The End of my Journey

Well, that's it. I'm out of Spain. In England now, chillin' at Matt's place indefinitely. Hopefully I will find a job this week, but if not, it's looking like I'll be heading back soon enough.

I'll recount the last parts of my program and throw in some reflection for good measure, along with what I've been doing in the meantime.

So we had a big dinner at this so-so restaurant put on by our program. With over 115 people crowding this place up, things were a bit messy, but I still can't scoff at a free meal. Sitting there looking around I realized how little I'm going to miss those people. There's maybe a dozen or so I'm going to want to keep in touch with, and maybe a smaller group still that I really want to try to see more of in the future, but I really found most of the kids in the program to be just that... kids. There was this lame frat-house mentality that seemed to pervade our group, and it really pissed me off. I feel like under other circumstances, people wouldn't have acted so lame on my trip, but when they all got together and went out it was unbearable sometimes.

But I digress.

I spent my last few nights out just enjoying the company of friends. Went to Iman's (Eric and my's Uruguayin bar owner friend) a couple nights and we ended up staying up til 5 drinking with him and his wife after they closed. They are really nice people, regardless of their serial alcoholism (is there any other kind?). They sure are generous with the food and drink, though. Also, a lot of my conversational Spanish skills came from talking with them. We had a lot of fun nights there, and it was good to be able to say goodbye properly.

Nicole showed up on Friday and we bummed around Alicante for the day not doing a hell of a lot. I went out for a little while and said bye to a few more people who were still around, but kept it low-key. The next morning we headed off to Granada on a way-too-long bus ride. I suppose it's not particularly tasteful to mention this, but the bus smelled like menstrual blood (I know I know ewwww, gross) and it was absolutely impossible to get used to. Every noseful was like... well yeah, you get the idea. The bus' septic tank needed to be emptied. If you think that was gross to read about, imagine living it for 7 hours straight.

The hostelwas impossble to find but was really beautiful once we did. It was in this old building and was kind of open-air, so despite the warm temperatures it was always nice and breezy. I really loved Granada. It was probably the most beautiful city I've seen in Spain. The Arab Quarter had a very cool vibe to it, and the gypsies were really friendly and actually worked for their money, unlike in Alicante where they sit on their asses and drink, sometimes asking (or threatening) you for a euro. Everywhere we went there was always music in the street or some kind of performance going on. It was just a very artistic city and had such a chill feel to it. It was quintessentially Spanish. Also, unlike Alicante, it was much more diverse ethnically which was definitely a fresh change from the somewhat homogenized atmosphere of Alicante. There was also an assload of tourists, but they didn't seem to detract from the overall vibe like they usually seem to.

We hit up the Alhambra the second day, having to wake up way-early so we could get in line to wait for tickets since we didn't book ahead of time (something I recommend you do if planning on going to Granada, which you should). Before coming everybody and their mother that has ever been to Granada told me I must go to the Alhambra because it was so incredible and beautiful and wonderful, etc. etc. etc. I can honestly say they were completely right. It is easily the single most breathtakingly beautiful tourist attraction I've ever seen (not that I've been that many places).

Originally it was built in the 13th and 14th centuries when Spain was under Arab rule, but was modified in parts after the Christian Reconquista in 1492. It's a huge palace that sits above the city, giving you an incredible view. The carvings on the walls and ceilings were so detailed, and basically the entire place was constant eye-candy that I was never able to get used to looking at. It definitely helped that we were there on a gorgeous day but I've heard it's even more beautiful if you go in at night since everything is lit up all dramatically. It also happened to be a cat sanctuary, which of course made me happy.

After that we just continued to walk around, checking out the Arab Quarter and just enjoyed the day in general. We also went to a kebab place that had the best kebab I've ever had in my life. Nicole definitely knew what she was talking about when she brought us there. I ate one each day we were there, but kind of wish I got another one.

Another good thing about Granada was how cheap it was. The whole buy a beer, get a tapa (or vice versa, depending on how you look at it) thing was incredible. For €1.20 you get a beer and a small plate of food, incredible. These weren't little wussy tapas either, you spend 2 and a half euros and you're pretty much fed for the night, not to mention two drinks deep already. Excellent deal. Most places we checked out had delicious tapas too, so it's not like just getting a little dish of peanuts when you get a drink.

So after Granada we went back to Alicante so I could pick up all of my crap and say goodbye to my host family. I'll definitely be missing them, as they were so good to me. Besides feeding me, doing my laundry, and making my bed every day, they were also very nice, very cool people. They helped to make my time in Spain a truly enjoyable and comfortable one. So after one last tasty paella, we hopped on a train for Barcelona.

We got in at night, so all we did was get some food and watch a movie at Nicole's place. Nicole lives with this 30 something year old, awkward, neurotic, Catalan pride filled dude named Dani (who also happens to have an asian culture fetish). He seemed nice enough, anyway. Dani has an awesome psychopathic cat named Sushi that I happened to be extremely allergic too (moreso than most cats it seems). I had a lot of fun playing with it since it had so much energy and could jump extremely high.

Anyway, we walked around Barcelona the next day and enjoyed another beautiful day. I got to see the big palace and where they had the 1992 olympic games. We checked out a Dali gallery which was filled with some of his earlier stuff and a bunch of his sculptures. Most of it was pretty twisted, in traditional Dali fashion. The rest of the day was just walking around and sitting around in parks, relaxing. That night we ate at an incredible Indian/Thai/Whatever fusion place and I had an incredible lamb meal with mashed sweet potatoes. This was the first somewhat fancy type meal I've had in a long time and it was so good it was ridiculous. It also wasn't very expensive either, which was sort of surprising. Afterwards, we went to an absinthe bar and sucked a couple of those back before deciding to head home.

The next day I got up and got the hell out, having to lug an assload of heavy luggage to England. I ended up having to pay almost double what I paid for my ticket because my luggage was overweight. It was actually 19kg overweight, but they only charged me for 10kg (€75!), and ignored the fact that I had one too many carry-ons. I guess you could call me lucky, but I'd rather you call EasyJet and tell them to eat bleach.

So I've been in England since Thursday, seeking employment, illegally. I think the guy at passport control knew what I was up to cause he was giving the the 8th degree or whatever. He was asking all sorts of questions like how much money I have access to and when I was planning on leaving (not once, like 3 times. he wouldn't stop asking until i practically told him what time my plane was departing). It just annoyed me because he was laughing and joking around with the New Zealand couple that went through before me. I guess he had a right to be suspicious (hehe), but it sucks to feel so scrutinized. I don't even want their crappy free healthcare!

So I found a few places that looked like they might not care that I don't have a visa, but I need to stick around at least an extra week to hear from them and interview, so i cancelled my plane ticket today and haven't re-booked yet. I figure by the end of the week I'll have a much better idea of my options, and if things look grim, I'll get a plane back ASAP and start working at $tarbuxxx.

I'm definitely feeling a little torn because I really would like to stay here and work for the summer, but I'm also missing friends, family, and home in general. I feel like if I have the opportunity to be abroad for even longer, then it's ridiculous not to take advantage, which is why I'm so bent on trying to find work here for the summer. I could easily loaf around Matt's place for 3 months, but I do need to save up some money, especially after spending almost everything I own these past five months. I am set to graduate in December and it will help to have some sort of nest egg waiting for me. The plus of being here is that I have a free place to stay and will make a killing with the exchange rate. As I'm writing this, £1 is equal to $1.88. If the dollar keeps dropping, it'll be double to the pound in no time. So even if I can manage £6/hour that's like getting paid $12 an hour back in the States! That's better than I'd be doing at Starbucks. Plus, England is beautiful in the summer. Generally the stereotypical grayness subsides and it's mild and sunny here, which will be better than a hot humid summer in Boston. The other benefit is that I would be able to take up an interview with the BBC and see what they might be able to tell me about future employment. I might even wander into their offices this week just to see if they have any information about what I could do to move in the direction of being working for them.

So yeah. Reflections on my progam. Uhhhh. It was a good program, I suppose. The ten page papers we got assigned at the end of it were definitely ludicrous. I gained very little from having to spend that much time filling up all that space. Ummm. I got to try a lot of new, delicious food. Ooooh, I know. I can look back at my original goals that I set when I started this blog and see how I did with all of them. Let's take a look...

Learn Spanish Fluently - HA! My ass! I'd like to see any of you learn a language fluently in 5 months. Seriously though, fluency does not come as quickly or easily as I assumed it did. That's not to say my Spanish didn't come a long long way, I just can't converse anything like I was expecting. I think I was just beginning to think in Spanish a bit as the program was coming to end, which is a shame, cause another 6 or so months and I'd be talking Spanish like Pauly Shore talks nonsense (it's a good analogy). I did start to have a couple dreams a week in Spanish which was promising. I am taking one class taught in Spanish in the Fall, so hopefully I will still be sharp enough to follow along.

Get Humbled - Nope, can't say that really happened. I didn't "realize the error of my ways" or feel like my eyes have been opened to a whole new and/or better way of life. I can't really say I was a closed-minded person to begin with, so while I learned a lot, appreciated and loved everything I experienced abroad, I can't say I felt "put in my place." Spain is a lot like the U.S. in a lot of ways, and also very different. Some stuff is better, some stuff is worse. And then there is a lot of gray area that depends on your personal tastes. Maybe if I want to be truly humbled, I need to visit some less stable locations. Next year in Bosnia?

Meet assloads of people from all over the world - Well I wouldn't call it assloads, but I definitely did meet a whole bunch of people from all around Europe. The University of Alicante did host a good deal of international students and it was fun to go out with people from all over the place. It's too bad I didn't start doing so a lot until towards the end of the program, but I can't really complain.

Learn to dance - Well I didn't learn Flamenco or anything like that, but I went out and danced a lot anyway, so I'd say all the practice definitely made me a better dancer. I don't feel quite like a one-legged chicken anymore when I'm in clubs.

And then there was the anti-goals. Things I was trying to avoid.

Starting a smoking habit - Nope, still not a smoker. I had a cigarette here and there when I was out, but no more than I normally would anyway. I don't think I'm cut out for a serious cigarette habit, which suits me fine.

Partying excessively - Well, I didn't exactly abstain from alcohol, but I wasn't an alcoholic either. We did have good handful of those on our program. I didn't let going out affect my schoolwork, so I'd say this anti-goal was a success as well. I didn't have any nights where I can't remember what I did, and I also didn't do anything I regretted whilst drunk, so I think I attained a serendipitous level of moderation.

So while I didn't achieve all of my goals to their fullest respective extents, I also didn't develop any vices. I think it's that my experience in Spain turned out to be a lot different than I expected it to be. The program itself was structured so that we more or less had our hands held the entire time, which could be extremely annoying. Take the Erasmus programs (for Europeans), for example. Students are given a monthly stipend (rather than paying to come abroad, they are paid instead) and given a pat on the butt in the direction of the country they want to study in. They need to find their own apartment and work out just about everything else for themselves. We started with 2 nights in a hotel with an intensive orientation session that lasted the entire week. They made sure to keep us close and only exposed to other Americans. We then were introduced, one by one, to our host families who took us in and made sure we could wipe our own asses with the new, unfamiliar, Spanish toilet paper. While it was nice to be cared for, it made me feel like a child. The entire program we were always kept close to the other Americans (we were in classes only with other Americans) and while there was opportunity for exploration, it wasn't exactly encouraged. I still managed to have a great time with it, and I think I gained a lot from the program, but at times I just wish it wasn't so tightly closed in.

So my overall impression was positive, despite those small details. I'm not exactly sure why, but I have a weird feeling this program would have been even better for me a year ago, moreso in the middle of my college career, rather than so near the end of it. Don't ask me why, I just sorta feel that. On the whole, I still wish I was able to go abroad in Latin America rather than Europe, but my language skills definitely weren't where they needed to be at the time. If I had more time I would maybe try to go down to Argentina or Chile, but it's obviously not possible at this point.

So for now my job hunt will continue here in England. I'm going to allot myself about another week, and if things aren't going well, I'll be trying to make my way back to the US on the earliest flight I can catch. Matt has been really cool to let me stay here with him, and has been as helpful as he possibly can in helping me find a job, so I owe him a lot at this point.

As for whether or not I will continue this blog, I'm putting some thought into it. I almost feel like my life isn't generally interesting enough to warrant recording it, but it might be therapeutic to get my thoughts down in words from time to time. Maybe I can practice my journalistic craft and talk about other things not necessarily related to my personal life. I'm not gonna go all political blog on you, but I might be able to comment on current events and how I feel they affect me/us or whatever. I'd hate to become one of those self-righteous blogging know-it-all types (rather than the regular self-righteous know-it-all type that I usually am), but I can try to avoid that, I suppose. It's also an easy way to keep people updated on my life without having to send out mass-emails, which I've never actually done. Well, I'll figure all this out soon enough. For now, dinner.

Thanks for reading!