travel – Page 6 – Valpo Voyager

Tag: travel (page 6 of 8)

Mi Trabajo! Starting the actual internship part of my life here :)

Colegio Jorge Williams! The amazing quiche we made!: Mid-day assembly, the kids get in line and have a routine of “arms up! to the side! in front! at your sides!” to end up standing straight like ladies and gentlemen 🙂

Taller de Cocina (Cooking Class) at Rukantu…Rodrigo is an amazing cook!

Oh hey, it’s been awhile! I have so much to tell! I finally got to start working this week and I absolutely loved my first week in the programs. It was definitely a week of introductions and planning, so this next week is when I really dig into things, but I’ll give you an introduction to what I’m doing and was up to this past week! My time is divided between 5 programs. I really love all the variety in my work schedule, every day is different! (I will add photos ASAP!)

On Monday, Tuesday and Friday I work from 9am-1pm in Colegio de Jorge Williams, a school for preschool-8th grade that is sponsored by the YMCA. The YMCA started this school to create a place for kids from troubled homes, whether that is from abuse, lack of money, alcohol abuse or other reasons. They provide free breakfast and lunch to provide more economic help for the families and the staff is really great, all people who have a passion to help these kids create the foundation for a positive future. On Tuesdays I work with the music teacher in his classes for 5th and 7th graders, and on Mondays and Fridays I’m with the third graders. I love the Colegio so far, especially the 3rd graders. I was mostly observing in the music classes, I’ll be teaching part of the class next Tuesday, but there was tons to do with the 3rd graders. One of the difficulties in this school is that discipline is really difficult. Often the kids don’t have a very controlled environment in their homes, and it’s obvious that many of them don’t get enough attention. So the kids want your attention all the time and speak out of turn and interrupt a lot, it can be really hard to get things done. But the 3rd grade teacher is really great with the kids, they obviously adore her, and I’m glad that I can be there to help her keep control and attend to everyone; I don’t know how she does it every day! Helping the kids with their assignments was hilarious, I’ve found that the pattern is this:

1. “Tia Anna, Tia Anna, necesito ayuda, ahora, ahora!!” – “Ms. Anna, Ms. Anna, I need your help, now, now!”

2. Help with question, try to leave and help other student, but get pulled back and asked:

3. “Tia Anna, Tia Anna, como se dice [insert Spanish word] en ingles?!” – “Ms. Anna, Ms. Anna, how do you say [Spanish word] in English?”

4. Tell them the English word.

5. They say “en serio?” (really??!), try and pronounce it and start cracking up and telling all their friends.

6. Receive huge hug!

7. Repeat starting at Step 1 🙂

Haha, I love these kids, I’m pumped to have 2 more months with them! On Wednesday I work at the center in Las Cañas (all the hills have different names). Las Cañas has a soup kitchen and then runs different programs for the community, such as literacy workshops, english classes, bible studies, lifeskills etc… Wednesdays I go to help the soup kitchen cook, I’m definitely getting some good cooking lessons for my apartment next year! About 30-50 people come each day and I help to serve them, sit and eat with them and then clean everything up afterwards. I love interacting with the staff there and the people who come to eat, they are all really excited about the english class that I’m going to be teaching on Mondays (tomorrow, I’m nervous!). This Wednesday I went to the Bible study after lunch and made lesson plans and signs to put in the community for my english class, I’m excited to get started tomorrow! We’re having one for the adults at the center who come for lunch and one for kids and any community member who wants to come.

Thursdays I’m supposed to go to the center in Placeres, eat at the soup kitchen with the community members and afterwards help with two workshops: theatre and women’s empowerment ….perfect fit for me, right?!?!?! The center was closed this Thursday, but I’ll start next week!

Friday afternoons I go to Rukantu, a rehabilitation center for teenage boys who have been arrested for drug usage and/or a minor violent crime. The first time I visited Rukantu I was a bit nervous, but I really enjoy working at this center, the guys are really fun to hang out with and they LOVE having gringas visit, it’s kind of hilarious. Erica and I are going to teach an English class here (The director told us that if he tells the boys that two American girls (gringas) are coming to teach a class, everyone will come for sure, all you need to say is gringa….easy advertising! Haha). After the class they have a cooking class, this week we made pizza and it was DELICIOUS! Rukantu is much more chill, it’s nice to have a different working pace where I’m just talking with the boys and social workers in the center while we cook and eat, and then watching them show off and play ping-pong later…perfect ending to the week! I even got my palm read by one of the guys this Friday, it was hilarious, he told me that I’m going to have 3 children and that they will have a mix of gringa and chileno blood…so I have to stay in Chile to find my true love…smooth, haha 🙂

Finally, I’m involved in the YMCA Leaders program. It’s kind of like a youth group, they hold a Bible study Friday evenings and program Saturday afternoons. There are 2 program levels and you can graduate to become a Leader, but the first level is open to anyone and is a mix of a mini Bible lesson, games, some kind of topic/message to help the youth (for example, this Saturday they were talking about confidence and speaking in front of other people and had lots of activities to practice). The YMCA Leaders are such a fun group of people, they’re the ones that I see at the Y all the time and hang out with and I love the program too, all the teenagers are really friendly and it’s pretty easy to make friends as a gringa, everyone wants to talk to you!

So that’s my work schedule! I’m feeling more and more like a Chilena now, walking around the city on my own, going to work, taking the bus and taxis, having favorite restaurants and foods…I really like having some more independence with my days!! I’m off to work on my lesson plans right now for my 1st English classes tomorrow, wish me luck, I’m a bit nervous! Now that you know about work, my next post will be about night life in Chile, baila, baila, baila!! Besos choros!

Patagonia sin Represas! Educacion Publica! Protestas!

June 1, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / 0 Comments

Wena choros! (Chilean way to say “What’s up my friend?”…loosely translated, ha ;D)

Alright, now that you have an idea of where I’m living, I’m going to get into what’s actually going on during my days here! I start my work schedule tomorrow (supposed to be today, but I am sick with one nasty cold, ugh!), so then my days will have more of a regular rhythm. Luckily, I’ve experienced enough in these last 2 weeks to keep me blogging for a LONG time! Sorry that I won’t be necessarily reporting on things as they happen, but there’s just a lot to tell! And one of the really interesting experiences I’ve had is being right in the middle of some BIG protests! The first one took place on only my 4th day in Valparaíso. We left so quickly for Chile because our study abroad director told us that May 21 was a holiday in Chile, Navy Day, it celebrates a victory the Chilean navy had over Peru and there is a huge parade of the armed forces in the streets of Valparaíso to celebrate. Plus, the President of Chile was coming to Valparaíso for the holiday and to speak to Congress, so we thought it would be really cool to be there for this! Therefore, I was really surprised when the Chileans at the Y just shrugged their shoulders at my mentioning of this holiday and the parade and President’s visit and said they weren’t too interested. Turns out, LOTS of people in Chile are really angry at the President right now, for many reasons, but tensions have heightened regarding a situation in Patagonia. Patagonia is an area in southern Chile where the nature has really been preserved and the beauty of this area is a source of pride for many Chileans. The President recently approved a plan to construct a huge dam in Patagonia so that Chile can produce more of its own energy and not depend on other countries as much, and do so in a clean way. However, this dam is going to ruin a huge amount of land and communities, making many Chileans VERY upset.

The Army organized in its new route, perfect for viewing from the Y!

My group was warned not to leave the Y before 1 or 2 in the afternoon due to the protests, and I didn’t think too much of it because I couldn’t hear anything going on in the morning. When I heard the sounds of the parade I went out with Erica and our German friend Max to watch and it was really cool to see! I’ve never experienced anything like it in the U.S., because it was just a parade of the armed forces; the parades in my town will have little sections of war veterans, but it’s mostly floats, and bands and community groups, so this parade was much more serious and a bit eery! Maybe it’s just me, and other people don’t get as freaked out to see thousands of people marching with guns and such, but I’ve watched too many movies of Latin America during the Cold War to not feel a little chill when I see this. But you could also definitely feel a sense of national pride. Things got interesting when all of a sudden a section of soldiers started running in sync and policemen starting running down the street on their horses. People in the street started moving away, running, some were yelling and I was SO confused as to what was happening! Turns out a protest had sprung up farther down the parade route, and the police were coming to inform the soldiers to change the route. So they turned down this side street and took the parade onto one of the major streets in Valparaíso, right in front of the Y! And it was chaos for a while as things were changing, cars and taxis and buses honking, people running, one guy even came up to me wearing a gas mask and babbling that the armed forces were going to turn on us and the world was going to end (maybe my Spanish is bad, but I swear, that’s what he was saying!) Things calmed down once the new route was established, but we decided to watch the rest of the parade from the safety of the Y’s balcony!

I thought that was as crazy as things got, so I was very surprised when I was watching the news later that night. I was at a dinner party at the house of one of the women who works with the youth programs at the Y and everyone was very interested in watching the news that night, and it only took me a couple seconds to see why. Valparaíso was headlining national news! And my little chaotic experience was nothing! Turns out that in the morning there were HUGE protests as the President was traveling in to his house in Vina del Mar (the city next to Valparaíso) and the Congress building in Valparaíso. People were lighting garbage cans on fire, throwing rocks at the President’s car and his guard, there was even a man who ran through the streets nude holding a sign that said “PATAGONIA SIN REPRESAS” (Patagonia without Dams!)- the slogan of the protests! Things got really violent, the police were spraying tear gas at the protestors and arrested hundreds and policemen and protestors alike were being beaten with clubs. It was really shocking for me to watch, I’m used to peaceful protests and not to violence from the police against protestors. But when I saw how violent the protestors were being, it was hard for me to fault the police for reacting, I don’t think it should have been to the violent degree that it was, but it was definitely a difficult situation. I was remarking on the violence, and one person at the party told me that this is still way better than things a few decades ago under Pinochet, because at least the police don’t fire directly into the protestors. Yikes! The right to organize and protest is definitely being utilized in Chile, and that’s cool to see after the dictatorship, but the violence was hard for me to swallow. It was an awesome experience for me to talk Chilean politics though (which I’m sure doesn’t surprise you if you know me, ha :D). There was a great mix of opinions at the party, to me it seemed that most weren’t too happy with the President, but some recognized that this was a difficult decision and the best option, even though they weren’t excited about it, while others were adamantly opposed. It made for some really interesting, heated conversation! And they loved explaining things to the gringa, for which I am highly grateful 🙂

And then, while I was writing this (really, how cool is that?!) another protest started up outside the kitchen window were I was eating breakfast (or drinking breakfast as they say here, the most important part of breakfast is your tea/coffee :D). This protest was about the education system and was all students. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about it, my friend Juan was taking part in it and had invited me to join, but it’s very dangerous for me to get involved in anything like that, I could get booted out of the country fast! Most everything is privatized in Chile, including education. There are public schools, but according to my Chilean friends, they are of very poor quality and going to one almost ensures that your future will not be bright, as it’s very difficult to get a good education and the test scores you need to enter a good university. This traps a lot of people in poor areas, as they can’t afford a private education and can’t get a good enough education to move out of their poverty. Most everyone I’ve met has gone to a private school because of thi

s, but the problem is that these are not cheap, and the government has recently raised costs for students. So there have been waves of student protests for the past 2 weeks, calling for a reduction in private school costs and for improvements in the quality and accessibility of the public education system. But there hasn’t been anything as big as today: it was a HUGE parade of students from all the local private universities marching for public education, which I found really touching and inspiring. They were all grouped by their major in college with signs to marks each group, such as “GEOGRAFIA, PRESENTA!” (Geography, present!), like attendance was being taken in school. Each group had a different chant, and they took over the huge main street right in front of the Y, didn’t matter that tons of cars and buses were honking like crazy! This protest is still going on outside my window, so we’ll see how it turns out! So far it’s just a peaceful march, and the police are just watching, so keep your fingers crossed that it stays this way! As for me, looks like I’ll be staying inside the Y for awhile, even though I’m a bit tempted to run out and march! (Don’t worry familia, that’s a broma (joke :D))

I just had to end with another shot of the beauty of Valparaiso. I took this on our walk to tour the cerro where Pablo Neruda lived!

Lately, Chile is heaven for a political nerd like me! Besitos!

Welcome to the OTHER Valparaiso!

May 30, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / 0 Comments

Here you see the beautiful mix of Valpairso: sea, big city and the house-covered hills!

Alright, here is the mini tour of Valparaiso!

Wish you could actually be touring with me! (Riding one of the acensors)

First of all the main city is like any other big, busy city, with an emphasis on CHAOS! The layout of the streets isn’t as ordered as New York or Chicago, which is quite problematic for a directionally-challenged person like me trying to find her way around. But it has everything: huge apartment complexes, a big supermarket only 2 minutes from the Y, museums, government buildings, parks, restaurants, bars and clubs, and there are cars and taxis and huge buses just whizzing by every second of the day and night! But there are definitely things that make it distinct from any other big American city.

One of those things is that there are lots of little outdoor and indoor local marketplaces with vendors that sell their goods in little stalls. One of these is right next to the supermarket that I previously mentioned, and I love exploring it. Lots of stalls sell the scarves that are so popular in the U.S. and I flipped out when I did my money conversion math and realized they were selling them for only $3 each. WHAT?! They’d be $10-$20 in the U.S. I’m seriously gonna need another suitcase, this is highly problematic. They also sell jewelry,delicious pastries and candies, books, clothes, fresh juice and smoothies and tons of little touristy things. My favorite snack to buy so far is fresh fruit covered in chocolate and put on a stick, or a sopapilla, a fried little patty of sweet dough that you can put sugar or ketchup and mustard on…I prefer sugar 🙂 Besides the Americanized supermarket, there is also a HUGE outdoor market that sells all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, freshly baked bread and other yummy things. I’ve only been able to explore it once, as it’s farther away from the Y in a kinda shady part of the city, but I want to go back, I’m craving fresh fruit and veggies! There are also venders with blankets spread out on the sidewalk in front of almost every store. It’s like the vendors in the parks in New York, but to a way higher degree, they are everywhere! Susana told me that it’s legal, but lots of the store owners hate it because the vendors sell things so cheap. I haven’t bought from any of them yet, I don’t really trust the food, but they do have some cheap touristy things! Also, the stores aren’t like the big, glossy stores on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, more like a compilation of little stores that focus in on one type of object, mixed in with little cafes, restaurants and bars.

The outdoor marketplace right by the Y, my brochera spot!

Plaza de Victoria, que hermosa no?

I love the amount of parks and plazas as well. There is a plaza right by the Y that has lots of benches and open space, but it’s all stone, so my favorite is the Plaza de Victoria a little ways from the Y. It has a gorgeous fountain, playground for kids (and for me and Erica, we like the swings ;D), benches and lots of pretty green grass, which is lovely to see in the middle of a city! My favorite part is that there is a whole section of foosball tables outdoors and little arcade games – I think parks in America should try this out!

Yeah, I live here 🙂 Simply gorgeous

Valparaíso is also an important port town. Its right on the ocean and TPS is a huge shipping company here. There is another big plaza right by one of the main docks, and it’s really cool to see the humongous ships coming in and all the tiny boats in the docks. Plus, there are tons of beautiful roads and walking paths that go right next to the sea, and humongous rocks to climb and sit on and watch the sea – it’s seriously heaven for a beach-lover like me! 🙂

And finally, the most distinct part of Valparaíso, THE HILLS! They are called “cerros” and there are 45 different ones in Valparaísom all with different names, it’s crazy! The hills are like the suburbs of the city and they are absolutely JAM-PACKED with houses! The roads are very narrow and steep, it freaks me out to see cars driving on them. But a lot of people here don’t have cars both because they are expensive and because buses are quite cheap and easy to take most anywhere. Climbing up the stairs in the cerros is not a fun time, good work-out, but I certainly prefer the “acensors”. They’re elevators built into the hills to take you up on down! Not every hill has one, I think there are only a few, but we’ve seen 3 so far. The coolest one had a big tunnel that you had to walk through to get to the acensor – it felt like a horror movie! And the view from the acensor is just breath-taking, I really wish I could capture it better with my camera. There is tons of grafitti on the walls and streets in the cerros. A lot of it is legal and done by actual artists, but some is by gangs and angsty teenagers as well :/

Oh hey dogs, you're everywhere...not a fan

One example of the 45 huge hills covered with brightly-covered casas!

My least favorite part of the city and cerros is that there are wild dogs roaming the streets EVERYWHERE! It really freaked me out at first, but if you avoid touching them, they don’t bother you at all. I just hate going around corners and almost stepping on a dog that’s fast asleep! The Chileans are so used to them that they think it’s funny how nervous I get around them, but I’m not sure I’ll ever really get used to it!

Un acensor!

But my favorite thing about the cerros would have to be the bright colors of the houses. Every possible color, in its most brilliant form possible, covers the cerros, it’s so cool! And they love to change the color of their houses as well! I was talking with Susana about this and she found it extremely odd that most houses are brick or white/beige/tan or some other pale color in the U.S. and that we don’t change the color of our houses very often. “Muy aburrido! Tu casa necesita personalidad!” (How boring, your house needs personality!) was her comment about that. And I agree! So what do you say Mom, I’m think a bright purple would be perfect for our house…..homecoming present for me?! Besos!

I love this orange house 🙂

Life is Good 🙂

International Flights…¿Qué Divertido, no?

May 19, 2011 / Anna Wiersma / 0 Comments

Estoy in Chile!!! It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been here 2 days! It feels both very short and much longer than that at the same time 🙂

Viajadores a Chile!

But I’m gonna focus on the adventure of getting to Chile for this blog post, because let me tell you, it was quite the adventure. We took a pretty crazy flight because we were able to get it SUPER cheap…but part of the reason for that was that it had 2 layovers in foreign countries and arrived in Santiago at 2:35 in the morning…yikes. We left O’Hare at 10am, arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador at 1:30, had to wait for 2 hours, took a 4 hour flight to Lima, Peru, had to wait for 2 more hours and then took another 4 hour flight to Santiago! Once in Santiago we had to wait until 8 am to get picked up by the people from the Y and then had a 2 hour drive from Santiago to Valparaíso.

So here’s what I learned from this international traveling experience:

ANNA WIERSMA’S DO AND DON’TS OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL:

DO talk to the people next to you on the plane, you’ll be amazed by people’s stories!

I was a little bit worried about sitting alone (didn’t want to get stuck by a fat man snoring, ya know?) but I actually had really interesting people by me every time! First I had two male dentists who were going to Honduras for a week to volunteer in a dental clinic, second a couple going on their honeymoon to Macchu Picchu and third two Chilean women who I started to call my “mamas chilenas”. My “mamas chilenas” were my favorite becasue they were both my mom’s age with 20 year old daughters and started fussing over me immediately, it was adorable 🙂 They needed to know everything about my life at college and my travels to Chile and gave me as much advice as they could cram into our conversation! I’m very used to the American culture of public transportation where you sit as far away from strangersas possible and don’t talk, but everyone was very kind and eager to tell their story and hear mine, it was a great start to the trip. But you could definitely see the cultural shift with my “Chilean mamas”. Instead of onlytalking for 15-30 minutes, we talked for at least a good hour, in Spanish! It definitely calmed some of my nerves to actually hold an hour long conversation, plus they said my Spanish was really fluid already, so that was encouraging! When they heard that I had to wait in the airport for 5 hours to get picked up they were all worried about me and saying that they wish they knew me beforehand so I could stay and sleep at their house…and I’m finding that this is pretty typical Chilean hospitality, it’s grand 🙂
Pobrecitas! 🙁 Our makeshift beds in the airport

DON’T choose a flight where you arrive at 2 am and have to wait to get picked up…

The only scary/bad part was when we had to wait from 2:30-8:00 in themorning I suck at sleeping on planes…it’s bad. I tried so hard for the last flight, but I can never get comfortable enough, no matter how tired I am! I probably only really slept for an hour. So my advice would be, don’t bank on getting any sleep in a plane, unless you have a long flight and Tylenol PM! For our wait in the airportwe set up camp on some benches and tried to sleep, but it wasn’t very comfortable and the airport was FREEZING for some reason! Plus, we looked so pathetic, I felt homeless, and it was just odd trying to sleep in public. Again I only really slept for about 2 hours, because we were trading watches over all of our luggage! And THEN, in typical Chilean fashion, they didn’t show up until 8:30! I was freaking out that we were at the wrong gate, because we could only find 1 and not 1a like they had told us, and the telephone number we had for the Y wasn’t working and I was getting SO worried, until all of a sudden these 3 Chileans descended on us and started hugging and kissing and saying “Bienvenidos!”! Phew!

DO fork out the cash to get yourself some real food in the airport!

Estoy in Chile! We found a playground in the Santiago airport...Levi and Erica were very excited 🙂

TACA airlines, thank for feeding me on every single flight. Really, that was super nice of you. But already by the second time around, your limp pasta noodles were not making my stomach too happy, sorry to say. Ordering from Subway in San Salvador however, was a lifesaver! Plus, it was hilarious. I had no idea how to ask for oil and vinegar, I had done well up until then, so I apologized and asked for “the salsa rojo y la salsa amarillo” and they started cracking up, but they understood. And then they told me I had done a great job for an American and even clapped for me once I paid successfully in pesos. I took a little bow, which got them laughing all over again, “tontos americanos” (stupid Americans ;D)

Ok, I think that’s all I’m gonna say for the trip. I have some pictures to share of our travels and my past two days have been jam-packed with touring Valparaíso, meeting new people, going out to try Chilean food and speaking in Spanish todo el día!! Valparaíso is an absolutely gorgeous city. I’m right in the center of the city at the Y, but there are humongous hills surrounding the whole city that are stuffed with brightly colored houses as far as the eye can see and I’m also a 5-10 minute walk from the ocean. I’ll describe more in my next post, I’ve already taken so many pictures!!!

As they say in Chile, “Chao!”

A little taste of Valparaíso 🙂

Life of a Blogger

April 19, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

So here is the most interesting thing about being a blogger: the more you have to blog about, the less time you have to blog! Thus is my life lately, but since I have loved every minute of it, I am not complaining. Since I have last reported, I have been to 7 castles, 3 countries, and countless new cities. I have also taken on the task of cooking another common meal (5th as a cooker and 3rd as an organizer, not that anyone’s counting), this one being an Easter feast for 17 people! And with finals right around the corner, I’ve been fairly busy. However, I’m going to try to give you the highlights of everything I’ve seen and most likely the majority of that will be through pictures because I have seen and done so much! But hopefully, through a little explanation of each one you can see about some of the most amazing places I’ve ever been. If you have any more questions about any place or anything about studying abroad while at Valparaiso or in general, feel free to email me at Hannah.Bauer@valpo.edu.

Castle Numero Uno!

Kenilworth Castle in England was the very first castle we visited on our group trip. The castle fit the stereotype of an old castle because it was mostly in ruins. By far, the most interesting part of the castle’s history is that the majority of it was built for Queen Elizabeth I by Robert Dudley for the Queen’s visit where she planned to stay for less than one month!

Second Castle: Warwick

Next we visited the Renaissance-festival-esque castle of Warwick. With (sometimes very attractive) people in costumes and various shows running throughout the day, it’s hard to beat Warwick. I got to see four HUGE birds up very closely and I saw a flaming trebuchet get fired. Now that’s what I call a day at the castle.

The Roman Baths of Bath

The city of Bath is famous for, wouldn’t ya have guessed, the old Roman Baths! What makes these baths different from the public baths located in many old cities is that this water came from a mineral hot springs. The water was such a gift to the city, that the Romans believed the spring to be a gift from Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. There was a temple erected and a huge bath facility set up, all with huge religious significance. It gave me a very interesting view into daily and religious life of the time period. Also, for Jane Austen fans, the Bath house is connected to the famous pump room where her characters came to drink the famous water!

Valpo Students at Stonehenge

Although mysterious and interesting, Stonehenge is mainly a glorified photo-op. But as you can see here, we took advantage of the situation to pose for Valpo!

Windsor: the Queen's OTHER Castle

Windsor Castle, the part time residence of the Royal Family, was lovely to see. It is large, lavish, and lively yet also retains its iconic castle-ness. Although we were pretty wiped out by this part of our trip, it was still pretty cool to see a place where the Queen may have been just down the hall… probably not, but you never know.

The Beach in Keri

Overlook from Keri Lighthouse

The Greek Ionian island of Zakynthos was Hanna and my little slice of heaven for three lovely days! We were literally the only tourists on the island and stayed in the only open hotel and were the only guests there. The owners were AMAZING and acted like our foster parents. It was fantastic. I got a tan. Go me.

Athens: I Spy the Parthenon!

Beachin' It!

Temple of Poseidon

Athens. What to say about Athens. The Acropolis/Parthenon is cool. The Temple of Poseidon is REALLY cool. Plus, it had the advantage of having a beach (pictured right above it) right next to it! I continued to tan and it was lovely. Really, if you go to Athens, it is worth the hour bus ride out of the city.

My Family in Cambridge!

The final week of my two week break, I had the wonderful honor of spending with my mom, dad, and younger siblings touring the United Kingdom country side. We covered London, Hampton Court Palace, Cambridge, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Raglan, Lacock…. I know, I’m just listing now. But every new place was a new discovery. I finally got to see Wales, which I’m glad I didn’t leave the UK without seeing. Their castles were fierce (they had moats, what else could you need!), their culture was unique (who knew that Welsh was still a spoken language? Not me!), and the land was just lovely. It was hard to see my family leave, but I know that I will be home and missing Europe far too soon. But for now, just wish me luck on cooking Easter dinner for 17 people!

I've already finished the adorable Nest Cookies!

Look at the rest of my pictures and I look forward to telling you about Ireland when I return to prepare for a Royal Wedding!

Non et Oui a Paris!

March 21, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

Translation: (more or less…) What to Do and What Not to Do in Paris!

The Eiffel Tower!

DO
Definitely see all the big Paris sites! The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Moulin Rouge are easy to see in one day as none of them take a very long time to see the majority of and take lots of lovely pictures! You can walk between most of them or, if you are not much of a walker, the underground is pretty cheap and easy to use.

The Palace of Versailles

DON’T
Don’t pay entrance fees! Seriously. If you are a student or under 26 you can almost always get in to places for free or reduced rates. We got into the Musee d’Orsay for a reduced price and into the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles for free. Plus, there are so many things that are free to everyone including Notre Dame, Sacre Coer, and the Montmatre overlook.

Cutest Village Ever

DO
Take advantage of Paris’ awesome sandwiches and crepes! A sit down meal can easily cost you anywhere from 15 to 100 Euros in Paris if you are not careful. But all through the city are stands and patisseries selling many yummy meals for relatively cheap. Save your money for all of the really cute Paris souvenirs!

The Eiffel Tower sparkling!

DON’T
Don’t waste your money drinking. Well, not at pubs or restaurants. A pint on St. Patrick’s day ran me 7 Euro 50, that’s like 10 US dollars to have a pint of cider. If you still have a hankering, it’s much easier on your budget if you buy from the grocery store. An entire bottle of wine runs for half of what my one pint cost me.

DO
Do take the time to go see Versailles. The Palace is stunning and the Hall of Mirrors is famous! Plus the estate is huge and beautiful. There are lots of buildings to look at, including the cutest village I’ve ever seen. We ended up spending almost an entire day there wondering around the estate. And I bet it is even prettier in spring or summer when they have the fountains running.

DON’T
Don’t miss seeing everything at night! Paris really lights up and looks gorgeous at night. All of the beautiful sights that you go to during the day are worth a see at night. Some of my favorite pictures from the whole trip I took after the sun set.

View from Montmatre at night

DON’T
Don’t overpay. I have one word for you: barter. The souvenirs are much more expensive at stores than they are from the vendors. Although those people selling mini Eiffel Towers are super annoying, something that you may find for 15 Euros in the store they are selling for 7. And it’s not difficult to make them cut that in half. Just say no thank you when they ask for 7 and then they will ask you how much you will pay for it and you can say something ridiculously low like 2 or 3. When they say no, just walk away. They will come after you and sell it to you for what you ask, go you!

Moulin Rouge lit up

DO
Take the chunnel! It is so easy! Plus, if you buy your tickets early you can get them for cheaper than even the cheapest flights to Paris.
Needless to say, I learned all of this on my most recent excursion to the continent. I had a blast and I hope that all of you get the time in your life to say the same! Check out all my pictures here!

Ich Liebe Dich!

March 16, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

The Old Bridge in Lucerne, Switzerland

I can’t say a lot in German, but I did know how to say “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Please,” “Thank You,” and “I love you.” I tried to throw these out as much as possible and “Ich liebe dich” or “I love you” kept coming up. Mostly in reference to the places we were visiting! When we got to Lucerne I immediately noticed the largest difference from England from the entire trip. And that was that Swiss people are so nice, like so, so nice. On the train, a couple overheard us talking about our hostel and they offered directions and helpful bits of advice for our trip without us even asking. Then on the walk to our hostel we stopped to check a map and within the minute a man—dressed as a revolutionary as it was still Mardi Gras—offered us directions yet again! The entire time we had spent in England, I’ve never met such outwardly friendly people.

Gorgeous Lucerne!

Thanks to all the help, we had no trouble finding our hostel where we crashed for the night. The next morning when we emerged from our hostel we were all dumbfounded by the amazing surroundings we hadn’t noticed because of how dark it was when we got in the night before. Lucerne’s quaint buildings and houses were nestled around a cool alpine lake surrounded by the Alps. The water was full of elegant swans and friendly ducks. The mountains rose suddenly, taking bits of the town up with them, into stunning snow covered peaks. We spent the day wondering the streets then sitting, then wandering around the lake then sitting, then hiking in the mountains then sitting. It was a pretty fantastic way to see Lucerne actually.

The Gutsch!!

The highlight of the day by far was when we saw “The Gutsch” (a huge palace like hotel perched high on a mountain side) and decided to walk to it. The walk wasn’t near as bad as expected and the path gave way to a beautiful forest whose trail was marked with a fresh water spring which we all used to quench our thirst. Side note—you can drink all the water from the springs in Switzerland unless specifically noted. The Gutsch offered a stunning panorama of the city, the lake, and the Alps; it really was breathtaking. The biggest drawback to Switzerland was by far the price of food. If I thought food in England was expensive, a quick trip to Switzerland would clear that matter right up.

Pretty Flowers at our picnic spot in Zurich

The next day as we sat on the lake-side stoop we had claimed as our own and ate breakfast, I knew it would be so hard to leave Lucerne. However, I reassured myself that I would be back one day and that I would treat myself to a night at The Gutsch. We got on our train to Zurich and spent the majority of the day there. Zurich was not nearly as pretty or interesting as Lucerne, but it reminded me a lot of Denver and nothing of England. The cars were big like America, not small and “smart” like England and Italy. We ended up eating dinner in a park with food we bought from a grocery store because Swiss food turned out to be too expensive, yet again.

After our make-shift picnic, we got on a train to Munich where we arrived somewhat disheveled but still managed to find our way to the hostel because it was really close to the train station. The next morning, we were dumbfounded by the bus system but eventually figured out how to take the metro/bus to get to Duchau concentration camp. Public transportation in Germany is so much cheaper than England! We got unlimited day transportation for 3.80 Euros a piece, whereas one ride on the London Tube is around 1.80 pounds! So that was awesome. Duchau was sad and humbling. It is hard to believe that human kind could ever have been that heartless and it made me pray that nothing like that will ever happen again.

After returning from Duchau we stopped into a very cute and very authentic German restaurant and had a (relatively inexpensive!) Bavarian style meal! There were men in lederhosen and children drinking beer (ok, apple juice from a beer stein… we think…) and everyone just seemed really happy. It made me very proud of my hair-itage (as I say this as I touch my hair, in honor of the band Lost & Found).

Haufbrauhaus, see my initials!?

We spent the rest of the day exploring Munich until we had all you can eat fajitas (because Europe has Mexican restaurants and England doesn’t!) for dinner and then we went to the Haufbrauhaus. Now, before I go into this, I need to explain to you two things: 1) I hate beer. 2) I love the Haufbrauhaus because it makes me proud to be German and my initials (HB) are one everything. These conflicting feelings made me anxious to go because I wanted to drink beer out of one of their huge awesome steins! But I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand it. What we ended up doing was my friend Lauren and I split one and actually managed— small sips at a time—to finish the whole thing. Go us.

View from the castle!

Neuschwanstein!!

The next day may have been my favorite day of the whole trip, jury is still out. We woke up relatively early and got on a train that took us into the Alps (yay!) to the town of Fussen to see the famous Neuschwanstein castle that inspired Disney’s Cinderella castle. I expected to love the castle, but a couple things caught me off guard. First of all, this place looked so much like my home! The greenery was similar, the mountains were similar, it was just amazing. The second thing was that usually the insides of castles are disappointing. I always expect them to feel grand and lavish, but usually they are cold and stony. Neuschwanstein, however, was absolutely no disappointment. Everything was ornate and decorated and everything there was still originals.

After hiking around the castle, we returned to Munich and met up with Sabrina, a friend of Lauren’s who had studied abroad and stayed at their house some years earlier. Sabrina and her fiancé treated us to my favorite meal of the whole trip. I had an amazing Bavarian meal smothered in mushroom sauce and seemingly endless rounds of drinks (turns out beer is pretty good mixed with lemonade). But the best part by far was the camaraderie, they taught us how to toast like a German (“Prost!”) and told many highly entertaining stories. The brewery was nothing like pubs in England where people tend to keep to themselves and things never seem to be too crowded or too out of hand. This brewery had long tables and you sat and ate and toasted with people you didn’t know. It was so much fun and I really never have been prouder to be a Bauer (which is on many-a signs in Germany) and German. Check out the rest of my pictures here and I look forward to reporting back again soon after Paris this weekend!

When In Rome!

March 15, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

Leaving England for Ten Days!

From the ground it already appeared to be night time, but as our plane rose steadily above the clouds the sun was just dipping below the curve of the earth and out of our view. The city lights below sparkled amidst the land below, black like spilled ink, and above us the deep blue of twilight was lit by one single star. In between the two, the sun gave its last appeal for daytime and bathed the horizon line in light the color of nectarines still dangling from their branches. And there, on our cheap RyanAir flight, began ten of some of the most beautiful days I have ever experienced.

The Spanish Steps

Our flight got in pretty late so we went straight to our hostel. We had some trouble with the workers not having correct change, but after getting that straightened out and a free drink at the hostel bar we crashed. The next five days were a whirl-wind of Italian craziness! Both days in Rome we walked at least twenty miles to try to get in as many of the sights as we could. Rome is much more spread out than a lot of the towns I’ve visited in the UK and, unlike the London Tube, Rome’s Metro was very limited. We started by seeing the ruins at Palatine Hill which got us a ticket into the Coliseum as well. After that, just as night was falling we visited the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. It was so pretty because the rain finally let up but the wet streets were reflecting back all of the cities colorful lights. The next day we did the Vatican and walked through a park to an overlook of Rome. What struck me about Rome, and Pompeii the next day, was how old it was. England feels significantly older than America, but Rome is just so much older.

The Ruins at Palatine Hill

The Coliseum

Trevi Fountain

Rome at Night! That lit up building is the Vatican!

Some of the MANY ruins at Pompeii

The Leaning Tower of Pisa!

After Pompeii the next day, we took a train to Florence where we stayed in the most adorable hostel ever. If you could even call it a hostel, it reminded me much more of staying the night at my grandparents’ house. And Marta, the owner, reminded me of someone’s adorable and eccentric grandmother. After sweet dreams of my own grandparents, I woke up and went along with my traveling group to Pisa mostly just to take the cliché, but oh-so iconic, leaning tower pictures. Pisa turned out to be an adorable and picturesque Italian town and I loved it! After returning from Pisa, we walked around Florence and saw many churches and even hiked to a stunning scenic overlook. The hills and overlooks of Europe were a wonderful change from the basic flatness of England.

A Canal of Venice!

Our last day in Italy was quite the experience! After a two hour train from Florence to Venice we realized instantly the sheer number of people there and most of them in costume! Ashamedly, it took us a walk all the way across the city and through the famous square before we started to realize there was no way this was a normal day in Venice during off-season. After a while of contemplating it occurred to me that we were traveling on Ash Wednesday, making that day Mardi Gras! And we were in Venice! I don’t think we could have planned it that well if we had tried! We quickly bought some masks and walked around the city fitting right in. Venice is like a whole different world from England, with no motor cars, only tiny winding streets for walking and grand canals with stately gondolas. After our lovely day enjoying the sun and gelato in Venice we got on a very nice train which took us all the way to Lucerne, Switzerland, kicking off a whole new chapter of our travels with an entirely different kind of beauty. Check back and I will be posting blogs about Switzerland and Germany! And check out all of my pictures here!

Overlook of Florence

Before I Leave the Country…

March 2, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

A lot has happened since my last post, I have slowly but surely been trying to put my life together. Living off of borrowed money has been hard, but now that I once again have access to my bank account things are starting to look up. WAY up actually. Tomorrow I leave for my longest trip of the semester. Over the span of ten days I will be visiting Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, hitting cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, Lucerne, Zurich, and Munich. Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped. But before I leave I decided that my blogs are not accurately showing you how much fun we have just hanging around Cambridge! So I decided to post some pictures so that you have a better idea of my life here:

Enjoying the night life!

High Tea and Scones!

My Tea and Scones

Having fun preparing Common Meal!

Post Common Meal Fun

Enjoying Jello during our classroom party!

Wondering the rainy streets of Cambridge!

Overall, I'd say we are a pretty fun bunch!

Definitely keep checking back, my next post is gunna be a hefty one! I can’t wait for Europe and I really can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Living La Vida Loca

February 5, 2011 / hannahbauer / 0 Comments

River Cam downtown Cambridge

So this semester I plan to be in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Greece. I’m traveling the world, but I have it on special request to tell my readers about what my life is like here in Cambridge when I am not traveling. Considering I am spending around 70% of my semester in Cambridge going to class, I guess that is logical.

First of all, I love it here. Maybe the British people don’t think we are the coolest thing since sliced bread, but I think they are fantastic! And if you spend time finding the right ones, not all of them have negative preconceived notions about you either. The streets that run through town are pretty small so only taxis and buses are allowed on them. Oh and bicycles, lots and lots of bicycles.

But as for my classes, we are four weeks in and I still don’t know my schedule. I know that I go to class at 9:15 every morning (all of our classes take place in the same room) and that the first class ends at 10:30 at which point I collapse on the couch and take a deep 15 minute nap before I go back for the second class of the day. The only day we have another class after those is Monday, I think. I don’t know which classes are when, but it doesn’t really matter with the way things work around here. I love being done by 12:00 3 days of the week!

At a Pub Quiz, homework for English Life and Culture

I am taking Theology, History, Art Appreciation, Classical Mythology, and English Life and Culture. Our Theology professor is the Reverend at the church next door, runs the seminary attached to it, and is about the sweetest British man in the whole world. We went to church one day and sat behind him and his grandkids came in and were so happy to see him, it just melted my heart! Our History teacher is an Irish born English man who has an opinion about everything. His teaching is interesting, opinionated, and keeps everyone on their toes. Our Art teacher is a sweet Welsh woman who sure can talk about Art. Mark Farmer (our leader here at the center) teaches the last of the two classes and even though they involve the most work of any of our other classes, they also teach us a lot about things that are relevant to our stay here.

My Common Meal

As awesome as all these classes are, my favorite thing about the week here is by far Wednesday nights, when all the hands of the household gather in our two kitchens and set to work chopping, boiling, pounding, and anything else the head or second-in-command chef tells them to do. Then we eat what is always our best meal of the week and we talk and laugh and it is wonderful. We share our highs and lows from the past week, which is always nice when you don’t always know what your house-mates have been up to.

Two weeks ago I led my common meal and it was so much fun! I made Chicken Parmesan and it turned out just wonderfully. I hope that I take these excellent cooking skills home with me!

Group Picture Before Common Meal

Valpo Voyager

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