This weekend I had the incredible opportunity to take a day trip to the neighboring Basque city of San Sabastian and then the counterpart city across the border, Birraritz, France. It is quite crazy to think that in the time it takes to drive from Madison, WI to the Illinois border I can be in France from Bilbao. I guess that is what happens when your countries are the size of mid-western states. These two towns are the largest tourist spots in the Basque country (the cultural land stretching from Northern Spain to Southern France). Additionally, both of these towns came to exist because the royal family of their respective countries wanted a prime vacation palace on the beach. Today the former queen residence in San Sabastian is an elite spa and fitness center while the palace built around the time of Napoleon is now a fancy hotel. The kind of hotel that I got side eye from the valet for entering in my classic tourist attire.
Well, so much for these being regular posts. I will try to go back and post photos and explain the days but honestly they are starting to blend together already. Classes have started this week and although there were some hiccups with scheduling, it feels great to be back to a more regular routine and be in a room with local Spanish students. Last Friday, some fellow international friends and I decided to hop on the metro and go to a beach just 45 minutes away from the city center. This beautiful beach was such an amazing site and we were lucky enough to see the sunset as the surfers headed for land for the day.
An American, Italian, Polish, Solvakian, Turkish, two Brazilians, and two Ukrainians walk onto a beach…Beatriz says she has been to more beaches here in Spain this week than she has in her native Brazil.
Quick update on classes, I will be continuing with a Spanish Grammar course, People Management, Organizational Management, International Marketing, and possibly a Basque Language and Culture course.
Each year, my mom and I take time to make vision boards for the upcoming year by cutting out pictures and phrases from magazines that we hope will represent our year. And every year my mom reminds me that my goals for the next year need to include something for each part of the life wheel. This “life wheel” or health circle consists of mental, physical, social, and spiritual goals that help keep you balanced. Today I was reflecting on how I am doing with these goals and how leaving home has affected them:
Mentally, I have been challenged in new ways that have made me question my self-confidence and mental fortitude in difficult situations. I fear people find me less intelligent because it is harder for me to articulate my thought. I am worried that I am not ready to be a full-fleged adult taking care of themselves. However, I have also gained a great trust in what my gut is saying and felt reaffirmed in all my emotions.
Physically the steps on my Fitbit have been skyrocketing while my nutrition has been dwindling. Trying all the new foods here has been so satisfying to my taste buds but not having a kitchen or a home-cooked meal in a week has not been satisfying the rest of my body. In addition to adjusting my body to the different mealtimes in Spain (breakfast between 7-9. Lunch 2-4, and Dinner not until 10), I realized I need to focus more on adjusting where I am getting my nutrients from. Thankfully, a quick search for a supermarket today ended with me eating fruits, protein, and a delicious cup of noodles (what, I am still on a college budget after all).
Left= Ham salad on toast Right= The kraken with cream sauceLeft=Hard boiled egg and shrimp with cream sauce. Right=some sort of pungent seafoodMy main food groups were bacon, chocolate, bread, and octopus.
Socially the past day has been zero to one hundred for social interaction. The only people I talked consistently to for the first 4 days were my extremely patient boyfriend and my unwaveringly caring parents. Other conversations occurred between waiters and my future homestay mom, but these interactions were not enough to quell my outgoing nature. However, the beginning of classes brought with it new people from all across the world who are looking to talk to me as much as I am looking to talk to them. I also want to be grateful for the wonderful woman who works at the front desk of the hostel who was very thrilled when I told her I had finally made friends.
And finally, spiritual health. This is the part that can truly dictate all the other aspects and yet it can be the hardest for people to recognize and maintain. Having spiritual health is the difference between waking up everyday wondering what you are living for and waking up knowing Who you are living for. The fundamental belief that God has a plan for me and I am simply trying to discover what it is has redefined my perspective at high-anxiety moments. Also, the fact that I am never alone in my faith has become crystal clear in the past days. I have been lost in this city more times than I can count but no matter where I ended up it was never more than a block away from a church whose beauty would take my breath away. On the first three nights in Bilbao I went into the same nearby church for prayer and Mass. My mind and body instantly felt at home with the familiar rhythm of a Mass, the universal nature that I cherish in my Catholic faith. An older woman grabbed my arm after Mass and began sharing her favorite parts of the church to me: a clear outsider who was struggling to understand her. She then showed me to the back sacristy where elegant stature of Mother Mary brought me back to my home parish, Our Lady Queen of Peace. During my breakdowns on the phone with my loved ones they reminded me to pray and made me realize that my prayers are not alone. The peace deep in my heart knowing that people on the other side of the world (some of whom I haven’t met) are praying for me is such an extraordinarily humbling existence that makes me feel blessed beyond words.
I remember someone telling me that “Spain is like the Florida of Europe” and while they were referring to the weather and how some parts look like they are taken from Disney world, the laid-back atmosphere and personality has already shown through. I am sitting on a bench watching an older man ride around a fountain (currently closed for “winter”) while the young child on the handlebars rings the bell. ON the benches around me are two older ladies reading the newspaper, three young people chatting and laughing, and no less than three separate benches with one sleeping on man each. There is just an ease with everything here. With two days alone and nothing to do I was thinking I would move quickly trying to see everything, but with 5.5 months ahead of me and only two days left before classes, I am taking my dad’s (an old man I can imagine sleeping on a park bench) advice and just sitting down places for long amounts of time. Currently I am trying to decide if I would rather be a bird lady or a bag lady, but I will probably end up as a newspaper lady, which sounds good to me.
Thirst for Good Times
Later addition: When walking with my luggage between the hotel and the hostel my suitcase wheel got stuck in a drain which made me think of the woman in New York City getting her heel stuck in a grate, only less glamorous.
When I was a competitive Irish Dancer I learned about the power of visualization: siting down and imagining how things will go in order to foster confidence and optimism towards performances and competitions. While this mental practice is proven effective for many things like performances, tests, and public speaking, I have learned in the past two days that it doesn’t work as well with solo travel. A major source of my pre-travel jitters was not knowing what homestay I would be staying in, so when I received confirmation two weeks before I left, I latched onto the images and description provided and visualized my life in Bilbao. Yesterday when I arrived, the homestay was not as described, and I was left jetlagged in a hotel with no vision of the next semester.
When in doubt, step into the nearest Church. I wandered in here my first night just in time for closing prayer and a moment of peace.
Thankfully, with a new day (and a goodnight sleep) came some self-discovery and insight. Wandering the streets and eating at a table for one made me realize how little time I spend alone. Whether it is sitting down for family dinners or walking to class with friends, there are very few times when I by myself around others. Especially in dining halls, there almost seems to be an unspoken rule that if you are sitting alone you need to have headphones, a laptop, or a phone visible at all times during your meal. With no headphones, wifi, or cell service for most of the day I was left extremely self-conscious of how people would view me sitting alone eating my mystery sandwich (tasted like chicken but smelled like fish). Sitting at the bar top for dinner, I looked around and realized that I was not the only person alone and that no one cared at all that I was grabbing a bite solo. It was just one of those little moments that I had never visualized myself in so when I found myself there is was stressful instead of simple.
A nice old fashioned map to stand out as a tourist.
I now have a wonderful homestay established and a hostel booked until I can move in at the beginning of next month. The public transportation is so easy to navigate and there are sculptures and parks everywhere you look. It is amazing to see how much the city has invested in itself; from cleaning up the riverfront to creating completely sustainable public transportation. I see a lot of connections to Milwaukee, except I am not buried in snow. Visualizing can be useful for many things but in my first days here in Spain I learned that sometimes it is better to not visualize, but just see what there is in front of you.
Back on the blog, this time in preparation for a whole new type of adventure. In January 2020, I will be leaving Wisconsin and moving to Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain for a five month study abroad program through Marquette University and Universidad de Deusto.
Feel free to follow along as I begin this new adventure!!
On our final, full day in Northern Ireland Tim took us to see the Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. These places were so incredibly beautiful that I don’t think any of my words can do them justice. Please enjoy some of my favorites:
Believe it or not this was just the view at the beginning of the walk to the causeway.Female YAs winning queens of the hill.Cute shoes vs. safe shoes. You guess which won As someone who loves heights, this was awesome!!Our whole group after out hike from the bridgeSee the very light silhouette of mountains right in the middle? Yeah, that’s Scotland.
Already Wednesday. Goodness. To round out the political spectrum of Northern Ireland I spent time with DUP councillor William Walker at his office in the Newry, Mourne, and Down district council offices. There he, along with a member of the planning committee, heard complaints from local residents.
As we were sitting and listening to concerns over privacy with the building of new housing and concern over un-permitted building I just realized how full circle my knowledge of politics has come. While these concerns and formal complaints may seem like they only impact the individuals involved, I can now see how they can signify greater political issues. We as citizens want to be heard because government is supposed to work for us. When local residents talk with their councilors they are reaffirming their faith in the people they elect. This is especially important in Northern Ireland.
For some citizens in Northern Ireland it can feel like there are no politicians working for them. Members of Parliament in Westminster can be too distant and Members of the Legislative Assembly are failing to get Stormont up and running. Voter turnout rates in Northern Ireland are relatively low and that just reflects the sentiments that citizens have. What is the point of doing your civic duty when the politicians you elect as MLAs aren’t doing their part?
I have now seen the government here at every level (with the exception of actually visiting Westminster) and every politician I have spoken to has showed the same things: dedication and frustration. At the local level, councilors like Walker, Brown, Andrews, and Bain show dedication to their neighbors and constituents by listening to their concerns with roads, housing, education, and safety and are searching for a solution. However, when I asked them about their views of the national assembly and inter party cooperation, their answer more often than not began with a heavy sigh. At the regional level, both the offices of MLA Rogan and MLA McGrath expressed frustration with various parties and the inability to get Stormont running, yet they equally explained the dedication it takes for the politicians at Stormont to be present and continue to work.
“Because it is Northern Ireland, it is complicated” was one of the first phrases I heard during my work placements here, yet, from an outsider’s point of view, I see more similarities between parties than I do differences. Of course I understand the critical differences between the parties and the historical backdrop on which all of Northern Irish politics unfolds, however, when I talked with each individual, they all want a lasting peace for their constituents. Peace is the “why” for many of the politicians in Northern Ireland, and after almost two weeks of immersing myself in their world, it is much easier to see “why”.
Today was the first day in Northern Ireland that I thought I knew exactly what we were going to do: sit in a constituency and learn about the representative and the party they represent. The key word in that sentence is “thought”. What began in Castlewellan ended up on the steps of Stormont.
Initially Lexi (Milwaukee), Callan (Arizona), and I were under the impression that we would be spending the day in the Sinn Fein office of MP Chris Hazzard. However, once we arrived there we were driven to the grand gates of Stormont for an official tour and meeting with Emma Rogan MLA.
Stormont as a building carries the same grandeur and architecture that you would find in parliament buildings in England and in the US. We made this observation to MLA Rogan and she commented that it is quite beautiful but directly reminded her of British imperialism in appearance. I found this an eye opening moment because when I thought about it, there was nothing in the building that directly screamed “Irish”.
Grand and prestigious or controlling and oppressive?
Yet again I was blessed with a fantastic tour guide who explained the historical and symbolic nature of the chambers of Stormont. At one point during the second world war, the building was being used as a military headquarters but because of fears of bombing, the whole building was covered in a layer of tar, manure, and grass in hopes of camouflaging it. Can you imagine the US capital covered up to look like dirt?
I realize that it is crucial to note (as everyone we met today did) that currently the assembly is not functioning. The entire assembly has been suspended since January 9, 2017 due to disagreements between Sinn Fein (Nationalist) and DUP (Unionist). MLA Rogan has been part of talks to try and open the assembly back up but from my perspective she did not seem too optimistic.
Overall our interview with MLA Rogan was extremely informative and gave more depth to our understanding of Sinn Fein, the party often referred to as the political arm of the IRA. It will be interesting to keep up with how these talks progress and what compromises (if any) can be made. Today was a perfectly timed reminder that plans are made to change. After this adventure to the heart of Northern Ireland’s government, I couldn’t imagine if I had just stayed at the office.
Note: there was no Green or Orange. Only what I would call ‘red-orange’ and ‘blue-green’
Only a 2 hour drive south of Downpatrick there is a country called the Republic of Ireland and a small town you may have heard of, it is called Dublin. This city that is the topic of some of my favorite irish songs lived up to every expectation I had.
Grafton Street, Dublin
Our first stop in “Dublin’s fair city” was the Leinster House which is the home to the government of the Republic of Ireland. The wonderful tour guide showed us into the public gallery of the assembly chamber where he explained the symbolism and history of the house. The chamber we were sitting in was originally part of a school which made me realize that no lecture halls in my university could ever compare. The whole structure of the irish legislature is called Oireachtas. Interestingly enough ‘Oireachtas’ is also what we called the regional championship in Irish Dance. After a bit of digging, the only connection I can make between the two is that ‘Oireachtas’ can be interpreted as meaning and assembly or gathering and in irish dance it is one of the largest gatherings for the year.
Another fascinating tidbit of information from the tour is that a grand hallway was built especially for President Kennedy to walk down during a visit because his bad back could prevent him from climbing the stairs. The punchline of that tidbit was that he ended up taking the stairs so now they are left with a beautiful hallway-turned-gallery.
Don’t worry, I am not holding the original declaration of freedom for the Republic of Ireland.
Following our trip to Oireachtas we strolled up and down Grafton st.. Dublin is such a vibrant city and it is on the top of my “cities to return to” list.
Eventually we ended up at Iveagh (pronounced Ivy) House which is home to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Ireland. To say that I was excited would be a massive understatement. This is equivalent to our Department of State and we were blessed to not only receive an extensive tour of the building but to also sit down and chat with policy workers and analysts for the department. Six department workers sat with us and explained the different aspects of Irish foregin affairs they focus on, from Irish-American relations to reconciliation efforts in Northern Ireland. For them these large scale issues are broken down into the day to day decisions and statements that the department makes. Everything is carefully calculated and all possible outcomes of trade deals or no deals are determined before action is taken.
Our final stop in Dublin was quite a special treat. Our Canadian ambassador’s aunt and uncle who are based in Dublin invited us over for a 5-star, home cooked meal. I am immensely grateful to them for opening their home for our large group and for sharing stories of growing up in Ireland.
The Odyssey Years 