Friday, June 21, 2013

Hutton scholarship follow-up

This is the return essay I wrote to complete the requirements for a scholarship I received to study abroad.
A glimpse into my experience abroad


Studying abroad is truly a life-changing experience. Everyone told me it would be, even before I starting preparing to leave Bloomington, my hometown. I had traveled to Paris with my family once during high school, but other than that I had never been overseas or away from my hometown for more than just short-term vacations. I had heard it so much that I would just nod and agree, I knew it would be different and that I’m sure I would change. But I don’t think I realized how much I would change until after it had already happened.
When I first arrived in Aix-en-Provence, France, I was so excited to be in a foreign place and to explore the beautiful city. I had been looking forward to studying abroad and improving my French since I first started learning French in middle school. With such a lovely town as Aix is, it was a dream come true. During the first few days of orientation, I met everyone in the program, from both IU and Wisconsin University. Even though none of us knew each other, I think we all formed a sort of bond immediately because of the fact that we were all here and going through the same new experiences, trying to communicate in a language we thought we knew, living in a foreign country, adjusting to the cultural differences and figuring out which bathrooms had toilet seats and/or toilet paper. Thinking back now to what was probably a huge culture shock, I can’t even remember how I felt or imagine those things, which have become so normal to me, being so strange and different. I feel like the bigger shock will come when I return home, leaving what has become my home for the past five months.
One thing I have learned from studying abroad is that the best way to get to know someone is by traveling with them. I was fortunate enough to travel around southern France and to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and England during the semester, and the people I traveled with became close friends. I have learned this semester that shared experiences are what make a friendship so strong. No one can truly understand your experiences if they weren’t there with you. That’s one thing about returning home that I think will be very difficult, because even if I tell stories about things that happened, my friends and family at home won’t know exactly what I’m talking about because they weren’t there. But I am confident that the friends I have made here will remain good friends because we have been through this experience together and we will always have our memories from our time abroad.
Study abroad can also push you to your limits and make you do things you never thought you might do. For example, I climbed a mountain. It’s not that I didn’t think I would ever do it, it’s just that the thought never crossed my mind before as something I wanted to achieve in my life. Before coming here, I was told that one thing to do in Aix is climb Mont Sainte-Victoire, the mountain that was a common subject of Cezanne, a painter from Aix. In my mind, I thought it would be more like a hike in the hills, but the path that a few friends and I found was extremely challenging. It wasn’t the straight-up mountain climbing path that requires climbing gear, but it was the next step down. We hiked up very steep paths that seemed to go on and up forever, and after about three hours we made it to the top. Looking down on Aix and the surrounding cities was so breathtaking and peaceful. Every time I see the mountain in the distance, I can’t help but think about how I was at the top of it looking down and how much of an accomplishment that was.
            After traveling around the region of Provence and seeing so many unimaginably beautiful places, I feel I have an even greater appreciation for nature and the beauty in traveling. This region has become my home and I am not yet ready to leave, but I hope to return someday. I have gained a new perspective on traveling as well and have a yearning to see the world. Only as the semester ended and my friends left Aix did I begin to realize how much I have changed, although I still can’t quite comprehend it all. I think I will be able to see more differences in myself after I am back home, but it is also an ongoing process. I am sure that I will always continue to understand and realize the huge impact this experience has had on my life and on who I am today and who I will become.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Au revoir

Since my last post, I have traveled to Brussels and London (LOVED London!), taken final exams to finish off the semester, and said goodbye to all of my good friends I have made here. My family leaves in 2 days to come visit and I can't wait to see them and show them around the area and travel to Italy with them! Then it's back to Bloomington in just over 2 weeks. It is going to be really weird going home where I will hear English everywhere and not hear and speak French on a daily basis. I'm excited to see friends and family back home, but I'm not ready to leave this city, this region, that has become my home for the past 5 months. Yesterday I took a little day trip to La Ciotat, which was absolutely gorgeous:




I am really going to miss being able to take short, cheap trips like this to such beautiful places. I have had an incredible semester and I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and to have made so many great friends. It's time to say au revoir Aix, Provence, France, Europe! À la prochaine!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Mountain climbing and sunbathing



Last weekend, some friends and I climbed Mount St Victoire, a mountain just outside of Aix that was often painted by Cezanne. It was quite a workout but really great! The path was so steep, it basically was like walking straight up the entire way, which was about 3 hours. The view from the top was beautiful though and so worth it. I definitely want to climb it again sometime!



The next day, I went to the beach in Cassis. It only took about an hour and a half to get there by bus, and it was so pretty! There are calanques at Cassis (google image search!), which I want to return to see and hike, but we just stayed on the beach all day to relax after climbing the mountain. It is so nice being this close to a beach and I am really going to miss that when I get home!

Le Cupcake





At the beginning of the semester, I saw this place called "Le Cupcake" and thought "I want to go there!" (Like most food places I see...) I forgot about it and saw it again the other day, and yesterday I decided I would go for a cupcake. Instantly when I walked in I knew I was going to come back. It is a little cute bakery that has cupcakes and cookies, which aren't very common or easy to find here. I tried the Speculoos cupcake and it was delicious!!! I love Speculoos, which is a sort of spread made out of cookies, and this was quite possibly the best cupcake I have ever eaten! I will definitely be returning to Le Cupcake soon to try all of the other baked goods!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Barcelona!

During Easter weekend, some friends and I went on another George trip to Barcelona for 3 days. The drive was about 7 hours. Our hostel was just off of La Rambla, the main street where they have a little market with jewelry, scarves, bags, etc. The weather was beautiful while we were there with high 60s and 70! There were palm trees everywhere and it felt like a real vacation! In Barcelona they speak Catalan, which is sort of a mix between French and Spanish. We discovered that they say their "c"s like a "th" sound, for example "Barthelona" and "grathias" (gracias). It was really funny to hear and pronounce words this way.

Tons of people!



Ahhh :)

A cathedral
La Rambla

A market!

Plaça de Catalunya



Christopher Columbus statue, pointing towards America


My friend dropped her iPhone off this bridge, into the Mediterranean Sea :(



There was supposed to be a "magic fountains" sort of show with lights, but we waited for over an hour and it never started!

Outdoor escalator
An old colosseum, turned into a shopping center

We went to the top!

We had a tour with George on the second day, where we got to see many neat things including the Sagrada Familia and the Park Guell. The Sagrada Familia was started by Gaudi but unfinished when he died and is still being completed today.




Sagrada Familia, notice the fruits at the top of the towers


Park Guell

He's kind of hard to see, but the guy in the leopard print with the guitar was insane! (not in a good way)



Walking to the beach!

Picasso
Market along the water

Beach!


Sailboats

The last day, before leaving, I went to the Sagrada Familia to see the inside. It was beautiful! I took a ton of pictures and here are a few!

The passion façade, portraying the death of Jesus


The ceiling




I loved all the stained glass and light reflections



An actual mass going on below

Silver was the right choice for the organ!

Ceiling

So much detail!

The nativity façade portrays the birth of Jesus