What it is: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz is the story of a Dominican family with a curse that dooms them to tragedy and ill-fated love. Oscar, our overweight, nerdy protagonist, never seems capable of winning, either in his dreams of writing the next great sci-fi novel or in having his first…
What it is: Don Quixote de La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential works of fiction, especially among Spanish literature. The title character, dubbed Don Quixote, becomes obsessed with reading about knights errant and their chivalric adventures. He goes insane, and attempts to bring these fictitious books to life with…
There’s no doubt in my mind that study abroad is awesome. You get to live in a foreign country for six months, your coursework is likely to be electives, and you become close with other students from the same program. When I applied to college, it was crucial that my school had a study abroad focus. I…
Taken in Woodburn, Oregon. For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Churches/Religious Buildings.
I almost didn’t believe this sign when I read it.
Your search history says a lot about you: your interest (or lack thereof) in current events, your medical symptoms, your Facebook stalking habits. It makes sense that our search histories match our interests, since the Internet is where most people turn for information. So what do your open tabs tell you? They represent the two extremes…
There I was, minding my own business (and by that I mean blatantly staring at every person walking by) while having a late lunch in Sevilla. The sun had finally descended behind the restaurant, and for the first time that day the plaza was comfortably warm instead of exhaustingly sweltering. I took a sip of…
If you know me, you know I’m into vegetables. I’ll often fill an entire plate with veggies at the dining hall–for me, choosing between carrots and broccoli is like choosing a favorite child. I just can’t. Because of this, eating in Spain has been immensely frustrating. Spaniards hardly eat vegetables; their occasional vegetable consumption consists of…
I’ve been in Lisbon, Portugal for less than 48 hours and I’m already frustrated. The problem is the language. I speak Spanish, which is extraordinarily similar to written Portuguese, but my Spanish background doesn’t actually help me communicate with anyone here. The pronunciation is so different: s sounds like sh, h sounds like y, and…
I’ve learned a lot in college so far. Some things I know I’ll use in the future, like the phases of stuttering or what progress to expect from a child’s speech and language development at various ages. Some things I most likely won’t, like the difference between a pirate and a maroon on 18th century…
Victim to Charm 