I don't have all night. Hope you're all doing well and I'll talk to you again soon.

To the end of the world! Que rica es la vida de Portugal...

This weekend I went on a trip via bus to Lagos, Portugal and Sagres, Portugal. The trip to Lagos was about 6 or 7 hours long and worth every annoying person I had to listen to on the bus. When we arrived in Lagos we immediately wanted to get something to eat and check into the hostel. We stayed at the Youth Hostel of Lagos for 11 euros a night which included clean linens as well as a modest breakfast in the morning. Immediately i fell in love with the city as well as the culture in Lagos. The city is a smaller city with a large tourist attraction because of it's amazing location, diverse culture, shopping, fishing, and golfing! During the first few hours in Lagos we ate and walked around the cities edge, enjoying the amazing beaches and everlasting views from atop cliff's edges. During the night we went to a couple different bars within the city where I spoke with a couple locals, a lady from Serbia, Australians, and a bartender from the United States. The diversity of the European crowd never seizes to amaze me. The next morning we went to the bus station and took a bus to Sagres (an hour away) for 3'40 euros! Que borato! ... how cheap =P. Sagres which is known as being the "End of the world" for its location as the furthest city south west in Europe was one of the most amazing sites I've seen in my life. The ocean seemed infinite. We passed the time in Sagres walking along the beach and walking along the cliffs talking taking in the breathe taking view. We had lunch right off the ocean at a nice little cafe/bar built into the rocky and sandy shoreline. The view was nothing short of magnificient and was something I believe each person should entertain at some point during their live's. The people of Portugal were very simpathetic and educated. Most of the people I had met, spoke very well in english... something our country doesn't always consider. When I left Lagos for Sevilla I was a little sad to be leaving such an amazing country and I will definitely plan on returning algun dia (someday). Well its about time to eat, and I hope you're all enjoying the fall. Hasta luego...

Bri

My Schedule

Hi everyone I thought since I've picked my classes now and began school today that I would update you as far as what I will be studying while I'm here. Although I only need 8 more credits to finish my spanish major at UMD, I've decided to take 15 credits here in Seville. The classes I will be taking are

The Golden Age of Andalusion Art
Cinema and History, Greeks and Romans
Culture and Society in Contemporary Spain
The Semantics of Spanish
Contemporary Spanish Cinema

I'm really excited about the classes and can't wait to begin all of them. The first class I've had is Greeks and Romans Cinema which seems like it will be a lot of fun and the professor seems to be nice. Well I will talk to you all soon, Janelle I'm sorry I haven't called yet but I will try and call tonight. Love you all.

B

Ireland

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update as to where my next trip will be to. Yesterday I booked tickets to London and Ireland. I will be leaving on the 9th of Octubre (October) where I'll spend one night in London and will then be leaving to Cork, Ireland with Ashleigh (my girlfriend). We'll be returning together on the 12th to London and getting to spend another 6 or so hours together in the city before I leave again to return to Sevilla. The tickets turned out to be really cheap and I am really looking forward to making one of my most desired trips with Ash. Hope you're all doing well, I'll update you on how the trip went when I return as well as post some pictures.

Luego,

B

Cultural Identity and my transition

One of the hardest things about studying abroad is forgetting your culture and adapting to another one. It's been harder to forget about my culture this time and easier to see the important differences between the two cultures. Now that I've been here for awhile and I've gotten a chance to see some of my fellow students (American) around the city, I've begun to realize its time to let go of whats comfortable to me and adapt something different. A lot of the students (extranjeros/abroad) set a terrible stereotype for our culture and its not something I care to support. I can't blame some of the bars, and Spaniards for looking at American students in away that expects immature actions. From what I've seen thus far, many Americans come abroad and fall into a trend of going out to drink every night, being overwhelmingly loud, and they tend to stick out like light in a dark room. Its not easy to say but I'm actually embarrassed to be abroad in another country and to have someone else setting such an example. This next week I'm going to consentrate on fitting in, separating myself from the normal and habitual tendencies of so many American students and looking for something a little more offbeat. I'm learning a lot over here and have enjoyed everything about the city so far. I've been running in the mornings next to the river and during the day I've been studying and enjoying more of the city. I hope you're all doing well and fall is nice in Minnesota, I'll keep updating the blog as much as I can, (as much as the internet connection will allow). The biggest thing I've seen lately is the cethedral in Sevilla. The cathedral is the biggest in Spain, and the third biggest in the world! The amount of money and time spent on the cathedral is evident the moment you step into it and look at the amazing complexity of the ceilings, sculptures worked into the walls, themes incorporated into the work, paintings, and the humbling amount of gold throughout the church. If the physical attributes of the church wasn't enough to awe you, maybe standing next to Cristopher Columbus's tomb will... it sure did for me.

Hasta pronto,

Brian

Amsterdam, Madrid, Seville... who needs more

Hello everyone I hope you're all doing well. Sorry I haven't updated the blog since I got here. The internet has been hard to find lately. Anyway I suppose I should tell you a little about my first week in Spain and how everything is going. I hit the ground running in Madrid... literally, I landed in Madrid around 12:30 p.m. and needed to get my luggage and find the group if I wanted to leave on time and receive a ride to the hotel I was staying in. Well as I'm sure you can imagine airports are not the easiest fascilities to figure out in limited time, a new country, and little sleep. I ran around trying to find my group for 30 minutes, I finally was talking to a cab driver who had politely told me terminal four (the I should be meeting my group at) is a completely different airport. He then tried to con me into taking his taxi for 50 euros. I said no thanks, hopped on a bus to terminal 4 went down the elevator and met my group in time to take the bus to the hotel... WELCOME TO SPAIN. When I got to Madrid I met my roomate and some of my group members here in the program before we went out for dinner and a night on the town. My first impressions of Madrid were that it was extremely clean compared to what I had initially thought and second that, "wow", "I am in Madrid". We spent three days in Madrid and left for Toledo/Seville on the fourth day. During our time in Madrid we went on excursions throughout the city, toured the royal palace, visited the Prado art museum, and took another excursion to another amazing near by town. Its difficult to describe the emotional part of having seen some of these places with my own eyes after having read and studied them for many years. I stood in a tomb full of dead Kings and Queens and the very families that had conquered Spain throughout history and the families that were so important to its history that I have studied them many times even in the United States. In the museum I saw paintings from El Greco, Bosch, Goya and Valasquez... some of the most remembered and influential artists ever to be known. Some of these works were hundreds of years old. Bosch's "Garden of Delights" painting that I studied about in college in Minnesota was three feet before me after being completed by Bosch over 500 years ago! I've seen a lot so far, a lot more than I'm able to tell you about right now but I wanted to share with you at least some of it for now and to let you all know I'm safe in Sevilla, Spain. Hope you're all doing very well, everyone is great here and I really enjoy both the culture and the setting. Hasta luego.

Last week in the U.S.

Hi guys i hope you're all doing well. I am in Chicago, Illinois right now picking up my student visa from the Spanish Consulate and waiting to return to Minneapolis in a little over an hour. It's hard to believe that everything is now in place and in under a week I'll be traveling overseas to a foreign land and speaking another language for the majority of my time their. I've been thinking about taking this trip since I was a freshmen in college at UMD I simply didn't believe it would actually happen until the other day when someone asked me when I was going to leave for Spain and my answer to both my surprise and theirs, was in one week. As I am getting all of my stuff ready and going through my checklist of things I need to get ready the experience still seems a little surreal and fictional... which I am sure it will until my plane sets down in Madrid, Spain on Sept. 15th. For those of you who are not completely up to date with where I am going, how long, and for what reason, I'll update you. I am a Spanish major in my senior year at the University of Minnesota Duluth and will be graduating in the Spring of 09. I haven't traveled much until this last year and have been determined to study abroad since my sister did many years ago and came back with an infinite amount of thrilling and personal growth stories for us all to hear. I've decided on studying in a warmer section of Spain located in the it's southern region. The city and university I'll be studying in is the University of Seville or Sevilla for those who speak Spanish or like to pretend to. I will be in Sevilla from Sept. 15 until December 22. The reason I chose Spain was because I thought its history and culture are both very rich and Europe has so much to offer in its efficient and less costly travel. I don't want to bore you all quite yet and for that reason I'll stop my first post here. I simply wanted to let you know what I'm doing, where and when. Again I hope you're all doing very well, I would love to hear from any of you while I'm abroad whether on Skype, email, or mail.

Hasta Luego,

Brian