New Friends & New Fashion
While in Pamplona I have met some really nice and welcoming students from the University of Navarra who live in our residence. Some are native to Spain, and I have met others from other countries such as Venezuela and Ecuador. Most of these meetings have happened while eating in the dining hall, since everyone has to be there at some point and around the same time! These meetings have led to insights about where to go out on the weekends or what restaurants have the best pinchos. Talking with the students has improved my Spanish and my confidence in the language in general. Even if they knew English, and most of them did, I tried my best to keep speaking in Spanish. Sometimes our conversations would end up with me responding in Spanish and them responding in English, which was interesting to see both of us trying to respect the other’s language!
On this trip I have bought many amazing souvenirs and if I had an unlimited budget I would definitely have bought more! I love the clothing and shoe style in Spain so if anyone ever comes to visit, they should just bring an empty suitcase and fill it with the fabulous fashion here! Despite my new wooden clutch purse and sparkly sandals, the most interesting thing I’ve purchased to remember my trip is a copy of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Our trip to this museum was extremely memorable as the architecture of the building itself is simply awe inspiring, and the art is even more so. When we were there we were lucky enough to see the temporary exhibit of French Impressionism, which includes Monet’s painting. This copy can be displayed proudly in my new apartment next year, while I remember that I once got to see the real thing!
Luckily when I came to Spain, the dollar to euro conversion rate was pretty even so I did not have to think much about the conversion. Towards the end of the trip however the euro is getting stronger and stronger and thus more dollars per euro conversion rate. This has caused me to add a few dollars “in my head” to every purchase, but has not been a huge burden thus far. Going on this trip I knew I was going to be spending more money than I do at home, but overall the prices for coffee, food, and clothes (all the things I need) are generally less expensive than in the U.S. Nonetheless, if I saw something I wanted to purchase during my first couple weeks (that was here in Pamplona) I tried to hold off knowing that I would be going on excursions on the weekends that would have things less available to me in Pamplona. I’m happy with the purchases I’ve made so far and so excited to show everything to my friends and family, and give them their gifts as well of course!
