A Bit Of Financial Advice

Ah, la belle France. Delicious food, beautiful weather in the south and a culture that believes indulging in pleasures is the way life should be. Parfait, non? Yes, it was quite perfect...until I ran into some problems at the bank. Unfortunately the word for overdrawn bank account is solde débiteur. If you are like me, you probably looked at this and thought débiteur looks like debit so that must just means it's my debit account. Oh false cognates, how i loathe thee. As you can imagine this situation snowballed until I realized that my balance was very much in the red. Needless to say I was not pleased. Despite the fact that this situation was quite unpleasant, I will say that it did have an underlying lesson, as all problems in life seem to have. Lesson #1. Know some banking related vocabulary before opening an account or at the very least find a native speaker that you can ask for clarification on tricky/unknown words. Do not assume that a foreign bank does things just like your Citizen's Bank back home! Lesson #2. Don't be afraid or panic when a situation like this occurs. I took action and went to the bank and explained my situation and they were very kind and helpful. They even waived some of the overdraft fees. Lesson #3. I discovered that I was a lot more competent at dealing with a difficult situation than I had previously thought. So don't doubt yourself. Whether you are dealing with the bank, your landlord, an overbearing housemother or a difficult teacher: these situations may seem scary at first but you will feel so much more mature and adult after successfully dealing with them. Bon courage!

Las Fallas

Being a Penn State student I consider myself a veteran in the art of partying, but you don’t know how to party until you visit Spain. One of the most exciting Holidays in Spain is Las Fallas which is held in Valencia in March. I had the opportunity to visit Valencia during this holiday and it was probably the most fun I had the entire time I was abroad.
Las Fallas is a five day celebration that ends with the burning of ninots which are huge cardboard, wood and plaster statues--that are placed at over 350 key intersections and parks around the city today. The burning of the ninots takes place at midnight on the last day of the festival, but there are tons of things to do during the day on the other nights such as attend bullfights, watch fireworks, and throw your own fireworks.
The first night I was in Valencia we decided to watch a firework display on the river right on the edge of the city and it was by far the greatest firework presentation I had ever seen including Fourth of July firework displays. During the day there around thousands of fireworks and firecrackers going off all over the city and it constantly sounds like a warzone in the city. The most impressive firecracker display in the city is called “La Crema” and it occurs everyday during the festival at 2 pm. The city closes down an entire block and fills the block with firecrackers and fireworks. The display is so loud that I couldn’t even hear my friend talking next to me.
Typically, Valencia is a quite city with about half a million people, but during this festival the city’s population booms to a staggering three million people. Las Fallas usually takes place on the first week of spring break for most Spanish universities. If you are in Spain during this time this is a must see event that is worth staying atleast for a night. I would suggest staying for the last 48 hrs. of the festival because the burning of the ninots is a pretty cool site to see especially when there over 30 feet high.

llevame a Sevilla....

Since high school I've had a passion for the Spanish language. I had always done well in my Spanish courses and dreamed to one day be able to speak fluently. I knew the best and most likely only way I would be able to achieve that goal was to immerse myself in a Spanish speaking country, and I chose to do that by studying abroad in Seville, Spain.

When I left for Spain at the end of August, 2007 I had no idea what was awaiting me on the other side of the ocean. It was my first time out of the country and I was traveling alone and I couldn't have been more excitied! Upon my arrival to Sevilla, I realized I was missing two very important things.... my luggage! Luckily I had my most important items in my carry-on, including two additional outfits. My luggage didn't arrive for what seemed like the longest two weeks of my life, but once they were returned to me everything from then on was smooth sailing.

My semester abroad was the best experience of my life. Sevilla to me now is my second home, and my only regret was not studying abroad for the year. I plan to one day go back to visit my senora, the woman who took care of me and spoiled me with delicious food everyday, as well as my dear friend Pablo. I would have been there and back already, the only thing holding me es el dinero!!