Category: Europe

Spend a Day in the Life with Me!!

Published on by hadleywayLeave a comment
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hadleyway

After a few weeks of stumbling around Florence, I can safely say that I have adopted a routine—different given the day, but nonetheless a routine. Here’s a glimpse of my Mondays spent in Florence, Italy.

9 AM

I usually wake up around 8-9 a.m. without an alarm. Today, I slept in and started my day a little later. It was no problem; I still had hours before my first class. I got up around 9:30 and immediately started my laundry. In my apartment, we have the teeniest little washer and no dryer. It’s been difficult trying to time 8 different girls’ laundry and how long it takes to dry with no dryer. I started my laundry and got ready for the day.

10 AM

After a quick breakfast, Emily and I headed to the grocery store. Emily is my flat mate and goes to DU, but we never knew each other before abroad, and I am so thankful she’s in my life now—shout out, Emily! I grabbed some basics for this week and next. Between traveling, it’s hard trying to learn what I need week to week, so I try to get food that won’t go bad. As I stated in a previous blog, the grocery store has been my biggest struggle. I can’t read the labels & don’t know where products are, so it’s been a difficult obstacle. Luckily, I have been getting more comfortable and today I felt very confident and confident in my meals.

11 AM

After the grocery store, we headed back to the apartment to do some meal prep. This helps me plan my dinners and portions so it can last as long as I need it to. This week, I’ll be in Paris Thursday-Sunday, so I just had to prep for 3 days. I cooked my chicken and Emily’s chicken, then cleaned the kitchen a bit. Nothing super interesting, just having the company of my flatmates makes the mundane moments so special.

12-1 PM

After some meal prep, unpacking, and relaxing, I sat down to review my class notes. We have midterms next week and while it’s a pass/fail class, I am really enjoying my classes and hope to use this knowledge for my future career. Studying wine and being in a culture that appreciates it so much has really impacted my aspirations. I am taking a Wine Business & Marketing class and a Wine Culture class (as well as a cooking and art history class). These classes have really broadened my horizons regarding what I can do with my Hospitality Management degree.

2 PM

Around this time, I start to mentally prepare for class (yes, I still have an hour but I like getting prepared). I decided to treat myself with a little pick-me-up at my favorite cafe. I packed my bag and headed to Vintage Cafe – it’s about a 10-minute walk from my apartment and 5-minute walk from the Gastronomy building at LdM (where a majority of my classes are). I had a latte and read my book for a bit before heading to my favorite class!!

3-5:30 PM

Class time! I absolutely love this class – it’s my Wine Business and Marketing class. I wasn’t supposed to be in this class originally but added it right after schedules came out. I figured what better place to learn about the ins and outs of this interesting industry. Today we had a guest speaker and talked about our Midterm. The guest speaker was interesting, he discussed the importance of winemaking and his history of getting into the industry. I have no bad things to say about this class – even my professor is my favorite.

6 PM

After class, I headed to my favorite place in all of Florence – Giunti Odeon. If you’ve been following along on my Instagram, you’d know that I can’t go a few days without heading here. It is a huge building that consists of a cinema and a bookstore – my heaven. The cinema has very comfortable movie theatre seats and I tend to come here to read or do simple homework. They also have tables and chairs nearby, but they fill up quick. I did some more studying for my Wine Business midterm next week and caught up on texts from friends & family.

7 PM

Around 7, I headed back to my apartment for the night. I was exhausted. From traveling all day Sunday and getting caught up on Monday, I felt that I deserved an early night. I heated up my rice and chicken and cooked my brussel sprouts for dinner. YUM! This has been my favorite dinner I’ve made since being here. Everyone is finally back in Florence after traveling this week, so we had a lot of catching up to do. I chilled out for an hour or so, then I started doing more studying.

9 PM

I love to go to bed early, so I decided to call it a night. I finished up my work and got ready for bed – and got ready to read. I curled up in bed with my Kindle and Harry Potter. After a long and simple day of playing catch-up, it makes me realize how lucky I am to have this opportunity. My day-to-day routine looks a lot different here than in Denver or Kansas, but I am learning how to adapt and how to feel comfortable in my new little home. I know I’ll miss my favorite spots when I leave, so I won’t take the last 2 months here for granted.


Buona notte,

Hadley

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Culture shock is real

Published on by skylerchiabaiLeave a comment

To be completely honest, at first, I thought culture shock was something that was kind of exaggerated. I knew going into this experience it was going to be different; I knew I would have to get used to a completely new way of living, but I never fully understood the concept of culture shock until recently.

Not speaking Spanish in Spain

My Spanish-speaking abilities are severely lacking. I knew I would have trouble communicating clearly with locals, but I didn’t realize it would come with feelings of embarrassment and guilt as well. I want to start off by saying that almost every interaction I’ve had with people working in restaurants or stores has been extremely kind and helpful. But every time I have to say “hello” instead of “hola” to indicate that I speak English, a part of me feels guilty for not learning Spanish before coming to Spain. It feels like I’m disrespecting the people who put in the effort to become bilingual and that I’m perpetuating stereotypes about American ignorance in Europe.

Barcelona is a city filled with constant tourism year-round, always bustling with visitors from all over the world. So, here, it’s normal to speak multiple languages, and I thought I would get by pretty easily. What I didn’t expect was how out of place I would feel going places alone, not being able to communicate clearly if something were to go wrong. I want to feel confident leaving my dorm, and I want to feel confident walking around this wonderful city by myself. But as of right now, until my Spanish improves, I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I will continue to feel uncomfortable.

Luckily for me, I’ve made friends through ISA that I’m incredibly grateful for. I’ve met two girls who are bilingual and have helped us out of sticky situations more than once. Truly, I don’t know what I would’ve done without them. Although it has been extremely helpful, I can’t rely on them for the rest of this experience, I don’t feel like it’s fair to always lean on them for translation needs. I’m not going to be with them 24/7 either, so I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t try to learn Spanish. Watching them translate interactions is inspiring. I would love to be able to navigate this city and talk to people on my own the way they do.

Almost every interaction I’ve had with Spanish people has been extremely pleasant, but there’s a group of Catalonian students who live in the same building as me and other international students who haven’t been the most welcoming. Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain, where Barcelona is located.

In my personal experience, I’ve noticed that people in Catalonia can sometimes come across as more direct or reserved toward non-natives. However, I understand that this varies from person to person and doesn’t represent everyone. I went down to the basement to get water and walked past the group of students hanging out in the common area. I smiled, and they said “hola,” so I responded with “hola” back, and they burst into laughter. I know a few other people who’ve had similar experiences with locals. As I write this, I can laugh about the situation, but at the moment, I was pretty shocked. I couldn’t imagine laughing at another student who exchanged one word in an attempt to engage.

Upon reflection, I realize that cultural norms can be different, and while it was a shock in the moment, I don’t take it personally—it was just one of those learning moments as a foreigner adjusting to a new environment. Culture shock is part of navigating study abroad, and I won’t let this one unfortunate interaction discourage me from meeting other people in Spain. I’ve since met many wonderful people from other parts of Spain who have been incredibly welcoming, and I’m excited to keep moving forward in this journey.

A friend and I practiced our bargaining and Spanish speaking skills at La Maison Rose flea market.