Hasta la Próxima Vez

Well, I have one more full day in Catalunya left.  I just finished up my last two interviews today, for a grand total of 35 interviews…which is 15 more than I needed!  This trip has turned out to be a very successful one, both personally and professionally.  Personally, I was able to travel throughout a country that I love very much and explore new places that I didn’t get a chance to see the first time around.  Last year, I was over here and I needed to get out and see the rest of Europe, but I didn’t really see much of Catalonia.  Over the last 3 weeks, I was able to visit the capital of each of the 4 providences of Catalonia and some other really cool sights like Montseny (a large mountain range) and La Costa Brava (the beaches of Northern Catalonia).  Professionally, this trip has confirmed for me that I am pursuing the right career.  My research gives me the opportunity to travel, see new places and talk with locals about the things that matter most to them.  Travel + Meet new People + Being Paid to do it = my dream job.

However, before this trip I would it would be a perfect balance between work and play, but it actually turned out to be more work than I thought, though I’m not complaining at all.  It took a lot of time to coordinate all the interviews, seeing if all the people from the town could meet on the same day but at different times, getting to the places, and then finally doing the actual interview.  I would come back to my hostel at night pretty tired and if I had a day off of interviews I would only visit one or two things because I was just so beat.  And then while I was over here, I had to finish up editing my Fulbright application, so that (hopefully) I can come back to Spain next year and teach English for an academic year.  It doesn’t help too that I scheduled my return flight for the day before classes start; Wednesday I have class from 9:30-3:18…luckily my last professor is my thesis advisor, so hopefully he’ll understand if I pass out in the middle of his class, jajajaja.

And this is why I didn’t get a chance to write in my blog in as much detail as I did the last time around, and for that I’m sorry.  But of course, I will be more than willing to tell everyone about my trip if you just ask me about it ;)

So the plan for tomorrow is to wake up at around 10-11, do a goodbye tour of Barcelona (Parc Güell, Passeig de Gràcia, La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter), head back to the hostel to eat and then head off to the beach town of Sitges, about a 30 min train ride from Barcelona.  I went to this town last year and really enjoyed it, but I didn’t get a chance to visit the beach.  So, I’m going to relax and work on a nice tan (to show off to everybody that I went to a place where there’s lots of sun, haha) until the sun sets, at which time I will drink a mini-bottle of cava (Catalonia’s champagne), toasting to a fantastic trip.  Finally, I will find a decent restaurant to spend the rest of my money at, because God knows I need a decent meal (I’ve been living off of sandwiches, salads and pasta the entire trip).  Tomorrow will be a good day, hopefully a very relaxing last day of summer.  I could use one.

As with the last time I left Catalunya:

• I'll keep my blog open for students and those curious about Spanish and Catalan culture
• If I receive a grant to teach English in Spain next year, I will start writing again
• My photo albums of my trip, Catalunya '11, and Catalonian Nationalism (a carry-over from last time) are complete and ready to be viewed in their entirety :)
• Drinking from Canalets again so that I am  guaranteed to return to Barcelona

Until we see each other again, fins després Catalunya

I'm Back...

So I knew I kept this blog open for a reason…I’ll be back in Catalunya for three weeks from August 27^th to September 19^th.  However, this time I am going for a very different reason and that is to start my career.

You read that right; career as in something I want to do for the rest of my life, as opposed to a “J-O-B,” something that I do to pay for school/living expenses.  I want to stay at THE Ohio State University for graduate school in Hispanic Linguistics and eventually become a professor.  However, since OSU’s program is competitive I needed to get a head start on the application process and conduct my own original research as an undergrad.  So, with the help of an outstanding advisor, I’ve developed a research topic to study: how Catalan influences the Spanish language.  However, the catch to studying this topic is that I need to talk to actual Catalans in order to have valid data, and you’d be hard pressed to find a Catalan living in the United States, let alone Columbus…

So, I submitted a research proposal to the Arts and Sciences Honors Committee and I was fortunate enough to be awarded a research grant that allows me to go over and spend three weeks back in Catalunya.  During the time that I’m over there I’m going to be traveling throughout Catalunya, interviewing people about their lives, opinions and beliefs.  Hopefully, this project will spur more ideas for possible research topics in graduate school but if not at least I’m going to be getting valuable field experience.

I’m excited to be going back, especially since this time around I’m going to be doing a lot more traveling inside of Catalunya to places that I didn’t get to visit the first time around, like Girona, Tarragona and Figueres (the home to the Dalí museum!).  Also, I’m going to be over there again during the National Day of Catalonia, so I’m hoping I get to spend that day with my Catalan friends, celebrating one of their most important days of the year :)

Unfortunately, I will not be over there to see La Mercè (September 23-25) because OSU starts classes on the 21^st, but at least I got to see the festival last year.

Any who, I really don’t know at this point how much I’m going to be writing during the 3 weeks; it just really depends on how much down time I have to describe everything.  I’m shooting for 3 to 5 posts, but don’t hold me to it ;)

Oh and I’ll create a new facebook photo album for my trip that will be public and on the side bar (I think I'm gonna name it "Catalunya '11")!

Finally, remember this picture?

I knew there was some truth behind the belief that if you drink from the Canalets fountain you’ll eventually come back to Barcelona.  So here I go, ¡me voy!

The End (for now)

Well this is it.  It’s hard to say goodbye.

I’m leaving Barcelona tomorrow to head back the States.  This trip has been a blast and a real eye-opener; I’ve meet a lot of great people and seen a lot of cool places.  I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything in the world and I am thankful to all the people who have helped make this possible (mainly my parents, Michelle and all my Spanish teachers who inspired me/gave me the travel bug).

The best adjective to describe my current state is bittersweet.

As I'm trying not to be sad I will instead chose to reminisce.  Here are some of my top favorite things from my 4-month adventure (in no particular order):

1. Euskadi: What can I say, without the first two and a half weeks in the Basque Country I would have been very overwhealmed when I got to Barcelona.  Arantza and Maren are probably two of the coolest people I have ever meet in my entire life and I don’t know if they will ever realize how much they mean to me.
2. La Mercè: After this festival in Barcelona I really started to feel like I was at home.  It was the best weekend of my life as I got to see what it truly means to be Catalan. 
3. El Clásico: Seriously, this night was so much fun.  Got to watch a great game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid (by great I mean we sent los madrileños home in disgrace) and then I got to celebrate the victory with the rest of Barcelona at Canalets.  Oh yeah, and getting to see three Barça games in Camp Nou was pretty swell too ;)
4. Living in a host family: Whether it was fighting to get out of the apartment without that neurotic dog Terri knowing or talking with my host mom I absolutely loved living with a host family.  Rafeala cooked good food, helped us practice Spanish and she always got a kick out of it when I would sit down and watch her Catalan soap opera with her (don’t judge, I really wanted to learn Catalan!)  I also had the pleasure of meeting her mom as she stayed with us 2 out of the three months.  I couldn’t understand her half the time (Andalucian accents are really hard to understand) but she would always smile everytime I came in the room.  Her “he-he-he” laugh was absolutely adorable and she always affectionately referred to me as “chiquito.”
5. Metro: I absolutely loved taking the metro everyday, there was never a dull moment.  I got to play my favorite mental game everyday (guess where that tourist is from!), people watch and one day I was treated to the spectacle of watching kids fall over like human dominos.  However, my favorite part of the metro is the tone that would announce what station we were approaching (hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm, pròxima estació: Badal).  I’m not going to lie, my roommate and I love the metro tone so much that for the last month we would record it on his iPhone.  I have quite a good collection of metro stops now, and I’m thinking about turning them into ringtones.  Don’t judge me, I know I’m a nerd :)
6. Weekend trips: Seriously, I got to see so much while I was over here.  I was fortunate to visit Bilbao, Valencia, Paris, Rome, London, Edinburgh, Venice and Dublin in addition to going back to Madrid and Toledo.  I wish I could just drop everything and travel for the rest of my life but apparently I have “responsibilities” :(
7. Kiss Hello: In Spain it's common for men-women and women-women to great each other with two light kisses on the cheeks.  I wish we would do that in the States, it's so much more friendlier than a handshake.  Everyone does it too, even if there's a big group of 8 you go around and kiss everyone on the cheek (I saw this standing outside of Camp Nou and it was quite comical).  If anyone back home wants to do this when we greet each other just let me know :p
8. Barcelona: I got to live in the most beautiful city in the world and I will fight anyone who disagrees with me on that.  
9. Catalan language and culture: Seriously if you haven’t noticed I've really come to identify with the Catalan culture.  I got to experience some of their traditions, I learned about their history and, most importantly, I got to learn their language.  Although I can only string a simple sentence together in the present tense I’m going to continue studying Catalan on my own so that when I come back I speak it.  This entire time I never really thought I was in Spain; I was in Catalunya and I’m completely fine with that (in fact I wouldn't have had it any other way).

I’m not really sad though because I know that I will return to Catalunya, it’s just a matter of when.  As soon as I get home I’m going to be plotting my return to the country I love and I have a couple of things in the works that will allow my swift return.  But until that time comes it’s going to be painful for me to be away from my adopted country.  I can already see it now: me sitting in my room, listening to either Obrint Pas or Lluís Llach while starting at a map of Barcelona repeating the phrase “la meva terra és Catalunya” over and over.

Some last minute housekeeping things:

• By Thursday all of my photo albums will be completed and can be viewed in their entirety off on the sidebar 
• My youtube page is also fully updated with videos of La Mercè, FC Barcelona and some other random stuff.  Here’s the link or you can watch some of the videos off to the side 
• If you're looking to read about a specific topic (like advice for Spanish students, culture, Catalunya ect) you can take a look at the side bar to see the topics of this blog.
• I am going to leave this page up for two reasons.  1) A resource for students who are thinking about studying abroad.  2) When I come back to Spain/Catalunya I will start to blog again using this very same channel.

I hope you guys liked my blog.  I started it with one objective in mind: to give you a window into a different culture and hopefully in the process you learned something interesting.  It was a pleasure writing for you guys and I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did retelling my adventures.

Finally, if any of you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at seanmckinnon.80@gmail.com; I’ll be happy to answer any question about what it’s like to live abroad, what the Spanish/Catalan culture is like ect.  Fan mail is also appreciated ;)

I believe I covered everything so I will end with this: until we meet again Catalunya…adéu.

Off to the Next Adventure

Well, today is my last day in the Basque Country.  It’s been a blast and I’ve learned a lot in two and a half weeks.  Arantza and Maren have been very kind, helpful and knowledgeable, not to mention extremely fun to be around.  If I get a host mom that’s as good as Arantza, I will be very happy.  I’m going to miss them and if I ever when I get the chance to come back to Spain I will definitely be making a stop their way.

Now, I’m off to Barcelona, my home for the next 3 and a half months.

Tomorrow, I’m taking a bus from Bilbao to Madrid to meet up with my program.  We’re doing a two-day tour of Madrid (the capital of Spain) and a day tour of Toledo (the religious capital of Spain).  I have been to both cities before and they are both absolutely amazing.  The view of Toledo from the hills is breathtaking and Madrid is just so full of culture and history that two days there will barely scratch the surface. 

Tuesday, my ISA compañeros and I move into our housing in Barcelona.  I can’t wait to finally meet my host mom and to see Barcelona with my own eyes.  I’ve been waiting for this moment for a good 2 years now and now it’s finally here!

As a result of all the tourist shenanigans for the next three days, I will probably be without Internet.  If I get the time, I will try to upload the pictures from the two cities and post links on the sidebar, but I will not be blogging.  I will try to blog about Madrid/Toledo on Wednesday and my first thoughts about Barcelona on Thursday/Friday.  Also, I’ll try to upload my first three YouTube videos of Getxo/Bilbao, Plentzia and the fireworks show when I get to the hotel in Madrid (internet connection pending).  I tried to upload them from the apartment but my laptop told me it would take 6 hours to upload them to YouTube, hence why they’re not there yet.

My first two photos albums, Getxo/Bilbao and Plentzia, should both now be complete.  If you would like to see them in their entirety, just click on the links.

On another note, I added a new sidebar that lists the different topics of this blog.  For example, if you’re only interesting in learning more about the culture of Spain, click on the “culture” button and it will take you to the posts that I have label as a culture-related post (e.g. this post is labeled “housekeeping”)

One last thing: If you have a g-mail, yahoo, AIM or twitter account you can become a follower of this blog.  This will allow you to post comments on individual blog posts; I really value your opinion and I would like to know your thoughts about what I post.  To do this, scroll down and click the “follow” button at the very bottom of the sidebar.

Until I post again, ¡hasta luego!

P.S. On a funny note, I was walking through the old part of Bilbao, Casco Viejo, on Thursday and I got stopped two times: one time to answer a survey (“vives en Vizcaya, ¿verdad?”) and another time to give directions. My answers to both requests: “no soy de aquí.” 

How the Blog will Work

Alright, so here's the plan with this blog

1. Weekly Posting: I will post a new blog entry at least once every week, probably on Sunday. However, if something funny, exciting or interesting happens, I'll probably post a little blurb about it here. The weekly Sunday postings will be about what I did that week, basically kind of like an online diary.
2. Facebook photo albums: All my photos from my trip will be on public albums on facebook, so that everyone will be able to see them. Yes, if you don't have a facebook you'll still be able to see my pictures! There will be links in my blog posts (and maybe off the side) that will direct you to them
3. ¡Los Links!: I have links on the sidebar of my facebook and youtube pages. Facebook will have status updates (maybe daily), pretty much just a little tidbit about something I did that day or about something that caught my eye. My youtube page will allow you guys to actually experience what I'm experiencing, i.e. video from a festival, video walking down a street in Barcelona, panoramic views of sites ect.

Hope you enjoy!