Arriving in Madrid

Guest blogger: Jordan Hainsfurther


Stepping off the plane in a country you've never been in and where English is rarely spoken is a surreal experience. After an 8 hour flight from Chicago I finally arrived in Madrid not knowing what lay ahead of me. The first day was a little rough as I had to adjust my body to the new time zone (7 hours ahead of Chicago). My flight left at 4:40 pm and arrived at 8:30 am. I immediately set off for the hotel my friend and I had booked and opted to take a cab as opposed to the subway considering the amount of luggage I had. I thought I had an accurate idea about the cost of the cab but I was either very wrong or got ripped off because he could tell I had never been to Spain and that my Spanish was not the best. I believe it was the latter. Either way flustered when I got to the hotel I gave him the money and got out. I took a little nap as I waited for my other friend to arrive a few hours later. Once he got there it was time to explore! We had arrived approximately one week before orientation thus two weeks before classes started.

The first two days we had to accomplish a lot of house keeping items such as getting a subway pass, Spanish cell phone, moving into our apartment and getting groceries. Of course none these were easy tasks. Taking the subway even 3 stops with two huge suitcases and a carry on is no easy chore. Once we were all settled it was time to begin site seeing. I opened my Trip Advisor app and quickly saw there were so many things to do. We had heard from many people to go to the royal palace. I could not dream of what I was about to see. The Spanish royal palace dwarfs the White House.  Please see the attached picture. There are over 3000 rooms of which we saw a mere 20. Back in the day the king had separate rooms for lunch, dinner, special events, sleeping and even getting dressed. Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside the palace but each room is adorned with spectacular ceiling frescos, unbelievable chandeliers and amazing sculptures. It is truly a site to be seen. My favorite rooms were definitely the throne room and the dining salon. This table must hold at least 70 people. After we exited the palace we moved on to plaza mayor, puerta del sol and the Prado museum. Each just as amazing as the next.

The following day we took a day trip to Segovia which is an hour north of Madrid by bus. Segovia is an amazing city with cobble stone streets and an ancient aqueduct designed by the Romans. In addition there is a spectacular cathedral (see attached picture) along with a castle the king used for relaxing years and years ago.

Finally, let me tell you a little about the Madrid nightlife. I must preface this by saying lunch is eaten normally anywhere between 2-4 and dinner not until 10 or 11 pm. Spaniards go out very late. The first club I went to, Kapital, did not get busy on a Thursday until about 3 am. Kapital is one of the many amazing clubs Madrid has to offer but the city also has amazing bars on every corner. One of my favorites is el chapandaz also know as the cave bar because of its interior decoration. They specialize in a drink called el leche (the milk). The milk even comes down from the ceiling.

That's my experience in Madrid so far but I'm only two weeks in. I expect much more in the coming weeks and months. I have trips planned to Oktoberfest, Prague and Amsterdam thus far. In fact, I'm writing this on my way to Barcelona.

Adios y buena suerte,
Jordan Hainsfurther

Welcome to Tulane (and Hurricane Isaac)

Guest blogger: Samantha Becker

Welcome Week is the week everyone looks forward to all summer long. It is the first week of freshman year, and the excitement is flowing as student after student is moved in and gets ready to embark on the best four years of their life.

My start in school was a little different. Move-in day went as planned, I moved into Butler Hall, the Honors dorm. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too excited to live in Butler at first; after all, it is the Honors dorm and that comes with assumptions about the people who live there. However, a week later I would be proud to call Butler my home for the next 9 months.

The day after move-in came the warning of the hurricane. Most didn’t think too much of it, it would most-likely blow over. The parents that were still in town were worried, but mine were well on their way home to California. All of a sudden, in the next few hours people started to become more worried as more and more warnings were sent out.

Nonetheless, we had our first day of classes Monday, although students who had gone home were told they would not be punished. Jump forward a few hours, and we were getting word that there would be a lock-in until further notice, effective Monday evening. That afternoon my roommate and I ran to the local rite-aid, hoping to stock up on snacks for what would turn into the best 48 hours of freshman year.

While Hurricane Isaac knocked down trees and power lines all over the city, we were safe in Butler. Yes, we had to sleep in the hallway that first night. But the hurricane from the inside was not as scary as it was from the outside. Our parents were frantic, while we happily watched National Treasure and Anchorman with people piled in the lounge and in the doorway. That is, until we lost power. And then we made our own fun; we had a dance party with portable speakers that ran on batteries and played random games. As laptops and phones died, we had to rely on the connections we were making with one another. I can’t tell you how many people I met during those 48 hours. We even had a giant jam session in my room that lasted two hours. It included a saxophone, ukulele, guitar, and drums made out of my calculus textbook. We were hot and the building was full of humidity, but the “nerdy honors” kids in Butler found ways to make fun.

That being said, when the power came on a few days later and we were let out, the feeling was bittersweet. We were sad that our bonding experience was over, that we would again be separated by cellphones and laptops and busy class schedules, but happy that we had amazing memories to look back on. I will never forget the memories Hurricane Isaac gave me, or the friends it led me to make, friends that I still have to this day. I am so happy I got put in Butler. The lock-in allowed me to give the dorm and the people a chance, and I will be forever grateful. I say to this day when I give tours that it doesn’t matter what dorm you are in, what matters are the connections you make with the people in it.

Thanks to the hurricane, it was the most untraditional Welcome Week any school could ever have, and while basically all of the official activities were cancelled, I don’t feel like I missed out. I feel like I had the best Welcome Week I could have asked for. As we say, only at Tulane, only in New Orleans. Thanks for the great welcome Isaac.

The TIDES Have Turned: My Summer Into an Unforgettable Experience

Guest Blogger: Taylor Fox

Year: Rising Sophomore

Major: Philosophy/ Gender Studies

Hometown: Boca Raton, FL

Email: tfox2@tulane.edu

It's my last week here this summer, and as my internship finishes up, I wanted to take a little time to reflect on what a rollercoaster ride these past few months have been.

Tulane is a school for people looking for an adventure, and so many students travel from all over the country (and more than a few different countries) to find it. Because they know this experience can be overwhelming at first degree, they hold approximately eight billion events that you can attend. In addition to all that, part of your first degree semester schedule is a Tulane Interdisciplinary Experience Seminar (yes I googled what it stands for), better known as your TIDES class. These are small classes designed to help you meet likeminded people and immerse yourself in the city of New Orleans. Most of them have really fun titles, and super cool subject matters. My roommate took one called Hauntings in New Orleans, and wrote a final paper about zombies. Another friend took one called A Running Conversation. They literally just ran while having academic discussions. This sounded like my worst nightmare, but she is one those people who runs for fun, so she loved it. There's even one taught by the president of Tulane Scott Cowen on leadership.

Mine was called Being An Advocate for Women. I didn't exactly know what that would entail, it fit in my schedule and I'm all for equality, so I figured why not? My professor was this wonderful woman named Catherine Hancock, who actually was a professor at Tulane's law school. I googled her after the first class, turns out she argued in the Supreme Court before deciding she wanted to go into acedemia. NO BIG DEAL. She taught us all about the legal aspects of helping women struggling through domestic violence situations. I had absolutely no idea that this field of law even existed, and I was shocked to discover what an uphill battle it can be for the brave women who find themselves trying to navigate it.

After the second class I waited until everyone had left and told her that I wanted to be her when I grew up. She smiled. Then I said, No, but like, how do I do that? And she told me to talk to all of the speakers she invited to class, and that she would help me. This woman, who spends her time teaching college graduates who had applied, gotten into, and started specializing in law school, was taking me seriously at eighteen years old in my second week of college. She introduced me to the head of the Tulane Law Domestic Violence clinic, who after I shamelessly begged, allowed me to help run a CLE.

The woman who was coordinating that program with her worked for the city's domestic violence department. The head of the DV clinic began her program by telling these seasoned DV lawyers that my excitement about what she did reminded her of why she got into this line of work in the first degree place. I may or may not have teared up and immediately called my grandma. An hour into the event, she offered me an internship.

So that's how everything happened. I got a grant from Newcomb (more on that later) to cover some of my expenses. So now every morning at 11:32am (because I'm usually giving the 9:30 tour), I get on a city bus. Public transportation was new and scary for me, but now I am an absolute master. Which means I know to pull the cord hard enough so the driver pulls over at my stop. I pass a lot of beautiful, brightly colored buildings. Then I pass a building with five ceramic men all wearing giant bunny costumes. I try to take a picture of this every single day and either the bus moves too quickly or the windows are too dirty. Then I walk two blocks to city hall, and ride up to the top floor in a very shaky elevator. Then I work on a big report for my boss.

I have never once been asked to go get coffee or make copies. I am doing real work that really matters. My boss repeatedly asks me, Do you feel like you're learning things? Do you feel like this is helpful to you? I've met DV detectives. I went to a conference for domestic violence advocates that really should've been called a superhero convention. I listened to my boss give a webinar that people from all over the country listened to. I have analyzed data and reached super classified conclusions. I can see the Superdome from my desk.I HAVE AN ID BADGE WITH MY PICTURE ON IT.

(picture of superdome, badge, fancy dress selfie, new orleans deliveries only, movie poster)

I've loved, loved, loved this experience.

***And because this is super important, I have to include it. A healthy relationship does not have jealousy or violence. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that you can do to a person that makes it okay for them to do anything that makes you feel scared or unsafe. I can tell you with absolute experience that you can have better, and that there are a lot of people who want to help you find it. Find a safe place, and call 1−800−799−SAFE(7233).

Uptown New Orleans Was Far Enough

Guest blogger: Adam Griego

Since I was born and raised in a suburb of New Orleans to a family with no ties to Tulane, Tulane was never really on my radar for where I wanted to go to college. I was raised like all of my friends where you rather donned yourself in purple and gold or believed that this was your time to get out of the Southeast or at least Louisiana.  When it came time to pick which colleges that I wanted to apply to and ultimately attend, I had four categories that I assessed when breaking down each individual school.        

I wanted to:
 . Get as far away from home as possible
 . Have a big sports school atmosphere
 . Be one of a thousand students in big intro level classes
 . Attend an academically challenging institution

 Well, one out of four ain’t bad, but ignoring numbers one through three led me to learn more than I ever thought I could about my city and other areas of the world.

As a New Orleanian, I learned more about my hometown in my freshman year than I ever had in my first 18 years. I was able to do this because I got the opportunity to experience my home for the first time, again, with people who were in complete amazement about every single aspect of the city that I already loved. Also, I got to learn more about how what I saw as “normal” growing up by our city’s standards is truly unique to this one area of the world. I could have gone to college in Georgia, South Carolina, or New York, but I never would have gotten the diverse cultural experience like I did in my own hometown. My roommate freshmen and sophomore year was from Kansas, and our neighbors during our two years were from California, New York, Boston, Chicago, Arkansas, and many more, and during my two years as an Orientation Team Leader, I met people from almost every state in a matter of 60 days. By meeting all of these people, I have made connections all around the US and even in other countries. These connections have led me on trips to Boston, Washington D.C., Knoxville, Chicago, and a few others. Though my thought was to get as far away from home for college so that I could learn about another area, I learned that Uptown New Orleans was far enough to open my eyes up to a whole new world and to the lives of others from all around the world.  Another big perk of staying close to home for college is that my parents can still act like I go to school hours away, but when I really need some family time, they are right around the corner to see me for special occasions and feed me a dinner or two from time to time.  Last but not least, I learned the very important lesson that seersucker fabric is only appropriate to wear for Spring events or Homecoming.

In regards to a big sports school atmosphere, I soon learned that a sports program will not make or break my college experience. Sports are a huge part of my life, and if sports are as important to you as they are to me, you can attend every game here for free and enjoy the brand new Yulman Stadium. Also, you have a city that has two big league sports teams, Saints and Pelicans, a minor league baseball team, Zephyrs, and an Arena Football team, Voodoo. Since 2011, we have had the Super Bowl, Men’s Final Four, Arena Bowl, and Women’s Final Four, and the NBA All-star Game is coming next year. The opportunities for getting involved in the sports industry are endless, and I have taken advantage of it by volunteering for multiple events and having an internship with the Triple AAA New Orleans Zephyrs for this entire summer.

As far as being one of a thousand students, that would have been the worst situation for me. I have gotten to know so many incredible professors that have been able to talk to me one on one on both and academic and social level. The professors that I have met during my time here have not tried to fail me to prove that they know more than I do. They will do anything they can to make sure that I understand the material so that I walk away with new information to use in the future.

Lastly, the academic challenges are exactly what I was looking for in my college experience. I am challenged every week with foreign material but have the essential tools and information to complete my work. Our finance program ranks 3rd in the nation and top 30 internationally. The people that I am meeting and classes that I am taking are setting me up to succeed in my life after Tulane.

To this day, going against my original train of thought and attending Tulane was one of the luckiest decisions that I have made because of the time I have spent getting to explore my hometown and the people that I have met during this incredible experience.

Best Friends Ever!!

Best Year____ Ever!!

Andrew Lemoine, a rising sophomore, wrote an awesome blog series highlighting why he loves Tulane. Check out his previous posts to hear more from Andrew!

            So freshman year is in the books, and boy was it one I will never forget. As a local kid from Louisiana I didn’t know what to expect by staying in state for college, but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. New Orleans is one of the most unique places in the world. I think that this statement pretty much sums up my experience at Tulane this past year. Unique!

Best Friends Ever!!

            When I came to Tulane, another thing I was really looking forward too, was the huge diversity among the student population. Having a RA from Kenya, a suite mate from Thailand, and a floor mate from England, I immediately had the chance to experience so many new cultures and ways of thinking. I was so intrigued by how different everyone was. In high school, all students were from the same place. Most people held the same beliefs and ideals, and It was truly an awesome adventure to meet all the new people. Its so cool that in just one friend group, one person is, for example. from Louisiana, one from California, another from Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Oregon, Missouri, and Florida. Having that huge spectrum of people is just, that awesome. I don’t really have other fancy words to describe it. I think that your friends really help make your college experience what it is. Throughout getting involved through sports and other organizations on campus, I really got to see the entire spectrum of the many people on campus. And by doing this, I think I was lucky enough to have the best freshman year ever!!

Best Adventure Ever!!

Best Year____ Ever!!

Andrew Lemoine, a rising sophomore, wrote an awesome blog series highlighting why he loves Tulane. Stay tuned to hear more from Andrew!

            So freshman year is in the books, and boy was it one I will never forget. As a local kid from Louisiana I didn’t know what to expect by staying in state for college, but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. New Orleans is one of the most unique places in the world. I think that this statement pretty much sums up my experience at Tulane this past year. Unique!

Best Adventure Ever!!

Trying to find the best word for it, New Orleans has the best... “Adventure”. It has just the most random things, and events that all sort of blend together in this big massive gumbo of the South. From meeting random famous people, to going to shows and random events, this short section is really just a few random experiences and events that have truly made my last year here unique.

  

Top and Far right, Roads closed after a couple days of rain.
Bottom left, Aubrey Plaza from Parks and Rec. after her comedy show in McAlister Auditorium

Left and Bottom: Cram Jam in our dining hall. A food party thrown by Tulane right before finals
Top: Woody Harrelson casually playing soccer on the Newcomb Quad
Middle, Ellie the Borden Cow on Campus.

Best Food Ever!!

Best Year____ Ever!!

Andrew Lemoine, a rising sophomore, wrote an awesome blog series highlighting why he loves Tulane. Stay tuned to hear more from Andrew!

            So freshman year is in the books, and boy was it one I will never forget. As a local kid from Louisiana I didn’t know what to expect by staying in state for college, but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. New Orleans is one of the most unique places in the world. I think that this statement pretty much sums up my experience at Tulane this past year. Unique!

Best Food Ever!!

         So the one thing that everyone agrees on, is that New Orleans is famous for its food!! I can’t sum up m freshman year in New Orleans without slightly mentioning food. From the famous Café Du Monde in the New Orleans French Quarter, to Plum Street Snow Balls in Uptown, you cannot go wrong with New Orleans Food. When I got to campus back in August,  one of the things I could not wait to do was try as many foods as possible. Our course, on a college student budget, I was limited, but that didn’t stop me from trying! From going out to eat with friends, to cooking Sunday Family Dinners in our dorm’s kitchen, to we had the best time doing it! There are literally restaurants everywhere in Nola!! It is just like activities on campus. The hardest part isn’t finding a restaurant. It’s picking which one you want! All it takes is a little bravery, a longing for adventure and a huge appetite!!