Shifting Impressions

What a place this is, southern France. It is very different from my first impression in Paris. Near the Mediterranean, the weather and the people are warm. Greetings are exchanged between everyone in close proximity and it seems to be common place for you to get out of your car and directly ask someone on the street (or the driver behind you) for directions several times in one trip. But this place is not exactly heaven either. Driving in France often feels as if you are taking your life into your hands. At least that is how it feels as a passenger. As far as I know, everyone seems to know what they are doing, but the fact that the traffic laws are fast, loose, and rarely enforced can make a foreigner feel just a touch uneasy. And the skinny roads don’t help either!

This region is very beautiful, though. An excursion through the countryside allowed me to see the orchards of olive trees and wine vineyards. Crumbling old buildings and even some ruins peppered the landscape. My aunt took me to see a couple of the oldest remaining villages in the region and it felt like I was in some romantic movie as I walked the small lanes between centuries old houses, shops, and monasteries. My aunt told me that in the summer these places are crawling with tourists so I was glad that I was there at a much more quiet time. The towns that we visited are called Les Matalles and St. Guilhem.

The other day my aunt, uncle, and two cousins took me to see the Mediterranean Sea, a specific request of mine since they live very close. It was gorgeous, as expected, the only thing missing was the sunshine. It has been quite cloudy, but the humidity of this place keeps the air warm. In fact I have been constantly hot while my family believes it is very cold. Spending time in Holland before coming here did me no favors! I am completely unprepared for the heat, humidity, and Palm trees. And yet everyone here is bundled up in coats and scarves!

I am so glad that I decided to learn Spanish. My family here does not know very much English. Their main languages are French, Spanish, and Farsi (my aunt being Persian and my uncle Chilean). Thus, Spanish has been our go-to language for almost everything, except when my aunt and cousins want to practice their English a little. Before coming here I thought my Spanish skills were severely lacking, but having had this opportunity to use it so much I feel that I really underestimated myself. All I needed was to put it to use to get the hang of it. Of course, it is not perfect fluency, but there aren’t many misunderstandings nonetheless.

My aunt and I and our day touring the surrounding villages.
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Tired after our day at the coast.

My cousins Sacha (right) and Thibault (left)

Send Off: New Beginnings

I just said goodbye to the students and professor. Seeing them off was a little emotional, but the bitter-sweet group hug only slightly stifled the cracking of jokes in this humorous group. I made sure that each one had their passports and liquids in order before leaving them at security and they promised to come visit me at the office when I returned stateside.

Before we left the hostel I gave them each a little gift. I bought twelve small intricate spoons that perched at the end of the handle have a little windmill with the word “Holland” engraved beneath it. On my study abroad program last fall my peers and I received a similar trinket from one of the program leaders as a parting gift. I chose to carry on this tradition because I wanted us all to have something that would remind us of this journey and of each other. We really did mesh into a tight-nit family, something that in the beginning I didn’t expect to happen to such a degree.

Yesterday we visited Rotterdam and walked through the city for the day. The weather was beautiful and the sun reflecting on the water and elegant, modern skyscrapers created an entirely different ambiance to what we had been exposed to in the rest of Netherlands. I understand why the Dutch love this city, it is so different from the old architecture and cobblestone streets of the quaint Haarlem and Delft. And yes, it is a beautiful and luxurious city. But to me it felt so much like being in any big city in the US. However, cleaner and more functional. It is definitely not the same city it was before it was obliterated in WWII. But for the Dutch, it is better.

I can’t believe how fast this program went. The tears I dried and headaches I relieved gave me a different sense of purpose than what I have felt before. And I really liked it. For me, this position has made me aware of my potential responsibility and I truly feel that this experience is another big stepping stone in the upward trajectory of my life.

The students have changed too. It may not be so noticeable, but they will be arriving home different from how they left. The cultural experiences they’ve had and the issues they’ve learned about are now forever a part of them. And they will also use this experience as their own stepping stone to even greater opportunities. I think that is my favorite part of travel. The fact that you are always taking in certain pieces of things from everywhere you go, and they become a part of you. Until you are a beautiful mosaic of all the people you have met, cultures you have been exposed to, and perspectives you have absorbed.

My next post will be from Montpellier, France. Until then!

The little decorative spoons I bought everyone

One of the girls braided my hair

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Waiting on the train

Seeing them off…

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The End is Near

Our time is coming to a close… Tomorrow is our last day, and on Saturday everyone goes home to the United States. Except me- I will travel on to Montpellier.
A few of the students are ready to go home. Their feet are sore from all of the walking that we are not used to in the US, and they miss their families and pets. I don’t blame them. I miss my big bed, my four-legged kids, and my fiancé. But probably most of all I miss powerful dryers (sorry Thomas). Drying machines in Europe do not dry clothes well. The clothes come out damp even after two runs in the dryer and at that point you have to hang dry them to finish the job. Of course, dryers like these are more energy efficient, I’m sure. But who the hell cares about the environment, I just want my clothes dry! (Hopefully you all pick up on the sarcasm…)
Today we spent our time traveling back to Haarlem from Bruges. It was several long train rides with three train changes- one in Brussells, one in Rotterdam, and one in Amsterdam. The rural Belgian and Dutch landscape was the only source of entertainment.
Two students have introduced the Dutch to ice cream sandwiches… They are not a common food item here in Europe. But there is a cookie-pastry here called Stroopwafels. They are truly addicting. I think I mentioned them in an earlier post. But today these two students decided to get creative and make ice cream sandwiches using the Stroopwafels. And it was REALLY good! The student who made it gave me the honor of having the first bite. It was worth the mess. I am now trying to convince him to start a Stroopwafel ice cream sandwich business here, which would be quite lucrative according to our hostel hosts.

Our last sites of Bruges from atop a bell tower:

Traveling and dinner…
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Medieval Paradise

We arrived in Bruges, Belgium last night. To our dismay, the hotel we are staying in charges 5 euros to use the internet wifi for only two hours. As you can imagine, the students and I have been boycotting that nonsense and instead I am now sitting at a small bar down the street to use its free wifi, sampling the Belgian beer (hard life).
Bruges is absolutely gorgeous. It is a medieval city that still struts it’s Romanesque, gothic, and baroque architecture. And there are still buildings and houses here that are of the original 14th century construction. We took two different 2-hour-long walking tours of the city and I wish I could recount to you here all of the fascinating stories and details of this place. We are only here for one more night- in the morning we go back to Haarlem, Netherlands.
Two days ago we spent a day in Amsterdam. That was an intense day. The students took a walk through the Red Light District as part of the study of the Netherlands approach to tourism. We heard some lecture on tourism by some heads of this department for Amsterdam and learned about the challenges of tourism and how cities strive to make it a sustaining and socially/environmentally responsible business. And that night we took a canal tour of Amsterdam, which was incredibly dazzling due to the lights on all of the bridges and canal houses that turn on at night. Just before dinner, we lost two students on a crowded shopping stretch. We found them after a while and it turned out that it was just a misunderstanding of the stated meeting place, but wow. I think I almost had a stroke. If anything is going to keep me away from motherhood it is this trip!
Speaking of that, the students have taken to calling me Mama Carmen. They know that I try to have a close eye on them at all times when we are in transit and sometimes one of them (the jokester) purposefully hides behind something to freak me out. It has worked a couple times…
I am so glad that the students feel comfortable with me, though. At first I was worried they might feel hesitant to come to me with their problems. But they have actually really opened up to me and have come to me for all sorts of issues. It is a really gratifying feeling to know I’m helping them to enjoy this program and get through it easier.

Unfortunately I am not taking many photos on this trip because I am taking so much video footage for the promotional video I am making for the program. But here are some of the photos I have been able to take…

Amsterdam

In the Antwerp train station

Some photos of our time in Bruges
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Bicycle Hell, Clog Heaven, Lovely Company

Well yesterday was a painful, but fun day. We rented bicycles and spent the morning and afternoon riding out to the beach and around Haarlem. I think everyone is feeling the effects of the ride. We all cringe a little when we sit! After a few of us crashing and getting lost during the hour-long ride, this was the beach we finally made it to:

I don’t know how many times I fell off my bright yellow “Rent a Bike.” But I know I looked like an unmistakable idiot tourist. Our group was pretty awkward. Some of us almost got hit by cars since we were unaware of the bike traffic rules and others accidentally hit pedestrians as they were trying to steady themselves on these death contraptions. The Netherlands has shown us that we definitely DO NOT know how to ride bicycles. We have found a whole new respect for the Dutch.

The sun decided to warm up Haarlem upon our return and we lounged in the plaza before our dinner reservation at an Indian restaurant.

Today we visited the town of Zaanse Schans, a traditional Dutch town that is somewhat dedicated to tourism. There are windmill tours, cheese and chocolate making lessons, and clog crafting demonstrations. I couldn’t resist and had to buy a pair of wooden clogs in my size. And I found out that even the ducks in Holland like chocolate. One was shadowing me until I finally surrendered a piece. She ate it right out of my hand!

We have the rest of the day to ourselves. Some are relaxing in the hostel and others are exploring more of Haarlem. I am so pleased with this group of Fellows. We all get along so well and there don’t seem to be any real cliques developing, which often happens on study abroad programs. Each one of them brings something special to the program and I am very much enjoying the process of leading and getting to know them all.

I almost forgot. I couple days ago Cynthia asked me to find particular and unique building here in the Netherlands. It’s architecture is iconic. I didn’t think we would be traveling to the city it’s located in, but it turns out that where we had to change trains to get to Zaanse Schans was that very city, Zaandam. And guess what was RIGHT NEXT to the train station? Yep. The pictures aren’t too good, but this is for you, Cyn!

I AMsterdam

I AMsterdam. Many have seen the photos of these giant block letters in the heart of Amsterdam. They are the ones pictured here:

They are placed in front of one of the most well-known museums in the world, the Rijks Museum. It is basically the Louvre of Netherlands. Inside are timeless masterpieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer, knights’ armor of wars passed, and the jewelry of royal women long gone. The museum itself has a similar majestic awe that the Louvre had when I visited three years ago, but the artifacts and artworks at the Rijks are more Dutch focused and a little less diverse. However, I felt that this gave the viewer a deeper sense of Dutch history and culture than if it had wings dedicated to ancient Egypt and Rome.

Today was “museum day.” The students visited the Amsterdam Museum, the Rijks Museum, The Van Gogh museum, and others. It was a chance to get the experience of one kind of tourism tool implemented to progress and develop the urban space. A discussion will follow tomorrow to put this experience into the curriculum context. But overall the students really enjoyed exploring the museums.

While out on the streets I bought a package of Stroopwafels, a delicious cookie-like pastry that consists of two very thin waffle-wafers put together with a thin layer of a caramel-like syrup smooshed in between. They are a favorite in Europe. I bought the pack to handout to the students who hadn’t tried them before, and they fell in love. They are looking forward to buying more and bringing them back to the states. I don’t think they well be as amused when I find a street truck that sells pickled herring and make them try that too. But I like to think that if you haven’t tried it, then you really can’t say you don’t like it. Somehow I don’t think that they will agree. Will let you guys know how it goes!

Tonight we had dinner at a Cuban-style restaurant. Well, it is supposed to be Cuban, but the main food items were different kinds of tapas, which to me made it a Spanish restaurant. The waitresses made one of the students a special and unique drink and named it after him because they were so taken by him. It was a pretty funny time, and we made sure that he got a picture with the four waitresses before we left. What was especially fortunate was that they told us to come back next Friday. It has been a little difficult finding affordable restaurants that will take 12 people on short notice. But it looks like we at least have one night for next week figured out!

Exploring and Settling in Haarlem

After getting a little lost, but finally finding our hostel in Haarlem, we took time to settle into our rooms, which are gorgeous by the way. Our built-in bunk beds have attached wooden ladders, and the room opens through French doors to an open air atrium. It is the most comfortable hostel I have ever stayed in, and would honestly want to rent a room here if I ever relocated to Haarlem, Netherlands.

Many of the students have found it difficult adjusting to the bicycle culture that saturates this country. More than a few times I or the professor have had to shout “watch out for the bikes!” or “don’t stand in the bike lane!” Unlike in America, bicycles are given right of way in the Netherlands and it is understood that the pedestrians will move out of the bicyclists way, not the other way around.

We found a nice little restaurant/bar to eat at for dinner which had many traditional French, Belgian, and German dishes. I would have taken a picture of my Schnitzel to show off, but my iPhone was too dead to bring out with me.

Tomorrow we will make a day trip to Amsterdam to begin studying the urban tourism industry of the Netherlands. And by the time I next make a post I should hopefully have more photos to display…

Here are some from the past 24 hours:

Setting off

Layover in Iceland

Almost there!

Piles of cheese! And it’s really really good cheese too. I am cursing my lactose intolerance right now…

…8, 9, 10!

By this time tomorrow the Fellows, the Professor, and I will be settling into our hostel in Haarlem, Netherlands. But for now we are waiting the hour and a half it will take before we can begin boarding the plane…

By the end of the program I think I will be counting to ten in my sleep. We have not even left Seattle, but I have constantly been doing head-counts as we make our way through the airport. I am paranoid that we might loose one of the ten students in the crowded escalators or security lines. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous about international travel as I am today. Of course, the students are adults and don’t need to be babysat, but I still feel somewhat responsible for them. So I will continue counting to ten and crossing my fingers that everything will go as smooth as possible. Wish us luck! Will post again once we are in Haarlem.

Expedition Fellows 101

Time to dust off this digital diary of my travels. I am excited to say that in a day and a half I will embark on another journey to Europe. This time, however, instead of being a participant on a study abroad program, I will be helping to lead such a program and the students who will be taking part. My role will be as a peer leader and assistant to the faculty member in charge of the course, which has an Urban Studies focused curriculum. Furthermore, this blog will be featured on the website of the study abroad office at UWT, and will supplement my other projects to promote this UWT program called Expedition Fellows.
Expedition Fellows is a special program that takes freshman and sophomore students on a specifically designed study abroad adventure during the spring break. Last year, the Expedition Fellows program took place in Costa Rica, where students studied environmental issues and practices of the region. This year, the program will take students to the Netherlands and Belgium, where they will study urban tourism and the subsequent urban development, it’s benefits and consequences, that have arisen over many decades.
While supporting the students and assisting with logistical details, I will be taking video recordings of our excursions with a goal of creating a (hopefully half decent!) promotional video for the Expedition Fellows program, in hopes of promoting its success to potential future Fellows. This blog will serve as another promotional tool with its placement on the UWT Office of International Programs website, as well as my personal travel blog to keep my family and friends constantly updated, as it has done in the past.
The program begins on the 19th when we all depart from Sea-Tac airport and ends on the 29th. I will then journey alone to France where I will visit family and stay until the 7th of April.
I hope to post updates daily this time, so return often! See you there…