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v5: Did that bother you, going from small market to small market?
Cecilia: No, it’s just that we were expecting certain things because we
don't know any difference. We're used to here. You go to a big
supermarket and get everything you want in one place. There you go
expecting the same thing but it's not that way. So you learn and just take
it as it is.
Monica: One thing we had to learn was time management, because
everything took longer! Longer to do you’re wash, longer to go to the
market and longer to cook because you're cooking for a lot of
people. You still have schoolwork to get done. It really is about priorities
and time management. There are a lot of things to see that you want to make time for, so it was difficult to keep to a schedule, we were very busy everyday.
v5: How did you get to Paris from Barcelona?
Milli: We traveled everywhere with on the train, we had an Eurorail pass
that had ten stops. From Barcelona we used the same pass to go to Bilbao where the whole class was going to go, then after Bilbao it was totally up to us where we all wanted to go. We chose to go to Bordeaux and Lyon in France and then to Paris for classes. After Paris everyone had their own plans, some of us were going to Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Amsterdam.
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v5: Where did you go?
Mili: We went to Basel, Switzerland and since we wanted to take a break
from architecture so we went to Interlaken, which is a resort between two lakes, t was great because it has many all sports activities. After Interlaken. we went to Zurich, which was exciting because the people there really know about architecture and the respect architects. We took a one-hour bus ride to the border of Germany to see the Fire House by Zaha and the Frank Gehry museum, which was great, since we had no idea we were so close to it. We then went to Venice, Italy, for two days and after that we went to Rome, then Florence and then we headed back to Paris.
Monica: It was all architecture everyday and every minute, from the moment we woke up till we went to bed. My sister and her husband don't like architecture, yet we dragged them along with us telling them, “You're on our trip and you have to come with us!” It was really interesting for me to have them there because they pointed out that looking at buildings isn't all there is to do while you're traveling. Architecture isn't the whole world! There is more out there. We tried to do little things such as canoeing, but the budget was a real big deal since we were there for two and a half months.
Mili: You have to remember the museums charge you every time you enter, so we had to see the whole museum while we were there. We wanted to see all these buildings and we had to pay to get in, everything cost money! You want to go to the Eiffel tower, you had to pay, you want to use the metro, and you had to pay. You pay extra to sit outside in the restaurant and you pay a little less if you sit inside.
Cecilia: I think we learned a lot about urbanism, and how important it is to have those parks and spaces. We then asked ourselves why can't we have those things?
Monica: Especially in France they have such tradition, parks and open spaces and formal gardens that people respect, they use these spaces like it's their home. They go there every day; we even got to the point where we would go for a fast lunch to eat in the park. I don't think it'll ever be like that here, because it's not our tradition and it's not part of our heritage, but I think that we can definitely try to improve.
v5: What other buildings were very special, surprising and would stay with you?
Mili: A lot of Gaudi's work, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter, Notre Dame, Calatrava Bridge, the Fire House, it's hard to pick because they were all good. Everything was in the best condition, it's a lot different to be there and see it instead of looking at it in a book. We were very much impressed with all the architecture. Paris is amazing when it comes to architecture because there is so much to see, everyday we would plan our day but it just was not enough.
Monica: Everywhere in Paris there is architecture and every stop on the metro has some type of architecture. There are parks and plazas that have a different outlook than here. In Paris we wanted to experience daytime and nighttime. People in Paris care about architecture and it is apparent that people in Europe care more about architecture than people here in the United States. They know about architecture and what they have around them. One place I didn't like Venice, it was so hot and everything was dead. There is nothing new; it's all historical. We had to wonder what do people do there, being stuck in this time, with no new construction, just restoration. I always wanted to go and see it, but things got depressing since the only thing Venice had to offer was the history of the buildings.
Cecilia: In Rome we were really broke because that was the end of our trip, we had horrible food, we had cold pizza and that was the worst pizza I ever had! We used to eat bread, cheese, fruit, and water. A lot of water! In Barcelona the instructors took us out to eat after the finals. In Paris the dinner took five hours, you have to ask for a bill at the restaurant, because people don't eat and run. I think besides architecture we learned a lot about ourselves, about life, surviving financially, things you don't know like the language. You learn that it's not about you alone, it's a group effort
v5: What was difficult?
Monica: The whole language thing starts to get to you. You just want to be able to go to a place and know what's going on. For example, you go to the airport, the metro station or the grocery store and you can't read the signs. You're constantly not knowing what's going on around you. We would be in the metro and they would say something that sounded really important but you don't know what they said! You tell yourself you should really know what they're saying, and you just don't know. That gets to be sort of trying on your nerves after a while when you never know what's going on.... if you're in danger and you don't know the language, which is very important.
v5: How much were total expenses?
Mili: The total expense I believe came out to be about $10,000. That was my budget with everything, including four thousand for tuition, which may seem high, but you get credit for eight units since it's a studio and an urban class. We got cheap airlines tickets with AOM French airlines, but it was a horrible flight! Museums also cost a lot.
Monica: I spent forty dollars a day in Barcelona. Everything costs a lot, so it comes down to money management. There was times that my sister and I would not eat much so that we would could buy something to take home, or we would not have dinner so we could go to museums, it was very tight budget.
V5: Thank you for telling us about the program. It sounds like you had a great experience!
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