Spring Break was definitely one of the highlights of the semester for me. I’m sure that Spring Break is basically a highlight of every semester for every college student, but this entire semester was basically an adventure, so calling it a highlight means a lot.
Anyways, my flight left on a Thursday afternoon, so naturally I made the responsible choice and skipped my Thursday morning class. I got to Berlin and waited around for my wonderful College Park roommate to come meet me at my hotel. We then proceeded to have an amazing time in Berlin, where we learned many things: Germans are incredibly nice, if you try to avoid paying for public transportation you will eventually get fined and bratwurst is delicious, but if you eat it twice in one day you will be sorry.
Berlin
We spent four days in Berlin, wandering around the world’s best flea markets and random street fairs and looking at stuff of historical importance. I actually didnt know what any of the important stuff in Berlin was (aside from the remains of the Wall of course), so I learned a lot of stuff about history. And it’s cool to be well informed. We also went clubbing in what used to be a dairy, visited a bar owned by a famous German death metal band (we felt extremely uncomfortable) and took a free walking tour, which was not at all what we expected. We thought we’d be seeing all the aforementioned important stuff, but instead we walked around looking at graffiti for three hours. Which was quite cool, but also a bit of a surprise.
After Berlin, we went to Alcala-de-Henares right outside of Madrid, where my roommate is studying abroad. In Spain, I was surprised to learn that things are much less expensive, fortunately for me. Tapas in D.C. is a real expensive and classy thing to do, as far as I know, but in Spain tapas means for two or three Euros you get a delicious hot snack AND a beverage. Once I got a grilled cheese and sangria for 2.50. Amazing. Those of you who have read my earlier posts will be aware of my love of food and beverages, and I’m sure you can all imagine my enthusiasm for this gustatory miracle.
The Spanish also party a lot harder than the French, or Terps, for that matter. “Going out” can easily start after midnight and continue until 8 am. They don’t drink in the ridiculous qualities that some people indulge in, either. Maybe it’s thanks to siesta, but some people really stayed out dancing all night. I am proud to say that I meringued with a Spaniard, although it would be more correct to say that he did the meringue in my general direction while I smiled uncertainly and bobbed my head in time to the music.
After Alcala/Madrid, we went to Alicante, which is a resort town on the beach. It’s kind of like the Spanish version of Nice. We were there during Semana Santa, so we got to see these really cool religious processions that they do. Afterwards we went out in the “Barrio” which was basically an area of about four blocks consisting of only bars and restaurants. We ate dinner and then went to a bar that had one Euro mini-margaritas.
I realize that I haven’t spent much time directly promoting study abroad, although I think that may have been my original intent. But when I think about it, it really is a hard thing to sell to someone who’s not interested. Running away from your well established life for four months isn’t for everyone, and if it’s not something you think is right for you, no one will be able convince you. So instead of saying you should do it, I will advise you to think about it. Talk to friends who have done it, because I don’t think you’ll find too many people who regret going abroad.
I have done so many amazing things this semester, and I was not nearly as adventurous as some of my friends. If anything I will regret not doing enough while I was here, but I know I will never regret my decision to study abroad. I’m not one of those people who likes “reflecting” and talking about “personal growth” and books like “Eat, Pray, Love” will never ever be found on my bookshelf, but I have to admit that I have really learned a lot about myself’ this semester. Yuck. I’ve also become friends with people I never would have encountered in College Park, and I’ve learned a whole bunch from them, too.
So that was it, my final blog entry. I feel like I just got home from spring break and all the sudden I’ve only got three weeks left. And 21 days sounds like a lot, but it’s not. There are classes that I’ll only have twice more, and people I could conceivably never see again and I’m not really sure how I feel about that. I’m excited to go home, I think, but I also don’t actually want to think about it because the thought of going home makes me…uncomfortable. It’s a very weird feeling. I can’t really explain why, for example, the idea of not seeing the neighbor who rides around the block on his scooter, while his cat (on a leash, of course) rides on his shoulders. But that guy is part of the life I carved out here, and it’s just one more thing that’s going to end soon. The end! See you all in the fall.