#anawarner

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Getting started

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

Hi everyone! My name is Anastasia, but you can call me Ana. I’m a rising sophomore studying Computer Science Engineering, and I’m so excited to spend the next six weeks in Pamplona and San Sebastian, Spain! During our program, 12 other Michigan students and I will tour several companies to learn about Spanish industry, and we will all take a Spanish class and one special topics class. As soon as we arrive, we’ll start our three-week Spanish Language and Culture section in Pamplona, joining the spring session’s 15-ish students.

Right now I’m in the Salt Lake City airport, waiting to take off for Amsterdam on my way to Bilbao, Spain. I have spent the past few days in the Utah desert with Michigan Mars Rover Team for our international competition, and I’m enjoying my last views of the gorgeous mountains before liftoff (the flat suburbs of my hometown in Farmington, Michigan just can’t hold up to these). Thankfully, I have another adventure starting soon.

SLC has a great view of Salt Lake City’s Rockies, which are more striking in person than they seem in this photo. (What can I say, you had to be there.)

The desert and hills of The Middle of Nowhere, Utah, where our Mars Rover competition is hosted, will prove to be a stark contrast to the city environment of Pamplona and the beaches of San Sebastian. (Photo Credit: Minna He, Michigan Mars Rover Team)

I’m looking forward to getting to know my group, whom I already think of as “my team”, and exploring the local areas while pushing myself to grow. I've never been immersed in a different culture and language as much as I will be in San Sebastian and Pamplona on this trip, but I can’t wait to see how much my (virtually nonexistent) Spanish improves in that environment. Although I know I'll likely embarrass myself a little by speaking with locals to practice, I'm entirely ready to take that risk to gain the huge payoff.

I’ll be updating this blog twice weekly about our trip’s classes and experiences, and I’m thrilled to share this adventure with you all!

Ana Warner Computer Science ‘22 Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

[caramelcutie]

Day 6: The Warner Boys by Ana & Curt Warner Curt Warner was a star running back for the Seattle Seahawks in the 80's. When he retired in 1990, he disappeared from the public eye. It was if he, and his family, fell off the face of the earth. In reality, he and his wife were dealing with the challenges of raising twin boys with autism. This memoir recounts their experience - the highs, the lows, the moments of despair as well as the moments of hope. This book is powerful, emotional, and inspiring. #JourneyWithJae #booksbitesandflights #blackgirlreading #BlackHistoryMonth2019 #wellreadblackgirl #curtwarner #seattleseahawks #PennState #amreading #readingismylife #readingismysuperpower #booknerd #bookaddict #bookworm #bibliophile #read #asd #autism #memoir #anawarner #thewarnerboys #autisticspectrumdisorder #blackvoices #blackstories https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjgcF3HPNK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1752smmyv8k89

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Home in the Mitten

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture, & Industry in San Sebastián, Spain

I’ve been back in Michigan for a little over a week now and have had some time to absorb the impact of our whole trip and all its adventures and lessons.

Other than a big shock at getting passed a handful of silver coins as change (Spain’s are all coppery or silver + gold), it hasn’t been hard to “adjust back to life at home.” Outside of my work in a lab on campus, I’ve spent a lot of time cooking, visiting friends, and hanging out with my siblings.

I’ve still been pretty tired since I’ve been home, but I’ve tried to keep myself busy. The day after I returned, I went kayaking with my dad at a nearby nature reserve.

Back home, it’s so much easier to converse and ask questions without rehearsing the entire conversation in my head in advance. But I do miss the multilingual environment, which I was reflecting on during my flight home. It was so fun to be surrounded by two or three or four languages all at once, which reminded me of the huge world I’m in. Although being in Spain was humbling and made me feel tiny, I was never scared; instead, I felt even more energetic and motivated to explore.

I’m so grateful for this experience, which was even better and more life-changing than I imagined it could be. I learned so much about myself and about Spain, was able to meet fantastically interesting new people, both from UMich and from Europe, and do countless things I never would be able to at home. I’ve grown so much in just six weeks, and while I can already see the effects of several changes and lessons, I know that more will manifest over time, making me more confident and capable of managing the challenges of school and life in general.

I wanted to thank you all for reading this blog and joining me on my adventures. It’s been an honor to be able to share this experience with you.

Con cariño,

Ana

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Final Days

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture, & Industry in San Sebastián, Spain

As I write this, I’m sitting cross-legged on my bed at Olarain, surrounded by clothes, travel bags, souvenirs, and various strewn euro coins, all awaiting being packed. It’s our last day here, and there is so much running through my mind as I prepare to head home tomorrow morning. I’m listening to Spanish pop, the same playlist that I’ve been listening to for five weeks; the songs we’ve heard have become a comfort and a reminder of all the insanely fun experiences here.

Our classes concluded today with the Engineering Across Cultures students’ presentations of products they conceived to be used in Spain, taking into account cultural differences and regional demand. In our robotics class, we drove around a small mobile robot, running software to see its surroundings, detect obstacles, and plan its path. Later, the conversation slipped to a discussion of the ethics of artificial intelligence and algorithms with our professor, who is visiting from Denmark, before a final lunch in Tecnun’s txoko, a community kitchen and dining space.

Everything in the last couple days bears the weight of the word final. Our final pintxopote – I already know I’ll be at restaurants at home looking around for the pintxos and finding none – our final walk to class or group picture. A tinto de verano, a spontaneous ice cream run. My final trip to the beach to put my feet in the blue saltwater, or our final half-hour long hike back along the serene, sweeping bay after an evening in town.

I thought it would be sadder, but for some reason it’s not. Although I know I’ll miss Spain terribly, the predominant feelings in the past couple days have been satisfaction, accomplishment, peace. I’ve done everything here that I hoped, and so much more.

Here are a couple snapshots from our last adventures in Spain:

 We finally managed to take the obligatory M photo with our whole group, on a boat tour of the bay.

Examples of traditional Basque architecture in the tiny town of Hondarriba.

The day we went surfing, we had perfect sunny and windy weather, so the waves were great! Everyone managed to at least stand up on their board (albeit barely, like me) and quite a few seemed to be born surfers. Surfing is super popular in San Sebastián, so a lot of us bought Basque Country Surfing shirts and sweatshirts to remember it by.

I’m going to miss these evening views so much. The long walk back from town to the hotel was always gorgeous.

Next time you hear from me, I’ll be home, a bit more well-rested (hopefully), and probably scrolling on my phone through the thousands of photos from our trip, reliving some of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

Abrazos,

Ana

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The biggest party I’ll ever see

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastián, Spain

It is with great joy and tiredness that I write to you from my dorm room in San Sebastián. The last 24 hours, in which we traveled to Pamplona for San Fermín, have been unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

The energy from last night is coming back to me as I write, making it hard to think. The whole festival is deeply rich in history and encompasses far more than I can describe in a short post, but I will try to capture our experience and explain the information connected to it. 10 of the 13 of us were headed back to Pamplona, which feels like an old home. We dressed up in all white with red accents – the sashes and bandanas worn around the neck (pañuelos). I couldn’t contain my excitement as we arrived at the bus station for the last bus at 9pm; everyone there was boarding the same buses as us, all dressed identically, and within an hour we’d be surrounded by a million others, celebrating San Fermín.

The San Sebastián bus station was filled with others on their way to San Fermín, giving us a hint at what it would be like to be part of a sea of white and red. 

The festival is dedicated to the city’s patron saint, whose life is as much legend as history. It starts on the morning of July 6 with a small rocket launching in front of city hall – Javier told us this is as anticipated as Christmas morning for locals – and then continues for nine days, a nonstop party in the streets with events at all hours. Each morning features the famed Running of the Bulls and in the evenings are the bull fights.

We arrived at 10 and instantly felt part of the party, fitting right in. After stopping for a quick meal at a Chinese restaurant past our old dorm (hey, we were hungry and it was away from the crowds) and watching the fireworks at 11pm, we set off to the city center. La Plaza del Castillo, which we formerly knew to be bright and generally not too full, was crammed with people hanging out and listening to the band on a stage. Lights were strung across the plaza from the Castillo and most people we passed were covered in sangria stains, whether doused by friends during the morning parties or from accidental run-ins in the bars or streets.

The Plaza del Castillo, where the outdoor concert was held, was packed.

For a few hours we went bar-hopping, looking for places with good music to dance to. Dragging our whole group together through the jam-packed streets was insanely difficult – some were the most crowded places I’ve ever been. But everything was so worth it for the one-of-a-kind sights, being part of the huge party, and the lively music that everyone jammed out to. We wiggled our way to the front of the outdoor concert and absolutely rocked out to a cover of “Don’t Stop Me Now”, among others. In the early morning we started to get a little sluggish when bars were closing and music was ending, but we met up with our student guide, Javier, from our first three weeks, who helped us get tickets into the arena and get great seats at 6am!

Inside, there are two hours of music before the 8am run, which we could watch on a big screen before the runners and bulls flooded into the ring. Six bulls are released (and six tame oxen) after the runners start , in downtown. Javier told us that runners are mostly either foreign tourists or Spaniards who train all year for the event. When we saw everyone start pouring in followed by bulls, my heart stopped. The sight was a mix of awe-inspiring, exhilarating, and terrifying.

We watched the stadium fill with red and white as the sky lightened from 6-8am.

After having completed the bull run, the runners could stay in the ring to try to avoid the charges of six cows.

The 875-meter run was over in 2 minutes and 41 seconds, but there was more to follow. A small cow was released into the ring to chase the runners, who tried to get close and taunt it, then duck out of the way at the last second. It was fun to watch and cheer, and this part was much less dangerous, but still elicited screams when people would get knocked to the ground. In all, six cows were released and corralled, one at a time.

Although watching in the arena was fun and emotional, it definitely spotlights the ways the 9-day festival is buried in controversy as well; injury, sexual assault, and animal rights are all annual topics of concern. The Running of the Bulls is always risky; today we learned during this morning’s run, three people were gored and others were injured. No one has died since 2009, but there is still danger of goring or being trampled by bulls or people. Additionally, San Fermín has had a history of sexual harassment during the crowded events that the city government and many peñas, or local San Fermín clubs, are working extremely hard to combat. 

Finally, animal rights supporters hold protests every year, decrying the treatment of the bulls in the arenas. At the end of every day of the festival, there are bullfights in which all six bulls that ran are killed. If a fighter doesn’t kill a bull quickly and the bull is injured and in pain, or in the morning if a runner in the ring grabs the cow’s horns instead of maintaining his space, the crowd whistles shrilly in anger. People are conscious of the treatment of the animals and don’t want to cause additional harm, but the controversy of their death persists, understandably. Our TA in San Sebastián told us that there are wide differences in local opinions depending on the region in Spain; for example, the fights are much more popular in the south than in the north. We didn’t see any of the bullfights, but I imagine it would have been much more stressing than the morning, which is mostly for spectacle. 

Post-San-Fermin, we had picked up some more pañuelos, our friends and student guides Javier and Marta, a ton of new irreplicable memories, and admittedly a fair bit of sleep deprivation.

By 8:30 the events in the arena were over and a whole new day of partying was beginning. We snagged pastries at a bakery before catching our 9:30am bus back, then promptly falling asleep at the dorm.

The 12-hour trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As Tomás put it, “our most ambitious plan went the best” of everything we’ve tried to do in Spain. We’ll never see the same crowds, the music, the interactions with the bulls anywhere else. We didn’t make the trek just for the three-minute bull run, but the entire experience, and although I was literally one in a million, San Fermín still felt personal and uniquely mine. 

“Viva San Fermín,”

Ana

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Full Speed Ahead

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

Hey everyone!

Our second-to-last week in Spain was a pretty eventful one as we try to do as much as possible before the end of the program.

The students taking Engineering Across Cultures have been interviewing staff at Tecnun and exploring the city to get a better look at some cultural differences between Spain and the United States. David and I and our Australian friends have been learning (or fighting) the Robot Operating System software that we’ll program robots with next week.

On Tuesday, we went into Old Town for pintxos for lunch, then got huge ice cream cones from one of the best places here before heading to the aquarium in town.

Bushra and Kayla at the aquarium in front of the tank with fish from Finding Nemo. Some other popular creatures were eels, lionfish, seahorses, and sharks. 

From outside the aquarium we could see the Isla de Santa Clara, all the boats in the harbor, and the kayaks and sailboats that were traversing the bay .

On Wednesday, we spent the afternoon at the beach, and swam to the Isla de Santa Clara, the island in the middle of the bay. It wasn’t super warm or sunny, but the 20-minute swim was completely worth it! Barefoot, we climbed up the hilly island’s trails to explore. It looks like a tropical paradise, with soaring seagulls, crashing waves against the rocks, and lush greenery alongside trails. There are secluded picnic tables all over, too. You can also go swimming or dive off the stone pier.

On Thursday I went into town and bought some cheap white clothes for San Fermin! Most of the group got bus tickets to hop back to Pamplona on Saturday night, so we want to celebrate the festival the right way, by blending in and wearing all white with red. At pintxopote, I met some new friends; one is from Philadelphia, who we discovered is taking the same bus as us to San Fermin (what a cool coincidence!!!), and the other is a Russian student who’s learning some Spanish here before going to college in the Netherlands. Since pintxopote is a time where students go out in groups to hang out, it’s really easy to meet people. After, a few Wolverines and I went down to the beach to enjoy the water at night. It was warm out and the tide was so low that we could see the lights from town reflecting on the wet sand.

City lights from the surfing beach at midnight. The reflections are on the water-covered flat sand, not the water itself. I’ve visited the beach at night three times now. It’s so peaceful, a contrast to the crowded days, and the waves feel amazing.

On Friday we took the ferry to the island and did everything over again, including climbing down stairs through [possibly threatening] seagulls to check out the rocks below, taking photos, dancing to some Spanish jams with Tomás’s speaker, and then diving again off the platform.

Miguel backflips off the pier at the island. Photo Credit: Alex Snow.

My jumping skills aren’t quite as refined as Miguel’s. Photo Credit: Alex Snow.

Finally, we wrapped up the night with an amazing dinner at a Basque Cider House, trying a ton of Basque specialty dishes: cod and garlic soup, chorizo (“txitxorra”) and bacon, cod and onion omelette, cod with special sauces, and ribeye steak. Then dessert was cheese, apple jelly, and whole walnuts that we had a ton of fun trying to crack open with the tool (or on the table if you were trying to flex), plus almond cookies with two creamy sauces. Of course the whole meal was accompanied by traditional cider from huge barrels.

Bushra and Natalie filling their cups with cider from one of the four cider barrels, each with a different taste. You have to hold the cup far from the spout so that the cider can get aerated and bubbly as it fills. We definitely can’t do it as cleanly as the locals and bartenders yet.

We sang Happy Birthday for Bushra, then a choir group from Wisconsin led another beautiful, harmonizing rendition to which the whole restaurant joined in. Then we found out a woman in the choir was a ’92 UMich mechanical engineering alumna! She led us in singing Hail to the Victors, which we did proudly. Overall it was an incredibly fun night for everyone.

After our cider dinner (featuring Michigan ‘92 alumna Kelly), we were happy, full, and ready to sleep. Photo Credit: Wisconsin choir group.

Chao for now,

Ana

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Basque-ing in the Sun

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

Kaixo! So I’ve already mentioned that we’re on the north coast of Spain, cozied right up to France. This region is super interesting culturally, so I wanted to give you all a quick crash course.

Here’s a Google Maps screenshot of the Spanish region, bordered in red, called the Basque Country. Some of it bleeds into France as well. You can see our blue dot in the corner - we’re actually pretty deep into the heart of this cultural pocket.

“Cultural pocket, you say?”

Yeah! The Basque Country, or Euskal Herria in Basque (Euskara), is a region inhabited by the Basques, who have lived there since before the Roman Empire - meaning around the second century BCE!!! The Basque language is considered a “language isolate,” meaning it is completely unrelated from any existing language. Not only is it the last pre-indo-european language in Europe, it is also one of the oldest languages that is still alive and well, used heavily in the region.

In context of our experience here, we’ve seen Basque on nearly every sign in the city, even before Spanish. It’s clear that the language is very distinct: one sign is that Spanish words are nearly devoid of k’s and x’s, while Basque is chock-full of them.

A good example of a contrast is that “restaurante” in Basque is “jatetxea.” Of course, over the centuries in proximity, a lot of words were shared between the two languages: “ambulancia” and “ambulantzia” are clearly related.

In this graphic from EuskoGuide, you can see what percentage of the Basque Country population is a native speaker of Basque. There are between 710,000 and 750,000 native speakers in the region (7% of which are in France) plus about a million more casual speakers. Of the entire Pais Vasco population, around 30% speak Basque. Note that Pamplona is also technically in the Basque Country, but there is a much smaller cultural influence there. 

The Basque Country is also an autonomous community, Spain’s version of states, which gives it a lot of freedom in self-governance. Here, like in Catalonia, there are some regional tensions that remain.

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In other news, our classes have started, so 11 of us are taking a Michigan course, Engineering Across Cultures, with U-M professor Greg Hulbert. They’re learning about how culture plays an important role in engineering and product design for international applications. This course is also a requirement for U-M’s popular International Minor for Engineers. 

Meanwhile, David and I are taking Controlling Mobile Robotics with a Tecnun professor, along with two Australian students and one student from Bangladesh. So far, it’s been amazing; we’ve talked about what qualifies as a robot - technically, as we’re told, the robot has to be able to manipulate something. For example, a Roomba is a robot because it has a brush. Without the vacuum and brush, it would be more of an autonomous vehicle. A robotic arm without a tool at the end doesn’t reeeally count because it serves as a platform. But when you put a useful attachment on the wrist, it’s a robot. (The jury is still out on vending machines.)

Then we took a tour of Tecnun’s robotics research center, including an amazing 3-D printer for metal. No pictures were allowed, sadly, but my mind was in overdrive. As a huge robotics fan, I had so many questions and I’m so excited to keep learning. For the rest of the week we are learning principles that will help us when we start programming the robots in Python using the Robot Operating System (ROS) next week.

Oh! One last thing: Sunday was my 19th birthday, and being here with the group made it a lot of fun. I went to the beach to walk by myself for a little in the morning, then explored old town with Tomas, Ekim, and Natalie, then finally we read for a couple hours at the beach before a casual birthday dinner. I’m happy I was able to experience the day with the group; everyone likes to celebrate. Before arriving, I reflected that after this trip, the thirteen of us will be the only ones who know what this whole experience was like, from start to finish. I feel blessed to be with all of them here. We might be a little dysfunctional sometimes, but we’re all we’ve got.

Con cariño,

Ana

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Long Time No Sea

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

Hi everyone! This will be a short blog post for a long week.

On Thursday we toured the research center for Tecnun’s other campus, checking out their biomedical labs and learning how the center builds artificial tissue. They can spin polymers into strands less than 1/100th of a hair wide to form the structure of the “tissue,” essentially a scaffold for new cells! Then we met with a researcher who has spent years working on an integrated circuit  chip. He showed us his work and taught us about the benefits of his field, which opened my eyes to that world within computer engineering. 

On the way to a small coastal town to spend the afternoon exploring, our bus got a flat tire – it was 99˚ F, so it was probably a pressure issue. Our literal bump in the road was over quickly as the bus company sent a new bus within 20 minutes, which was double the size, so we were riding in style. In the two towns of Getaria and Zarautz, we walked along the ocean and browsed the small streets.

That evening, we headed out to pintxopote in town, snagging the weekly deal of a drink and a pintxo for two euros.

An arrangement of pintxos laid out at a bar. Every day, bars set out their pintxos around 2pm, but pinxtopote Thursdays are the most popular nights. 

On Friday, we had a hugely comprehensive tour of CAF, a company that makes trains essentially from start to finish. Its facilities were gigantic, and we were able to see where aluminum and steel sheets were bent, cut, welded, and assembled; then where wheels were cut, molded, and lathed; and finally, how a train car skeleton was furnished and completed. The sheer scale of the productivity, automation, and labor was stunning to see. 

This weekend, we alternated between exploring town, relaxing on the beach for a couple hours, and finding cool new places to eat. 

Old Town in San Sebastian isn’t very big at all, but it’s fun to walk around in and look at the bars, churches, hotels, and shops. Photo Credit: Basque Country Tourism.

Kayla at the rubber duck store in Old Town! 

Walking across one of the main three bridges between two halves of the city at sunset.

We start our second class tomorrow; stay tuned for more details about Sanse and our next adventures!

Saludos,

Ana

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Sanse Sights

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

I’m now writing to you from San Sebastián (or Sanse, a local nickname), our new home for the remainder of our study abroad! We just concluded a whole day at the beach – the University of Navarra had a day off of class to celebrate the religious holiday of the group Opus Dei, who founded the school in 1952. The 13 of us in Michigan’s summer session slept in a little, then all met up at one of Sanse’s three beaches. It was the perfect day, sunny and 90 degrees, so we could alternate between cooling off in the ocean and basking in the sun. This far north, we only got scraped by Europe’s current heatwave, while Pamplona is suffering in 100-degree weather now.

Here, we are staying in double rooms at Olarain, a dorm and hotel combined. It’s much quieter than our last dorm, and we’ve been joking that it must be haunted; the common spaces are decorated with old artifacts like typewriters and packing trunks, plus some less familiar ones. Outside, there are a ton of statues, including some kids pushing another kid off a balcony.

Here are just a few of the statues around the entrance to Olarain. 

San Sebastián is significantly bigger than Pamplona, with many large, modern shopping streets as well as the slightly further Old Town. To get to town, we walk along the beach, which takes between 30-60 minutes. While Old Town looks traditionally Spanish, the sprawling areas around it feel almost French, which isn’t surprising since France is hardly a half-hour drive away! Apparently, on clear days you can even see the French coast from the hilltops.

This first week is for industry visits; so far we have visited two local companies. The first was Ideko, a research group that specializes in improving industrial processes, and the second was Ikor, which assembles large orders of circuit boards designed by their clients. At Ikor we were able to see their process from start to end: where multidisciplinary teams of engineers verify the designs sent to them, then the components and circuit boards are ordered (or retrieved from inside a huge automated warehouse!), then they are put through a long assembly line of machines that apply solder paste, lay out the components on the board, then roll the boards through an oven with a temperature profile that rose then fell over time so that all the solder would melt correctly. At every step, everything was checked automatically or visually to ensure its integrity. For this tour, we had to wear special lab jackets, shoe covers, and hats to protect the electronics from any electrostatic discharge.

A quick picture from inside Danobat, an automated machining company where Ideko was doing research. 

After Monday’s tour, we took a funicular up a hill to eat a lunch of paella over the huge, curving bay. We also tried cider, a regional drink made from apples. When pouring it, you have to lift the bottle up high to get bubbles in your cup. On the hilltop, there’s a small, touristy amusement park, so we of course tried a couple of the [very short] rides, like a mini river ride and a rollercoaster.

San Sebastián’s iconic bay, with the island and mountains surrounding the city.

Pre-paella and cider group picture.

Coming up, we have a couple more company visits, a free weekend here, and pintxopote night on Thursday (the Sanse version of juevintxo), before our classes start on Monday.

Hasta pronto,

Ana

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Help! I’ve fallen in love and I can’t get up

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

We just finished our last week in Pamplona, and this weekend we are traveling to San Sebastian for our next three weeks! Although there is more to come, this is still bittersweet because we are leaving our friends from Michigan’s spring session and those from other universities, some even international. As a big group, we did so many activities and exploring with others outside of the 13 of us who will continue on.

For our final project for class, we all had to create a video about our experiences in Pamplona. The beginner class was instructed to use a metaphor for what life in the city is like, and I explained how Pamplona is like a dance: the people here have an amazing balance of peace and energy. Here’s a brief description, which I’ve somewhat neglected to explain thus far:

Stores close for siesta every day between 2-ish and 4:30-ish, and there never seemed to be rush or anxiety, but there is so much life on the streets, from dances to music to performances (especially now since San Fermín starts in just a couple weeks), and nightlife is big. On Thursdays the streets flood with people out with their friends for juevintxo: there’s even one where you could barely walk through because everyone was just sitting outside in small groups, hanging out and eating their pinxtos. That’s just a small vignette of the experience here.

For our graduation, we watched the best videos from each class (UMich summer session snagged all but one of the top spots! Way to represent!), and voted on the best video – the winner was Tomás from our group! You can see his fun and thoughtful video here:

https://vimeo.com/343607888

Alex’s, Advaidh’s, and Kayla’s videos as well as mine are also on the site https://vimeo.com/ilceunav

I learned so much Spanish in these short three weeks, and I hope to keep building on this foundation in San Sebastián as well, even though we won’t have a formal language class. Right now, I can almost hold basic conversations, like when I need to buy stamps or take a taxi, and I won’t understand everything that someone says to me, but with some context clues and patchy knowledge, I can hold my own.

 Here’s a quick look at the week that was:

Sunday: I discovered that Pamplona’s parks are gorgeous. One, La Ciudadela, is on the grounds of the old citadel, where you can walk on or between the stone walls. Another, the Jardines de la Taconera, is known for having lots of birds and deer that live in the park.

La Ciudadela was only a five-minute walk from our residence hall.

Las Jardines de la Taconera. All the parks here have central locations in the city. They get so busy right after siesta, around 5 pm.

Monday: we all went to the small town of Olite to tour the Royal Palace there. Among many interesting features, we all adored being able to climb all the towers and run along the ramparts, looking at the whole town and the country on all sides. The 800-year-old castle was so beautiful after having been rebuilt decades ago, a clear model of the importance of history and conservation.

El Palacio Real de Olite. The furthest tower, which you can see in the back on the right, was designed for the royal children to be able to play in, so it’s a bit more intricate and noticeably smaller when we went to explore it.

A model of the castle before it was rebuilt in the early 20th century. We could hardly believe how much work the rebuilding had involved.

Wednesday: we played “pelota vasca”, a regional game a little like racquetball, where two or four people hit a rubber ball against a super-tall wall until one team hits it outside the court lines. This was way more difficult than we expected: diving for the rapidly-moving ball on the dusty court, we kept wiping out spectacularly.

Don’t be fooled – the racquets were deceptively heavy. Until we got good at wielding them, we would totally whiff our drop-hits.

Thursday: this was our last hurrah – our final juevintxo night in Pamplona, we made it a great one. After getting our pintxos in town (even though it was raining), we all met up at a club to spend the last night together with the spring session and our other friends. 

I tried the Pintxo of the Year from 2017, the Boomveja, a fluffy sheep’s-milk bread with delicious lamb on top, served in a smoking bomb bowl. 

Also, I made sure to sample an erizo de mar. When we first saw it labeled just “erizo,” we were pretty hesitant because it translates to “hedgehog.” Turns out it’s actually sea urchin (with seaweed), referred to as sea hedgehog.

Pamplona truly has my heart. Although I’ll miss it, the next chapter of our study abroad is sure to be as fun and as educational, so I’m looking forward to a new experience in San Sebastián.

Catch me on the coast,

Ana

[umichenginabroad]

Bopping Around Barcelona

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

¡Hola! This weekend was a very special one for the summer session of San Sebastian students because it was our first side trip! Almost all of us took the free weekend to travel to Barcelona in two groups. After a bit of stress involved in planning logistics like transportation (a 6-hour bus ride) and housing (a private room in a hostel), everything went flawlessly.

We arrived late Friday night after the long bus ride and immediately flopped into bed in our hostel room. The six-person group was the perfect size to get an affordable private room.

First thing Saturday morning, we were up and out, on our way to the Park Güell, a gorgeous public space designed by Antoni Gaudí over 100 years ago. The famed architect wanted to make the park feel entwined with nature, and his genius shows through in every detail. 

Kayla, David, and Bushra explore the columns in the Park Güell.

We also toured the house in the park where the architect lived, which had gorgeous views of the whole city and the ocean. In truth, it almost felt like a Dr. Seuss drawing, with surprising curves and shapes and colored bright salmon pink.

I thought the park was awe-inspiring, but I had no way to prepare for the sight that was La Sagrada Familia, which we toured in the afternoon. 

This was the most beautiful thing that I have seen in my whole life. La Sagrada Familia is a basilica still under construction, Gaudí’s greatest work. It is massive and heart-stopping, the outside adorned with ornate sculptures depicting Biblical scenes and figures. The inside, however, is designed to foster introspection and closeness with God. The magnificent stained glass windows flooded the space with color, and the ceiling stood tall supported by columns that look like a forest.

The tallest center tower is still being built, due to be finished in 2026, 100 years after Gaudí’s death. His detailed plans and revolutionary process of modeling his ideas made it possible to complete the basilica in full compliance with the architect’s original vision. From far away you can see all the texture on the walls, giving a hint at the intense detail that they encompass. Photo Credit: C messier, Wikipedia.

In this image you can see the dramatic columns that branch along the ceiling. Photo Credit: Pinterest.

Inside, I wanted to sit down and cry. I was stunned and spellbound. How could one man have this inspiration?

Moreover, every detail was expressly designed with a purpose; for example, the main tower is 170 meters tall, one meter shorter than the tallest hill in Barcelona, because Gaudí believed that something created by man should not be greater than something created by God.

He was the first to ever envision the shapes and structures that he incorporated in his designs, drawing inspiration from geometry and nature, like the curves of leaves or the spiral of a snail. 

One thing that I noticed throughout the day, as we walked up and down the beautiful wide main avenues and colorful side streets, were the abundance of flags in the balconies of apartments: the starred Catalan flag “La Estelada” the most prominent among them. I knew that Catalonians wanted independence from Spain and had a great regional pride, but I was surprised by how many of the nationalist symbols there were. We started to realize that all the flags with a crossed yellow ribbon, the word “sí” in a speech bubble, and black banners proclaiming “llibertat presos políticos” (”free political prisoners” in Catalan) were all political statements. Later in the day, we even walked through a protest.

The energy and unrest were very palpable and a little frightening, as I knew that independence was a belief that the region would hold deeply and possibly bitterly. In our short day in Barcelona I realized just how prevalent the desire for independence is, and how strongly this affects life in the city. 

It was a pretty serious moment, but important. After this, we explored some of the old Gothic Quarter and went back to the Park Güell, then caught our night bus back to Pamplona.

Although we only spent a day in Barcelona, I fell wholeheartedly in love with its vibrancy, art and architecture, and unique style, and I know I have to go back some day.

Abrazos,

Ana

[umichenginabroad]

Adventures Abound

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

Hi everyone! Sorry for the huge break in posts; it’s been a busy, busy week full of exploring (and studying for our midterm exams and oral assessments). On Sunday, we went on a 5-hour hike through the hills which is a stretch of El Camino de Santiago. El Camino (“The Way of St. James”) is a pilgrimage that starts in western France or eastern Spain, then crosses through the entirety of northern Spain before ending at the city Santiago de Compostela. For the 100,000 visitors who travel the ancient way each year, the journey may be for travel, reflection, sport, or spiritual reasons. Our short traverse took us from Pamplona to Puente La Reina, through surprisingly diverse surroundings, including green hills, small forested areas, tiny pueblos (towns), farmed countryside, and flowery meadows.

A view of the countryside from the top of a ridge lined with wind turbines. From here, you could see each distinct pueblo nestled in the land. In the towns, travelers can pay 10 euros for a night in hostels specifically for pilgrims. 

The diversity of nature along El Camino is part of the reason travelers go — you can see so much of Spain’s geography. The 14 miles we traveled (yep, that’s 40,000 steps) were all different and stunningly beautiful.

El Camino is a big deal in the region; people greet pilgrims with “Buen Camino,” the path and towns are filled with iconic seashells marking the way through, and en route we even stopped by a young boy’s lemonade stand for travelers.

A hodgepodge of Michigan spring and summer students, plus independent students in our program, gathered about an hour and a half into the hike. After a while, “bodies in motion stay in motion” kicked in, and the walk didn’t feel as tiring. The 20-minute bus ride back was almost defeating after the 5-hour trek.

During the rest of the week, we took a tour of the Pamplona Cathedral, which is so historically rich that it has its own museum attached. A couple of us popped in to check out the University of Navarra’s modern art museum as well. With my beginner-level Spanish, I did my best to piece together what the signs by the art were saying, which was a super fun challenge.

Our favorite piece was a suspended ring of coiled paper that had personal prayers written on it, drawn from a church in Lima’s intercession collection box. 

I spent an afternoon in a city park called Yamaguchi Park, which was designed by a Japanese architect as a sign of the sisterhood between Yamaguchi and Pamplona. It was incredibly peaceful, and many locals came here to hang out; parents and children feeding the pigeons, teenagers picnicking with friends on the grass, and older couples sitting on the benches.

Yamaguchi Park is a great place to see how Pamplona locals take life easy and enjoy the day. 

On Thursday, we went tandem kayaking! There were a few waterfalls on the river, which our guide carefully directed us down individually... unless he wanted a pair of us to flip at the bottom, in which case he’d shout “LEFT! LEFT!” to get us to turn ourselves diagonally. There were many casualties.

Helmets, wetsuits (with kneepads!), life vests and all.

That’s all for now, but there is more to come on our weekend excursion to Barcelona and our last week in Pamplona. Although we still have more time, I don’t think I’ll be ready for it to end.

Hasta pronto,

Ana

[umichenginabroad]

Pamplona Might Be Paradise

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

Today was our first Saturday in Spain, so we had a whole day to spend however we pleased. It’s 1:30 am here, but I wanted to share with you a snapshot of what today looked like for me, because it was wholly beautiful from start to finish.

A couple of us ate breakfast in a restaurant’s outdoor street seating and ordered breakfast tostadas (toast with toppings) and coffee. 

In the mere week that I’ve been here, I’ve wholeheartedly converted to coffee. Today’s cup was accompanied by a tostada caprese.

Something about Spain makes even the simplest foods like bread taste heavenly. Natalie chose the chocolate french toast with fresh whipped cream, and Ekim ordered a tostada with at least four different delicious cheeses melted on top.

We then continued down the town’s main boulevard past all the shops, making sure to browse the styles (and physically restraining each other from buying everything beautiful... because all of it was).

In the heart of Pamplona, la Plaza del Castillo, we watched a small parade where two giant paper mâche and wooden figures danced through the square while a traditional band played, its music carrying across the plaza and down a couple blocks. This, I later discovered, is usually a part of the festival of San Fermín, but for some reason we were lucky enough to see a smaller version today, a month prior to the official start. 

Two giant figures (los gigantes), 13 feet tall, danced and led the procession, supported by someone wearing/carrying their wooden structure. The eight figures that are used in the real festival next month are 150 years old!

I was so thrilled to see the band and choir that I could feel my heart jump in my chest. From what I could pick up from their songs, they sang about being from the state of Navarra and their regional pride.

This was just one of the lively local activities we’ve fortunately stumbled upon. Just yesterday I stopped on the street to see a band playing covers of Grease songs, and a dance studio’s recital with a sizeable crowd gathered around to watch. That’s vastly different from how the US does recitals and the like — this was something the entire community could share. 

We stopped for a break to order crêpes. Yes, I know we’re in Spain, not France, but if you were here, you wouldn’t be able to turn them down either. I opted for a crêpe with apple, cinnamon, caramel, and whipped cream, while Natalie and Ekim went for ice cream crêpes.

Then it was time to head back to the dorm to take a nap and finish some homework on the terrace before our group dinner.

While grabbing a snack of Spanish cookies from a vending machine, I met an Italian post-doc computer scientist who is working on artificial intelligence research in a university in the city. As a fellow ingeniero informático, I was geeked. He told me about his work in programming a robot for surgeries that can see whether it is going to bump into an organ or vein, etc, and alert a surgeon operator if there is an issue, improving its own accuracy over time. We also bonded over our shared piano abilities, and I learned about some differences in language expressions. For example, apparently saying “that makes sense,” which is affirming in English, is out of place and almost insulting in Italian. In the course of our conversation, I noticed I naturally said “that makes sense” at least ten times.

Finally, at 11:30 we popped back into town to La Plaza del Castillo to try a frito del huevo, which is a hard-boiled egg, buried in bechamel sauce, then fried. This pintxo (a smaller tapa, aka a smaller small dish) is so famous that the bar whose specialty it is keeps a count of how many they have sold. Right now, they’re up to almost 800,000. There we even ran into our Spanish professors, who chatted with us about life in the small city.

My frito del huevo and “tinto de verano” (Navarran wine and orange Spanish pop) with the huevo counter in the background proclaiming 788,543 happy stomachs. This fried egg pintxo deserved its reputation; the inside was creamy and delicious. Our professors, veterans of the culture and very well-versed in pintxos, can corroborate that this was something special.

All told, it was an irreplaceable day. I’m ecstatic to have met the people I have, to witness celebrations in the city, and to experience life here. And I’m thankful that there are more days like this to come.

Saludos afectuosos,

Ana

[umichenginabroad]

New in Town

Ana Warner

Computer Science ‘22

Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain

¡Hola mis amigos! This is our fourth day in Pamplona, and we all say it feels like we’ve been here forever. Our morning classes leave us plenty of time to check out the town, hang out together, and most importantly, go to the supermarket to collect a sizeable sampling of all the Spanish snacks. 

We are staying in one of the Universidad de Navarra’s dorms, where we each have our own bright single room with a personal bathroom. The small, green campus is a twenty-minute walk through the beautiful city, which is entirely enjoyable in the sunny warm weather… except when it pours and we all arrive to class soaked to the skin. (lookin’ at you, miercoles.)

Our quiet rooms are great when it’s time for an essential siesta after lunch. 

The Michigan students are separated into five levels of Spanish. Joining us are about 10 students who came independently from their schools, both international and from the US, and a group from Kansas State University. The advanced class jumped right into discussions of political conflict and practicing giving directions, while my beginner-level class started with the alphabet but quickly moved into basic conversational Spanish.

In the US, most schools teach Latin American Spanish, but here in Spain the language manifests some differences from what we learn at home. For example, besides having different names for the same words, like juice or beans, certain letters have different sounds: the hard c is pronounced more like g (Cuba se pronuncia “goo-ba”), and the soft c as well as the z are said with a th sound (Francia es “Fran-thia,” with a gentle roll on the r). T also sounds more like th (tango se pronuncia “thango”). However, d is pronounced like the soft th in “they,” so dos sounds like “though-ss.” Finally, v always sounds like b (guess what “benethuela” refers to). These straightforward letter swaps make the Castellano accent – Spanish spoken in Spain – easy to adopt, and the words fun to say, rolling out of your mouth. 

On our first day, we took a tour of the city with our local student guides Marta and Javier. 

El Calle de la Estafeta, a narrow but hugely important street in Old Town, which serves as a stretch of the festival of San Fermin’s bull run. In one month, this bar- and cafe-filled street will be flooded with red- and white-clad runners on the ground and spectators in every balcony. In the meantime, it’s a major nightlife hot spot. Photo Credit: Alex Snow, U-M ‘21. Keep an eye on his Instagram @alexsn8w for more trip photos.

The summer session students during our first good look at Pamplona. (Photo Credit: a friendly city native)

Poking around in the modern downtown’s wide, sunny pedestrian streets lined with bakeries, shops, and bright-colored apartments. 

On Thursday we attended a rumba flamenca class, a style of dance that originated in southern Spain when the Cuban rumba genre made its way to Europe and was blended with the older, folkloric Spanish flamenco dance. It’s fast and fun – although I messed up nearly nonstop, I came away with my face hurting from smiling and laughing so much.

The Michigan boys weren’t afraid to show off their new skills during our flamenco class.

Although this week has felt long, I know there’s so much more to explore here in the next two weeks. From history museums to tapas to back streets, we could keep ourselves occupied for months. 

More to come on Pamplona’s culture and history in future posts!

Hasta luego,

Ana

[caramelcutie]

Day 6: The Warner Boys by Ana & Curt Warner Curt Warner was a star running back for the Seattle Seahawks in the 80's. When he retired in 1990, he disappeared from the public eye. It was if he, and his family, fell off the face of the earth. In reality, he and his wife were dealing with the challenges of raising twin boys with autism. This memoir recounts their experience - the highs, the lows, the moments of despair as well as the moments of hope. This book is powerful, emotional, and inspiring. #JourneyWithJae #booksbitesandflights #blackgirlreading #BlackHistoryMonth2019 #wellreadblackgirl #curtwarner #seattleseahawks #PennState #amreading #readingismylife #readingismysuperpower #booknerd #bookaddict #bookworm #bibliophile #read #asd #autism #memoir #anawarner #thewarnerboys #autisticspectrumdisorder #blackvoices #blackstories — view on Instagram http://bit.ly/2t6WyIS