¡¡Estamos Aquí!!

After a full 24 hour day of traveling, I finally arrived in Pamplona, Spain on Sunday afternoon.  I honestly cannot believe that I’m here and that my year abroad has actually started.  I’m so happy and thankful to be here, and I’m so excited to start exploring Pamplona and all that it has to offer.  As a quick reminder, Holy Cross has a special program at La Universidad de Navarra (Pamplona) for all the students studying abroad in Spain.  The program is basically designed to acclimate us to the Spanish language and culture.  After the three week program, we will be living and studying in our respective host universities for the rest of the academic year.   

I know that I haven’t updated the blog in a while, so I’ll give you a brief run down of my last week in the States.  On August 6th, my family threw me a farewell party which included my favorite American food (and people) as well as a midnight impromptu dance-off to house, latin, and disco music.  Typical Tasca family fun.  It was great spending some time with my entire family, as well as some close friends from home and Holy Cross for one last hoorah.  The rest of the week included jam-packed days of running last minute errands and saying my final goodbyes.  At the end the week, my family ate out on DePasquale Square, an Italian-reminiscent street corner of Federal Hill, Providence.  It was a picture perfect night with delicious food and the best company: there’s nothing more I could ask for!  The next afternoon, we finally finished packing, just one hour before I left for the airport.  To be honest, I didn’t realize that saying goodbye to my family was going to be one of the toughest things of my life.  As my mother blessed me with her Holy Water, we all started crying as it finally hit home that I’d be gone for a year.  My mom later described the scene as “you would have thought we all took a vacation to Niagara Falls.”  After one final group hug, I left for Logan to start my year in Spain.

Although traveling to Pamplona took a full 24 hours and included: 3 planes, 3 Continents, 1 bus ride and a taxi to our hotel, for the most part it went pretty smoothly, aside from the fact that they lost my luggage (but it was found and actually delivered to my room!). Traveling with Claire, Ali, Maggie and Eva was a lot of fun and it was great to get to know them even better since after Pamplona they (as well as Steve, Briana, Katherine and Kendra) will be studying with me in La Coruña.

Even though I’ve been in Spain for merely three days, I already love it and I’m so glad that I decided to study abroad.  I’m certainly no expert on the Spanish language nor can I rattle off a bunch of facts about the culture, however in my short time here I’ve recognized that the Spanish live well and truly enjoy every moment.  Waking up to a chocolate croissant complemented with cafe con leche and ending the night with tapas and a San Miguel beer in La Plaza Mayor de Lo Viejo (“old Pamplona”) is not too shabby; I’m really looking forward to making that a regular! 

Not even half of what I brought...

Ernest Hemingway's hang out spot in Pamplona.

“You’re Studying WHERE!?”

Seeing that I’m leaving in 10 days (where did the summer go?), my trip to Spain has been the forefront in just about every conversation that I’ve had in the past couple days.  Naturally, I’ll get the normal pre-departure questions: “Are you excited!?” “Have you started packing??” and last, but certainly not least, “Where are you going, Madrid or Barcelona!?”  Typical responses are the following: “Yes, I’m really excited!” “No, I haven’t started packing” and finally, “Uhhh, I’m studying in a city called La Coruña, you probably don’t know anything about it so yeahh... it’s near Portugal and it’s on the water though!”  Since the city is not that well known, the last question is extremely awkward to answer, but that’s kind of a good thing and partly why I’m really looking forward to this experience.  The philosophy of Holy Cross’ Study Abroad Office is to send students (in particular, those that are learning a language) to small, non-touristy cities; the office believes that students learn best in small environments, and after talking to numerous study abroad alumni, it’s 100 percent true.

Back to La Coruña.  Although I’ve actually never been there, I’ve seen tons of pictures and it looks awesome, so I can’t wait to call it home.  In brief, La Coruña is one of the major urban/port cities in Galicia, a north-western region in Spain that is very well known for its green landscapes (sort of like Ireland from what I hear) and its local pride.  The city is completely surrounded by water, hence why it’s the home of two popular beaches and the busiest receiving port in the area.  I couldn’t be happier with my host site and I can’t wait to keep you posted on what it’s like when I’m actually living there and can see it for myself.

As far as personal updates, I’ve been doing really well!  Summer is certainly starting to wind down since I’ve finished my internship (OCG, I’ll miss you guys!), the cousin soccer team has sadly been eliminated from the indoor league, and I’ve started to make plans for my final 10 days in the United States.  Most exciting news is that I’ve checked something off my bucket-list: running in the blessing of the fleet, a 10 mile scenic road race in Narragansett, RI.  Below are some pictures from last Friday night’s event!

My mom and I after I crossed the finish line!

My dad, me, and my sister Eliana shortly after the race was over.  Special shout-outs to my cousins Veronica and Gabriela, and my Auntie Jakie for coming to cheer me on, as well as my sister Jacklyne, her fiance Mike, and my brother Chris for supporting me through everything!

Andy (my running buddy and Study Abroad Spain alum) and myself.

"Do You Really Wanna Do This?"

With only twenty-three days left in the United States (woah), people have been frequently asking me “Do you really wanna (Rhode Island accent) do this?”  I’d be lying to you if I told you that I wasn’t thinking about it, because I have been daily.  More than ever, I’ve been quite reflective with this whole study abroad concept (thanks, Jesuits).  To be perfectly honest, I’ve been weighing out its options, however for every fear or doubt I have, there’s triple the amount of positives.  Even though I’m in a state of mixed emotions, I’m most excited, and that’s what motivates me.  

As much as I truly love and will sincerely miss Holy Cross (friends, faculty, cool beans, caro, chalupas from lower... wait why I am leaving?), I’m really pumped to study abroad.  I’ve actually never been to Europe, so I’m beyond excited to live, study and travel all over.  However with that being said, I’m most looking forward to finally making some serious progress with the Spanish language.  A fun fact about me is that I’m half Colombian.  Growing up, I’ve always heard my mother’s side of the family speaking Spanish (after all, it is their first language).  To this day, it kills me that I cannot confidently communicate with them in Spanish, however poco a poco, I will.  Although they are bilingual, I feel as though I will truly connect with my family’s history on an entirely different yet deeper level if I achieve Spanish fluency; furthermore, it’d be sweet to keep in contact with some distant relatives that I barely know due to the language barrier.  Sorry to get rather sentimental, but for me, studying abroad is more than just enjoying my time outside of the United States (although that’s very important and probably a close second on my list of priorities).  

Quick visa update, because I know that all of you were concerned: my apostille arrived in the mail today, so aside from packing my life away in two suit cases, logistically everything is looking good to go!

"I'm Not a Tourist, I'm Applying for a Student Visa"

An important disclaimer to start off with: I’m awful at explaining stories since I tend to be too wordy/all-over-the-place, so sorry in advanced.  Wait, so why am I blogging again?

¡Hola y bienvenido a mi blog!  I decided to be “so study abroad” and start a blog to document my junior year abroad in La Coruña, Spain (with a three week orientation program in Pamplona, Spain).  I can probably count about five (actually ten) people who will probably make fun of me via text/facebook/twitter for starting a blog *cough* Carlin 202 *cough* but they’ll get over it (and I bet they’ll be the first to read my newest entries anyways).  

I figured that my first post would be dedicated to some pre-departure activities thus far.  Although there are many things on my check list, unfortunately I’ve only been working on one item: obtaining my student visa.  I can honestly say that it’s been the most stressful process I’ve ever been through, not to mention that a) isn’t it normally easier to leave the United States rather than return back here and b) it’s not exactly over yet. 

This life-consuming process all began in early April when I had my first La Coruña pre-departure meeting.  The study abroad office gave us a list of fourteen documents, such as affidavit letters and medical insurance, that we needed to present to the Consulate.  The most notable item (and study abroad fan-favorite) has certainly been the FBI criminal background check with its complementary apostille (a seal that authenticates a signature on a government issued document).  

The Spanish Consulate is notoriously known for its frequent change in requirements, and let me assure you that this year they did not disappoint by asking for the criminal record check.  In April, the Study Abroad office advised us that we needed to plan four-to-six weeks for the FBI to process the criminal history checks, one-to-two weeks for the State Department to apostille them, and four weeks for the Consulate to issue our student visas.  If you add that up, it totals to roughly nine-to-twelve weeks, a duration that not only goes by quickly, but is cutting-it-close too.  To make a long story short, both the FBI and the State Department have been backed-up, causing serious delays in all of our processes.  As a result, and to put it mildly, everyone (including parents) has been freaking out since with the delays, there does not seem to be enough weeks in the summer to obtain the visa.  

From the beginning of the process, I scheduled an appointment with the Spanish Consulate in Boston for July 13th.  Regardless of whether or not I physically had the FBI background check apostilled, we decided it would be best to show up with the hopes that they would honor my request.  That morning, my mom, my cousin Veronica and I woke up at the crack-of-dawn to beat the bean-town traffic.  Before walking over to the consulate, we hit the Boylston St. Starbucks for a morning pick-me-up and even ran into Mallory Will, a fellow Crusader; what a pleasant and awesome surprise!  

Shockingly, we arrived fifteen minutes early for the appointment, leaving me with an initial yet quickly-diminished sense of confidence.  I proceeded to check-in with the receptionist, only to find out that when I made an appointment over the internet, I indicated that I was applying to be a tourist, rather than applying for a student visa.  Classic Nick (insert no-common-sense-joke here).  In any event, my mom (who deserves a shout-out as the BEST student visa personal assistant) and I literally scrambled to put forward each of the fourteen documents.  After doing so, we waited two hours for my personal interview a) yes, there was a brief interview conducted and b) thank God I didn’t have to pee since the bathroom was temporarily unavailable.  On the bright side, while we were waiting, I actually befriended some really nice students who were going to be spending some time in Spain, so hopefully I’ll catch up with them while we are there!  Two long hours later, I had my interview which went really well since they are processing my visa, even without the FBI record check apostilled!  The Consulate informed me that the visa would be ready by August 11th, two days before I leave.  Just perfect.  With all the visa stress behind me, we decided to celebrate by walking over to Newbury St. for a delicious lunch and a relaxing end to stressful yet rewarding day.

As mentioned earlier, I have a daunting pre-departure to-do list ahead of me, although I’ve learned that it’s important to not let those types of things get the best of me.  In my last twenty-eight days in the United States, I hope to focus on other highlights of my summer which include: interning for a retained executive search firm, training for the Blessing of the Fleet (a ten mile road race in Narragansett, RI), playing in an indoor soccer league with all my cousins (GO TORNADOS) and most importantly, enjoying summertime in the 401!