This past Monday and Tuesday were my last official days of class, which I simply cannot believe!  Right after my last class, a few of my friends and I headed to a nearby park to celebrate!  After a few final exams and a presentation, it was once again the weekend.  On Friday afternoon, I had lunch in the King’s Garden, which is a large garden outside of King Christian IV’s Rosenborg Castle.  Now that the weather is finally nice here, there is nothing more the Danes like to do than to be outside, especially in one of their many parks!  As the second to last weekend in Copenhagen, I spent the rest of it enjoying the finally nice, summer weather that was much delayed in Denmark this year.  I have been very into biking while in Copenhagen, which has led me to some very cool spots that I would not have found otherwise!  As a little study break, one of my friends and I biked about five miles to Damhuskroen, which is a beautiful lake I pass on my way to DIS, for some soft ice and a stroll around the water.  It’s so hard to imagine that this coming week is my last one in Copenhagen!

Ørstedsparken

This past week in Granada has been fun! We had a beach weekend so we were exploring the coast on Saturday and Sunday. We went to Alpujarras, Almuñécar, and Nerja. Alpujarras is a short distance away from Granada and is the home of jamón serrano. YUM! we had lunch there (with ham!) and walked around the mountainside for the morning.

Then we got on the bus with Mari Carmen (our professor for the weekend) and headed to the beach town of Almuñécar. Our hotel was right across the street from the beach but unfortunately it was cloudy and cold. The water was clear and the beach was mostly rocks instead of sand. We spent the night there and then traveled to Nerja for the last leg of our trip. It was also still cold and rainy. We went to the Balcón de Europa which has a statue of the current king`s grandfather and breathtaking views. It was such a great weekend before finals week!

For my birthday, Jake surprised me by planning a wonderful trip to Oaxaca, a colonial city about 4 hours away, south-east of Puebla.  Oaxaca is known for its food, its artisan crafts, and its beauty, so we were looking forward to getting to spend some time there.  We left Puebla on Thursday and got to Oaxaca around 5.  We got a map from a tourist kiosk at the bus station, and made our way to our hostel: Casa Angel, which was another great hostel find.

It is in a great location, very close to some great restaurants, a few blocks from the zocalo and the markets.  Everything is pretty much within walking distance.  It is also very clean and well maintained, with friendly and helpful staff, and it comes with a really good breakfast!  Once we dropped off our stuff, we wandered around the neighborhood, and stopped for dinner at a place Jake had read was good.  And it was!  I got empanadas…yummm.

The next day, we expanded our exploring.  First stop: the Cathedral of Santo Domingo.  It was yet another beautiful, ornate church, that makes me realize how boring the Pilgrims were. We don’t have anyyything like this in the U.S.

Down a few more streets, we came to a women’s artisan shop, which sells pretty much every kind of craft you could ever want to buy.  If you have ever seen small, wooden statues of animals painted in awesome vibrant colors, those are from Oaxaca.

We got a few gifts, but mostly gawked at all the beautiful things.  The intricate, woven rugs were really gorgeous, along with the colorful embroidered traditional clothing.  From there we walked down to the zocalo, which was bustling with the usual shoe-shiners, food and goods hawkers and vendors, and lots of people just watching the world go by.  We stopped in to see the other cathedral, which had some beautiful stained glass. 

For the next few hours we enjoyed the wonderful markets of Oaxaca.  There are three big ones: Benito Juarez has just about everything–crafts, butchers, fruit and vegetables, clothes, and mezcal. Mezcal is an alcohol from Oaxaca which, like the more famous tequila, is made from agave.  Unlike tequila, there are not as strict regulations on the processing or creation of mezcal.  We stopped at a stand that had a wide variety of mezcals and we got the run down by the owner.  He scoffed at the touristy brands of mezcal, the ones that come in a pretty bottle and have a sombrero on the cap.  He recommended, of course, the most expensive and the strongest ones.

We stopped at a chocolate store, where I was much more interested in what they were offering.

The next market we went to is called 20 de Noviembre, which is all food vendors, selling the traditional dishes of Oaxaca: tamales, atole, various caldos (broths), and TLAYUDAS!!! Tlayudas are delicious.  We had them when we went to Mexico City, but these were even better. It’s a giant flour, crunchy tortilla, covered with refried beans, oaxacan cheese (which is amazing), lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and meat.  We were pros so we knew you have to fold it in half then cut it in half to eat.  We watched some tourists struggling to eat it like a giant slice of pizza.

The next morning we walked up a big hill/park nearby our hostel.  It was a bit of a hike, especially in the 90 degree Oaxacan sun.  As we were walking, there was this constant loud, whining noise. There were some radio towers at the top, and power lines going up either side of the path, so we were worried that there was something wrong with the electricity lines.  When we got to the top, we went down a different path for a few minutes, and even though there were no power lines, the noise was louder than ever.  Finally, I realized it was coming from the trees, more specifically, the GIANT cicadas living in the trees.  We were glad that it wasn’t the power lines. As Jake said, that afternoon we went to the Tule tree. The real highlight was the food.  That evening, we wandered around a bit more to walk off our food babies.

My tacos de barbacoa de chivo (barbecue goat) YUMMY!

Oaxaca is a great city to walk in.  It’s very clean and scenic, with lots of nice restaurants, churches, parks, and markets.  Even though I’ve heard Monte Alban (the archeological site nearby) is great, and the Hierve el Agua (natural springs in the mountains) are beautiful, I was content just hanging out in the city.  We’ll just have to come back.

My favorite mural ever.

The landscapes on the way back were amazing.  White hillsides covered with cacti and brush, mountains, cliffs, and cows and goats grazing in fields.  It was a great trip, from start to finish.  I highly recommend a trip to Oaxaca for anyone planning on going to Mexico. 

As crazy as it sounds, this past week was the last full week of classes!  With final projects, presentations, and exams beginning, the end of my time abroad is becoming more and more real.  This past week, I delivered my final presentation for my Danish Language and Culture class on New Nordic Cuisine.  New Nordic Cuisine is an interesting culinary technique that has gained much popularity in the gastronomy scene as it pushes to become the next Mediterranean cuisine.  The idea of this diet reminds me in a way of the now popular “paleo diet”, as it is all about going back and eating simply, freshly, and purely as our ancestors did.  A great example of New Nordic Cuisine is the restaurant Noma, which got its name by combining the words Nordic and “mad” the Danish word for food, which is a two-Michelin star establishment in Copenhagen.  The dishes they serve are extremely seasonal and can include anything from hand-picked berries to live ants.  It is not something I have personally experienced in Denmark, but I think I am okay with that!  This weekend, I did a little sightseeing and climbed up The Church of Our Lady, known by many as the “spiral church”, and I am quite sure I got the best view of Copenhagen from the top!  It was extremely windy and a little frightening, but so worth it!  Some other highlights of the weekend included my host dad’s birthday party and the DIS end of year picnic.  The DIS picnic was located on a beautiful beach north of my home here.  It was a lovely, tasty afternoon, but as I looked out and saw all my friends and classmates it became crystal clear that this all was not going to last much longer.  I have learned an incredible amount this semester, but one thing that really hit home to me is that you will find nice people wherever you go and there is always room for more friends in your life.  I now see that it is going to be a lot more difficult to leave these people and my life behind here than I had originally imagined!

This past week was a mix of weather again, but I did welcome in allergy season with a bang. We had Wednesday off for Día del Trabajador (Day of the Worker) and Friday was Día de la Cruz (Day of the Cross). There were lots of crosses set up in a scene with things reflective of the Granada culture (olive oil, Flamenco, soap, etc.) They were set up around the city and there is a competition with different categories. Apparently it’s really competitive.  Sunday was Mother’s Day so my “host sister” and I sent Magda an invitation to a dinner cooked just for her.  I made her some of my family recipes including homemade pasta sauce and spaghetti. She really appreciated it and keeps asking for the recipe. But it’s a secret!

Dia de la Cruz

Secret Sauce

Until next week!

So classes just ended this past Wednesday and finals begin on Saturday. It’s fairly surreal that our time abroad is quickly coming to a close. It doesn’t really feel as though we are going to be leaving in just a few days. I think my impending finals make my departure seem further off than it truly is. I only have 4 finals so it’s not all that bad, but I’m losing momentum as the idea of summer gets placed in our minds. I’ve been trying to explore Rome while I still can. It’s hard trying to still experience and enjoy new things when you feel like you should be studying at all hours. Not much else has been going on in Rome as the excitement around the Pope and the Italian government has for the most part dissipated. It seems like everything in Italy is winding down as we make the final preparations to head back to the United States.

This past week was an exciting one back from our final travel break.  With semester projects and final exams in full swing, the week was busy, but quick since the Danish prayer holiday on Friday meant we were off from school.  Thankfully, amongst the work, I was able to get in some sightseeing that has been on my to-do-list from the beginning of the semester, like finally seeing The Little Mermaid statue in person!  As anticipated, she was much smaller than one would think.  Friday night, I left Copenhagen and the Danish island of Zealand on an overnight ferry to the island of Bornholm for a biking trip with DIS.  Bornholm is an absolutely beautiful island with gorgeous beaches and lush landscapes.  It was great to experience a more rural and small-town part of Denmark as I have been living in the city for the past couple of months.  Some highlights of this trip included visiting Dueodde Beach, where the sand is so fine it is used in hourglasses around the world, trying some famous smoked herring, climbing the largest waterfall in Denmark, and visiting glass blowing shops.  The biking was intense, but so worth it!  It truly gave us an opportunity to experience the island in a way driving simply would not.

This past weekend Sam and I headed to Oaxaca – a beautiful city about four hours away from Puebla.  Sam will be posting more about the trip later, so I’m just going to write about one particular excursion.  On Saturday, Sam and I decided to check out the Tule Tree.  The Tule Tree is a massive tree in a small town about fifteen minutes outside of Oaxaca.  To get there, we jumped in a Taxi Colectivo, which is a taxi that has a set destination and multiple people get in together so it’s a lot cheaper than a regular taxi. In fact, the fifteen-minute trip cost about 80 cents per person. When we got there, we saw exactly what we expected, a giant tree.  The tree is only about 135 feet tall, which is big, but not super-big.  However, the trunk is 45 feet wide, by far the widest tree I have ever seen in my life.  Also, they say it weighs 630,000 tons, though I’m not sure how accurate that is considering they have obviously never weighed it.  The tree itself wasn’t the best part of the trip though. What was, you ask? The food, of course! After seeing the tree and walking around the town a bit, we stopped in a nice little restaurant.   Sam ordered Tacos de Barbacoa de Chivo, or Barbecued Goat Tacos, and I got Carnitas, or Carnitas. Both were absolutely delicious and something we haven’t tried yet in Mexico.  After the food we sat in the park and played cards for a while before hopping in another taxi back to Oaxaca.  I feel ready to get back home, but experiences like that make me just a little more reluctant to leave.

Last week was a standard week, except, we received another special guest. We were joined by Prof. Jonathan Bloom who gave a presentation about the some of the special touches in and from the mosque in Córdoba. We were also lucky enough to have him join us for our trip to Córdoba on Friday. We did a lot of walking and it was really sunny outside. The Mezquita was enormous and vast and filled with other tourists.  Professor Bloom was able to provide us with detailed explanations based on his expertise. I know some of the other students who are studying Arabic and Islamic studies were very excited to be able to ask Prof. Bloom questions. We were able to visit a museum and given a personal tour by the director. It was dedicated to the recovery and restoration of an ancient kingdom in Córdoba. It was really interesting to see all the work they’ve accomplished and to think about how they pieced things together without reference. It was really interesting and it was another beautiful city!

This current week was my final week of travel during my DIS semester, which I can hardly believe!  The time has gone by so incredibly quickly.  Sunday afternoon, I flew into Berlin with a school friend and spent the afternoon getting a feel for the city.  The next day, we had breakfast at a cute café, then we began the sightseeing!  We began  the day at the “Topographies of Terror” center, which is the site of the former headquarters of the Secret State Police, SS, and Reich Security Main Office during the Third Reich.  After the war, the grounds were leveled and the site used for other purposes, but the documentation center of the forced Nazi labor serves as a remembrance of what occurred on that plot of land.  We then went on a walking tour.  I have come to find that a walking tour is my favorite way to get to know a city, especially if you are lucky enough to have a tour guide who is from the country, as I was in Berlin!  We started the tour in Paris Square, just through Brandenburg Gate.  Other stops on our tour included The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, the former location of Hitler’s bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, the Opera House, and Museum Island!  After our tour, we grabbed lunch, then headed to the East Side Gallery to see the largest remaining portion of the Berlin Wall.  The next, and final, day in Berlin we headed to the Kreuzberg district of Berlin to experience a Turkish market!  It was really cool to see such a different part of Berlin.  Our final activity was visiting the German History Museum.  There was unfortunately not enough time to see the whole museum, but I did check out the 2013 exhibit entitled “Diversity Destroyed”, which was so interesting!  It was about Berlin from the year 1913 to 1918, right before the pogrom began. 

The next day I had off before heading to Paris with DIS for my Impressionism in Paris study tour!  We had an early rise Thursday morning to catch our flight to Paris, but once we landed we actually  headed first to Giverny, France to Claude Monet’s former estate.  There we got a tour of Monet’s gardens, which inspired many of his works, as well as his house!  Next we headed back to Paris, checked into our hotel, and had a traditional French dinner as a class.  The next day we started the morning with baguettes and jam, then headed onto the bus for our tour of the city!  We stayed on the bus for most of the sightseeing, but did get off to walk around Luxembourg Gardens.  Our last stop was Versailles, which our guide led us through, as well!  I am not sure what was more beautiful, Versailles palace, or its gardens!  That evening I went to The Louvre and got to “meet”, as my Impressionism instructor says, many famous works such as Venus and Mona Lisa.  I also had a chance to walk around the Arc De Triomphe, which was beautiful at night!  The next day we went to L’Orangerie to see Monet’s beautiful water lily paintings, then headed off to Musee d’Orsay, which was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip as we got to “meet” many of the paintings we had discussed in class.  Later that day, I visited the Pompidou modern art museum and concluded the night with a dinner cruise with my class on the Seine River!  The next morning we attended mass at Notre Dame, had free time to explore, then had some traditional French desserts before taking our bus back to the airport.  It was an incredible week that reminded me again how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to learn culture and history by physically experiencing them!

Luxembourg Gardens