Austria Finances Breakdown

If anyone is curious what living abroad might cost, I have been keeping track of my expenses closely. Housing is covered by the school during the school term. 

Here is how Austria turned out for me: 

Discretionary Spending is defined as food, gifts, as well as any tours/weekend excursions I do

Austria

• Flight to Austria from Orientation: 158.51
• Local Transportation in Austria: 161.40 (this includes airport transportation upon leaving)
•  Discretionary Spending in Austria: 2412.42
• Trip to Italy Transportation: 350.80
• Trip to Italy Hostel: 50
•  Trip to Italy Discretionary Spending: 383.00
•  Medical Bills: 539.11 (reimbursed in full)
• Purchased new-used camera: $600.00
• Flight Vienna to Bangkok: 577.69

Total cost of Vienna (flight in to flight out): 4612.93 (-539.11 medical reimbursement = 4073.82)

 Austria Discretionary Breakdown

Cost of Excursions (these were included in the Vienna discretionary spending budget) in Vienna:

• Prague (2 nights) $266.36 (includes a group tour and river boat dinner cruise)
• Salzburg (day trip): 283.14 (day trip purchased on Viator was 124 – included train tickets, city and sound of music tour – an extra 50.00 was spent because I missed the train home and had to purchase new tickets)
• Italy had its own budget (see above) – 2 nights.

Had I not gone to Italy or had to purchase the new camera it would have saved me $1383. 

Long time no see!

August 04, 2014 - I have modified the original post to remove the broken photos. Most of the text remains, except where it references the photos. 

I apologize for the delay in updates. It seems that everything that could go against me - did.

My computer broke. This computer is less than 3 months old and cost me $1000. I purchased it in August. I opened the lid and found it in this state. Now, I know enough about LCD screens to recognize that as bad. But this is where it gets funny. Not more than two weeks before, one of the other girls in my group, came back from a Mexican restaurant and found her computer in the exact same state. This is the kicker: She has the same model, purchased around the same time, from Best Buy as well.

I have never purchased a Toshiba before this - and, unless they stand by their product and actually repair my computer with the warranty - I will never have another Toshiba anything again.

My final paper for International Law had been finished - but I still had a final paper for International Relations to write and research. So, I was now at the mercy of the school computer. Where Becky's computer had half the screen (thank goodness for Windows 7 snap to fit!) to work on her paper with - mine only had the top 1/4 - the rest of the screen flickered in a way in which I couldn't see anything (I could fumble the controls enough to pull up iTunes and use my computer as a $1000 crappy radio).

Let me tell you about the computer labs at the Webster campus in Vienna. Firstly - they aren't made for all day research/writing considering the wooden chairs that are provided. The campus goes in waves - the computer lab gets extremely loud at some times. Usually around lunch (which means that it is break time for me once I can no longer drown the sound out with my iPod), and it is not 24 hours. Which meant, that my writing was at the mercy of the computer lab hours (8:30-9:30p if I recall correctly, except Saturday - only til 2:30 and Sunday its completely closed). When you have a major paper to write and can only use campus computers and you have limited days to write it - it was by far the most unbelievably frustrated thing.

And - not only did I lose my ability to work at home. I lost my ability to communicate with my family and friends - and I lost my entertainment on my 12 hour journey to Bangkok.

So, Toshiba is really high on my shit list at the moment. My dad is awesome and mailed my old laptop to Bangkok (Sony rocks!) - but I was pretty much sans-computer for all of October.

So, what all did I do between my (forever ago) last entry and today?

First, I went to Prague, Czech Republic. I have to say - the whole EEC/European Union/Whatever - is making me super sad. Mostly because I don't get stamps in my passport anymore. On the other hand - you know they could make some good money at the border selling 'souvenir' passport stamps. JS.

Prague was so beautiful! I met some awesome people at the hostel. I will say - this is an observation I have made after years of hosteling: Pretty certain there are no Australians in Australia. It doesn't seem to matter where in the world I am, when I am at a hostel, there are always Australians present. Not that this is a bad thing - I actually find it quite incredible. Anyway, I took a tour of Prague, it was a great tour of the city and the castle grounds. I also splurged on a river dinner cruise the last evening, where the musician hired to entertain us thought My Heart Will Go On was an appropriate song to play on a boat -_-. I also walked by the house of Franz Kafka, it was closed which was sad to me, and I didn't have time to visit the Kafka museum, but I have been a fan of Kafka since I read the Metamorphosis so it was cool to see that.

The astronomical clock in Prague's town center was phenomenal  though I would say it wasn't worth waiting around for the "show" at the top of every hour (if you stumble upon it great). Our tour guide taught us how to read the clock, though today I can not remember, I am sure it available on the internet somewhere.

What struck me most about Prague was how incredibly beautiful it was. It struck me in a bad way, because it made me realize that I was not expecting it to be beautiful. I think if you had asked me what I envisioned of the Czech Republic before going to Prague, the mentality I had probably would reflect more of a Cold-War-Era style of thinking about the Soviet Bloc. I tend to consider myself a very open-minded person, so anytime I am confronted with dealing with my own prejudices of any kind, it's always very unnerving. Mark Twain once said "Travel is fatal to bigotry, prejudice, and narrow-mindedness" and I think it most certainly rings true. Travel makes you confront your own misconceptions about the people and places outside of your walls. The process for me is unsettling because it makes me wonder what other pre-concieved notions I have about other places that I am not actively aware of. Prague was never high on my list of "must see" destinations, not for any particular reason that I knew of - but mostly because of this misconception I had that was rooted far deeper than even I knew. I am glad that my cousin, Laura, encouraged me to go - it would be a shame if I had missed it - because it is now on my list of must-return places, and quite possibly one of my favorite cities in Europe.

So: here are a few shots from "Pretty Praha" - you can see them all HERE and HERE

Prague was my last out-of-country excursion for the remainder of my time in Vienna.

Webster arranged for us to take a tour of the Jewish quarters in Vienna. You can see the photos of that HERE

I celebrated my birthday on September 27. I had an amazing birthday! This morning I went out to Mödling with Mom's friend's parents (keep up with me here). They gave me a tour of historic Mödling and then took me to their house for lunch. They stuffed me with the most A-MA-ZING traditional Austrian food - and all the veggies came from their garden - and fresh squeezed Lindenberry juice from their garden!

Then, they took me to a 12th century castle. Very - very Mid-evil castle! It was awesome. After, we drove to a 13th century monastery. All of this was a drive through the Austrian countryside. The leaves were beginning to turn - so the mix of greens, oranges, and yellows was spectacular! Afterwords, we went back to their place for coffee and pastries and conversation.

Kara and I went to Stephensplatz and found a cafe where Beethoven used to dine at - and had wine and desert. When we got back, it was insisted I go see Samantha - and I walked in and everyone was there - they had baked a cake and had Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for me - and made me a really awesome birthday card from a Vienna city map!

Here are a few photos from my day in Mödling, you can see the rest HERE

Me at a Castle - I'd look good with a castle!

Castle Lichtenstein from a distance

My gracious hosts!

My birthday gift to myself was a day trip to Salzburg for the Sound of Music Tour that weekend. Yes, it's overly touristy and campy - but it was so much fun. I highly recommend doing the tour because it gets you out of the city and into the "alive hills". Really the views were incredible. Here are a few shots, the rest are HERE

Do-Re-Mi Fountain

Me - doing the Do-Re-Mi pose at these statues

I took a break from my final paper writing to go on a Wine Tasting Excursion with Webster. We went way out into wine country - to Retz, which sits right on the border of the Czech Republic. It was a nice day. Photos are HERE

I also voted absentee for the first time ever - everyone I voted for won! YAY for Obama and Representative John Barrow in GA-12! Here's hoping that my ballot actually made it to the states! :-D

I finished out my time in Vienna with a trip to see The Marriage of Figaro at the State Opera House. I can't think of a better way of capping off an amazing 8 weeks in Vienna than that.

So, my first 8 weeks was filled with encounters with long-dead political heros, music, art, wine, opera, and new cultural experience. I will forever remember Vienna as smelling like fresh baked bread, and the abundance of waltz music. Vienna finds a way to make even their UBahn an experience.

Kurt, waltzing in the UBahn with some other tourists


Also - for my first term in graduate school - I got straight As!


I will try to update with my time in Bangkok very soon. I have two papers to write this week, mini-papers, but still, that writing has to take priority. 

And some IR Humor for the day

Something to lighten the mood - I am a big fan of the fyeaMAJOR tumblrs. Of course, mostly I am a fan of IR Major Thucydides and Political Science Panda but you can find your own major too I am sure. 

Tag line for IR Major Thucydides is WIN: To maintain the balance of power with all of the other majors, we had to make a meme too.

Vienna, Week One

So, I am going to try to make Sunday my updating days (that will last until what do you think - midterm?) but it will be my valiant effort!

I already talked about my journey from post-Spain, until I arrived in Vienna, which was exciting, to say the least! If you go to the MAPS section of my blog, there are now two maps of my journey. The first was a projection, which has been posted here for sometime now. The second is updated, real information, from graduation day (May 12, 2012) until my arrival in Vienna last Saturday.

But here it is:



My original projection, for the entire year was 46,619.6 kilometers to travel. This new map, for three months of travelling, I have already covered 42007.9 kilometers! That's a lot of planet covered and still a lot to go!

Anyway, we arrived in Vienna Saturday night. A group of us had booked together, we all met the driver at the airport and he drove us to the apartments we would be calling home for the next 8 weeks. I am living in Vienna's 10th district, Favoriten (we later were told that we are in the 'ghetto' though it is the absolute nicest ghetto I've ever seen!). The apartments are very, very spacious, big for even American standards - something I had not expected at all. After a month in Spain I was growing used to the tight quarters that are common in Europe.

Living room of my apartment

My roommate missed orientation, but she arrived early Sunday morning and we got to know each other, then I took her to meet the rest of the cohorts. We had all been getting to know each other a lot since Wednesday and all seem to have clicked very quickly. Everyone was curious about the missing girl from our cohort so they were all excited to meet her.

On Sundays everything is closed, but we took some time to take a walk around the neighborhood and see what we could find. There is a bar across the street from us Mabel's No90. So far, that has quickly become our hangout spot.

Di (my roommate), Rach, and Sam at Mabel's

Monday morning, first thing, we all went to the grocery store. We arrived Saturday after the store was closed, and it wasn't open on Sunday, so we were all ready to ditch the bar food and get some food in our (very small) fridges. Then we all locked ourselves in our rooms and studied for class that was to begin the following day. 100 pages of International Law on the computer screen (we had yet to receive our textbooks) was most definitely the highlight of our entire journey!

Tuesday, the Globals coordinator, Guergana "G" picked us up to walk us to campus. We are quite a distance from campus, about an hour (but we are only about 30 minutes from the city center).

We had orientation just for the Globals about an hour before the orientation for all the graduate students. Between the two orientations we went to the bookstore to pick up our books. The program fee covers our books, but they had run out of some of our books, so as of now, I am still short 1 book, some girls are short 2. It was nice to get a chance to mingle with some of the other graduate students. Webster University really is a global university. As we went around the room, people were introducing themselves from Russia, Ukraine, Egypt, Turkey, etc. One really good-looking guy stood up and said he was from Serbia. Of COURSE he was! Seriously - what is in the water there!?

Our first class was International Law (Tuesdays 6-10pm). Our instructor is Polish and works for the United Nations so she spends half her time in New York City and half her time in Vienna (teaching in both cities). She works in Human Rights issues and is very interesting, she is also very detail orientated and likes examples, as she was constantly asking us for examples of NGOs, IOs, treaties, customary laws, etc. So, I imagine the tests are going to be very specific. The class is structure pretty basic: two quizzes, one final exam, one final paper, and a presentation. Because the classes are all only 8 weeks long, we had to pretty much decide on our presentation topic (which would also be our final paper topic). I am going to be writing on Women's Right to Health laws (mostly on reproductive health). We shall see how that goes!

Wednesday was our International Relations Theory class, same time (6-10). The instructor is Italian and is Director of Research, Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy. I made the mistake of wearing my Spanish football jersey. In my defense I have no loyalties to any European football teams, I happened to be in Spain for the Eurocup, which is why I had it. The rest of class he kept calling me "Spain" though (since he doesn't have names yet). He told me he may not let it affect my grade. (My undergraduate professor told me a few days later that one of the other professors is teaching Politics of Soccer and I got a small taste of his lesson plan!). Same basic structure. Midterm, final, final paper. We also will have group work each week. Midterm is on a Sunday and the last class will be on a Saturday, so we can have our final on Wednesday! Ohy!

On the way home from class! Becky, Amber, and Sam

Speaking of my midterm being on a Sunday (the 23rd) - that is the last day of Photokina, I have my Professional Seminar classes on Fridays, so that pretty much killed my hope of going to Photokina.

And speaking of cameras, before class Wednesday morning, I made my way to the camera store to see if they could do something about my camera. The guy who was helping me went through all the troubleshooting things for me: checked battery on his charger (50% full), checked his battery in my camera, tested the internal battery (I had already gotten a new one to try to see if that was the fix), cleaned battery contacts. Nothing brought my camera to life. So, he packed it up and sent it off to the repair center, and I bit back tears.

The hospital for my baby at the moment

Thursday we took a bus tour of the city. After the hour or so tour, Kurt and I went back to the Hofburg Palace, I wanted to see the gardens where the Mozart memorial is and he wanted to go to the arms and armor exhibit. He knows a lot about ancient weaponry so it was really informative for me!

Karlskirche

Hofburg Palace

Pretty certain this gun would knock me on my butt!

Mozart Memorial before my battery died

Kurt told me about a show he had gotten tickets for. Mozart and Strauss, in a smaller venue, and the performers would be dressed in period costumes. I bought tickets for the show for that evening and we headed back to the apartments (well meandered - went the long way). Sam decided she wanted to go to the show as well, so she reserved tickets and the three of us went out that evening.

There was also a ballet dancer and opera singer!

I figure, I am in Vienna, I am going to take in as much classical music as I can afford! The show was really entertaining, I liked the size of the venue and the performers were all very good. The pianist rocked Turkischer Marsch (Click here if you are unfamiliar) which is one of my favorite pieces. The venue had very good natural acoustics. It is an old house, at one time Mozart performed there with his sister! 

After the show we walked up to Stephansplatz to see Saint Stephan's Cathedral at night, the meandered around the city, getting up to the river and back down toward Stephansplatz, just talking and enjoying the weather. We had our "Oh my goodness, we are in Vienna!" moment then. It was so beautiful, the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and the city was lit up, there were lots of other people out walking around, and it's an easy city to navigate. 

I think I am in love! I can see why this city inspired so many great artists and musicians! 

Saturday morning, Di, Rach, Amber, and I went to Naschmarkt, which is a large, open-air market in the city center. We didn't walk the entire thing and it was raining the entire time, but it was a lot of fun to see all the different stalls with fresh foods. Before heading back we all stopped at the cheese store and got some amazing cheeses! 

Di and Amber buying some stuffed olives. 

The really awesome cheese guy! :-D

I spent the rest of the day studying and managed to get the two chapters for International Law read, which only left two articles to read. So, I went out with all the girls. There was supposedly a "Welcome Webster" party at one of the local clubs (Aphrodisiac). We all dressed up and went out, the cover was 12ϵ and it was pretty lame. and way overpriced (10.50 for a gin&tonic - no.) But we made the best of it. We were the only ones dancing for quite sometime. It got a bit better by the end of the evening, but by then we were all pretty much done.

And today, I have done nothing productive. I got my two articles read, cleaned a bit, but for the most part, have had a nice lazy day. We just had a wine and cheese get together for a few hours to relax (since unlike me, most people have been studying all day!) and hang out.

It is really hard for me to believe I have only been in Vienna for a week, and with Webster for 11 days! We have all been going so hard and fast the whole time that I feel like it's already been forever, I am losing track of time.

But so far this is working out brilliantly, my cohorts are amazing - everyone has such interesting, different backgrounds with such fun stories, and varying personalities. So far we all get a long really well, hopefully that lasts for quite sometime since this is going to be one crazy, long year!

Me and my Roomie at a Cafe!

Visa Experience

Let's learn about the Schengen Zone today!!

So, let me tell you what my plan was this summer. My plan was to go to Spain, finish up my undergraduate degree, then after a month in Spain, head to Germany to stay with a friend who lives on one of the Air Force Bases (Ramstein). I would spend the month in Germany, relaxing, perhaps go up and see Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, etc. On August 22, I had a train booked from my friend's house to Amsterdam, where I would then go to Leiden for my orientation for Webster University's Global Master's of International Relations orientation. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing month, a nice relaxing train ride, and arriving at orientation one of the few people not completely jet lagged.

Well, that was the plan. But Schengen had other ideas. For those that are not aware, this is the Schengen Zone.

Schengen Zone - Also known as EUROPE

The Schengen Zone is a group of countries that have signed onto the Schengen Agreement. This agreement allows for free movement of people within the zone without internal border controls. So, you pass through customs when you enter one Schengen country, after that you will not see another border unless you leave the zone and return. There are 26 countries in the zone.

The rules for Americans in the zone are pretty simple. As an American you can travel to the zone, visa free, for 90 days in a 180 day period. So, every six months, your time "resets" and you get a fresh 90 days. If you are going to stay BEYOND 90 days you need a visa. If you get a visa in one Schengen country, you are legal in all Schengen countries.

Here is where the problem comes in. If you are going to stay in a single Schengen country for a year, let's say, it's pretty easy to get a visa. You go through that particular country and apply for a visa, no problem. But what if your TOTAL time in the zone exceeds the 90 days, but your time in any single country does not? Then it becomes a little bit harder.

See, each country will then tell you "you're less than 90 days you don't need a visa". So, the days of packing a backpack and spending a year in Europe have pretty much - died (if the economy hadn't killed that dream, this treaty did).

Now, this wasn't exactly the problem I ran into - though it came up a few times.

Webster University has 5 countries we visit: Austria, Thailand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands (China is the other option in Asia). Of those 5 countries, 3 of them are in the Schengen zone. We have 8 weeks in each country, so one way or another, we will fall into Schengen violation at some point in the program.

So, Webster University has an agreement with Switzerland, since we are not in any single Schengen country for more than 90 days on our program, it is difficult to get visas, but Switzerland worked with the program to grant visas for a less than 90 day program for us. They then strategically design the cohort routes so that we fall into violation while we are Switzerland, where we have a visa and permit.

Now, Webster University has obviously gone through a lot of trouble to help us stay current and legal on all our visas, but we are told that in the end it is our responsibility to stay on top of any visas for any countries we go to (in the program or on extra trips). Had I started the Webster program by flying over from the USA for orientation, I would have been fine with what Webster set up. But, I didn't. I was in Spain in July, a full 2 months before the program begins, which means, a full 2 months of my time in the Schengen Zone adding up.

See that map I posted above? It would have been nice if I had personally consulted it before I left for Spain. But unfortunately, I didn't think about the two programs as a single, seamless amount of time spent in Europe. Yes, it was silly and stupid, but somehow in my mind, I separated the two programs so well, that I forgot that the Schengen zone does not.

So, my clock began on June 28 when I got my passport stamped at the Frankfurt airport on the way to Spain. Which means my 6 month (180 day) period is up around December 25. It also meant that my 90 days was up September 26 (assuming I stayed in the zone the entire time). I don't leave for Bangkok until October 20. So, there was now a problem.

Thank GOODNESS the program director, Hannah, brought it to my attention toward the end of my time in Spain. When I got to Germany I called the Austrian embassy in Berlin.

This is where my real troubles began. I finally got someone on the phone that spoke English and explained my situation. I needed a visa for Austria so I wouldn't be in violation. Once I got past the "yes I know it's less than 90 days, but I still need it" part of the conversation, I was told this:

"We only work with German nationals here. You need to take care of this at your representation in your country."

"You mean the United States?"

"Yes, but we do not take any documents via fax, mail, or email, it needs to be done in person."

"In person would mean I have to return to the United States."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't normally do visas, the person who does is on holiday, he will be in Tuesday, you can call and ask, but you will probably have to return to the US." By the way, this was a Thursday, she just told me that maybe I could do it in Germany, but probably not, but I had to wait 5 days to know for sure, which means I am wasting time if do indeed have to return to the US.

So, at 10am German time, I now had to wait for the USA to wake up and the Austrian embassy in Washington DC to open. This meant 7 hours of pacing the house and freaking out.

My conversation with the visa lady in the US went very similar. You need to come to the United States.

Holy balls.

Okay, so now I should also mention, all the paperwork for my Swiss visa and permit, Hannah and I had been trying to figure out the best way for me to submit that from abroad. Since I hadn't had a chance to mail it yet, I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone on this trip and take care of Austria and Switzerland at the same time. For Switzerland I had to file in Atlanta (local consulate to my permanent address). So I asked the lady at the Austrian embassy if I can apply for the visa at the honorary consulate in Atlanta. Her answer: "You can, but it will take a minimum of 15 days. If you come to DC we can process it in 3-5 days."

So that did it. I was getting on a plane the next day to fly to Washington DC and wait for a visa. I would then fly to Augusta so that I could drive to Atlanta and take care of my Swiss permit. Beautiful.

The scary part was booking the flight. Considering I was looking for a flight for the next day I was bracing myself for an absolutely horrendous price. But SkyScanner.com saved my wallet! I managed to book a round-trip ticket for just $1300. I am sure the Barclay's credit card division was glad to see me back (especially considering what they are dealing with -_-) My family in DC was absolutely amazing and jumped to my rescue with a place to crash! I am so blessed to have a large extended family that we are all still close to and incredibly grateful for the help they gave me in this situation.

I left all of my luggage at my friend's house in Germany and took about 3 days worth of clothes. I even left my cameras! I was heartbroken to leave Germany. I had really been looking forward to seeing more of the country, but I guess fate had other plans.

Friday evening I arrived in DC and Saturday and Sunday I spent time with family and gathered all my documents for the visa. Monday morning, as soon as the embassy opened I was in line to submit my paperwork.

"We can't give you a student visa, it's less than 90 days" said the lady behind the window. I was surprised I didn't break down into tears and beg for mercy, but I held myself and explained again, and showed her my passport with the June 28 stamp on it. She finally shifts through papers quietly and then says "I can issue a tourist visa." Luckily, a tourist visa is also cheaper (though nothing about this ordeal made this a cheap visa).

I ended up having to email her my travel itinerary (it wasn't needed for the student visa, but it was for the tourist visa). On Wednesday, I received an email response from the embassy "Your visa is processed and ready for pick up." Now I was impressed! That was incredibly fast turn around on that!

YAY!!

I got on a plane and flew back to Augusta and prepared my documents for Switzerland. I drove up to the Swiss consulate (which closes at 11:30 in the morning, since the drive from Augusta to Atlanta is about 2 hours I left at oh-god:30 in the morning). I parked and got out of the car and started laughing hysterically. I had forgotten to bring *money* for the visa. It just seemed so incredibly hysterical to me. I was so over this process at that point.

I managed to find a bank, got money. I walked to the consulate only to realize I did not have my photos either! You have got to be kidding me right?! The Swiss representatives told me that there was a FedEx across the street where I could get photos. Thank goodness.

Supposedly, the Swiss authorities were supposed to send emails to all representation in the USA letting them know we were coming and what the process is. Of course, when I mentioned that there should have been an email he says "We haven't gotten an email." Luckily he added, "But I know the program." I had like 8 copies of everything and wasn't sure how many copies of each item he needed, he was incredibly helpful though "I'll take two of those, four of those, three of those". He also said "I don't know why they keep applying for the visa, you don't need a Schengen visa since it's less than 90 days." Yes, I have heard this story before, can you just humor me and take it anyway?

He was super friendly and helpful though, we talked about the weather in Geneva, since I will be there in January. He laughed and said "It's much colder than Georgia." I told him I was from Minnesota, and he said that it would be a lot like being on Lake Superior in the winter (goodie). If everyone in Switzerland is as cool as this guy was, I will thoroughly enjoy the country.

So, time to get back to Frankfurt get get my stuff. My nice relaxing month turned into two weeks of planes, trains, and automobiles.

Sunday the 19th I flew from Augusta to DC. Monday the 20th I flew from DC to Charlotte (yes, I went from Augusta to DC to go to Charlotte) and then connected to Frankfurt. I arrived early morning the 21st and took a shuttle from Frankfurt back to my friend's house to repack my luggage. Then, as was initially planned, on the morning of the 22nd I took a train from her house to Amsterdam.

Only, instead of showing up relaxed and jet-lagged, I was coming off of four solid days of travelling and probably the most stressful 2 weeks in a long time.

Lesson learned: When it comes to travelling - expect that nothing will happen according to plan. 

Leaving home.

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

I've always been an adventurous, independent type. To be completely honest, when I decided to enroll in Webster's Global MAIR I didn't even consider that I would have anxiety about the traveling or living away from home. I was more anxious about my courses, and money. So, when I broke down in the airport, I surprised myself. All of it hit me at once, I was going to be gone for the next thirteen months, and in that moment it might as well have been a lifetime. I was going to be in places where I don't speak the language (short of my month in Spain where I do, in fact, speak Spanish and would be studying the language), having food that I wasn't used to, and I would not have anyone around that I really knew. It became, in that moment, the scariest thing I'd ever experienced. I was glad that my dad and my best friend were at the airport with me, though in some ways that made it a little harder. It is also nice that I am starting out with my undergraduate program, so my first month in Europe I have friends here with me, and will be staying with a friend before beginning at Webster. In the end, I am still very excited to be here, and wouldn't change my decision because of a little bit of anxiety.

Pablo Picasso

Toledo

 We spent the first few days in Madrid, which is an incredible city! We visited the Reina Sofia the first day, which is a modern art museum. I am not much for modern art, but I do love the cubist movement. The Reina Sofia also houses Picasso's  Guernica. I have seen plenty of prints of that painting, but in real life it is incredible and very moving. We took a half day tour of Toledo which I was excited to find out was "la ruta de Don Quixote", because Toledo is in Castillo-La Mancha. Additionally, and maybe it was the pathetic tourist in me, but I kept walking around thinking "Holy Toledo Batman!" Later, in my Culture class, I came to find out that Toledo is the Catholic center of Spain. Well then. We then visited the Prado, which, considering everyone has described it as a museum heavy-weight, I wasn't that impressed, though it wasn't bad either. A few pieces were pretty astounding. Goya's Second of May 1808 and Third of May 1808 were amazing, and Velazquez's Las Meninas was stunning. It really struck me just how *big* some of these paintings were. When you study paintings in books, you don't really get a good perspective on their size. 

And artist sketching Toledo. 

The last night in Madrid was something else, it was gay pride in Madrid, so we went down and checked out the parade. There were so many people there it was incredible! After a short nap we went out. It was a night to remember - I am still working on that though!


We left Madrid for Salamanca and stopped in Segovia. I have never been so astounded by a city before. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I kept asking if we were on a movie set or in a theme park of some sort because it just seemed too perfect to actually be real! And the Roman aqueduct is impressive as well. It really puts things into perspective:  The Segovia aqueduct was built before Rome had invented cement, in the 1st century AD. Rome fell 1500+ years ago, the Moors invaded, ruled, and were driven out of Spain, Christopher Columbus discovered another country, Spain's empire expanded across the globe, Spain's empire fell, the world has changed so much - yet this structure still stands!

Aqueduct

Jana told us a legend relating to the aqueduct. It goes like this: This girl had to walk up the mountain to get water for the town everyday. One day, she made a deal with the Devil: if, in one night, he can build a way to get water to the town without having to go up the mountain, she would go with him to the inferno. As the Devil began building the aqueduct she began to realize he was going to finish before morning, so she prayed to God for mercy and for help. God sent a huge rainstorm and as the sun rose, the Devil was unable to lay the last stone in the aqueduct. The girl did not have to go with the Devil and the town now could get its water without having to climb the mountain.

Cathedral in Madrid 

Cervantes statue in Madrid

Gay Pride crowd in Madrid

Me in Toledo

Segovia

I will post more about Salamanca when I have photos. As it is, I haven't even really processed my Gay Pride or Segovia pictures. Since I am in Salamanca the next month, I haven't gone out and photographed yet, getting a feel for the city and getting an idea where to go get photos.


We are homestaying in Salamanca, and my Señora is the most amazing cook. I love that we get fed authentic Spanish food, plus it saves money not having to eat out the whole month. So far, this is starting out to be an incredible journey!

Post-Graduation Travels

My mother on the porch of Elvis' birth home.

My summer has been a already been a whirlwind of activity. The day after my graduation I jumped into the car with my mother, brother, and step-dad to drive back to Minnesota (my home-state). We stopped at Memphis and stayed a few nights to visit Elvis' Graceland, with a quick pit stop in Tupelo, MS (the birthplace of Elvis). 

Graceland itself is quite the visit, a tourist-trap of the best kind. I never have been a huge Elvis *fan*, definitely enjoy his music  and appreciate his contribution to the music industry, however, it is my mother and sister that are the fan-girls. Even so, Elvis' home was quite interesting, and the audio-tour provided some interesting insights into his life. If you are passing through Memphis it is definitely worth the stop. 

Love the Peacock stained glass in the living room!

Very 70s! Definitely want to be sober in this room though. 

After leaving Graceland we headed home. We took a rest stop in Saint Louis. I have never actually seen the Saint Louis arch, but I don't think I expected it to be quite as large as it actually was. It was quite fascinating. we did not have time to go up into it, but I went into the guest center and picked up brochures and other literature on the arch because I am sort of a nerd like that. 

Considering how long I will be gone over the next year, it was wonderful to get to spend as much time with my family as I did! I had a graduation party in Minnesota for the family and friends that could not travel to Augusta to celebrate with me! I was very happy that some of my family came that I don't often get to see on my trips home. I got to celebrate birthdays that I normally miss. All in all it was fun, but a bit chaotic. Our family in the last few years has gone from having *no* children in it, to having 8, with 7 of them under the age of 8! So family gatherings are quite the production and full of energy. It can be very exhausting.

As if I did not have enough going on this summer, we took yet another road trip! Here was a trip I didn't think I would ever have to make again: Minnesota to New Mexico and back. Growing up in Albuquerque we would make the drive back to Minnesota at least every summer. If you have never had to make the drive, I hope you never have to, it is a long stretch of dull piled on top of boring.

The upside to the long, flat drive, is that your first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains completely takes your breath away, as if the Rockies aren't breathtaking enough on their own merit! Unfortunately, we did not have enough time on this trip to stop in Colorado and really enjoy the mountains as we were on a time schedule. My sister was getting married. So most of my photos of the Rockies were shot through a window as we drove along side them.

Myself, my mother, and my sister at the state line

Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque

The day before the wedding, my sister invited everyone to come up to the Sandia Peak Tram and hike, or in the case of my mother, my aunt, and myself, sit in the restaurant and drink (vodka at 10400feet - not a great idea!). It is an incredible ride to the top of Sandia Peak! The tram is the longest tram ride in the world. Anyway, I thought it was impressive. 

Canyon Rock

The Sandia Peak Tram

Sandia Peak

Beyond that, it was an enjoyable month back in Minnesota. I spent a day with my cousin and her family at Minneahaha Falls (See Here), and did a "Trash the Dress" photoshoot with my younger sister as a sort of "moving on" ceremony after her engagement was called off (See Here).

Additionally, I did a lot of shopping and began to strategize my packing for my journeys the next year, which I will probably address in a future post. I have a feeling I will have to re-assess my strategy after I finish up in Salamanca, before I begin with Webster University.

Ciao!