Can you hear me now?

Jasmine Garcia is a sophomore studying public relations at Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She is currently in Spain for winter quarter. Follow her on Twitter: @JasmineRGarcia

While studying abroad in another country may have you feeling like you are living on another planet, with communication advances you no longer have to rely on snail mail to communicate with friends and family.

Technology such as Skype has been a great way for me to stay in touch with my family back at home. Skype is free and allows you to video call anyone with access to internet and a video camera. Some of my friends purchased the Skype subscription, which allows them to call landlines from their computer.

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have also been a great way for me to stay in touch with my friends back home as well. These sites allow you to share your thoughts and pictures of your adventures. It’s a great way for my parents to make sure I am still alive plus they are able to see all the cool things I’ve done and seen.

Another way to stay in touch is to write a blog. You are able to document your travels, which makes for a great keepsake, while at the same time people can follow your journey and also make comments.

Happy traveling!

Tips for Weekend Travels

Lindsay Kearns is a junior studying Spanish with a business minor.  She is also planning on receiving her Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate before graduating next Spring. During Winter Quarter, she is studying abroad in Toledo, Spain.

Here are some tips for weekend travels that I learned while studying abroad:

1. Pack your own towel. Although most hostels will have towels, you often have to pay for them. One weekend our hostel ran out of towels so it is always a great idea to pack your own.
2. Bring a journal to write in. Weekend travels are often the times when most inside jokes start. Journals are also useful to give ratings to hostels/museums/restaurants and to write down little things you are likely to forget.
3. Always have enough Euros for transportation BEFORE you travel. It is possible that you will not have the chance to withdrawal money when you are traveling. It is essential that you have enough money to pay for housing, meals, and transportation. It is also smart to bring either your debit or credit card with you while traveling in case something happens to your Euros.
4. Bring medicines with you on weekend trips. You are probably going to sleep less on the weekends than you do during the week, thus weakening your immune system. A majority of students were the most sick while traveling. Ibuprofen, emergen-c, Sudafed, and Pepto bismol proved to be huge helps while adjusting to weekend travels.
5. Don’t over pack. Several times students, especially girls, had to end up checking their bags because they were over the limit for carry-on luggage. You can always swap clothes with other people who are traveling.
6. Remember the 3 oz limit while flying. You can also only have 1 quart size bag of liquids. It is also helpful to put anything that can leak, such as nail polish, make up, and toothpaste, in their own small bags so they do not ruin other products.
7. Purchase luggage locks before you travel. If you stay in a hostel, the cheapest route is usually sharing a room between many people. It is a good idea to lock up your valuables in the room in the hostel. Although your “dormmates” usually appear friendly, it is better to take the extra precaution and protect your valuables.
8.  Check to make sure you have your passport, wallet, camera, and ticket before leaving, and before getting on and off the bus/train/plane. Several times students almost forgot to bring their passport or almost left their camera on the bus. It is well worth it to take a few extra seconds to check your seats and the floor to make sure you have everything rather than spending several hundred Euros to replace a lost item.
9. Be aware of your surroundings. When arriving in a new city, it is easy to get caught up in the moment. However, make sure to keep an eye on your belongings and the people around you.
10. When purchasing tickets for flights, buses or trains, triple check the dates. You may feel certain that you purchased the correct ticket, however the dates can change when the ticket is being processed. This happened in our group, which resulted in a 145 Euro fee for the correct flight home.
11. Use Google or map quest to search directions to your hostel before arriving. It will save you the time of wandering around trying to figure out which way to go.
12. To make the most of your weekend, make a list of the things you would most enjoy doing before you leave. That way, you can figure out the best times to visit each site.

Eating in Spain

Allison Soderberg is a senior majoring in magazine journalism with a specialization in English and Spanish. She is spending winter quarter traveling in the historic city of Toledo in Spain.

“What you mean you don’t eat no meat?!” That was the infamous line from the 2002 small budget film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  That line struck on a personal note the first day living in Toledo, Spain.  While no one actually said those words, the implication was there had I been a vegetarian.  Chorizo, jamón,  pollo…and did I mention Chorizo??  It’s similar to salami, but different; and you can expect to find it in any restaurant you go to.

But here in Spain, there are two more important words everyone should know within two hours of experiencing Spanish cuisine:

The first, is pan (i.e. bread).  Pan is the most common side dish to any meal.  Pan…for breakfast.  Pan…with lunch.  Pan…with tapas.  Pan…with dinner.  I would  say that Pan is an essential to any Spanish household.  It’s impossible not to see a person with .85 euro piece of French bread sticking out from their belongings on a walk down the calle from the local supermercado.

The second, tapas…TAPAS!!!!!  We American’s could stand to take a lesson in the ways of dining from the Spanish.  Let me shed some light on the subject:

You go into a hole-in-the-wall bar in Toledo and ask for una cerveza.  Much to your surprise, not only is the beer served refreshingly cold for a mere 1 to 2 euros, but a tray of scrumptious appetizers are placed before you, and may I include–Gratuito.

Tapas are the equivalent of appetizers in ole’ U.S. of A.  However, unlike home you don’t spend as much on them as you do on a meal.  It’s a wondrous system:  More Cerveza…More Tapas.  And as a traveler living on the ole’ “college student budget,” what more could a girl ask for?!

Traveling while abroad: Taking trips throughout Europe

Kaitlyn Richert is a sophomore double majoring in magazine journalism and informational graphics/publication design, with a minor in Spanish. She is studying abroad in Toledo, Spain for winter quarter 2012.

When you’ve never been out of the country before, you forget that there’s really a world out there. Traveling is so satisfying because it reinforces this idea, even if you forgot that there are six continents outside of North America. Obviously, studying abroad in Spain feeds this starving thought, too. But moreover, the freedom that I have to explore Europe fills my mind with optimism as it digests my options. So, what exactly does traveling throughout Europe encompass? How does one go about planning? And where should you even go? Let me help you out.

Trips within your country
Spain isn’t a huge country – some have compared it to the size of Texas or the equivalent of two Oregon states. That being said, there is still a lot to explore. I am in Toledo, which is in the center of the country, but Madrid is not far (only 45 minutes away by bus). That leaves popular cities like Barcelona, Seville, Granada, Valencia and Cadiz to discover. Even if you are on a strict budget and cannot travel outside of Spain, there will undoubtedly be enough to do in this country, if not Toledo alone. A bus is the least expensive mode of transportation, but sometimes a plane or a train might be a better choice (Barcelona would be a long bus ride, eight or nine hours).

Trips outside of your country
“This might be the only chance I ever have to explore Europe,” I said a few weeks ago. If I never get to cross the Atlantic again, where would I want to go? I thought  Paris, definitely. Rome or Florence, probably. I could count off at least five countries I would seriously consider visiting. But one of them that I visited was actually not on that list. I traveled to Lisbon, Portugal with six others in the third week of January and it was beautiful. The city was underrated and I had low expectations, and that made the trip more worthwhile. Hence, I think it is important to go places that you would not think to go. But you should also treat yourself. I have got flights booked for Barcelona (Feb. 16-19) and Florence (March 1-4) because I know that I will not get to do this again. This is, and was, the chance of a lifetime.

So… how do I plan this?
Planning ahead is a no-brainer, but sometimes it can be hard to gather a solid group to go on a trip. You must know how many are going so that you can book a hostel with the right number of beds. Booking a flight or deciding when to take a bus is important and the longer you wait, the further up the price is driven. To give you an idea of this, the payment for my flight to Barcelona started out at 55 Euro. By the time I bought the ticket (the next day), it had increased to 78, and extra fees made one plane ticket worth 124 Euro. And that is for a trip within my country. For this reason, planning accordingly is great. It also saves a lot of stress for happy traveling!

Traditional Yucatecan Food vs.Tex-Mex from the States!

Katie Scott is a senior Spanish and Sociology major studying abroad in Mérida, Mexico for Winter Quarter 2012.

Discovering new foods is one of my favorite things about traveling. Every time I go somewhere new, I learn at least one new kind of dish, or learn how to prepare an already-familiar dish in a different way. I have worked at two different Tex-Mex restaurants in my hometown since I was 16, so I thought I had a good idea of Mexican food before studying abroad here. Turns out about the only thing I was right about are a lot of rice and beans. And tacos. But, there is so much more to Mexican food, especially from the Yucatan, than what my idea of it was from Tex-Mex restaurants on the East Coast of the U.S.

One of my favorite meals here are Panuchos. They are like face-up tacos with a bunch of toppings. The cool thing about the tortillas is that there are refried beans in between each tortilla (in my picture, corn tortillas). My host mama says that when you start to cook the tortillas on a skillet, a huge air bubble will form once it gets to a certain temperature, then you poke a hole in it and quickly spread the refried black beans inside. On top of the crispy tortilla are lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sliced carrots, and in my case shredded pork (mmm). You can really get any kind of meat on here, but as long as it is face-up taco material! I was stuffed after eating 3 of these!

Although it isn’t the “season” for mangos, I still a fresh one everyday for breakfast. Have you ever eaten a mango before? I’m sure you’ve had mango-flavored smoothies or sherbet, but what about a whole mango? I had no idea how to eat it when I first attempted, and let me tell you it is not the most graceful sitting. My mama forbade me from eating a mango anywhere but int he comfort of our home with family members and close friends. After cutting it in the middle and making a few slices, you can either pull the mango off of its’ skin with your teeth or scoop it off with a spoon. Either way it is a very messy experience. I had my first papaya here in Merida as well. Very delicious, hard to describe, it doesn’t have a particularly strong taste, but it is refreshing and easier to chew than cantaloupe. I am going to miss the delicious mango and papaya that I have nearly every morning.

Another delicious typical Yucatecan food is Posole. It is basically like a taco salad, but in a soup! It may sound weird, but it is absolutely delicious. The type that my host mama made was a lime tomato base, but it is very strong of lime, and very tasty. there are radishes and local corn already inside, then you put in however much lettuce, onion, fresh lime and tortilla chips that you want on top. A “muy rico” taco salad in a soup, and very easy to make at home on your own!!

Who doesn’t love food? Hopefully I get to try some more goodies as my time goes on here, so I’ll be sure to take pictures and update you all along the way