Returning After Living Abroad

Returning after being abroad can be difficult depending on, I think, a lot of different reasons. I was abroad for 5 and a half months, basically living what had become a dream of mine since childhood. Living in Europe was a great experience, I would even call it life changing, and it changed my perspective on so many things. If you allow it to, I think studying abroad, traveling, immersing yourself in other cultures, and meeting people from around the world, can truly teach you much about yourself, other people, and the world.

To re-enter the United States is a strange process, and I think it is maybe as valuable as the experience of being abroad in the first place. To be honest, it has been a come-down. I am now back in Amherst, MA, a small town population 30,000, it is bitterly cold and has snowed quite a few times since I returned already. My campus, Hampshire College, is extremely sparse, the student body is small and the campus is small and pretty boring. I have to get back into the routine of things, taking the same paths everyday, to the same 2 or 3 buildings I go to every week, seeing the same few people who I know here. It is a change, from being abroad and living a life completely different from mine, traveling through Spain, Portugal, Italy, and going to Paris…

But this is life. Getting through the monotony of it is difficult, but I have to try. I have a lot of academic issues, trying to start on my thesis means getting together a lot of papers from the past 3 years, writing a retrospective on what I’ve done so far in my undergrad career, a bunch of bureaucratic processes, and finishing up a paper for a class I took a year ago. Can any of it compare to walking through the Louvre, or the Vatican Museum, or simply having fun with a friend riding around on our bicycles at Midnight?

The answer is no, but also, this must be accepted, it cannot be fought against. This is my life now, back here in the Middle of Nowhere, the only thing I can focus on is working hard, so that I can get my degree at the end of the year. Then I can be free again.

NOTE: Mari I miss you! It is my first semester here without you, I hope everything is well in Colombia! Rest assured, I am extremely jealous, but happy for you, living your dreams.

Last Week I was in Paris

Fuck.

That’s all I have to say.

Back in the U.S.

I have been back “home” now for two days, and it has been a strange experience to say the least. As I was running errands today, the spatial context of where I was and the huge difference it is with Europe really hit me. I’m happy to be back here, but only because I want to finish school as soon as I can, without any other mistakes. The concept of home is a funny one. Here, I don’t live with my parents, except for a week here and there, and I’m only home with my aunt during breaks. I’ve been living in different places so often, that I really don’t feel any attachment to one certain place, house, city, or anything of the kind. I am certainly attached for my family, I love them dearly, but not to this country. When I returned to Holland, it felt like home for me, I was comfortable there, I knew how to get around, and there were people familiar to me. What I know now for sure is people make all the difference, not any particular building or set of buildings. I’m not ready to stay in just one place, and I am looking forward to moving on from here again, traveling a bit more, and meeting other people from cultures different from my own.

I already can’t wait for my next holiday…

In Holland

Wow, I was so happy to get back to Holland, I really missed this country. I know for sure I could have spent another semester here, but real life calls me back in the States. I was a bit sad! There were so many improvements done and I’ll be going back tomorrow. In my old house, they installed a NEW washer and dryer!! And there’s now a Starbucks in Leiden! It couldn’t be any better, but I guess this is the time to go, with good memories and still wanting to be here, rather than bored and ready to go home…It makes it a bit sweeter, and makes me feel happier to have gotten to live here.

Back to Holland…

Well I am on the train from Paris to Amsterdam. I should be arriving there in 2 hours, then I will return to Leiden from there. Its been a long trip, and I’ve spent my entire last month traveling. On the 27th, I have an 8 hour flight back to the United States. I am sure I will have much more to write soon, when I’m back in a more relaxing atmosphere.

Paris was amazing. I loved the city, its very diverse and modern at the same time as keeping its historical past. The views from the Arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower were breathtaking. The Louvre was massive, and I also enjoyed the museum showcasing 19th century painters such as Renoir, Monet, and Gauguin. Yesterday I went to an expensive restaurant in Paris called Cafe de la Paix (www.cafedelapaix.fr/uk/navigation.htm) and tried escargot (snails), don’t worry, there are pictures and video! Champ Elysee maybe trumps New York’s Fifth Avenue and Notre Dame is one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen.

Traveling through Europe is over, from the 24th of December, I went to Spain, Italy, Portugal, back to Italy, and finally France. It was my “Grand Tour,” and I know I will remember this experience for the rest of my life.

Where I’ve Been

Holland: Amsterdam, The Hague, Venlo, Leiden

London, England

Italy: Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, Florence, Pisa, Pompeii

Spain: Madrid & Barcelona

Portugal: Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon

and tomorrow I am going to:

PARIS

Volver

I’m back in Venice! Talk about a place I never thought I’d return to, at least not in the near future, yet here I am.

And its freezing!

In Rome

I’m back in Rome, just trying to relax and plan for my next move. Tonight is my last day, these stops in Italy (Rome & Venice) are just unforeseen circumstances on the way to Paris, as you all know. But who can complain? To get some coffee again in Venice, and walk about along the Grand Canal and San Marco’s…it’s a dream really.

I now feel like a traveler. The last day in Lisbon (yesterday) I didn’t do any tourism, I talked a lot with people I didn’t know about my travels, where I’d go next, and many of them told me I seemed to handle very stressful situations with ease. I guess I’m good with coming to terms with things, and not showing too much stress on the outside. I gave the book I finished about Nietzsche to Joel, the guy in the hostel in Lisbon who had an interest in philosophy, and always wanted to strike up conversation with me on the subject; which consisted mainly of making fun of Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Derrida’s hair and fashion sense.

I got to Rome fine, although my flight was delayed which was annoying, spent an hour just sitting on the plane going nowhere. I got to Rome and found my hostel with ease, its in a great location right next to a metro, and then discovered I did not have internet in my room, but this is a small hassle. I talked to this guy from Croatia who now lived in Barcelona, mainly I was asking about internet, then we talked a bit about the staff here not seeming to know anything. The one thats great about the hostel, its the most comfortable bed I’ve had in ages! After that I went to see Aline and just talk to her, I felt I had a lot of new insights, and many of them were directly concerned with the people closest to me, so I wanted to share with her.

After that I returned to the hostel, read a bit, and then woke up around 9, mainly just relaxing now and plan on going to see a church later today. I’ve been doing a lot of reading, right now Aesop’s Fables, which I read for a couple hours while I ate breakfast. I will probably be eating only one meal a day for now on (which I’ve done the last 2 days), but its not that bad and I don’t really notice, but I do make sure to hydrate frequently!

One more night here and then again to Venice, talk about deja-vu. Then the last and final stop, Paris! I have decided to accept my sadness and instead of trying to smother it, only then can I enjoy my last remaining moments in Europe…

Contact

The best ways to contact me right now are:

my e-mail: alf07@hampshire.edu

and through messengers: tua47300@temple.edu (for MSN) & wortownrican (for AOL/AIM)

And also, of course, facebook. You can also write less personal messages on this blog, also check out my philosophical blog, Ambitudo a Mortis. I think I will have skype in Rome and Venice, since I will probably have private rooms.

To my dear family and friends: I love you.

I leave soon from Lisbon and again to Rome. I am just now hoping for a bit of rest, and be rid of anxiety.

What Happens When you Forget your Passport

Wow, yesterday was one of the most stressful, tiring, anxiety-filled, and fear inducing days of my life. For some reason, the day before I was set to leave Portugal I had the feeling that something would go wrong, perhaps I subconsciously fullfilled this prophecy yesterday.

I was all set to leave Portugal and get back to Holland, my flight was from Porto at 5PM, I would arrive in Dusseldorf, Germany and from there to Venlo to see Nathan before he heads back to the States. Aline and her friend were to travel to Rome and Venice, and we would all meet back in Paris for a few days on the 21st.

We took a taxi from our hostel in Lisbon, which dropped me off first at the train station. From there I took the 3 hour+ journey to Porto, and then the 1 hour train ride from Porto to the airport. At the airport I started to look for a place to eat when I suddenly remembered, I didn’t have my passport. I looked in the usual spot I put it, but I knew it was not there. I had left it in the safe deposit box in the locker of my hostel in Lisbon, 4 hours away and my flight was in an hour and a half.

Panicked rushed over me, I had no idea what to do. Could I afford to get out of Portugal now? Would there be other flights? Could I make them in time? What if my passport wasn’t in the safe deposit box in Lisbon? Would this ruin the plans for Paris? Will I see Nathan before he leaves? I couldn’t shut off my mind, and it took a supreme willfulness just to stave off the tears which desired to come plunging down my face.

I then took the 1 hour train ride from Porto Airport to Porto, the whole ride I felt like crying, I felt isolated, I had no idea where to go, the next flight to Holland was at 6AM, but there were no flights after until the 20th or 21st! There was no flight to Dusseldorf until the 21st also. I wouldn’t make the 6AM, by the time I got to Lisbon the trains would be over for the night. I had no idea what to do, my stress level and anxiety about the next few days and weeks was at an all time high.

I reached Porto train station feeling extremely lonely, I decided the first thing to do was to locate my passport, and proceed from there. I booked the next cheapest train back to Lisbon, another 3+ hours on the train, I spent reading Nietzsche crazy and at times sick thoughts, which maybe didn’t help things. I was questioning so many things, where would I stay? What would I do now? Is there a way back to Holland? What about Paris? Etc, etc., it seemed never ending.

I arrived in Lisbon and took the cab ride back to the hostel. The receptionists and staff were extremely surprised to see me as I told them, I think I left my passport here. It was 9PM, the last train to Porto had left I realized, the fantasy of getting back to Porto before 6AM for the 100 euro flight to Eindhoven was over, what to do now? I found my passport exactly where I had realized much to late I had put it for safe keeping, I was relieved, but not so much, I knew it was there! But what could I do now? Keep paying to stay here? I payed for this night as I realized I was trapped here…

I began looking for flights out of Portugal, I had already been here a week, and with friends it was already hard enough to bear the language barrier and out of placedness feelings I had felt during the trip. I liked the country, but hated the idea of being stuck here until the 20th or 21st! I wanted to get out. I looked for flights to Eindhoven, none, I missed it until the next one on the 20th, and there was no point, I was planning on traveling to Paris that day or the next. The next flight to Dusseldorf, the 21st. Shit. I didn’t want to be stuck here. I looked for flights from all the airports, Porto, Lisbon, and Faro, none none none none. I checked the flight tomorrow from Lisbon to Rome, it was 90 euro, and at this point my only friend left in the continent was there. I felt weak, and realized, I didn’t like the idea of being alone in Europe, especially in Portugal. I could be alone in Leiden…but there was no way back there! I checked flights to Brussels, but none, the next flight to Rome was the cheapest available option, and the soonest, I realized I had to do it.

I booked the flight to Rome not worrying about where I would stay but just knowing at least I wouldn’t be by myself in Portugal, wasting money on a hostel night after night. I told Aline I was coming, and I’m sure she was shocked, what! you’re coming here? I couldn’t imagine, but I was really not sure where else to turn at this point.

So, now its 8:30 am, my flight to Rome is at 3:25PM, its been a horrible set of circumstances, many times I had the fantasy of just being able to run home, but it of course wasn’t an option. I wish I could just run back to Leiden or Venlo, but I had committed an irresponsible act, and that was now out of the realm of possibility. I had to return to Italy, just hoping I had enough money for traveling expenses. I am still worried…

Firenze! (Florence)

I realized I didn’t write anything on Florence. Florence maybe my favorite city in Italy, and is definitely among my favorites in Europe along with Venice and Barcelona. Although I was only there for 3 days, I seen a lot of truly great things, which was like a dream. We seen the Florence Cathedral, which is like one I have never seen before in my life, it looks like multi colored paper, like someone took color pencils and colored in pinks, blues, and reds all over the building. Our hostel was one of the cheapest in the city, but it was really good, maybe my favorite one in Europe! It was really private, a nice large room, and the shower was big enough for me! The city is clean, bright, easy to walk in and it was really refreshing to be here, a huge difference from Naples and even Rome. I felt like in Florence, they actually care about their city and the art and history it contains. I felt a connection with the city and was definitely not expecting to love it so much, although now it seems obvious it being the capital of my favorite artistic historical period. We did the Uffizi, which was not quite as large as I was expecting but it was just right! So many masterpieces, a perfect Michelangelo of the Holy Family which I learned about in a class, one of Leonardo’s most famous paintings, and a stunning room of Botticelli including the Birth of Venus. After the Uffizi we went to the Accademia to see the David, it costs 10 euro which was a little steep for a museum which contains literally 1 thing, the statue, but its worth it, the perfection of this sculpture needs to be seen in real life to be truly understood. They don’t allow photos, but I’m sure I got at least a few good ones. The last day we flew from Pisa, it was raining heavily so I got no pics but Aline got quite a few, the Piazza and of course Tower were beautiful, but the walk was kind of ruined by my feet being soaked.

Portugal

Portugal has been a surprisingly beautiful country. The people here are truly wonderful, everyone has been friendly and hospitable, and the food is actually not bad either! I arrived in Porto from Gerona, Spain, the flight from Gerona was a bad experience, they charged me 35 euro to check my bag because it was too large, and then I had to carry it on anyway, 35 euro for nothing.

We got to Porto and then to the hostel I picked, it was a really good hostel so clean and with good staff, breakfast, etc. I also met Aline’s friend Luiza, who is a really nice girl, she always has a smile and is friendly so everyone loves her and responds kindly to her when she speaks. Its been very easy to travel with them and I enjoyed Porto very much, although the hills have been very difficult after living in Holland for so long!

After Porto we went to Coimbra, the third largest city in Portugal and famous for its university. The city had a lot of character and I took a lot of random pictures here, which will be uploaded soon (I hope). After Coimbra we set off for Lisbon, the capital, where I proceeded to get motion sickness on the train due to the winding and up & down topography of Portugal. Our hostel here is really nice, the highest rated one in Lisbon, in a great area. There is only one problem, its full of weirdos! I will extrapolate on this experience in a later post dedicated to making fun of student travelers, “random” humor, awkward conversation, and small talk.

Goodbye for now my dear readers.

Where I´ve Been

I´ve been getting a lot of where are you? messages. Since Dec 31st I´ve been in Italy. Ispent 5 dayys in rome, 3 days in Naples, including Pompeii, and 3 days in Florence, including Pisa. As of now I am using a pay by minute computer in Gerona, Catalunya, Spain, I have a flight to Portugal in a few hours. My travels in Italy have beenwonderful and surreal. Please be patient on pictures as I am still traveling.
Note: Don´t go to Naples. These peoplemake Italians from ersey look classy.

Napoli!

I am now in our great hostel in Naples, Italy. Rome was amazing! My favorites were by far the Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms, Vila Borghese, St. John Lateran Cathedral, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and of course the Trevi Fountain. I saw so much amazing architecture, along with sculptures, paintings, and ancient ruins, that I can’t yet realize the sum of what I’ve seen. I am now in Naples, looking forward to seeing Pompeii and maybe Procida if the weather permits.

España and now back in Italia

I am writing from my wonderful hostel in Rome. Actually, it would be wonderful, if the bathrooms were not strange and the water in the shower was hot. But besides that, you can’t beat 20 euros a night in one of the most visited cities in the world. Its not in the center but on the subway line, so its easy to get into the city.

Spain with my sisters was interesting. The cities (Madrid & Barcelona) were a lot different from others I had been to in Europe. Both are large cities, but they are very modern and clean, cosmopolitan. It is easy to get around and extremely tourist friendly. The metros are so clean and dependable, and there are wide spanning avenues to walk on along with many plazas and typical small European pedestrian streets. I really liked Spain even though I did not get to see as many things as I may have wished. Still, it was great to see my sisters and the food was really good.

I am in Rome now. The city is truly amazing. There are many structures still standing from Roman Empire, such as the Pantheon and the Colosseum. The buildings are truly awe inspiring and give an impression of power, wealth, and strength. Then, there are the many impressive buildings spanning from the Renaissance to the more recent 18th and 19th century. You can walk around the center of this city for days and it seems around every corner is another amazing sight you have only seen in movies and pictures. I was literally up for 48 hours the night of New Years. I flew from Barcelona to Madrid, spent the night in the airport in Madrid without sleeping, and then headed early from Madrid to Rome. The flight was ahead of schedule from Madrid to Rome by an hour, so I only slept an hour or so on the plane, and got to Rome early, around 10:40 to the city center. After that me and Aline walked all around the center of Rome seeing the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Forum, Arch of Constantine, Vittorio Emmanuelle Monument, Quirinale, and finally the Piazza del Popolo for New Years fireworks. My favorite was the Roman ruins and the Trevi Fountain, I can’t even begin to describe the beauty there is to witness in this city.

I was so tired by New Years that I could not even celebrate, I had been up for 2 days and the fireworks were surprisingly underwhelming. I expected the fireworks to be amazing! But they were not, I think many things were canceled because of the heavy rains in the city that night. Finally around 2am we gave up and decided to spend a few hours in the train station in Rome. By 10AM we finally made it to our hostel and by 11AM we were asleep, I had officially surpassed the 48 hour mark for consecutive hours awake. I woke us up again at 5PM and we headed back into the city, we went to the Spanish Steps, which are huge and give an amazing view! Then we went to my castle, Castel de Angeli, and to the bridge Ponte de Angel, which has sculptures of Angels all along the bridge. After that we headed to Vatican City to see it at night, it is of course beautiful. The plaza is the most perfectly designed plaza in the world and St. Peter’s is probably the most perfectly designed church in the world. I loved it.

Today we woke up early to go to Vatican Museum. We ended up not leaving until 10AM though and by the time we got to the Vatican the lines were crazy! I said we should just come back on Monday and leave to Naples late in the day since I’m sure the lines will be less than on a Saturday. So me and Aline left and headed to Villa Borghese, where a great story unfolded…

It took some time to get to Villa Borghese because we had to walk through the entire park to reach it. The park is really nice though and great to take photos in. Finally we got to Villa Borghese, but we couldn’t seem to find the way to get in. An American guy told me that they weren’t letting anyone back in for that day. I couldn’t believe it and set in my mind that we were getting into the Villa somehow, there was a once in a lifetime exhibit of Caravaggio going on inside plus the Bernini masterpieces…I had to get inside. I went to walk inside and this asshole Italian guard came up to me acting tough, which just annoyed me more. I told him well we are students here and only 2 persons and I want to talk to someone about tickets not you. He said no, so I told him okay I’ll talk to your manager then and he allowed me to go to the ticket office, following me around the entire time. At the ticket office there was by far one of the bitchiest ticket bureaucrats I have ever met, she wouldn’t answer my questions and just kept saying sorry there is no way and just overall being rude. I told her I wanted to talk to her manager then and she told me go somewhere to the right without telling me where. Finally I went to a ticket machine and we seen it had tickets available for 2 people at 3PM, we went to purchase them but then it changed to only 1 and would only give us 1 ticket. At this point I was pissed off! I went back to the lady and told her hey it said 2 available and I already paid and only gave us 1, she said well sorry there was only 1 available, I said well tell me where your manager is. I was arguing and getting heated so Aline went outside and she thought it was futile. Finally I went to some other lady but she didn’t speak English so she got some guy he did. He was giving me the whole sorry there is no way routine but I was not giving up. I kept smooth talking him not being rude but assertive and told him that I think my card was already charged for 2 tickets because we selected 2, even though I think it only charged for 1. We were going back so long but I was showing him I would not give up and would go to whoever and wherever in order to get inside. Finally he said okay the best thing to do is for each person to go in one at a time, I said no that is ridiculous I went to purchase 2 and it said 2 were available if thats the case I want a refund and I want to talk to whoever is in charge here. I think he could see that I was a serious guy and I was speaking in a respectable and professional manner, so he said alright listen, go get your friend, put your stuff away and come back here. I went and got Aline and said, “We are going in” and I’m sure she thought I was crazy and didn’t believe me. We went to the guy and he said, sorry your ticket is at 3PM and I couldn’t believe it! But his colleague was I’m sure like, just let this guy in, I felt I had proved my merit and they let us in, for me and Aline got in for only 1 ticket for 13.50 and the tickets for students were 7! So we saved money and got in! And they had tried to say it was sold out until the 4th of January! I was so proud and Aline couldn’t even enjoy the show and art she was just obsessed with me getting us and she truly couldn’t believe it. I of course felt so cool and that I had beat the man (the asshole guard and mean ticket office lady. The Caravaggio-Bacon show was amazing!!!! The Bernini’s were the greatest sculptures I have ever seen in real life and the experience was totally great.

After that we walked around Rome a bit and then had a good meal and returned to the hostel. Tomorrow we will do the Ancient Roman ruins and the Capitoline Hill, and on Monday we will wake up early for the Vatican.