Zaragoza Archives - Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

An Unexpected Friendship

May 20, 2014

When talking about what we wanted to do while in Spain, my friends and I decided that we didn’t just want to stay in Zaragoza; we wanted to see other parts of Spain as well. When my friends Angela and Kate, along with myself, arrived in Spain my friend Michael had already been studying here since August, so he was able to show us around and introduce us to a few friends that he had made, two of which were also American. We ended up becoming very good friends with the two Americans, named Preston and Jason, going to bars, playing cards, watching movies, and practicing Spanish together. However, in March, Preston and Jason had to leave Zaragoza; Preston had an internship in Pamplona, and Jason had an internship in Ibiza. When they found out, they talked to us, and we all decided that we wanted to take one last trip together. We took a weekend, and booked a train to Valencia.

It was the perfect weekend to go. The weather was great, the sun was shining, and we all enjoyed going to the local beach, and seeing some of the monuments, such as castles and cathedrals, in Valencia. However, it wasn’t just our little group hanging out together. When we got to Valencia, we checked in at a hostel, and had to share a room with a girl from Germany, who we later found out to be named Anja. She was fluent in German, English, and Spanish, and we chatted with her a bit on Friday night. On Saturday, she told us that she’d come here alone, and she politely asked us if she could tag along with us. We accepted and were really excited to have a new addition to our “study abroad family.”

My study abroad family!

We saw several tourist sights together, and got to know Anja really well. On Saturday night, we weren’t sure where to go eat for dinner, so Anja recommended a place for us that she’d been to before. It was a great restaurant, and we all got to try Paella Valenciana, which was fantastic (and a cultural must, since Valencia is where paella originated). Then, on Sunday we all went to a science museum and just hung out for a while. After that, it was time to say our good-byes, as my friends and I were going back to Zaragoza that day, and Anja would be going back to Germany on Monday. We all added Anja on Facebook, and she insisted that if we’re ever in Germany, to send her a message so she could see us again, and we told her the same thing, should she ever visit the United States, Meeting Anja made our trip to Valencia even more memorable, and I do hope to see her again someday.

Adapting to the Mediterranean diet

April 3, 2014

Since in arriving in Spain, I have certainly had to learn to adapt and change my eating patterns, ranging from what I eat to when I eat it. Before coming to Spain, I made sure to look online and ask a few teachers and friends what some of the major differences between here and the US are, food wise. The first thing I quickly learned is that the time of certain is drastically different from the US. I was happy to see that breakfast was at 9:30am with cereal, toast, tea or coffee, maybe some fruit and a croissant. I even recognized a few of the cereals, such as Cookie Crisp, which did remind me of home a bit. Lunch, however, is a little different. The Mediterranean diet, which is what they tend to follow in Spain, is very big on seafood and fish. Typically, for lunch then, we’ll have some kind of seafood or pasta, normally served around 2:30pm, which was a little later than what I was used to. Along with this, lunch is typically a larger meal, consisting of three courses (an appetizer, main course, and dessert). For example, when I came home for lunch yesterday, my host mom surprised me by saying that we were having clams as an appetizer! Clams! I’m normally up to try anything new, but for some reason, I’d never tried clams, and I had no desire to. However, I did not want to be rude, and she insisted that I try one. Reluctantly, I took one, pulled it apart, and sucked out the meat. Surprisingly, I liked it, and ate several more. For the main course, we had fish, and dessert was a banana with pudding. At first, I wasn’t sure why we’d have such a big meal in the middle day. Then, I realized that the Spanish don’t eat dinner until around 9:30pm. According to the Mediterranean diet, it’s unhealthy to eat a big meal at the end of the day, so dinner is usually smaller. Snacking is also ok here, if you want a few chips or a piece of fruit, which helps you get adjusted to the new eating schedule.

There are two other things here that have surprised me since coming here in January. In the US, olive oil is just something used to cook something in; nothing more. Here, it’s like a way of life, food-wise! I never realized how much such a small thing can change the taste of something so dramatically! For example, one day in lunch, the appetizer was just mashed potatoes with green beans and olive oil. It was such a simple dish, but the olive oil sort of accentuated the taste of everything; it turned that simple dish into one with complex and interesting. The same thing has happened with similar dishes, and I definitely think that I will continue to use olive oil in my diet when I return to the US. The second thing, which I learned about the food here, is that everything is so fresh; all the food lacks preservatives. I remember two instances where this apparent to me. My Spanish professor was commenting on ham, and how she’d looked at a package of ham from the US, seen all the ingredients and exclaimed, “Where is the pig!?!” The other time happened to me when I was in a restaurant in Barcelona! The restaurant had just opened and the owner proclaimed that all the food was homemade, and should we not like anything, we would get our money back. The entire meal was delicious, but I think my favorite part was the appetizer– melon (cantaloupe) with ham! Unlike the cantaloupe from the US, this one was white, not orange. I cut into it and put a small piece in my mouth. I had never tasted a sweeter, more juicy or more delightful piece of fruit than I had that night. It was, by far, my favorite thing from Spain (so far!)

Arriving in Spain

February 20, 2014

As I sit here at my desk, I can’t help but think about how nervous I was about coming here to study for five months. I’d never been overseas before now, and though I was excited, I was afraid that something would happen: I’d be robbed while abroad, I’d get lost, or I’d forget something important back in the United States. I enrolled in a short 1/2 credit class at my university to prepare myself for going abroad, and I tried my best to remember everything they’d told me regarding what to pack and what to leave behind.

I packed light, as my adviser had suggested. A few t-shirts, a couple sweaters, jeans, and a formal outfit, along with my jacket. My host family is really good about doing laundry, so there was no need to over pack. If you find you need an extra shirt or something, you can easily buy them once you get to your destination. Packing light also avoids going over the weight limit in airport security. Space bags are also a great useful to help fit everything in one suitcase (with my airport, I was only allowed 1 suitcase and 2 carry-on bags without paying an extra fee). Make sure you pack any sort of necessary adapters and cords for electronics. I’m a huge fan of my iPod and laptop, so I purchased two plug adapters (European wall plugs are different from the US) really cheap from Amazon. I would advise that you make sure your adapter functions with voltage up to 220 as well. If it only works up to 110 (like some US chargers do), you’ll need to buy a voltage converter.

When I first arrived in Spain, my initial thought was, “Oh my god, they speak really fast!” Honestly, after being here for two weeks, you get used to it. To them, it’s not fast at all; it’s just normal, casual speech. Most Spaniards can tell when they’re not talking to a native Spanish speaker. They are really friendly and willing to slow down, or repeat themselves so that you can understand them. My host family is really good about speaking slowly, and whenever they start to speed up, I just ask them to repeat. They know that I’m here to learn and are here to help me do that. Another one of my fears was that I wouldn’t know how to say something, and therefore would not be understood. Well, it happened. Being able to circumlocution(using words you know to get to words you don’t) becomes your best friend. There are times in conversation, however, where even that doesn’t work. I remember once I was trying to figure out how to get to “marshmallow” using circumlocution with my host mom for 20 minutes. Eventually, we gave up. Fun fact: There is no exact word for marshmallow in the Spanish language.

The Spanish schedule is very different from my US schedule. For example, at home, I ate breakfast around 9am, lunch around 1pm, then dinner at 6pm. Here, breakfast is served promptly at 9:30 am, lunch is at 2:30 pm with an afternoon nap right after, where literally everything will close until around 5 pm! Then, dinner is around 9-10 pm! It’s definitely taken some getting used to, but snacking is also okay here, so that does help a lot.

In almost everything as well, the Spanish are almost always fashionably late. My class here is scheduled for 9 am, however, every day it has started closer to 9:15 am, which works in my favor, as I’m not the fastest person in the mornings. A major difference for me as well is the schedule of classes. At my home university, my schedule varied based on the day, and I would go to several different rooms for different classes. In Zaragoza, Spain at the Centro de Español como Lengua Extranjera, classes start everyday at 9am Monday through Friday with grammar. Then you have a half an hour break at 11am if you need a snack or something. Then you go back to the same classroom until 1:30pm for a cultural class with the same professor. It’s nice being done with most of the day left to see the city, do homework, or just relax.

I wouldn’t say that I’m homesick yet, but I do miss the familiar faces of my friends and family back at home. My host mom also doesn’t have any pets, so I also miss seeing my two dogs everyday back home. Skype and Facebook are really good ways to keep in touch with everyone though, as well as a personal blog to let everyone know what I’m up to while abroad! I’m certainly enjoying my time here, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store!

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