HOME SWEET HOME

After my long but quick felt semester abroad in Barcelona, I have reached my last destination… HOME!
Coming home has been bittersweet. I had to leave Barcelona quicker then expected because I am graduating college therefore, I had to take my finals early in order to assure I would make graduation. Since these plans were all last minute, my last week in Barcelona was not ending in a way I would have liked. I had to cram for all my finals to make sure I would leave with grades expected and needed. On top of cramming the studying, I had so many assignments due. It was very hard to juggle the two plus be able to have fun in these last moments abroad.
I had the most amazing experience in Barcelona. I feel like I have grown as a woman in learning on how to live on my own in a foreign country where Spanish is not my number one language. I have seen all of Europe and feel extremely fortunate that my parents allowed me and financially helped me experience what I have just experienced.
I met the most amazing friends who I will be keeping in touch with forever and have just really expanded on my horizons. I learned to love art and history which are two things I would have never taken an interest in before. I was the first to want to go into mueseums and learn everything about each attraction.
The memories that I have of this semester abroad will be cherished forever. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope that whoever has this opportunity should take it and hold value to it.
Before I knew what I was getting myself into, I thought Barcelona was only going to be about fun and games: going out every night, not worrying about classes, etc. The partying was a huge part of this semester but most importantly learning was an even bigger part. I learnt so much in classes and from hands on experiences in each and every city. I can not wait to pass on all my experiences to friends and family.
Now that I am back at home, I have to get a job for the summer and take LSAT classes.  I have never missed Barcelona more then I do right now, just writing in this blog because this blog is strictly for travels so I know I will not have more travels to write about in my blog anymore.
I really enjoyed blogging though so I will continue a blog, but no more on travels which is depressing for me ☹
Enjoy my new category!!!……COMING SOON

1 comment April 27, 2009

Spring Break

Spring Break was great! My mom, sisters, and grandparents all came to meet me in Barcelona to catch a cruise on the Mediterranean. I really have missed my family so I was so excited to see them and spend quality time with them. I have not gone this long ever in my life without seeing my mom or sisters.

The cruise was an Italian ship called the MSC Fantasia, it is brand new, only 4 months old, and the most beautiful ship I have ever seen. The crew was so welcoming and really made you feel at home, the food was spectacular (Italian food all day every day), and the entertainment like the shows, casino, and disco, all made it wonderful.

Our first stop was Marseille, France where we took a car to Provence, which is in the South of France. Next, we went to Genoa, Italy where we took another car ride to Portofino, which is the Italian Riviera. Then, we went to Naples, Italy where we took a really long and nauseating car ride along the Italian coast towards Positano. In the end, the car ride was worth the views but I got extremely sick. After Naples we went to the capital of Sicily called Palermo. The next stop was my favorite stop and that was to Tunisia, which is located in North Africa. This was my favorite stop because it was very different then the rest since it was a poorer country with villages and really beautiful mountains. Finally, we went to Palma de Mallorca where we happened to be there for the coldest and windiest day so no beaches and sun in the Balearic Islands of Spain!

Village in Tunisia

Provence

Each stop was very beautiful. This was not really much of a touristy trip, which I have done with my friends all semester where we go to main cities and visit museums and historical sights. My cruise was more of a relaxing vacation where we went to beautiful places with not much historical sights, just cute little towns. I really enjoyed that aspect of this trip because I was so sick of traveling and running around cities to try and make sure I could see everything important. Every place I went to was quaint towns and I even found my honeymoon destination, Portofino, Italy!

Now I am off to find this romantic future husband of mine to take me to this honeymoon destination!

Italian Coast with Portofino on the bottom

TIPS:

- Most my friends traveled around Europe by train and had to drag a huge luggage with them from place to place. If I were to recommend a trip for future study abroad students I would definitely recommend a cruise. Its easier, you get to see a whole lot more, you have a home base (no dragging suitcases), all meals included, and just plain EASIER!

Add a comment April 16, 2009

The Podcast

According to Wikipedia a podcast is “a series of digital media files that is made available to download via Web syndication.” This term was created on February 12, 2004 with its definition for portable listening to audioblogs. There were many events that occurred before, after, and during the creation of the “podcast”. For a full timeline click here.

“It can also be thought of as the internet equivalent of timeshift-capable digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo, which let users automatically record and store television programs for later viewing,” says Wikipedia.“The system most commonly involves audio files in mp3 format, but other formats and other types of files, such as video, can also be podcasted.”Podcast is like the term “broadcast” except used on the web and a podcaster is used to describe the person who creates the podcast. The Apple Ipod was created to make the transfer from computer to the device easier for podcasts but podcasts could be downloaded on to any type of device and even listened to on your desktop.

The popularity of the podcast has boomed in the past few years. There are so many different types that could appeal to everyone. Most podcasts today are conducted like a radio program and some of them are actual radio programs with a podcast version. Some individuals even make their own podcasts like for example a class podcast for others who have missed their class that day. All you need to record your own podcast is a high quality microphone, audio editing software, and a program like Audacity. Here is a video I found that gives a step by step instruction of how to create a podcast.

As you can see, creating a podcast is simple and fun. The growing popularity is just starting and who knows, maybe podcast will become the new technology for homeschooling or the new radio where podcasts will be played on a computer screen in your car.

Listening to podcasts and finding the ones you want is a very simple task. There are websites like podcastalley.com and podcastawards.com where you can find thousands of podcasts. There are all different genres for everyones liking.

For example if you are into Golf, there are different podcasts on Golf tips or if you are into cooking, there are cooking ones as well.

Add a comment April 16, 2009

Marbella

Puerto Banus

Marbella is known to be the ritzy part of Spain where the rich and the famous go for vacations. This weekend I was treated by my wonderful mother to Puerto Banus for a relaxing vacation and some bonding time with her since I have not seen her in 3 months. The whole stereotype about this fancy shamncy place is 100% true because I have never seen anything like this extremely sheik place. Everyone comes on their 65-foot yachts and Ferrari’s and stroll through the nice shops and sit by the most expensive restaurants. My mom compared this vacation spot to South of France with the way of life there.

It was very relaxing to sit by the beach all day and get some sun while catching up with my mother. I would not recommend this place to anyone going on travels with their friends because I would not have afforded this trip without my mother’s wallet. We did take some really cool side trips to Tangier, Morocco and Granada, Spain. These were really interesting day trips and very easy and cheap to get too. I definitely recommend Morocco because it was the most different place I have visited here in Europe. There is not much to actually see but just the architecture and their ways of living is a different experience within itself. Once you travel most of Europe, everything starts to look the same as in the architecture and their ways of living. To see a different city like Morocco, which is actually in Africa and a very poor country, was touching. I never have seen such hungry animals and beggars in my life.

TIPS:

-do not go to Puerto Banus if you are on a budget. Even if you try to avoid the high cost of everything, you can not.

-Do not go to Morocco without men or even a tour guide, it is a little scary there.

-La Alhambra is the most visited tour site in Spain, and I highly recommend going there if you can (its in Granada)

Alhambra

Add a comment April 1, 2009