#celiaosman

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Readjusting to Home

I’ve been home for a week, and I’ve quickly settled back into my routine. It does, however, feel a little strange to be home. In Spain, I was constantly surrounded by other kids my age, my friends and other students at the University, we had the freedom to do how we pleased: explore the city, eat out, hang out in each other’s rooms at any time of day (when we weren’t in class, of course). Being home I’ve noticed the void left by not always having four or five people to spend time with. I got used to being in a group, doing everything with  other people. Now I wake up and as I eat breakfast I look around, and instead of seeing the thirty other students on my program, I see my dogs eating their own breakfasts in the corner, and occasionally my sister or brother will join me for a bowl of cereal. This is how it has always been at home, and it’s not better or worse than how it was in Spain, in fact it should feel more normal I think, but it has been a bit of an adjustment back from a group mindset to a more independent one since I’ve returned.

One of my first views out the car window upon arriving at home in Colorado.

I have stayed in touch with several people from the trip individually since leaving, and our program group chat has not quieted down one bit. I hope it stays that way for a while, at least. It’s been nice to track everyone’s journeys home and to see how everyone has been settling in and spending their time since they’ve been back. Some people went straight to work, others have eased back to life at home, napping, golfing, going to the pool, cooking, while others have spent some extra time travelling around some to England, and Portugal, France and the Czech Republic, and they will eventually return home later this summer.

I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip, to take an interesting class on Renewable Energy and to learn some Spanish, which I hope I will use again soon. I am also grateful for the many friendships I formed with people in the program over the six weeks we were abroad, and I look forward to maintaining and further developing those relationships when I go back to school in the fall. Only eight weeks left before we’re back on campus in Michigan, and as much as I want summer to last, I also cannot wait to see my friends from the abroad program, as well as my friends from freshman year and be able to share with them the outstanding experiences and adventures I had in Spain earlier this summer.  

Farewell!

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

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Tough Goodbyes

Our last night in Pamplona, Thursday evening, we headed to downtown Pamplona to have our last Juevinxto dinner (pitxto + beverage = 2 euros). It was nice to spend time all together one last time, laughing and socializing while eating in the main plaza of Pamplona.

This morning we gathered outside our residence hall at 2am and said our goodbyes to the Summer sessions students, and other students who were staying, before boarding the bus headed to the Bilbao Airport. Most people’s flights weren’t until late morning, but a couple students had 6:45 am flights, so that determined when the bus had to leave! 

We arrived at the airport at 4 am, after a sleepy ride, and found that the airport was closed until 5 am. Luckily the weather was nice so waiting outside wasn’t unbearable. We finally, however, had to start saying goodbyes once the building did open. People left to go to their gates a few at a time, and each time they’d go around the group and give hugs and say thank you. Only a few people cried, or at least admitted to crying, but everyone seemed sad to leave. I think we all have created such incredible bonds with each other over the course of the past six weeks, and it’s hard to imagine having to go the rest of the summer without Spain and without each other!

The last group of students to leave the airport in Bilbao.

The view of the clouds and the mountains I passed on my flight from Bilbao to Munich, before heading home to Denver.

I, personally, am trying to handle my sadness by reminding myself that all of the connections I’ve made are with people I go to school with, people who I will see in my classes, so even though this experience is over, leaving Spain doesn’t mean leaving each other’s lives.

This experience has been one for the books, that’s for sure, and it’s one I don’t think I could forget even if I tried. Thank you to everyone who had made it what it was!

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

[umichenginabroad]

Final Days

Our final week in Pamplona has been a whirlwind to say the least! With final exams and projects in our Spanish classes as well as more sightseeing and spending as much time together as possible, we’ve stayed busy. On Tuesday, we visited a palace in the city of Olite, a forty-five minute drive from Pamplona. It was used primarily by King of Navarra, Charles III the Noble, in 1380-1384 as Olite is in the center of the Navarra region and the king found living there more convenient and accessible. We were also able to explore the town for a while after the tour, which was fun, since Olite is much smaller than all the cities we have been to and, therefore, has a slightly different charm.

The royal palace in Olite, viewed from the central plaza of the town.

Flowers across the street from the palace in Olite, with one of the towers in the background.

Additionally, all of the Spanish classes had their final exams and projects. Each class’ final project was the same: to make a video about our individual experiences in Pamplona. We all made a video and then all watched each other’s videos and voted on whose was the best. Alec Goldberg, from our Spring session, won with his video, which talked about living in the moment and not letting opportunities slip you by, which I do think perfectly embodies the motto of this trip. It was fun to see everyone’s individual perspectives of our time in Pamplona, especially in the form of a video!

My Spanish class, Level 1, on the last day of class with our two incredible professors!

On Friday, everyone goes their separate ways out of Pamplona. It’s sad to think that this incredible experience is so close to being over, but we will make sure to cherish every last second with each other until we all board our flights home.

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

[umichenginabroad]

Weekend in Madrid

This weekend we travelled to Madrid. Our days were busy as we tried to fit as much as we could into the day and a half we were there. We toured the Palacio Real, which was gigantic and beautiful both inside and out, and it offered incredible views of part of the city. Some students rented boats at the lake in el Parque Retiro, a big park by the Prado Museum, while others wandered through the Botanic Gardens for a few hours and spent some time in the close-by Plaza Mayor, a large square filled with shops and outdoor restaurant-cafés.

I personally found Madrid to be more enjoyable than Barcelona, maybe because the weather was so beautiful, maybe because in the last week we finally figured out how to not over-extend ourselves on the side trips. But also, the city felt less commercial, like a place where people live rather than a place people go to visit more than Barcelona did, which can be refreshing as a tourist. Our time here was wonderful, it was nice to spend our last weekend in Spain all together in such a big and exciting city.

El Palacio Real in Madrid.

Our spring group in a park we found on our way to tour the Palacio Real.

The view of beautiful Madrid from a rooftop restaurant some students found while wandering the city on Saturday afternoon. 

Photo by Amalia Siavelis (06/16/2018)

Gigi, Amalia, Abby and Hadley in their boat on the Parque Retiro lake.

Dan Berlfein (06/16/2018)

We arrived back in Pamplona on Sunday evening and on Monday started our final week of class. We are all trying to take advantage of the little time we have left together here and plan to stay busy right up until the airport shuttle picks us up early Friday morning. More on our final week tomorrow!

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

[umichenginabroad]

Exam Week and City Tours

Our second week in Pamplona was just as busy as the first. All levels of Spanish classes had their first essays due, as well as their first written and oral exams. The feedback was mixed, but in general I’d say everything went fairly well.

In addition to our first examinations, we had several afternoon activities scheduled through the program. We went on a tour of la Plaza de Toros, the bull fighting ring in Pamplona and learned about San Fermín and the running of the bulls that takes place every year during the second week of July in the city. The tour guide told us about how on each day of the festival, six bulls are guided through crowded streets of the city on an eight-minute run that concludes at the fighting ring, where the bulls are then kept until the bull fights in the evening. I found it very interesting to learn about this festival as it’s completely different from anything else in the United States, that I know of at least.

A view from inside La Plaza de Toros, the ring where bull fights take place during the annual festival of San Fermín, July 7 - July 14.

Klara Mateju and I very accurately acting out a bull fight.

We also went on a tour of the main cathedral of Pamplona. We were able to go up to the bell tower and see incredible views of the city as well as the cathedral’s bell, which is 17 tons and is the largest active church bell in all of Spain!

The main part of the cathedral from the bell tower. 

A view of Pamplona from the top of the bell tower at the cathedral.

Our group was also supposed to go kayaking, but the river was too high, so that activity was postponed until next week. It was slightly disappointing, but it gives us another thing to look forward to for this upcoming week!

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

[umichenginabroad]

A Weekend Away

This past weekend was a free weekend in the program itinerary, so students took the opportunity to either stay in Pamplona to rest or to travel around Europe a little bit. One group of students from the Spring session travelled to Amsterdam for the weekend, another group of Spring and Summer session students travelled to Biarritz, France, and yet another group flew to Paris while many chose to stay in Pamplona to explore the city and catch up on sleep.

Here are some photos from the weekend’s adventures!

A photo of the group of Spring session students who went to Amsterdam this past weekend.

Photo by Amalia Siavelis (06/09/2018)

Buildings along a canal in Amsterdam.

Photo by Amalia Siavelis (06/09/2018)

Jackie, Carin, Noshin and Jenna take a selfie at Notre Dame.

Photo by Jackie Jensen (06/10/2018)

Jackie at the Louvre in Paris!

Photo by Jenna Livingston (06/10/2018)

I was in the group that went to Biarritz, a city on the southern Atlantic coast of France, in the French Basque Country. The beaches there are considered to have some of the best waves in Europe, and so they are a hotspot for surfers. We split up in two different Airbnb’s. The one I stayed in was a four-bedroom house near the beach. It was very cute, with a white exterior, colorful shutters and beautiful hardwood floors inside. The weather was also nice while we were there, so many people spent time outside, surfing, going for walks and shopping along the beach. We also enjoyed the French cuisine; we ate lots of crêpes, pastries, bread and seafood, although we did have pizza one evening, you so have to indulge in something familiar every once in a while! 

It was nice to be in a new place for a few days and get to know some of the students in the Summer session a little bit better. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to go back to Biarritz again in the future and spend a little more time exploring the French side of the Basque Country!

The view of a small bridge and island off of the main beach in Biarritz.

Along a street near the beach in Biarritz. The colorful flowers and blooming trees everywhere were beautiful and a different sight compared to what we’ve had in Spain. 

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

[umichenginabroad]

Welcome to Pamplona!

This past week was our first of three in Pamplona. Here our program overlaps with that of the Summer session, so we have all of them in our classes and for our outside activities as well. It’s been fun to meet new people, especially since they are all engineers at Michigan too, and the more people you know, the better in order to survive Michigan Engineering!

In Pamplona, we are taking Spanish classes at the University of Navarra. It’s a beautiful campus and is a 25-minute walk from our dorm, which is close to the center of the city. Each of us was placed into the appropriate level of Spanish, level 1 through 7, based on a placement test we took before the program. I am in the level 1, having not taken Spanish since elementary school, and I already feel like I’ve learned so much! The University of Navarra, during our orientation, called the Spanish classes an intensive and immersive experience, which I think is very appropriate. The teachers of my class speak to us in almost exclusively Spanish, which is really difficult since none of us have any idea what they’re saying. It’s forced us, however, to work harder to learn the vocab and grammar so that we can follow what our professors are trying to tell us! I am really excited to continue learning Spanish for the next two weeks and to get to practice with my peers and converse with locals in Pamplona!

In addition to starting our classes, we’ve been settling into our residence and exploring Pamplona. Our residence in called La Campana, and is a University of Navarra residence hall, so we see lots of other students there, different from Olarain in San Sebastian where many of our neighbors were adults and families visiting the area. At La Campana, we each have our own room, also different than at Olarain, and the adjustment has been rough for a few of us, including me, since waking up at 7:45 am on a summer day is sometimes difficult, especially for teenagers. I missed breakfast twice in the first week because I accidentally overslept, and the second time I actually had to run the mile from La Campana to class with my jeans and backpack to make it on time!! (I would advise against this…)

We’ve also spent some time exploring Pamplona and everything it has to offer. Many students have found their way to the Old Town, where there are lots of restaurants and shops close by. The Old Town is also where “juevintxo” is hosted. It’s an event every Thursday evening where most of the bars and pintxo places in Old Town sell a pintxo + a drink for only 2 euros. That makes for a reasonably prices dinner if you ask me, and lots of people must agree as it was packed when we went this past week. Many of us also went on a hike to an old fort a few miles outside the city. It was a beautiful, and relatively difficult, hike and we got some wonderful views of the mountains north of the city.

The Ayuntamiento, a 17th century town hall in the center of Pamplona. 

The view from the top of our hike outside of Pamplona. 

A photo of some of the students, from both Spring and Summer sessions, at the summit of the hike to the fort. 

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun Spring

[umichenginabroad]

Visit to Barcelona

Our final few days in San Sebastian seemed to fly by. My class had company tours on the Thursday and Friday, which I felt was a natural way to end the two weeks of class. On Thursday we visited Oroña, which is an elevator company. They specialize in developing high tech and renewable energy-based solutions to inefficiencies found in traditional elevators. They supply many of the elevators to big companies and residential complexesin Europe. They have not expanded their market to the United States as the regulations and laws are different, and they would not be able to implement any of their current solutions without making major changes.

On Friday, we visited the headquarters of Gamesa, which is a company specializing in wind energy solutions, building and designing wind turbines, which are frequently used in Spain. Gamesa was an interesting tour because they showed us all the different pieces and parts of the turbines and walked us through the function and purpose of each element as a part of the whole, which took what felt like forever, but was actually quite fascinating. 

Outside of class we took a boat tour, packed our bags and enjoyed our final Pinxtopote on Thursday evening. Pinxtopote - an event every Thursday evening in San Sebastian where participating restaurants, usually along one or two main streets, sell one pinxto (mini sandwich) and a drink for 2 euros, an amazing deal to take advantage of and a great way to socialize and eat great food. 

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At the end of the day on Friday and immediately before getting on the bus for Barcelona we received our certificates of completion for the course as well as a printed group photo in front of the “tecnun” sign, and said “farewell” to our Penn State peers and to San Sebastian. Then we took the six hour bus ride to Barcelona for the weekend. We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the city, seeing sights such as La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Montjuïc, the Gothic Quarter and Las Ramblas. It was amazing to spend time in a city so different from where we’d been the past three weeks, much larger and busier, with so much to do and to see, it’s a shame we couldn’t have stayed longer but the time we spent there was wonderful and gave us a taste of a different region in Spain.

The exterior of La Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic Church in the heart of Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudi. Construction began in 1883 and continues to this day.  (Source: informational signs inside the church.)

Photo by Caroline Schmeideler (06/02/2018)

A group of girls on the program inside La Sagrada Familia. 

Photo by Dan Berlfein (06/02/2018)

The view from the Park Güell, a garden designed by Antoni Gaudi with incredible views of the city of Barcelona. 

Photo by Caroline Schmeideler (06/03/2018)

Fruit and veggie stand at a market on Las Ramblas, a popular boulevard with shopping, markets and restaurants.

Photo by Amalia Siavelis (06/02/2018)

A colorful candy stall at the same market on Las Ramblas.

Photo by Caroline Schmiedeler (06/02/2018)

The colorful fountain and four pillars at Montjuïc on Saturday night.

Celia Osman

Industrial and Operations Engineering/Data Science

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain - TecNun