How to … avoid getting homesick on study abroad

This guy should have read my homesick tips.

This admission might shock/scandalize my parents and my grandmother, but after more than a month in Spain, I’m not homesick – at all!

It’s not that I don’t miss my family, my friends, cupcakes, the ready availability of peanut butter and day-long Hulu marathons, but for some reason, I just haven’t felt the sting as much as some other people in my program. I think it has a lot to do with being phenomenally excited about Spain … but at the same time, I think living by myself before, and developing some good homesick-strategies then, has really helped, as well.

If you’re going abroad and want to avoid getting homesick, consider the following:

1. Leave the nest at least once first. The most uncomfortable part of going abroad is jumping into an area and a culture that you’re not familiar with. But if you’ve already had the experience of living or travelling alone, the shock isn’t quite as severe. Living in New York City last summer – by myself for one month, and with my aunt and uncle for a month and a half more – prepared me for everything from the metro commute to the occasional bouts of loneliness.
2. Leave the long-distance loves at home. From personal observation/eavesdropping, it seems like two-thirds of all homesickness issues are caused by significant others in the States. I know it’s sort of sacrilegious to suggest a pre-study abroad break-up, but at least consider talking to your boyfriend or girlfriend about the changes you’re going to have to make to your relationship while you’re 4000 miles away.
3. Know when to sign offline. It’s hard to embrace a new lifestyle when you’re constantly bombarded by photos and notes from your old one. If you’re prone to homesickness, try to avoid spending lots of time on Facebook, Twitter, AIM or Skype. Seeing photos from your friends’ parties or talking to your Mom for hours on end won’t make you miss them any less.
4. Come prepared. Bring stuff from home that will help cheer you up if you need it, like your favorite albums, books or movies, an old scrapbook or a mix CD. It’s a little hokey, but we all know it works – I have no idea where I’d be in life without The O.C. Season 1 and Atlas Sound’s “Walkabout.”
5. Love the ones you’re with. Forming close relationships with your host family, your roommate and the people in your program is a sure way to make a foreign country feel more like home. Plus, if you are feeling bummed out, you can talk to these people live and in person – as opposed to waiting up with your computer, hoping that one of your friends will eventually sign online.
   
6. Keep busy. How could you possibly miss the United States when there are so many thousands of awesome things to do in Spain? Keeping busy, whether with shopping, museum-hopping or volunteering, is guaranteed to keep things in perspective – and to give you a better study abroad experience, overall.
   
7. Keep a blog. I didn’t start out with this goal when I set up my blog, but it does seem to have helped me escape the homesickness bug. Blogging is not only a really great way to relieve your frustrations and struggles abroad, but it also lets everybody at home know what you’re up to. And, if you’re a journalism major, you can add it to your resume in the hopes that someone will eventually find it entertaining.
   

If none of these things work, your best bet is to speak to a teacher or health counselor in your program. Everybody feels homesick sometimes – you’re in a country without CUPCAKES, after all – but remember that it’s all a part of the grand “study abroad” process. By the time you get home, you’ll probably feel homesick for Spain.

Do you guys have any ideas?

How to… make Spain’s best cocktail on a budget

For only one euro, all this can be yours!

Remember those new types of posts I promised? You’re reading one right now: Every Wednesday, I’m going to write a Spain-related how to. You can find them on eHow.com or under the “How to” category.

We’re all probably familiar with sangria, the addicting wine-based cocktail that is often served at bridal showers, Mexican restaurants and aspirational barbecues.

But if you, like me, are on a very tight budget, you might want to acquaint yourself with tinto de verano, sangria’s lesser-known Spanish cousin. Not only is it much cheaper to make than sangria, but it’s also costs less than half as much at restaurants — plus it isn’t considered a “tourist drink.”

To make your own:

1. Go shopping. To make eight glasses, you will need one bottle of red wine, two cans of lemon Fanta, Casera or Sprite and a lemon or orange for garnish.
2. Mix it up. I make mine with a ratio of three-fourths wine, one-fourth Fanta, but you can do pretty much whatever you want. It’s kind of a guess-and-see-how-it-goes type deal.
3. Dish it out. Tinto de verano is traditionally served on the rocks with a lemon or orange slice for garnish. If you’re not down with tradition, though, this is a pretty garnish-able drink: you could add rum to it, you could add Triple Sec, you could likely add all kinds of fruits.

I’m actually making this tomorrow night, and I’m going to try it with lemon Fanta, oranges, peaches and cherries.

The best part, though, is that the peaches and cherries will likely be the most expensive part of the drink. My roommate and I made four glasses last weekend with one can of Fanta and half a bottle of one-euro wine.

… We’re really classy girls, I know.

How to… handle a rude waiter abroad

It's okay, guys -- I have a better idea.

Days in Spain: 15

It doesn’t matter how polite you are, how good your Spanish is or how well you’ve assimilated into Spanish culture. If you study abroad in Spain or virtually any other country, someone will — at some point – be rude because you’re American.

It’s a huge bummer, but as they say in España — así es la vida! Your best bet is to keep a low profile and stay as civil as you can, even when some surly Spanish waiter is alternately mocking you and refusing to take your order (… unfortunately, the true inspiration behind this post!).

If you’re abroad and you believe you’re the victim of anti-American sentiment, you might want to:

1. Consider the context. Standards of rudeness vary from country to country. In Spain, it isn’t rude for a waiter to leave you waiting an hour or two for the check — he’s just giving you time to hang out and talk after dinner. Check your own behavior, too: if you’re in a large group, or making a lot of noise, people probably have every right to be slightly less than awesome.
2. Act un-American. Whether it’s true or not, the stereotype of the loud, obnoxious, spoiled American tourist is alive and well in Europe. Even if someone is being rude to you, don’t raise your voice — and definitely don’t raise it in English.
3. Drop the act. Even I find it annoying when I see other Americans ordering in English or making no apparent attempt to adjust to Spanish customs. Make it obvious that you’re trying as hard as you can: A simple “lo siento, no hablo muy bien el español” (I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spanish very well) is a really good start.
4. Try the magic words. Even in translation, they pretty much work wonders. Just mind your “por favors” and “graciases,” because it isn’t Spanish custom to say them as much as we might in the States. And if that doesn’t work …
5. Get revenge. The Internet makes it really easy to get even with establishments who have treated you poorly, despite all your attempts to turn things around. Every tourist checks Google maps and other review sites for travel advice: just make sure you get on there and leave the nastiest comments possible!

Do you guys have any more ideas?