my trip to London has come to an end. I had a great time and learned a lot of new things. I made some great friends and got to know some old friend better. The trip was definitely worth the time and the money.
These are just a few of the wonderful people I met while in London.
¡Hola!
Sorry it has taken me so long to add another entry, we have had activities planned almost all day every day, and then the wifi went out! My site director has been taking us to all kinds of cool places since we arrived and has also been recommending yummy foods, but more about that later!
Upon arrival at the airport, I was way excited, but also very tired. I can’t really ever sleep much if I’m not laying down and since my flight was an overnighter I was running on just a couple hours of sleep by time I landed. Customs was a little scary and stressful. I had no idea where to go or what I needed to do. It worked out fine and I was able to get through with a visa for most of my time here. I have to go get an extension though, which is rather inconvenient. I was so glad to see my bag once I got through customs. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if it was delayed because I was a smart packer, but it was reassuring to have a familiar sight. I walked out to the pick-up area and what greeted by my site director, Patricia, and another student names Jessica. It was so reassuring to see Patricia and to know that I was in the right place.
We traveled to my residence first, and boy oh boy was it an interesting trip! First of all, in Peru seatbelts are not worn except in the front seats. Some cars don’t have them at all! I’ve also discovered that about 80-90% of the traffic laws in the US don’t exist in Peru. Either that, or they simply aren’t enforced, which is odd because I see more police on a daily basis than I would over a few days in the states. I thought other cars were going to collide with ours multiple times, but miraculously we made it without a scratch. I am still surprised that I have not seen a single traffic accident.
When we arrived at my homestay Patricia walked me to the door and introduced me to my host mom, Nancy. She hardly speaks any English at all, which made me feel a bit nervous because I am only at an intermediate level. So far it has been fine. I then met my host dad Tito, who speaks a decent amount of English, which made me feel a lot better. He prefers to speak Spanish with the students though so that we learn the language. He slows down a lot and enunciates well when he speaks to us, which is very helpful. I also met Nancy and Tito’s daughter named Melissa. I didn’t end up meeting their son Benjamin until the next day. Their other daughter lives in Dubai, so I didn’t get to meet her. They also have a yorkie named Ruby. I was so excited to see a dog! They are a very sweet family and seem to genuinely care about our wellbeing.
I was the second student to arrive at the Patiño’s house. I met Shannon shortly after arriving. I was so happy to hear English and to have a buddy to get me through my first day. The two of us spent almost three hours sitting at the kitchen table and getting to know each other. It was so fun to learn about her and to find things that we have in common. Oh, and here’s a fun coincidence: we have the exact same birthday, year and everything! The next student, Melissa, arrived the next day. She is a surfer and is from Connecticut. Shannon is from Maryland but goes to school in Boston. Jessica is from Portland, Maine. It has been so fun learning about the culture of the east coast while also learning about the culture of Peru.
I will post again in the next couple of days to catch you all up on my first week in Lima. It has been wonderful so far and I am loving every minute of it!
¡Ciao!
-Abby
Sorry my pictures are upside down and sideways, I’m working on fixing that!
From left to right: Me, Shannon, Jessica, and Melissa
The view of a street in my neighborhood.
My bedroom.
Week four brought many adventures and different cultural experiences!
While my time in the United Kingdom has shaped many of my opinions of Europe, my experiences in Paris has shed an entirely new light on my views of the surrounding culture. I was able to travel over to Paris for a period of 3 days; it is extensively different than that of England from its people, to food, and even to the types of living quarters. The people in and around Paris are extensively more friendly then the everyday Londoner, by this I mean that the locals actually respond to a hearty hello, or good morning on my part. In addition they also smile, instead of the opposing no smile or attention that you would receive from the people in London. It seems that the people around Paris are on a slower pace than the individuals in London and take the time to see and respond to things around them including my visiting self. Secondly to the people of Paris was their food that accompanied them. They have the most amazing crepes, and I have never tried a savory crepe or any real crepe, it was the most amazing item I have ever had the pleasure of eating. It would be a lie however to say that all of their food choices were pleasurable to all humans, Paris even with its good food, had an array of odd food items that were different than anything I have experienced or seen in London as well as in the state. For example cooked snail, I personally did not try this dish, however some of the girls that I travelled with had the pleasure of tasting it, as you can imagine it did not go well. The people of Paris seem to be adventurous in the food department and often served items such as snail off their menu. The last cultural item I noted while visiting Paris was the homes in which people lived in. Prior to visiting I had imagined Paris to have tall buildings lined with small outer flower pots lining their windows as I had seen so many times in films. It would please you to know that the films for once were correct in there depiction of what Paris living quarters were like. Immediately after exiting the train I found myself sighting tall buildings with these exact flower pots outside of almost every window, it gave the city an Italian aura and it was absolutely beautiful to witness. This was in high contrast to the sightings of London homes as I had anticipated stone cottages and vast rolling hills, only to find small stone homes (some metal), while most of the city had been modernized.
Although the city was breathtaking in certain areas I was unable to ignore the vile underground transportation system and how vastly different it was In comparison to London’s underground. The halls were filthy, as well as the walk ways and rail lines. It smelled of horrible body odor and many times I saw bodies occupying the empty space to sleep. It was apparent that the culture of Paris does not rely on public transportation as Londoner’s do and therefore the maintenance is slim to none. Overall I would have to say that both Paris and London have unique cultures that are positive in different ways and I am grateful to have been able to experience them both.
There seem to be a lot of similarities between British culture and American culture in the city. The way people dress, their interests in music, and other aspects of daily culture are much like those I see in people back home. It is interesting to see that there are so many similarities between people’s behaviors and interests here; before visiting a foreign country, I had overestimated the differences in culture and entertainment. That’s not to say the British exercise there interests in the exact same way that we do, but there are definitely recognizable patterns that show up in both places. For example, pop music that I have heard while at shopping is very similar to pop music back home, and sometimes the same artists we listen to in the states appear to be just as popular here, if not more so.
Something I have noticed about family dynamics here is that there don’t seem to be a lot of fathers out with their kids. I have definitely noticed more mothers out and about than fathers. I wonder if this is because a lot of households assume the more “traditional” working-father, stay-at-home mother dynamic. Perhaps I just haven’t been observant. However, it does seem that the majority of the fathers that I have seen out with their families seem to be of the younger generation, or older and more established in life. Something else I made a note of is that mothers and daughters can often be seen out in pairs. They also frequently hold hands as they walk – even the older daughters do not seem ashamed to be seen out with their mothers, and you can tell they respect and care for them deeply. This is an interesting contrast to a lot of girls in the U.S. It seems that many youths today are embarrassed to be with their mothers in this manner, and try to avoid people perceiving them as friends with their moms.I was happy to see these types of connections on display amidst such a bustling culture. This illustrates one major cultural theme I have noticed here: People still make it a point to make sure they maintain and nurture their family and social connections in a variety of ways despite their hectic and fast-paced lifestyles. I admire their commitment to nurturing their relationships, and their ability to relax and have fun without being overly obnoxious.
As I look back over the last three and a half weeks, I can’t believe all the thing i have done and how much I am not going to get to do on this trip. I have made some amazing new friends and i have gotten to know my old friends so much better. Here is one of my adventures with some of my new friends.
My friends from WOU and I took a weekend trip to Edinburgh during our visit. They wanted to climb up a hill, but, as I was having ankle issues and decided that the climb would not be the best idea. I chose to go wander around Edinburgh and as it started to rain I ducked into the National Museum of Scotland. What I found was amazing. It was the first time I really wished my kids were with me. They would have loved the museum as much as I did. The animals are the most awe inspiring thing I have seen since I got here. They were so huge and life like. One of my sons is in love with ocean animals and I could just hear him telling me all the facts about the giant squid that was hanging from the ceiling. Or telling me all the different kinds of sharks and whales there where in the rooms. There was a room with giant rocks of all different shapes and sizes. I could picture all my kids climbing in the giant geode and wanting to get their pictures taken. But as much as I enjoyed and was amazed by the animals and rocks my favorite part of the trip was the elevator ride I took. I ran into some of the other girls in my study abroad program in the museum and after chatting for a few minutes we decided we wanted to go see the roof terrace before the museum closed. So we hoped into the very full elevator. There were 9 floors ranging from -1 all the way up to 7. We got on at the ground floor and we ended up stopping on every floor all the way up and each time we stopped the whole group would groan and make some kind of comment. We were all laughing and groaning about the stops by the time we got to the top. As the doors opened on the seventh floor we were told that the roof terrace was closed and we would all have to go back down. We didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. We all cheered when we got back down to the ground floor.
This experience is one that I will never forget and those girls are ones that I will keep in contact with for many years to come.
After being away from the U.S for five weeks, I was wondering how it would feel like to approach my country of birth again. Arriving in the airport in Houston, TX was already an eye opener with regards to how busy things get in the airport. Everyone always seemed liked they were in a rush (though that is not a good example of U.S behavior that surprised me; Airports are usually very busy). I think what really took me aback was that I was back in a country where my native language was being spoken. I frequently had to rely on my Spanish in Mexico, so this new transition feels weird, but somewhat reassuring. I can understands conversations now like they were second nature, not like something I need to constantly keep my brain turned on for. It also felt good to be back at Portland and later in Hood River because I know the places and felt more comfortable in getting food more readily and just to take in the familiar sights as well. The idea of drinking water from the tap was a nice change of pace as well, in addition to not having to worry about sharing food with a large family, there always seems like there is more to go around now.
I can see the potential risk to being back here and having Spanish be not quite needed to the extent as it was in Mexico. However, I do live in a household where I can speak Spanish and many people from the neighborhood speak the language too, so I do not think I am too much in a risk. I am a little worried I will get too lax and end up forgetting to study. All my entertainment is here and I have my truck here so I can go anywhere and have a fun time. I reckon everyone usually has that problem when they are on vacation and at home.
The differences in the resources between the two countries were very different, but I think I have come to appreciate what both countries have to offer, especially my own country after being back for a few days now. If I had more funds, I would love to return to Mexico again, possibly see some new places. Until then, I will enjoy my time here with family and friends. After all, I could not imagine a life without them.
Since it has almost been a week and a half since my last post I figure you lovely readers deserve another one. Tuesday I went with some friends to Cardiff, it was so pretty. We took this 50 mph boat ride around the bay, which was a blast. I also might have bought a gorgeous new dress but that’s not quite as important as the fact that I’ve now been to all of the British isles. Thursday was a field trip day and it was a long one. We started with a trip to the city of London police department to see their museum. It was alright, but they had a copy of jack the ripper’s from hell letter which made everything better. Then we went to old Bailey (my not so inner Sweeney Todd fan kept looking for judge Turpin) and saw part of a case. Lastly, we went on a Jack the Ripper tour which was so cool. Friday was a day off, I ended up at the British museum which was absolutely gorgeous, so many awesome old things. That night I went to see American idiot, not gonna lie it took a lot of self control to not jump up and down on my bed screaming green day songs after I got back. Saturday I took a lazy day, but went to see phantom of the opera. Seeing that chandelier rise while the theme played was awe inspiring. Sunday I went out to Oxford, they had a history of science museum, I thought I was in heaven. Tuesday marked our last field trip of the class. We went to the inns of court, the royal courts of justice, the Supreme Court, and parliament. It probably would have been more enjoyable if my allergies weren’t trying to assassinate me, but not much we can do about that. Tomorrow is finals, but I’m not going home because my family gets here on Saturday for another week and a half of European adventure. Until next time wou blog, enjoy some photos.
I thank the gods of rock and roll and musical theatre that allowed this to be a thing
Sunset on the thames
Cardiff bay
My view from the balcony seat at phantom
The royal courts of jusrice
No idea what this statue was outside the courts, but nothing you can say will convince me roar Ira not actually a punk rock dragon with a skateboard
Sweeney Todd fan girl = content
The from hell letter
Pretty sure this is the greatest museum ever
So today has been very long. Sunny and I took a night train from Prague to the town Auschwitz is located in. It was hot and stuffy and I didn’t sleep at all because there were six of us crammed in a car. It got even better when a Boy Scout troop went to sleep in the hallway so we couldn’t get out. We had to flag down the conductor and make him stop it again so we could get off.
After that we had to walk to the hotel at 5:30 in the morning. It sucked but we had to do it cause we had no Polish money for a cab or bus. But we made it and got checked in. The original plan was to sleep till 10 then visit, but we were so tired we slept till 11 and then went to the mall where we could actually get money. It was crazy.
But we made it and it was azong to see. I’ve studied this camp for 11 years so it was mind boggling to see. We only saw camp 1 because we spent so much time looking around at the exhibits that there wasn’t enough time to get to camp 2. But it was very moving.
I can’t describe what it feels like to walk into the remains of a gas chamber. The utter chill that goes down your spine as you walk under the gate saying “Work Makes You Free* or staring at the execuction wall. The shock of walking into a room still filled with human hair and being told there used to be warehouses of it here. Or seeing the remains of gold fillings for teeth, of the massive list of the book of the dead.
It was unreal. I was standing in a place I’ve only read about and seen pictures from. There isn’t a good word for describe how utterly small I felt standing among the barracks with my friend as we both realized that seventy years ago thousands of people were dying in these streets. And there were moments when we’d pass elderly people wearing long sleeves and you could:t help but wonder…
If we had time, I would go back and see all of camp 2. But tomorrow we’re headed to Warsaw so now I have a reason to return here again someday.
Hi everyone!
Not to sound just like everyone else from the Harry Potter class, but the highlight of week 3 had to have been the Warner Brother’s Harry Potter Studio Tour. I have been a fan of the series since I was little and the tour was one of the coolest things I have experienced in a very long time. It was enlightening (and super entertaining) to go behind the scenes and see just how much effort was put into each and every entity of the films – from costume design, to special effects, and even just in the early development stages; there is so how in depth each aspect of filmmaking really is. I definitely have a new appreciation for everyone who is involved in anyway with production and films in general. Plus, who wouldn’t love an excuse to buy knee-high Hufflepuff socks?
Alexis
In the above image you can see the buildings in which were used as offices in the Ministry of Magic. This particular setting helped me see the amount of extremely fine detail that was put into the making of the films from its adaption of the novels. It went beyond the idea of basic material, and really outlined a 3D model of the imaginations that Rowling was trying to portray in her novels. I was awed mostly by this building because of the grandness it held in terms of size and color. When watching the films I had the impression that the buildings were merely green screen and they did an extremely good job molding it into reality. Obviously upon entering the Harry Potter tour you find that it was a real-life construction that took hours to make and was specially crafted as an effect for the film. Along with this idea that it allowed for furthering imaginations it showed a side to the organization of film making that truly stated the aim of the production. The director and following helpers were trying to create a real tangible world for the Harry Potter series and succeeded immensely.
PS The Harry Potter Tour was amazing!
