seekingmygreaterperhaps

Hola and Hello my party people!

This is my first year as an international college counselor, and I was able to have one incredible perk. (I did do college counseling for 5 years in the states, but apparently this is different. As I’ve stepped into this new role, I get it. I now need to know about all different schools within the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, oh and the rest of the world. It is a steep learning curve, but I am trying to give myself grace as I learn more.) Guys, there are (mostly private) universities in Europe that pay for college counselors to come visit their schools. They market their schools and programs to us, wine and dine us, and leave good impressions so that we can market their schools to our students.

This was my first one of these trips, and I LOVED it. The school I work for paid for me to attend the CIS Global Forum in Dublin, Ireland, and two universities invited me to their campuses on either end of the forum. Not to whine, but it was an exhausting time of networking, and I had a lot of fun.

First stop: Madrid, Spain- invited by IE University.

So, it takes a long time to get pretty much anywhere from Brasilia. It was quite an effort to travel to Europe and back, and I planned to arrive a day in advance so I could settle in a little bit, and explore Madrid if I had the energy.

I was booked on an overnight flight to Spain, and I didn’t sleep more than like 2 hours, of course. I hate traveling (funny as I write this on my travel blog…). The actual act of sitting on a plane is never comfortable for me. I am tall, and I have hips and there is a 99% chance that I am around fussy children. Is it worth it to get to see cool stuff? Absolutely. I arrived at my hotel around 6 am. Check in isn’t until, oh I don’t know 2pm? They store my stuff, but I am too tired to try and do anything. It’s also still dark outside and I just arrived to a new country. So, I act like the undignified lady that I am, and promptly try to fall asleep on a couch in the lobby. Miraculously, within an hour, the hotel has a room ready for me! I don’t care if I acted like a hobo, I was so happy to be able to take a shower and a nap. I woke up a little after lunch time and ambled out to find sustenance.

I continued on and went to do a little shopping. I don’t have many “cold weather” clothes in my arsenal in Brazil, so I needed to get some in order to look professional and stay warm. One thing I will say, Europe hates colors in the fall/winter. I love this about Brazil, everything is bold prints and bright colors. In Madrid especially, everyone was wearing some type of black or neutral.

I strolled along to the Plaza Mayor just in time for sunset and got some great views. I also stopped at one of the most famous churros and chocolate places in Madrid, Cafe San Gines for a snack. The chocolate was just as thick as you want it to be in Spain.

The next day or IE itinerary was starting around 3, so I squeezed in a free walking tour of Madrid in the morning.

It was nice to be led around Madrid and see some beautiful buildings and hear about some history, and also be in long sleeves.

The afternoon/ evening was spent learning about IE’s undergraduate programs in their huge skyscraper with beautiful views on every floor and in every classroom. They took us to dinner at a Flamengo show, where we ate some tasty Spanish delights as well as were awed by the athleticism of the dancers of Flamengo.

Day 2 took us to Segovia, Spain- which brought me so much joy! It is a historic town/city where IE has another campus. I was so blessed to see fall colors! I get a little homesick in the fall because I really love fall colors, fashion, and flavors, so seeing these trees made me very happy.

Segovia’s icon is the Roman aqueduct. For lunch we went to the amazing and historic Duque, and I got the pig- because when in Castilla y Leon, you always get the pork. At this restaurant, they show you the authentic way to cut the roasted pig- with a plate! And then they throw the plate on the ground. It is wild, and also the tasty pork I’ve eaten.

Next stop: Dublin, Ireland for the CIS Conference!

As soon as I landed, I dropped my bags at the hotel and went straight to two amazing networking events. One at the Whiskey Museum and the other at the Guinness Storehouse. So what I hadn’t been prepared for was the energy needed to schmooze with universities and get my school’s name on their minds. I attended the conference, but then another super important reason I was there was to meet the university reps. And, let me just say, these universities know how to pick good venues to throw a party!

You probably see my friend Alex in many of these pictures. We networked together HARD. I met her in September when I went to Bogota, she currently works at a school in Costa Rica, and I think we are meant to be best friends.

Oh, yes, that’s MY FACE on a Guinness. At the storehouse they take your picture, and then have a printer that they print your face on the top with Guinness powder. It was really probably the highlight of my trip. Ha!

After the conference day 1, Alex and I attended 5 networking events. It was a marathon. The coolest venue was on “the boat” but I also liked the one at the EPIC Irish Immigration Museum. I feel like I met some really fun people this night, but was definitely exhausted going into the final day of the conference.

On Saturday, I was going to have 1 free day to play in Ireland before off to my final stop on the grand tour. During the last session, I talked with some people at my table and convinced them to join me on this tour of the Cliffs of Moher that also stopped in Galway. My dad and stepmom had been to the Cliffs, and it was on my bucket list of things to see as well, so I wanted to go. It’s a bit of a bus ride outside of Dublin, but ended up being very cool!

Oh yeah, it was also super windy and rainy and cold. Welcome to Ireland I suppose. I saw the Cliffs of Insanity!!! (If you haven’t watched the Princess Bride… how could you.)

Galway was a great stop for lunch. Very cute and Irish. Thumbs up. Clearly I have a lot to say about Galway…

On our return to Dublin, I met up with friends I had met at the conference, and of course Alex, in the Temple Bar district!

Irish pub culture is amazing. There is singing and live music and lots of beer. It was really super fun, and I’m glad I got to experience it with a group of people. Last time I was in Ireland, I didn’t spend much time here because I was traveling by myself, it was still early on in my eurotrip, and I hadn’t mastered the art of making friends with strangers. I mean, jury is still out on the last part there, but still. Also- things were decorated for Christmas, and everything felt just a little bit extra magical.

Off we go to our last stop: Barcelona, Spain!

Esade University invited me (and others) to visit Barcelona so we could learn about their campus and programs. Upon arrival, we were surprised with a visit to the Casa Batllo, which is one of Gaudi’s creations in the heart of Barcelona. We watched the sunset from the roof, and on the way out, there was an incredible digital art room that you must go through in order to exit. I was a little annoyed at first, but then was shook by how cool that exhibit was. Almost worth it just to go see that part.

Afterwards, they took us on a city tour by bus at night. The bus ride took us to our dinner spot at La Barceloneta for some incredible seafood. We also chatted with a current student and someone from Esade.

I had a couple hours to kill before heading to the airport, so after my return to the heart of Barcelona, I decided to visit the Sagrada Familia with my new Austrian friend from the university visit. When in Barcelona, right? I’ve seen her before, but going inside is still amaze-balls.

I had enough time to sit at a cafe and just breathe for a second before going to the airport. I studied abroad in Spain for a summer in college, and this was my first time back since then. It makes me want to come back and spend more time in this beautiful country. I was heartsick for some European culture, but wallet-sick for Brazil. And of course, I missed Kya.

If this is a perk of college counseling abroad- I will DEFINITELY be sticking around. Oh, it was also really important and relevant for me to network with people. 🙂