Study Abroad Blog

Ciao amici! Now that 2010 is well under way, I have been keeping busy with the monotonous routine of school and work. The great thing about writing an extensive analysis of Jack London’s “The Mexican” is that in my moments of writer’s block I get to drift into thoughts about the summer that awaits me. I kind of can’t even imagine what life was like when I didn’t have something like this to look forward to. How does everyone do it? I mean, without having the prospect of doing something this exciting… well, life just seems a little boring.

Anyway, I have been enjoying watching the euro plummet. While European bank systems feel like doomsday is approaching, as a student traveler I feel like it’s Christmas morning. I have been constantly searching airfare deals. Back in November, when I won the contest, flights were actually the cost of my grand prize! Mamma mia! But as the days go by, airline summer deals are slowly surfacing. Which means I should have my flight booked sometime this month.

Right now I’m in the back and forth and sometimes frustrating process of finding student housing. If all goes well, this should be figured out by next month and pictures of my future humble abode shall be posted. It’s truly amazing how far a little google search can take you. About 5,000 miles across the Atlantic to be exact.

Lately, it feels like the Universe is conspiring to constantly remind me of just about anything Italian. From the world’s (okay, maybe just mine) recent fascination with MTV’s Jersey Shore Italian guidos to the Sicilian kid that sits next to me in my Communication Theory class  and has the cutest accent ever, to romantic comedies called “When in Rome”.  Maybe it’s just a string of coincidences. Whatever it is, I’m not complaining.

Also, want to know all the latest information for International Student travel? There’s an app for that! No, really. This fine website has made their little nook on the cyber smart phone realm. You’re just a few finger taps from all the information offered on the site and you’ll have instant access to my blog! So just search “The International Student” on your app store.

Then I found this awesome app for my iPhone:

Mamma mia,

Sandy

Ten years ago I anxiously stood next to my parents on New Year’s Eve of Y2K and wondered if the end of the world all came down to a 10 second countdown.

Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One… Nothing.

Ten years later and I’m glad to say things have changed. I am now an adult, (or some variation of) and instead of being absolutely terrified that the world will come crumbling down, I find myself anxious to see what it has to offer me.

I’m not sure what it is about this time of year that makes me so excited. The last few seconds before the confetti is thrown in the air and cheers and hugs are exchanged, I feel an intense rush of adrenaline. A new year, a new start, a new opportunity to catch up on old resolutions. Then there is this quiet but powerful voice that lingers in the background: “But will you actually make this one count?”

While my old resolutions were feasible goals such as pass College Algebra, get a gym membership, stop watching reality television (okay, maybe not entirely feasible), my goals for 2010 are a little more vague but a whole lot more meaningful.

1.    Learn Italian – I have had Rosetta Stone Italian sitting on my desk for 2 months now. While it has made a great coaster, it will probably be much more useful for getting me around this summer and saving my Italian professors several eye brow raises. What excuse will I have not to? After all, I will be living amongst the best teachers for six weeks – locals. Who knows, maybe I’ll ring in 2011 a little differently – Dieci, Nove, Otto, Sette, Sei, Cinque, Quattro, Tre, Due, Uno!

2.    Learn to cook – How am I ever going to survive six weeks in Italy if I don’t know how to whip up some pasta? Through my late-night research, I’ve read the same thing over and over again: as a student in Italy, splurging on expensive Italian restaurants is not the way to go. Besides, the true authentic Italian taste will always come from your rusty old student apartment stove.

3.    Stop Saying No, Start Saying Yes – One day, when I look back at this time in my life and all the wondrous opportunities that keep knocking my way, I’m going to regret all the times I’ve said no. No to watching that terribly reviewed movie with that terribly awesome friend. No to staying out late because I have to wake up early for work. No to trying that yoga class in an inexplicable attempt to go against the grain. No to taking a train to Florence with those guys we just met. And if you really think about it, yes in Italian just has a better ring. Si? Si!

It’s bittersweet parting with 2009. It has been a year to remember for more reasons than I can count. But according to astrology, 2010 is the year of the Pisces (I’m a Pisces) and because of some once in a blue moon (literally, I think) phenomenon, this year is destined to be a great one. So while 2010 has big shoes to fill, I have a feeling it won’t disappoint.

Buon Capodanno,

Sandy

I was incredibly lucky to meet some of the brains behind operation International Student in person on December 7th.

Though I must admit that I was a bit nervous about this. I mean, what if they didn’t like me? What if the “brains” behind Hello 2 Ciao wasn’t as funny or charming in person and they changed their mind? What if this was all a brilliant Internet scam?

Turns out this wasn’t a huge conspiracy against me and Keith and Annemarie are actually real people who have made careers out of making international travel for students a viable opportunity. Sound cool? Yes, very cool. And much to my relief, Keith and Annemarie are the most down to earth grown ups to ever hand me any sort of money.

They also gave me this (which my children will see and never stop hearing about “when mommy was just 20 years old she won a contest…..”)

Grazie mille International Student,

Sandy

Ciao, I’m Sandy. I am a twenty year old journalism and English literature student at the University of Miami and next summer I will be spending six weeks living in a small town in central Italy learning Italian. I’m a writer, not a filmmaker, so the last thing I saw myself doing was entering a short film contest. But I did, and here I am. A word of advice – never sell yourself short.

I got the phone call on November 20 at 4:32 pm. Let’s just say getting a call back from Michelangelo would have shocked me less. The six minute conversation is now a blur. I do recall Keith, president of International Student, asking what I was up to. I said I was just taking it easy and hanging out at home. You know, like any normal person would be on a Friday afternoon. Translation: I had been up since 7 a.m. refreshing the contest page approximately 240 times an hour. Yes, InternationalStudent.com can thank me for that peak in hits. By 4:38 pm, my life took the sort of direction that changes things. The kind of changes you look back on fondly twenty years from now.

When some of my classmates pressed me for details about “that website I always see you on,” I told them it was a video contest to study in Italy. Their response (verbatim): “Oh my God! You’re going to love living in Rome.” I had to clarify that I was in fact not going to live in Rome. Instead, I would be staying in Perugia. “Peru—isn’t that like in South America?”

So why Perugia? For starters, Perugia is the capital of the region of Umbria. It is often referred to by natives as the “Heart of Italy,” named after its location in the center of Italy. Naturally, I was sold on this little charming tidbit. I mean, if I’m going to immerse myself in a culture what better way than to go straight to the heart of it? With just over 165,000 residents, it’s the ideal place to get the personal and authentic Italian experience I’ve been yearning for. Plus, there’s a 10 day international jazz festival, Umbria Jazz, that goes on during the summer. Free live music performances on the street begin early in the morning until late into the evening. Did I mention it’s also known for its chocolate? And boy, do I love chocolate.

Now, I think I should be clear on something. This blog isn’t just about me documenting my trip so that I can plead a case for once upon-a-time-coolness to my future kids (though that’s an added bonus). Instead, this blog is intended to take you with me. I want you to take the nine hour flight with me. Eat the questionable airplane food. I want us to walk down the cobblestone pathway together and grab a slice of pizza at the local pizzeria. I propose that we try every single gelato flavor at least once, even the funny sounding one that we think translates to cucumber soup. Let’s make new friends, watch the sunrise together, and ask our new friends just about every question we can think of. How about we promise to practice our Italian with everyone we meet, even at the risk of completely embarrassing ourselves? Above all though, I want you to discover with me all that this boot shaped country has to offer.

I am infinitely thankful for this opportunity that still seems unreal to me. Thank you to my mom, dad, and brothers – Ralph and David, for watching every version of the video that never made the final cut and listening to all of my creative frustrations. Thank you to my best friend Deborah who I am so excited to say is joining me on my adventure next summer and thank you to my unbelievably supportive boyfriend Clint.

To all the contestants: your videos made me lose sleep. I mean that, of course, in a good way. Your videos were so wonderful that I often watched them over and over again, questioning if I even stood a shot. If I could bring you all to Italy with me, I would.

My deepest gratitude goes out to InternationalStudent.com and the wonderful people (and brains) behind it. Thank you to the judges – Cheryl, Clark, Jim and Markus (yes, you with the glasses!) Finally, thank you to everyone who watched my video, voted and is reading this. I promise to make this worthwhile.

Right now, I am $3,500 richer. By the end of next summer, my goal is to be even richer – in fantastic memories. (I hear the exchange rate on that is priceless.)

Andiamo,

Sandy

I didn’t plan on ending the blog this way, although I should have known better. As the end of the MBA came and went I found myself slow to grasp the fast moving reality that the glorious days of being an MBA student in Barcelona were coming to an end. Not only was my life as a student being processed into memory, but I was wandering in a blissful daze through what will likely be my final month-long journey through Europe for some time. My graduation trip came and went faster than I could believe, and it seemed like the night I drifted off to sleep after an exhausting ceremony (and celebratory festivities, of course) I awoke to find myself boarding a plane westward bound for California…it was all over.

Indeed, it was all over and despite all the photographic evidence of my post-graduation journeys through Milan, Florence, Naples, Pompeii and Venice, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic; Cologne, Germany; and Montserrat, Palma de Mallorca and San Sebastian, Spain, my recollection of these visits is more dream-like than anything.

It has been a sad reality, accepting that the MBA is now no longer something I am in the midst of, but something I can only look back on. At the same time, though, I recognize that, much like my undergrad experience abroad, these last 18+ months have truly changed me. Every place I have seen, every person I have met and every single thing that I have done – all of it – has made some impact in my life and has altered, at least a little, the way I see and experience the world around me. Ultimately, this is why I chose to pursue my MBA at ESADE in Barcelona, Spain, and I can honestly say now, after the fact, that this was the second best decision I have ever made (the first being the decision to propose to my wonderful wife) and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I am now in the process of being re-integrated into the realm of “normalcy,” and I am thankful every day for being blessed with the opportunity I was given in the job I accepted. I am now a Financial Analyst working in the travel industry, actually, and I fully believe it was my experiences at ESADE that set me apart and opened the door to this next chapter of my life.

Thank you to everyone who has asked questions or followed at least some bit of my tale. Lastly, I must give an extra special thank you to all the people at InternationalStudent.com for creating the video travel contest, choosing me as your first winner and ultimately providing this blog space for me to share my story – Thank You All!!

I have accepted the fact that I was never able to get a grip, much less a firm grip on time throughout most of the MBA, and this was especially true during the final term. I knew time was going to fly, but seriously, is this a joke? I began writing this post months ago and know it’s a little silly to post it now, but what the heck, why not? I’ve got free time now so I can actually try to provide all the updates I feel are necessary before officially signing off, so here goes.

I was sitting in class last week, watching final presentations and I had to give a double take when I saw the date at the bottom of someone’s slideshow – March is almost over!!! I graduate in *gulp* four days! What the what?! Ok, so at the very least I can give a re-cap of things and stuff I’ve been up to, so let’s get on with that, shall we?

Las Fallas – Valencia
What started off as a day when local Valencian carpenters would drag all their scrap wood into the streets of Valencia and make bonfires has morphed into quite possibly one of the most incredible festivals I’ve ever experienced first-hand. We took the train from Barcelona to Valencia on March 18 and had the privilege of witnessing the final two days of the Las Fallas festivities and boy what a show it was.

The present day festival has the many, many little neighborhoods all over town spending a good part of the year creating what I can only describe as works of art. They create these massive sculptures (and by massive I mean about 3-4 story buildings high) depicting, often, controversial current events topics and have them on display throughout the week in the middle of intersections. Come the last evening of the festival, they certainly go out with a bang, or thousands of bangs, and flames as they torch the sculptures right there for everyone to see. As you can imagine, the r

Going on exchange, in retrospect, has turned out to not only be the best decision I made during my undergrad, but also while here in Barcelona. It was a much more difficult decision to make this time, however, knowing that I would be leaving such an incredible city behind for about six months. Yet, considering my post-MBA goals, I knew it was the best thing for me to do. Now, I have finally found my way back to my dear Barcelona and, all things considered, I’m very happy to be back!

For a post after such a long break from posting this may be a disappointment (assuming anyone cares), but my time in Austin is quickly coming to an end and I wouldn’t even know where to begin to talk about everything that has happened over the past few months.  I will say in summary that this whole trip was quite worth it.  I have a job lined up for after graduation – which is really why I came here – and I had a good (but stressful) time throughout.  I will be heading back to California in a week and when I arrive, I have some writing to do and certainly look forward to sharing in more detail about my experiences as an American exchange student in the US.

I finally made it. I’ve been saying it for years now – that I wanted to move to Texas. Had never actually been, only heard real estate was cheap and jobs seemed aplenty. Well, here I am, I finally got my wish. We made our way here, as I mentioned in my last post, via a long road trip. The days leading up to the trip led me to believe someone was encouraging us not to make the voyage, as we had multiple, consecutive, uncharacteristic car problems – one after the other – but we persisted.

It all started three days prior to our leave date. Cruising in the car one afternoon on our way to my in-law’s place and what-do-ya-know, the AC just isn’t cooling the car at all. In the lovely 100+ degree Fresno summer heat, this is quite a noticeable and un-enjoyable realization to make, but there was no denying the lack of cool air spewing from our vents. Not willing to jeopardize our comfort throughout the sure-to-be toasty 1700 mile road trip we were about to embark upon, I immediately made some calls and setup an appointment to bring life back to our Civic’s AC.

Given the abruptness of the AC’s uncooperative antics, I was concerned there was something very wrong that a simple Freon refill wouldn’t remedy – thankfully I was wrong and the following morning our problems were solved for $78. We learned there is a small leak in one of the hoses that will likely lead to future refills if not fixed, but given our time constraints I didn’t opt to fix the surely expensive hose at this time.

So now we were cruising, right? Packing had begun, AC was working, hotel reservations were made and our move-in date was set for our new apartment in Austin – it’s all downhill from here, right? Not quite. The day before we were set to leave, I go to fill up the tank so we wouldn’t have to do so in the morning and I’m already itching to get on the road. Tank is full, hop in the car, turn the keys and what do I hear? *click* What was that? I’ll try again…*click* Um…no…please no…why won’t my car start?

I jumped out of the car, popped the hood and just stared in disbelief at what was going on…surely this is a prank or something, why in the world would this car, this 2001 Honda Civic with 95k miles on it with nary a problem, choose today, the day before our journey mid-way across the country, to call it quits? Well, at least the battery did, cause it was done and I had to get a jump just to get it the block and a half home, but not before all electric accessories, including the speedometer, tachometer, etc ceased to function. Excellent.

Pull up into the driveway, slap a charger on the battery and go online to locate the nearest Autozone so I could get my battery and alternator checked out. Run back outside, get the car at least running and cruise the three miles to Autozone without any sign the car was running from the inside, that battery was toast! Go ahead and get a new battery for $85 (I’m sure I could have done cheaper, but I wasn’t in the most sane state of mind at this point). Slap that puppy in there and have them give the ‘ol alternator a test and I’m told “It’s not showing bad or good, but it is pushing 12.6 volts so it might be ok.” Me being a novice to car electronics accepted this answer and headed back home to check online at what a normal civic alternator should put out and read, somewhere, that the “normal range should be between 12.5-14.5”. I saw higher ranges on other websites, but chose to accept this one, as I knew mine was putting out a voltage in this range and I was content…so on with the show!!!

Sunday morning – the day of the trip. All packed, Civic loaded with the essentials and I am feeling strange that “my life” could be packed into the back of a Civic…then again, I had it previously packed into two suitcases, so I was ok with that. Head on over to the in-laws again to pick up the other two party-goers accompanying us to Vegas as a sort of anniversary/end of summer trip and arrive a tad late, as packing our final few bits required more strategy and grunt force than was expected. Gather up the other half of our two car caravan and hit the road – next stop, Vegas!

Cruising fine, music jammin’, AC cold, we’re on the road and begin typical conversation about how it’s gonna be a long trip. Things going well, get a phone call from my dear amigo Evan at just over an hour into the trek and maybe two minutes into the conversation I notice something that makes my stomach sink…speedo, tachometer, gas gauge….all no longer functioning. Crimony!!! All I could think was that brand-stinking-new $85 battery was already used up and we just got on the road! There is no question now that the alternator really is shot, now I just need to find some way to not make the new battery go kaput.

Pulled into a gas station off the 99 somewhere just past Tulare (small towns) and after speaking with some locals, learn there is an Autozone back about ten miles that should be open. I whipped out my toolbox, tore out the battery, threw it in my sister-in-law’s corolla and now there are four of us cruising back toward Tulare in search of a charge, an alternator, and a place to get it installed…on a Sunday!

Guys at Autozone weren’t very helpful. They sold me a new alternator for $180 and at least they charged my battery, but they had apparently no means of contacting anyone from the outside world (not even other Autozones) to find where I could feasibly go to get my new alternator installed. I had to call friends and have them Google shops and finally I just decided to go back to pick up our deserted Civic, which contained all of my belongings, throw the now charged battery back in and hit the road toward Bakersfield in hopes of finding a shop that was open and willing to do the swap.

An hour later, we arrived in Bakersfield and, like a mirage on the horizon, we found a Pep Boys and got the car in just before a mob of other people showed up needing work done, and we headed off for a leisurely lunch while the car got fixed. Came back, only waited about another half hour and finally…yes, finally for real this time…the car was in good working order, with a new battery, new alternator, and a cold AC, and the total damage was somewhere in the ballpark of $500. This amount certainly wasn’t in my budget, which made me be a little more stingy than normal while in Vegas, but we were thankful that my brother-in-law gave Blanca a monetary gift of just about the total amount we ended up spending on the car, so we essentially broke even and I’d like to think we got a slightly more reliable car out of the deal; even if I really, really hated the car at that moment.

Vegas was fun, and the rest of the road trip was uneventful. Met up with a friend and ESADE classmate who gave us a place to stay in San Antonio. Made our way to Austin on our move-in date, and felt a little strange signing all the papers and handing over a check before ever even seeing the apartment. We had a number of problems right after moving in, but they’ve since, for the most part, been remedied and we are settling in nicely now over here. I have slowly begun to master the often-confusing highway system here, and putting up with the untimely public transportation is quite enraging at times, but I’ve wasted so much time putting this post together I will go ahead and save my school impressions for the next entry. My apologies, as always, for taking so long to post yet again, but now that I’m settled down at least for another short while I’m hopeful I’ll get back on track.

It is becoming borderline disturbing how quickly time has been moving. Have I really been home for a month? Have I really been away from all my new friends and classmates in Barcelona for a month!? Wow, I guess time really has flown, and I’m sure how unexpectedly busy I’ve been hasn’t helped much to slow things down. Well, at least I found time to write a little and share some updates on my happenings. So here goes.

First things first, the re-entry process wasn’t as difficult this time as it was after I returned from my first international voyage back in 03. I feel my age and experiences has a little to do with this, but also feel the degree of time I spent in a classroom this time also may have played a part, as my Spanish interaction was confined to small, manageable doses. A few things have definitely changed for me, however, and this has more to do with my perspective on sensitivity and, unexpectedly, social responsibility.

What I mean when I say sensitivity is not to say I have become a walking political correctness meter – this would be a shame. What I have learned, however, is a slightly higher level of maintaining respect for people’s differences. This is not to say I used to have issues with cultural or personal insensitivity and insulting people regularly. What it does mean, though, is there are ways in which how we communicate with individuals from different walks of life can be much more enriching. It is difficult to put into words the ideas I have on this topic, but basically, no matter how respectful you think you may be of people and their differences, you can always improve your communication skills by dealing with diverse groups…yeah, I think that’s my point.

On now with social responsibility – something I had never even heard of until I arrived at ESADE. This is again just a different way of looking at not only businesses, but actions we all take and our ability to always keep the “greater social good” in mind while questioning whether or not there are better ways of getting things done. One quick example of this was my surprise at being surprised that massive SUVs still rule the US streets and public transportation is still looked down upon by the general population…I don’t know why I would have actually expected things to have begun to change in as little as 10 months, but I guess being around all the sub-compacts in Europe and hearing the constant whining about high gas prices state side made me expect to see a difference by the time I got home. At any rate, I actually agree the there are a lot of whiners around these parts and not enough people stepping up and making change happen.

That said, time to switch gears quickly and share my plans for the upcoming weeks. Blanca and I will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary come the end of the month. The first week of August we will begin our road trip to Austin and will make stops in Las Vegas, Phoenix, El Paso, and San Antonio. Should be a long voyage, but interesting I’m sure. Class begins I believe the third week of August and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running and starting my job hunt early so I can head back to Barcelona in January without the stress of finding a job! We will see, but in the meantime, aside from making all these plans, my internship has been quite interesting in this tumultuous market environment, but I think after all these banks’ earnings reports didn’t turn out as horrible as expected this week, we may be seeing the beginning of a turn-around for the economy yet…hope so!

That is all for now, and I’ll definitely be providing an update when I make my way to Texas after the road trip. Until then…