MADRID: FIRST WEEK

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¡Buenos días!

Today is officially my 10th day in Madrid and I am LOVING IT! I don’t think it’s entirely sunk in yet that I actually live here – I still feel like I’m on some school trip or vacation or something. We’ve been doing mostly touristy things so far, so that’s probably why, but it hits me at random times, like when I’m doing laundry or cleaning my room, that this is my life for the next four months.

To quickly summarize what I’ve done so far:

  • Walking tour around Old Madrid (Habsburg Spain)
  • Shopping and exploring in Sol
  • Orientation and starting school!
  • Walking tour around New Madrid (Bourbon Spain)
  • Exploring El Parque Retiro
  • El Rastro flea market
  • Flamenco show
  • Aaaaannd probably a lot of other things I’m forgetting 🙂

Starting school this week was definitely weird, but with so many mix ups in scheduling and classes being cancelled, I’ve only had 2 classes so far and have my third (and last for the week) tonight. Since it’s the first week, we really haven’t done much, but I think my classes will be interesting and the people I’ve met so far seem really cool.

I have a lot coming up this week, including a trip to Toledo, a trip to Salamanca, a cooking class, and a couple full days of more getting to know Madrid! I love how much there is to see and do right in my neighborhood, and how easily I can get around the city to other new places. I am really trying to take full advantage of every day that I’m here (despite the very tiring Spanish lifestyle!) since four months really isn’t that long.

I have so much left to explore just in Madrid, let alone the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe! I’m finally starting to piece together all of my travel plans for the semester, so there will be A LOT more exploring and adventuring to come. Please let me know if you have suggestions of things I should see or places I should visit while I’m here! I can’t wait for the next few weeks to unroll and get into a real schedule. I will also be posting a video soon about my first week in Madrid, so stay tuned for that!! That’s all for now, but I’ll have PLENTY of travel stories next week 🙂

xx,

Megan

Madrid: First Impressions

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¡Hola de Madrid!

I just arrived in Spain yesterday and I can confidently say that this weekend has been crazy! I left Boston Saturday morning to drive to Fairfield, left Fairfield for JFK Sunday night, and landed in Madrid Monday morning. I am exhausted, but I am so so excited to be here!

My weekend of traveling was pretty lowkey––lots of cleaning, packing, and last minute things. Once I left for Fairfield, my stress significantly decreased, since all my things were packed and there was nothing I could do but start my trip. The flight was actually pretty good as well, and for once I was able to sleep a little! Only an hour or two, but definitely better than nothing. Right when we landed we drove straight to the residence hall we’ll be staying in, and I’m pretty content with the room I have here. There’s not too much space or storage, but I’ve made it work with what I brought, and it’s very clean and open.

Our first day in Madrid was pretty hectic, filled with unpacking, running errands, and trying to see some of the city. We had a welcome tapas dinner with everyone in our program last night, which was really nice to meet more people and get settled in this new city. Oddly enough, there was a huge thunder storm and it was down-pouring all night, although it apparently never rains in Madrid, and hasn’t in months. For that reason, rain is supposed to be good luck, but it didn’t feel that way when we were sprinting to the metro through puddles and lightning. In the end, it was a funny story and we didn’t have anywhere to be anyways, so we could go dry off.

Luckily the weather cleared up today and we were able to do some shopping and eating out. We got lunch at a very cute marketplace in Sol, so I tried a spinach and ricotta empanada and some frozen yogurt. So far the food here has been AMAZING, and I can’t wait to find more places to eat. We shopped around Sol for a bit after lunch and I was able to find a couple clothing items as well. I’m resting up now since I’m still so jet lagged, then we have an orientation for our program tonight.

So far, things are even better than I’d hoped for, and I can’t wait to spend the next four months here. This will be a busy week of tours and meetings and exploring, but then I’ll have SO much to share with you all next week! ¡Hasta luego!

xx,

Megan

Semester Abroad – Prep Week

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Good morning!

I am SO excited to share that this week is my last in Boston – on Saturday I leave to study abroad in Madrid! With this will come TONS of blog posts, pictures, and videos, but also lots of prep and packing right now! I figured I’d bring you all along with me as I get myself ready for the next semester, so let’s get started!

So far this summer, I haven’t done too much to prepare, as most things are last minute, like packing. What I have done already is mostly logistical––applying for a student visa, booking my flights, planning my residence, etc. I’ve picked up a few items shopping along the way as well, like an additional suitcase, and some new clothing items. However, this week is the major prep week!

Over the weekend I finally started to really get ready for my trip. I ordered any last items I needed so that they’d come in on time, shopped for any toiletries I still needed, and set a travel notice with my bank. For a trip this long, there is LOTS to do beforehand! Since international shipping can sometimes be difficult (especially when shipping things like medications), I made sure to get everything I needed ahead of time so I won’t have to worry about it once I’m there.

Yesterday I set aside a couple hours to completely empty out my closet and not only pack what I needed, but get rid of what I don’t. I am leaving a few things at home, but for the most part, if I’m not bringing it to Spain, I’m selling it on Poshmark. Since my brother has already moved out, I’m using his bedroom for now to lay out all the things I need to pack (most of the clothes are what I’ll be wearing throughout this week too, so I don’t want to put them in a suitcase just yet!).

I still need to pack all the smaller items, like my electronics, toiletries, and accessories, which I’ll be doing a little bit at a time this week. I also have a couple of things left to buy which I’ll be doing today or tomorrow, like a new backpack. I set aside one day this week for all of my pre-travel appointments as well––nails, eyebrows, and a haircut!

Once the weekend of travel starts, I’ll be vlogging my trip start to finish! I am flying out of NYC with a friend, so will be traveling to her house first and spending a few days there. I can’t wait to share ALL about my experience, and I’m so excited to be wrapping up all the loose ends this week and finally taking off! Next week’s post will be all about my weekend of travel and first impressions on Spain, so stay tuned and I’ll see you next Monday!

xx,

Megan

El Rincón

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Last month I had the privilege of spending a week in the community of El Rincón, located in the Santa Cruz del Quiché region of Guatemala’s Western Highlands. El Rincón is a small community of about 40 families, with approximately 80 students attending the school which we worked with. For these 80 students, there was a total of 4 teachers and 4 classrooms.

Upon arrival, I noticed the community already had a three classroom primary school building for grades 1-6. The construction of this school was very similar to those School The World builds, which was interesting to see (please refer to my most recent blog post for more information on School The World). I was happy to see that the community already had a sturdy, comfortable learning environment for most students. The preprimary (preschool) classroom, on the other hand, was a small, tin addition off the side of the main building. Curtains were hung up around the outsides to keep the room enclosed, and students mostly sat on the floor or on small stools at a variety of makeshift desks and tabletops. There are 21 students learning in this classroom at a time (which is probably the size of an individual public restroom in the United States), and this is the first environment where these young children will go to learn, so the need for better conditions here was urgent.

Our goal for the week was to construct a new, more permanent preprimary classroom, as well as a playground outside of the school. We were able to successfully complete the project in the week we were there, and the reactions of the students and families at the final dedication ceremony made all of our hard work so beyond worth it. The old preprimary classroom that was made from tin walls was so temporary and unstable, that it was completely cleaned out and removed in less than one day – it was entirely gone before the final dedication ceremony.

One day during our week in El Rincón we were able to visit homes of the families living in the community to learn about their families and their daily lives. This is always an interesting part of the week, as it is the one time US students are able to fully step outside of their comfort zone and their own world, and into the home and culture of another. Talking to the parents and grandparents in these homes was an amazing learning experience, as they told us all about their household chores, how they make money, how they raise their children, and even some more personal stories about their hardships and losses. One family actually brought up the difference between our group and theirs, and explained how we live in completely different worlds, and so it is important to understand the way others live. This was difficult to hear, but very important in recognizing my own privilege, being thankful for it, and learning how I can use it to help others.

I have visited and worked in many communities in this region of Guatemala, though each time is an entirely new group of people, and therefore an entirely new experience. I am so lucky to have met these families and students, and I can’t wait to see the progress they make in their new classroom (as they all assured me they would study hard!). Each person I interacted with in El Rincón touched me in some way, and I hope to return to (or at least check in on) the community in the upcoming future. As always, I am so thankful to have these opportunities with School The World, and I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

xx,

Megan

STW in Guatemala: July 2019

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Good morning!

Another week with School The World completed! I have just returned home from my sixth School The World Trip (fifth to Guatemala), and I cannot even begin to explain how grateful and excited I am to have had this experience. For those who don’t know much (or anything) about School The World, it is an AMAZING non-profit organization that works to combat poverty in rural Central America through the power of education. I have had the privilege of working with STW in so many different ways over the past five years, and I am looking forward to more involvement in the future.

This week was a bit different from my previous trips with STW. Instead of traveling as a student on their Student Service Learning programs for high school students, this time I was a chaperone. Going into the week, I expected things to be very different from earlier trips, and I thought I would miss out on the fun of being a student on the trip (which I obviously LOVED, having returned so many times!). However, as soon as we arrived, I realized the week would not be so different after all, and actually even better than being a student, as I could do all the fun things I had before, just with more responsibility and freedom to share it all with the students in my group.

We worked in a small community called El Rincón in the Santa Cruz del Quiché region of Guatemala’s Western Highlands. Our group spent five days working in the community to complete the school building which the students helped fund in partnership with the municipality, and then on the sixth day we celebrated the new school and playground with a dedication ceremony. Although the project was similar to those I have worked on in the past, the week as a whole felt different. First, there was a lot more manual labor to be done (digging holes, moving rocks, mixing cement) than usual, and a lot less painting. This ended up being great for the group, though, as everyone worked SO hard together each day to complete the project. This also made it easier towards the end of the week – once the hard work was out of the way, we all had more time to spend with the kids in the community!

El Rincón is also in a slightly different financial state than others I have seen in the region, and others that STW typically works with. Normally, STW builds schools, playgrounds, and brings educational aid to communities who are extremely poor. El Rincón is a community that is very poor. So, although all of these communities are in need and are at a severely lower level of wealth than I am used to seeing at home in the United States, it was interesting to see the little differences among communities in Quiché and work with a group that has a slightly more developed lifestyle than others in the area. I am by no means trying to diminish the state of poverty this community is in – there is definitely a great need for education here! I am only trying to distinguish ways of life in rural Guatemala and find out why some families have more than others.

Getting to know the children and families of El Rincón was so incredible. The community was so welcoming from the first day we arrived, until the last, and assured us that the school we left behind would be put to great use. The students constantly promised me that even after we returned to the US, they would continue to stay in school and study hard. This is the most comforting reminder that all of our hard work will pay off, and truly will make a difference in so many lives.

I want to emphasize that the work STW does in these areas and teh service trips they lead so many students and families on are NOT just surface level tasks meant to foster a good image and fun week of travel. This program is the purest, most raw and personal immersion into another culture, creating lasting change and lifelong relationships (STW forms a 5-year partnership with each community!). I am starting to plan my career around STW’s mission and the experiences I have had with this organization, and so I cannot say enough good things about the program.

I know in my heart that this will not be my last trip to Guatemala, or my last time traveling with STW, though I don’t know when that next time will be. I am hopeful that sometime in the near future I will get to experience another amazing journey with this group, but for now, I have some other exciting adventures planned. For more information on what School The World does and how you can get involved, please visit http://www.schooltheworld.org. Stay tuned for more stories on El Rincón next week!

xx,

Megan

Welcome!

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Hello, everyone!

I am so excited to be starting this blog to share my experiences, tips, and recommendations with you all as I dive into a life full of travel and adventure. I hope we can build a community centered around growth, learning, and our common passion for travel.

Why travel? I travel because I love to learn. I travel because there is so much outside of my own city, state, and country, and there is so much for me to gain from experiencing life with others around the world. I think it is so important for us all to open our hearts and minds to the people and lifestyles different from our own in order to develop into the best form of the person we are truly meant to be.

Right now I am a college student in Boston, MA. Having grown up here, I love Boston more than anything and I know this is the place for me, but I can’t fully settle here without seeing all that Mother Earth has to offer.

Throughout my travels thus far, I have kept a journal, noting the places I visit, the people I meet, and the new lifestyles I learn about. Upon reading these notes and stories back, I’ve decided these are not just for my eyes, but they are worth sharing with all of you. So, here I am to tell you a bit about my life, and I can’t wait to hear all of your amazing stories, too.

Please indulge in these stories, photos, and videos; leave comments and connect with others; reach out to me and share your own stories! I look forward to journeying with you all to wherever the world may bring us.

xx,

Megan