Welcome to Barthelona

Well, I have arrived in Barcelona to meet my mom and Becky for our Christmas vacation. Only... my mom and Becky are nowhere to be found. My night went a little something like this:

Upon arriving to Barcelona on a flight that had been delayed about an hour, I expected to find my mom and Becky waiting, since they'd been expecting me earlier. When I didn't see them, I lingered around the airport for a while, and couldn't find them. So I waited a little more...

Eventually I decided they must have resorted to "Plan B," which was us meeting at the apartment. So I followed the directions that Becky had sent me, and easily found my way to our address. Only problem was, you had to have a key to get into even the front door. I hadn't thought of that, and in case you don't know anything about Barcelona, it's not exactly a safe street environment. Their pickpockets are infamous. I went into the shop next door to make sure I had the right street, and he offered me a seat while I waited.

And waited.

He probably hadn't counted on my staying from around 9:30 to 12 when he offered to let me wait in his shop. He was a generous host though, offering me everything in his shop as "his guest." We chatted a little, and he interpreted me saying I was from North Carolina as Canada, so I went with it. We talked about what a nice country Canada is, and I graciously accepted his praise of my adopted home country.

In case you've ever wondered how people who work in these simple little shops, which sell only soda and fruit and other basics, spend their time... it's almost as simple as the shop itself. My new friend started playing with the calculator, and typing in 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 ... + 9 ... + 9. On and on. And then, after that got old, he went from 9 + 9 + 9 to 9 ... - 9 ... - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 I assume all the way back down to 0.

It was an interesting experience, but I was freaking out the entire time about what to do. Finally, the shop needed to close (at 12), so I decided my only option at that point was to get a hotel room. I went to the closest one, and my new friend accompanied me. About 30 minutes after leaving the shop, I got a call to my room. My friend brought my mom back to the hotel, and she wasn't happy about searching for me in the airport the whole time I was waiting at the apartment. We decide that since I'd paid for the room I might as well sleep in it, so I'll meet up with them tomorrow.

It was a ridiculous night, but all in all it turned out to be ok. I just wanted to share this tidbit, and I will update again when I get a chance. I hope everyone has a

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Snow Delays

We got so much snow overnight and today that everything is delayed- buses, trains, airplanes. It's times like these learning a little Dutch would have come in handy for all the announcements...

And now I get to literally trudge through exams

Hasselt, Belgium

I spent this past weekend at my Belgian friend Véronique's house, in a small town called Lummen. Me and the other girls that went were very excited for the visit... The main reason being: Véronique is obsessed with a certain Belgian beer and everything that goes along with it. This beer is called Duvel, and when she isn't talking about the beer, she is raving about the "Duvel Club" in Hasselt, Belgium, and has shown me her membership card many times. After so much hype, I was sure the actual Duvel Club wouldn't live up to our high expectations. Turns out, it did! It wasn't what I expected, but turned out to be a really cute tiny Belgian pub.

Translates to something like "here we don't speak badly of Duvel"

The weekend was full of activity, and we also managed to visit Antwerp and Brussels while there. It was cool to see the local side of Belgium, with someone who knew what was going on to lead us around. Also, Hasselt and Lummen are much smaller towns that you wouldn't necessarily seek out, but have a lot of character.

The other main purpose for our visit was a huge techno concert in Hasselt, called Soulwaxmas. It featured Soulwax as well as other DJs in a huge venue. It was unlike anything you would ever experience in the US, and not really my type of "concert," but definitely worth seeing once.

We packed a lot of Belgium into three days, but it was a lot of fun. We managed to squeeze in a lot of sights, experienced some of the typically Belgian foods for the first time (namely fries and waffles), and finally went to the Duvel Club. Now I just have to get through one more week of school, to finish up exams and essays, before Christmas!

Hasselt Christmas market

Jenever - at the Christmas market

Friends, with all different jenever flavors

Belgian waffles

Soulwaxmas

Soulwaxmas finale

big square in Brussels

Dank je Sinterklaas

In honor of Sinterklaas' birthday today, I thought I'd share a few of the things that I've collected related to this strange holiday. In case you can't remember what all the fuss is about, I have mentioned it in a previous post. Here are some things seen around town to give you an idea:

Google today - because Sinterklaas puts presents in children's shoes. The first picture was this morning, empty... and the second is tonight's after Sinterklaas filled all the shoes with presents! When you click Google, it leads you to...

Sinterklaas kapoentje- the holiday song


Sinterklaas kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!


Sinterklaasje bonne bonne bonne,
Gooi wat in mijn lege lege tonne,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!

The only part I can translate, with the help of Google, goes:

Sinterklaas Kapoentje,

Throw something in my shoe,

Throw something in my boot,

Thank you, Sinterklaas!

In my last post about Sinterklaas, Ella commented asking if the people running around in blackface were related to the myth of Zwarte Piet, the helper who goes down the chimney to put presents in children's shoes, turning him black. I didn't realize then that this actually is the exact same in the Netherlands. 

There's (understandably) a lot of debate about "Black Pete" and whether or not it is racist. There's even talk of whether Zwarte Piet distorts Dutch children's image of black people. This doesn't stop him from turning up everywhere and handing out plenty of pepernoten, little gingerbread cookies. I've seen him everywhere, from the bus to on top of a zamboni at a hockey game. 

First Snow

The temperatures have definitely dropped over here. The "feels like" temperature for yesterday morning was -15 degrees Celsius. It was unbearably cold outside- so cold, that one of my friends went to unlock her bike and the key snapped inside the lock. Which meant her normally 10 minute bike ride turned into a 30 minute walk in conditions that snap metal. The good thing about these temperatures is SNOW! What was previously constant rain is now constant flurries, which puts me in a much better mood. 

Leiden

Beach by my house

It's been funny talking to other exchange students about the snow... a lot of them haven't ever seen snow. One of my friends from Cyprus is included in this group, and he just stands outside staring into the air in awe of it. Luckily for them it seems like there is plenty more to come. I'm just waiting for the canals to freeze over so I can ice skate on them and the pond in front of the Parliament building! I'm sure I'll have some more snowy pictures of Leiden to share soon.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Luckily I had Stephanie visiting me to help with the homesickness, but both of us were very aware that we were missing out on an American holiday. Our closest attempt at Thanksgiving dinner was to find a restaurant with hamburgers on the menu. We were not expecting hamburgers served on bagels, though... or with salsa. Needless to say, the meal was a little disappointing, but better than it sounds.

We spent the rest of the weekend in Amsterdam. Our hotel was really nice (thanks Stephanie's dad!), and we got snow flurries on Saturday morning, which made the cold weather a little more exciting.

Flurries outside our hotel window

The snow in Amsterdam didn't last long, but back at home everything was still frosty. Looks like the beginnings of a couple of very cold months ahead. This was the frost outside my bedroom window:

Me and Stephanie's weekend project was to make a stop motion video of our pictures from the trip. My camera battery died about one hour in, and we kind of ran out of time. So here is our amateur video... I was hoping for better results, especially with music transitions, but it still matches up well for some parts and was fun to make. 

Antwerpen, België

Statue of Brabo and the giant's hand

The highlight of this weekend was definitely Saturday's day trip to Antwerp, Belgium. The city is named after the myth that a hero cut off a giant's hand because the giant had been forcing people to pay a toll to enter the city, and he would cut off a hand of those who refused. Thus, hantwerpen (hand throwing) evolved into Antwerpen.

Me and a couple of other exchange students decided to head into Belgium on Saturday, and it was an easy two hour train ride to Antwerp. If I'd known what a great city it was I probably would have stayed longer, but I guess I still have time to go back! There was lots to see, and we fit in as much as we could, even knocking one UNESCO world heritage site off my to-do list (Plantin-Moretus Museum, home of printers Plantijn and Moretus). I know all my pictures are just of old buildings that I'm sure don't do the city justice, which is why you should check it out for yourself!

Antwerp Station Centraal - apparently the 4th most beautiful train station in the world

Europe's oldest skyscraper

City Hall and Statue of Brabo and the giant's hand

Guildhouses, 16th c.

Really old buildings

Grote Markt (main square)

The Steen, only remaining portion of Antwerp's fortification.
In front is a Disney poster

Also, I hope everyone at home has a Happy Thanksgiving!
I miss you all, especially with the holidays approaching (much faster than I'd like). Thinking of everyone from home this Thanksgiving. Although, I can safely say that the one thing I will not miss this year is pretzel salad- no offense Cherry family, don't kick me out. Luckily my friend Stephanie Bauman will be coming to visit, so I will be spending my Thanksgiving weekend in Amsterdam with her! It will help console my holiday homesick, but I'll be thinking and missing all of you! Hope it's delicious.

Sinterklaas comes to town

Well folks, Christmas has officially hit the Netherlands. This weekend Sinterklaas came to town- although, he is technically not related to Christmas, according to the Dutch woman on the bus today. If you are unfamiliar with Sinterklaas, this David Sedaris clip should fill you in on the basic ideas of the holiday. The clip is funny, yet accurate to the Dutch tradition. They don't seem to see the humor:

Apparently Sinterklaas arrives, and travels around the Netherlands until his birthday on December 5th. Kids dress up as the helpful black friends of Sinterklaas, which basically just means they smear black stuff all over their faces and look very dirty. McDonald's even gives out bishop's hats with the Happy Meals. Below is a video of Sinterklaas' arrival to the Netherlands this weekend. It's worth watching just to see the dirty-looking children dressed as helpers, as well as hear the strange Dutch holiday songs.

Things have been pretty busy in town since then, since I guess now is when they do all their present shopping. Because they exchange gifts on the 5th rather than the 25th, holiday season is in full swing. The little Dutch alleys are strung with garlands and lights, and it seems unbelievable that it's not even Thanksgiving yet! My goal for the holiday season is to get over to Germany and visit a Christmas market, I hear they're pretty great... A few pictures from around town posted below.

Spain, Part II - El Puerto de Santa María, Puerto Sherry, and Cadiz

After Madrid, Alex and I headed down to the South of Spain, to a little town called El Puerto de Santa María. It's right on the coast as you can see above, although that's another town nearby called Puerto Sherry. We left Madrid and headed south on Halloween, arriving just in time to eat dinner, pick out a (not very exciting) costume, and head into town to celebrate. As the only group of foreigners in the town, the eight or so people in our group were the only ones participating in Halloween. With people's costumes ranging from ghosts to belly dancers, our group of mostly North Americans (US and Canada) definitely got some stares.

The rest of the time in the south was spent visiting a few other small beach towns around the area. We went to Puerto Sherry where we saw some ancient ruins and beautiful beaches, and Cadiz where we saw even more churches and castles, one where Die Another Day was partially shot.

Alex and me enjoying the sun that never shows its face in the Netherlands

Sunset and cruise ship in Puerto Sherry

El Puerto de Santa María bull fighting arena 

Plaza de Toros again

Inside Osborne Sherry

Castle in El Puerto de Santa María, owned by Caballero Sherry

When Alex and I toured the castle in El Puerto de Santa María, we did not expect it to end with a sherry tasting. Because the castle is now owned by Caballero, they include that in the free tour of the castle. We tasted around seven different types of sherry. It was very good, and fun to be drinking the sherry that is native to that region. Although I also have pictures of the Osborne Sherry property above, we missed the tour in English and didn't get to compare the two.

Cadiz Cathedral

In the bell tower

Looking out onto Cadiz

The next three pictures are of the Castillo de Sebastian, where scenes from Die Another Day were filmed. Apparently Cuba was modeled after Cadiz, and because the film was set but could not be filmed in Cuba, Cadiz was the second choice. The tide was way out, but normally there are waves splashing against the bridge and it seems more remote.

The south of Spain, though very different from Madrid, was an interesting glimpse into authentic Spanish culture. It was perfect to have friends there who spoke the language and could guide us around to the best spots in town. We enjoyed the sherry, along with great seafood, seriously needed sunshine, and beautiful beaches. The trip definitely made me reconsider my study abroad location! It was good to come home though, and am now trying to get readjusted to the wind and the rain of fall in the Netherlands.