Sometimes you plan to go to Madrid for your birthday and it all falls through, sometimes you have days where you go through your full range of emotions in 12 hours, sometimes you are torn between your home where your family lives and your new 'home' abroad. Sometimes all these days fall into one and sometimes that day is called Nov 30 2013.
I haven't had too many hard days since moving to Spain in August but yesterday was definitely one of them. I spent a lot of time with my mom on skype, didn't eat a proper dinner and was just overall bummed. However, today is a new day (a new month in fact) and it´s to move past the Thanksgiving sadness, dust myself off from my failed trip plans and start over. Today is a day full of homework and maybe a brief outing with an American friend. What did I learn this week? Disasters happen, sometimes you cry a lot, but life goes on just like it does at home. I think that lesson is one of the most important ones you can learn abroad.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
74 days in, a lifetime to go
Though I haven't been blogging I´ve been thinking a lot lately. After over 10 weeks in Spain some parts of my life are finally starting to feel normal. I have a solid group of friends I hangout with, I can hold everyday conversations in Spanish without (a lot of) fear and I have a set routine which includes classes in the morning and students in the afternoon. However, some days still feel like I just arrived. I still get lost at least once a week, there are still a few incidents where I have no idea what someone is saying to me and there are nights where all I wanna do is go home and cuddle with my dogs. While the bad days seem horrible and the good days seem amazing overall life is normal. I never though I´d say that living my life in Spain could be normal but instead of complaining about grandiose things like finding a piso and not understanding how to grocery shop we now complain that our favorite cafe isnt open on Mondays or that the tortilla we got for tapas was dry or the everyday things that everyday people complain about.
Now that all my residency paperwork is figured out I am a much happier camper and hopefully as of Novembre 26 I will have my resident card in hand. Right now I am fighting with a little homesickness because Thanksgiving and my birthday are approaching within the next month. I want nothing more to sit down on Thanksgiving and stuff myself with my dad's delicious turkey, but there is give and take because if I were home this semester I would be taking exams on my 21st birthday. Instead, I am celebrating a 4 day puente with a trip to Madrid.
So, 74 days in and what have I learned you ask?
1. Time isnt the same here. For those of you who follow Dr. Who Spain time is wibbly, wobbly, timey and wimey. No one is ever quite sure when homework is due, the extranjería never called me when my papers were ready and things that begin at 9 do not hit full swing until 10. Sometimes this is annoying however other times, such as when you cant find your keys and dont leave your piso until the exact time class starts, it can be beneficial. In general it is teaching me to relax. That things will work out when they work out, and not a moment before.
2. You cannot learn a language to the point of fluency without living somewhere that speaks it. I have learned more in 10 weeks here than in all my 4 years of previous study. People just dont call you an empollona at home....
3. Being American has disadvantages and advantages . First the bad, almost everyone will want to practice English with you. This is extremely annoying. Firstly because Im paying out the wazoo to be here to learn Spanish while the majority of the students pay significantly less and secondly, for them it is still practice in a foreign language, for me it is just another time that I revert back to my native language. This irks me so much. However, I have come across a very good gig teaching private English lessons for a beautiful 11 € per hour. Though this doesnt seem like much between my 4 students I pay rent and most of my groceries from this money.
4. You learn who your real friends are. I have kept in contact with only a handful of close friends back home and those that havent made an effort to contact me I have learned to let go of. Nothing like moving to a different continent to make you realize who is there for you. You also learn quickly who your closest friends are here. For example, my American friend MJ feeds me numerous times per week, calms me down when i am spastic and is always a good listening ear and reality checker. I also know that my group of friends f rom Italy would do anything for me. When everyone is in an unfamiliar situation and searching for support the walls come down quickly.
This coming weekend Im taking a trip to País Vasco with the Centro de Idiomas and Im very excited to spend a few days outside of León. While I love it here it is a bit small for my liking and I am looking forward to a day in a bigger city. Thats about it for now. I will try to update once more before Christmas
Now that all my residency paperwork is figured out I am a much happier camper and hopefully as of Novembre 26 I will have my resident card in hand. Right now I am fighting with a little homesickness because Thanksgiving and my birthday are approaching within the next month. I want nothing more to sit down on Thanksgiving and stuff myself with my dad's delicious turkey, but there is give and take because if I were home this semester I would be taking exams on my 21st birthday. Instead, I am celebrating a 4 day puente with a trip to Madrid.
So, 74 days in and what have I learned you ask?
1. Time isnt the same here. For those of you who follow Dr. Who Spain time is wibbly, wobbly, timey and wimey. No one is ever quite sure when homework is due, the extranjería never called me when my papers were ready and things that begin at 9 do not hit full swing until 10. Sometimes this is annoying however other times, such as when you cant find your keys and dont leave your piso until the exact time class starts, it can be beneficial. In general it is teaching me to relax. That things will work out when they work out, and not a moment before.
2. You cannot learn a language to the point of fluency without living somewhere that speaks it. I have learned more in 10 weeks here than in all my 4 years of previous study. People just dont call you an empollona at home....
3. Being American has disadvantages and advantages . First the bad, almost everyone will want to practice English with you. This is extremely annoying. Firstly because Im paying out the wazoo to be here to learn Spanish while the majority of the students pay significantly less and secondly, for them it is still practice in a foreign language, for me it is just another time that I revert back to my native language. This irks me so much. However, I have come across a very good gig teaching private English lessons for a beautiful 11 € per hour. Though this doesnt seem like much between my 4 students I pay rent and most of my groceries from this money.
4. You learn who your real friends are. I have kept in contact with only a handful of close friends back home and those that havent made an effort to contact me I have learned to let go of. Nothing like moving to a different continent to make you realize who is there for you. You also learn quickly who your closest friends are here. For example, my American friend MJ feeds me numerous times per week, calms me down when i am spastic and is always a good listening ear and reality checker. I also know that my group of friends f rom Italy would do anything for me. When everyone is in an unfamiliar situation and searching for support the walls come down quickly.
This coming weekend Im taking a trip to País Vasco with the Centro de Idiomas and Im very excited to spend a few days outside of León. While I love it here it is a bit small for my liking and I am looking forward to a day in a bigger city. Thats about it for now. I will try to update once more before Christmas
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
ERASMUS, Money, and Americans Abroad
A warning, this will be a long winded post.
Seeing as in I am in the Facebook group of ERASMUS students I decided it was a good idea to research up on the program. I almost wish I hadn't because it just makes me upset that the US, thinking of itself THE world, cannot implement something similar, especially with our growing minority populations.
To be clear, the source of my information is the university website of University College London and was
published in June 2012.
Firstly, the mobility grant: The chart on this website says that for Spain students receive 370€/month. I already have my piso arranged in Leon and a rough idea of groceries, and I am budgeting about 300€ a month. This amount seems that it would easily cover shared housing and groceries easily.
Secondly, at least at UCL, if one chooses to go for 10 months they pay NO tuition. You read that correctly, 0 dollars, zilch, NADA! This just blows me away. I pay normal tuition fees PLUS an administrative fee for each semester I study abroad. For the fall my bill was $2900, yes I realize this is very cheap for an American university, but when I am taking the same classes as the people paying, oh , NOTHING, I have to say that that is unfair.
Thirdly, travel. Yes, people in the ERASMUS program do have to pay for their transportation to and from their country, though I have had a friend from Germany who had her travel expenses covered. Anyway, the $1000 end of summer flight from the US to Madrid sure beats the $237 flight from Berlin...
Lastly, visas. Please refer to my All About Visas post if you want more information about how an American obtains ERASMUS students do not need to worry about a visa, sure they may have to register when they arrive but there is no fingerprinting, FBI background check, trip to Chicago, or 4 week wait in the mail to get the passport back. This isn't specifically due to the ERASMUS program but it certainly is a truth.
Now let's compare the above 4 scenarios with what happens in the USA when one wants to spend a year abroad in Spain.
Mobility Grant? What is that? I pay for my mobility with saved money from working in the summer and during the school year, a little bit of loans, and some family help. Yes, there are study abroad scholarships available for Americans but I did not receive the required acceptance letter from Leon in time to apply for any of these. Also, those who receive pell grants are eligible for another scholarship, but I am not in that group. So, without a US nor an ERASMUS grant my 3700 € will have to come from somewhere else.
Free Tuition? For going to another country? When pigs fly my friends, when pigs fly. My tuition this year will be roughly $6000. Not bad you say? WEll, for a normal American university student, no, not bad at all. But when you are in the SAME classes with the people who pay $0 , or a nominal fee if their tuition is not covered under a full year grant it is pretty infuriating. We are receiving the same lecture, the same exams and the same credits for this course. So please, beg tell me why some get to go for free and some pay $6000? This is outragoues and is probably my biggest beef with the whole scheme.
Traveling to any destination in Europe means BIG BUCKS for anyone in the US, and dropping back by home for a weekend because you are homesick? Not gonna happen. It is a much much much bigger commitment to come 6000km than 500.
Lastly, the bane of my existence, the visa. It cost me in total a little over $200. ERASMUS students don't have to worry about this at all, thanks to having free mobility within Europe. The mental stress of this alone is worth $1000....
So, where does that leave us Americans? Those of us that come from the country that is supposedly most powerful in the world. Well, to be honest, it leaves us SOL. Flights, visas, program fees, tuition... no help from any sort of organization like ERASMUS. With Spanish being the up and coming minority language in the USA one would think that sending students to Spain to learn the language and international relations skills would at least be on the bottom of the agenda.
Well, this is one frustrated American chica signing on.
If anyone has thoughts on this please comment below!!
Seeing as in I am in the Facebook group of ERASMUS students I decided it was a good idea to research up on the program. I almost wish I hadn't because it just makes me upset that the US, thinking of itself THE world, cannot implement something similar, especially with our growing minority populations.
To be clear, the source of my information is the university website of University College London and was
published in June 2012.
Firstly, the mobility grant: The chart on this website says that for Spain students receive 370€/month. I already have my piso arranged in Leon and a rough idea of groceries, and I am budgeting about 300€ a month. This amount seems that it would easily cover shared housing and groceries easily.
Secondly, at least at UCL, if one chooses to go for 10 months they pay NO tuition. You read that correctly, 0 dollars, zilch, NADA! This just blows me away. I pay normal tuition fees PLUS an administrative fee for each semester I study abroad. For the fall my bill was $2900, yes I realize this is very cheap for an American university, but when I am taking the same classes as the people paying, oh , NOTHING, I have to say that that is unfair.
Thirdly, travel. Yes, people in the ERASMUS program do have to pay for their transportation to and from their country, though I have had a friend from Germany who had her travel expenses covered. Anyway, the $1000 end of summer flight from the US to Madrid sure beats the $237 flight from Berlin...
Lastly, visas. Please refer to my All About Visas post if you want more information about how an American obtains ERASMUS students do not need to worry about a visa, sure they may have to register when they arrive but there is no fingerprinting, FBI background check, trip to Chicago, or 4 week wait in the mail to get the passport back. This isn't specifically due to the ERASMUS program but it certainly is a truth.
Now let's compare the above 4 scenarios with what happens in the USA when one wants to spend a year abroad in Spain.
Mobility Grant? What is that? I pay for my mobility with saved money from working in the summer and during the school year, a little bit of loans, and some family help. Yes, there are study abroad scholarships available for Americans but I did not receive the required acceptance letter from Leon in time to apply for any of these. Also, those who receive pell grants are eligible for another scholarship, but I am not in that group. So, without a US nor an ERASMUS grant my 3700 € will have to come from somewhere else.
Free Tuition? For going to another country? When pigs fly my friends, when pigs fly. My tuition this year will be roughly $6000. Not bad you say? WEll, for a normal American university student, no, not bad at all. But when you are in the SAME classes with the people who pay $0 , or a nominal fee if their tuition is not covered under a full year grant it is pretty infuriating. We are receiving the same lecture, the same exams and the same credits for this course. So please, beg tell me why some get to go for free and some pay $6000? This is outragoues and is probably my biggest beef with the whole scheme.
Traveling to any destination in Europe means BIG BUCKS for anyone in the US, and dropping back by home for a weekend because you are homesick? Not gonna happen. It is a much much much bigger commitment to come 6000km than 500.
Lastly, the bane of my existence, the visa. It cost me in total a little over $200. ERASMUS students don't have to worry about this at all, thanks to having free mobility within Europe. The mental stress of this alone is worth $1000....
So, where does that leave us Americans? Those of us that come from the country that is supposedly most powerful in the world. Well, to be honest, it leaves us SOL. Flights, visas, program fees, tuition... no help from any sort of organization like ERASMUS. With Spanish being the up and coming minority language in the USA one would think that sending students to Spain to learn the language and international relations skills would at least be on the bottom of the agenda.
Well, this is one frustrated American chica signing on.
If anyone has thoughts on this please comment below!!
Sunday, August 11, 2013
The Final Countdown!
As August 29th draws near there are many things on my mind: banking, packing, budgeting, travelling,etc.
For banking I have decided to go with Charles Schwab. They have no min balance, no fees, and unlimited ATM fee reimbursement! I am just waiting to receive my new card in the mail.
I am starting to get an idea together of clothes I want to bring. My philosphy inlcudes roll a lot, buy a few key items there, and neutrals neutrals neutrals! But I could not resist bringing my red jeans...
Budgeting for study abroad.... balancing needs like rent, food, and travel has appeared easy on paper... but, vamos a ver.
I have so much tentative travelling planned: Cantabria, Navarra, Pais Vasco, La Rioja, Aragon.. and that is just for fall semester. Of course there are also plans for La Feria in Sevilla in April! Viva España!!
The final -ing in my mind is worrying. Though I know most things are out of my control at this point I can't help but worrying something will go terribly wrong and I'll get sent home or detained. This dream becoming a reality has sent me on a whole string of irrational thoughts. Hopefully my NIE is not as problematic as this person's but if it is, I will deal with it when it happens. For now I am trying to stay in the present and focus on the positive energy and excitement that have brought me this far. So as of now:
Passport ✓
Visa ✓
Suitcase ✓
Last 2 Weeks of Work ✓
Excited, Positive, Outlook- gettin there!
More to come when packing begins!
link credit to Liz at her travel blog, she is an extraordinary blogger!
For banking I have decided to go with Charles Schwab. They have no min balance, no fees, and unlimited ATM fee reimbursement! I am just waiting to receive my new card in the mail.
I am starting to get an idea together of clothes I want to bring. My philosphy inlcudes roll a lot, buy a few key items there, and neutrals neutrals neutrals! But I could not resist bringing my red jeans...
Budgeting for study abroad.... balancing needs like rent, food, and travel has appeared easy on paper... but, vamos a ver.
I have so much tentative travelling planned: Cantabria, Navarra, Pais Vasco, La Rioja, Aragon.. and that is just for fall semester. Of course there are also plans for La Feria in Sevilla in April! Viva España!!
The final -ing in my mind is worrying. Though I know most things are out of my control at this point I can't help but worrying something will go terribly wrong and I'll get sent home or detained. This dream becoming a reality has sent me on a whole string of irrational thoughts. Hopefully my NIE is not as problematic as this person's but if it is, I will deal with it when it happens. For now I am trying to stay in the present and focus on the positive energy and excitement that have brought me this far. So as of now:
Passport ✓
Visa ✓
Suitcase ✓
Last 2 Weeks of Work ✓
Excited, Positive, Outlook- gettin there!
More to come when packing begins!
link credit to Liz at her travel blog, she is an extraordinary blogger!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
All About Visas
As this day ends I look over at my passport on my desk and think about how long and confusing this process has been. I applied for a 180+ day visa for Spain since I will be studying there for a full academic year. This means that I had to acquire the following items: an application form, a passport (which I already had), passport photo, Acceptance Letter from the Universidad de Leon, International Health Insurance, Evidence of Funds, an Apostilled FBI Background Check, an Apostilled Medical Check, and finally the $160 money order. Some of these items were easy to obtain: passport, application, and acceptance letter, photos, evidence of funds letter. However the others took a little more leg work which I would like to write about here in case any readers are going through the same situation and are looking for a helping hand in the deep dark world of Spanish visa bureaucracy.
There are many, MANY options out there for international health insurance for study-abroaders. After many hours of searching I went with HCC Medical Insurance Services. They offered me the mandatory repatriation of remains without throwing in additional expenses that I would never use, such as prenatal care. For me this was the cheapest option that still gave me the coverage required by the Spanish government.
The FBI background check took the most work of any of these requirements. In mid-March I went to a police station near my university to get 2 fingerprint cards done. I then sent the cards and the application off to the FBI. 6 weeks later I received the absence of record paper that I needed, however this must have the Apostille of the Haugh to be used in Spain. Firstly, the document must be notorized, easy enough, then it must be sent back to the federal government for the Apostille. I finally got the Apostilled document back the first week of June.
The medical check followed a similar route. I put off making a Dr appointment too long so i ended up going to an walk in urgent care-ish facility and again got the notarization . This Apostille had to come from the state of Missouri, but the process is identical. I also received this back in the first week of June. This cost me $8 and the national apostille cost a little more, 10 or 11.
So, once all these documents had arrived and been safely stowed in my folder labeled "THINGS FOR VISA" it was time to make my appointment and buy my train ticket. Living in Missouri means that I fall under jurisdiction of the Spanish Consulate in Chicago and had to appear in person at least once to submit this visa. Being stubborn and not wanting to take more than 1 day off work, nor pay for a flight or hotel room I decided to start that long June 27th morning with a 430am train to Chicago and end it with a 530 pm train home. Make sure to have a USPS express mail envelope bought and addressed when you arrive, I learned this the hard way when i had to run to the post office and back to buy one before the Consulate closed. Other than the envelope shenanigans my visa appointment went very smoothly.
Then, I waited, and panicked, and researched, and panicked some more. The women who took my documents told me that everything would arrive in 4 weeks, however some people I knew got theirs back in 2 weeks. Well, today, 27 days later my approved visa arrived in the mail (I may or may not have cheered or danced). Adding to the good news, Real Madrid is coming to St Louis for an exhibition game in August!
I still have one step left to this business though. Within 1 month of arrive in Spain I have to apply for my student residency card. Though, after surviving the visa process this final step does not seem too involved.
Well, as I sit here 4 months after starting this process I can say that I have never been prouder of a piece of paper in my life! As the Spanish say, vale la pena :)
I anticipate a lull in posts for a while since all I will be doing is working before I leave, however I will definitely post about my packing process. As the girl who went to Europe for a month out of a duffel bag and a purse it should be an entertaining time :)
There are many, MANY options out there for international health insurance for study-abroaders. After many hours of searching I went with HCC Medical Insurance Services. They offered me the mandatory repatriation of remains without throwing in additional expenses that I would never use, such as prenatal care. For me this was the cheapest option that still gave me the coverage required by the Spanish government.
The FBI background check took the most work of any of these requirements. In mid-March I went to a police station near my university to get 2 fingerprint cards done. I then sent the cards and the application off to the FBI. 6 weeks later I received the absence of record paper that I needed, however this must have the Apostille of the Haugh to be used in Spain. Firstly, the document must be notorized, easy enough, then it must be sent back to the federal government for the Apostille. I finally got the Apostilled document back the first week of June.
The medical check followed a similar route. I put off making a Dr appointment too long so i ended up going to an walk in urgent care-ish facility and again got the notarization . This Apostille had to come from the state of Missouri, but the process is identical. I also received this back in the first week of June. This cost me $8 and the national apostille cost a little more, 10 or 11.
So, once all these documents had arrived and been safely stowed in my folder labeled "THINGS FOR VISA" it was time to make my appointment and buy my train ticket. Living in Missouri means that I fall under jurisdiction of the Spanish Consulate in Chicago and had to appear in person at least once to submit this visa. Being stubborn and not wanting to take more than 1 day off work, nor pay for a flight or hotel room I decided to start that long June 27th morning with a 430am train to Chicago and end it with a 530 pm train home. Make sure to have a USPS express mail envelope bought and addressed when you arrive, I learned this the hard way when i had to run to the post office and back to buy one before the Consulate closed. Other than the envelope shenanigans my visa appointment went very smoothly.
Then, I waited, and panicked, and researched, and panicked some more. The women who took my documents told me that everything would arrive in 4 weeks, however some people I knew got theirs back in 2 weeks. Well, today, 27 days later my approved visa arrived in the mail (I may or may not have cheered or danced). Adding to the good news, Real Madrid is coming to St Louis for an exhibition game in August!
I still have one step left to this business though. Within 1 month of arrive in Spain I have to apply for my student residency card. Though, after surviving the visa process this final step does not seem too involved.
Well, as I sit here 4 months after starting this process I can say that I have never been prouder of a piece of paper in my life! As the Spanish say, vale la pena :)
I anticipate a lull in posts for a while since all I will be doing is working before I leave, however I will definitely post about my packing process. As the girl who went to Europe for a month out of a duffel bag and a purse it should be an entertaining time :)
Hello World
This will be the very of many blog posts about my preparation for and experience in Leon, Spain. My flight is booked, classes have been registered for, visa arrived in the mail TODAY, and soon enough I will leave my lifeguarding life in St Louis to enjoy the beauty of the Iberian Peninsula. Hopefully by the time I go home in June I will have hit every region in Spain and a few in Portugal. For now I am rejoicing that my visa has arrived and trying to be as calm as possible the next 36 days before departing!
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