One Month In

One month ago....I was home. I was comfortable with my daily routine. I was used to my crazy schedule. I loved working with my kids at camp. I looked forward to the one millionth knock-knock joke I would hear while nannying. I was spending time with my family. I drove everywhere. I had never been outside of the United States before. I ate peanut butter because it was normal. I never saw a professor outside of class. I was frantically packing. I was heartbroken to leave my friends. I thought I was pretty good at Spanish. And I was scared out of my mind for what this semester held.

Today....I am in Spain. I am slowly adjusting to my new lifestyle. I am finally eating a larger almuerzo and a smaller cena. I'm back at school. I'm tutoring an 11 year old girl in English. I miss my family, but feel so welcomed by host family at the same time. I walk everywhere. I'm putting my passport to good use. I eat bocadillas de jamon like it's my job. I see my professors at the bars at 2am. I wish I hadn't forgotten all that hand sanitizer. I'm super thankful for modern technology for keeping me in the loop with what's going on at home, and I'm blessed to have made so many fabulous friends here in Alicante. I have realized that I am not terrible at Spanish, but I'm certainly not that great at it either. And I'm still terrified for what this semester holds, but I'm taking it one day at a time.

Guadalest, Fuentes del Algar, y Calpe

On top of being super supportive on all things academic, the USAC staff also planned some field trips for us. This past weekend we went to three sites fairly close to Alicante: Guadalest, Fuentes del Algar, and Calpe.

Guadalest is a small village - only about 200 people live there. There were stunning views of the mountains, the Embalse de Guadalest, and the Mediterranean out east.

Guadalest

Reppin' UMD

Los Fuentes del Algar are a wetland area protected by the Valencian government. It was absolutely beautiful, but I don't think I have ever swam in colder water in my life...and that's coming from a swimmer.

Fuentes del Algar

Swimming in the FREEZING waterfalls

Calpe is one of many beaches along the Costa Blanca. The waves were larger here than in Alicante's Playa del Postiguet, but this beach had jellyfish....no me gustan las medusas.

Calpe - we have to go back to climb Peñón de Ifach (the rather large rock on the left) 

So clear!! 

La canción de la semana

Avicii - Wake Me Up

"All this time I was finding myself, and I didn't know I was lost."

Home Away from Home

After a four busy days in Madrid, we said farewell to our friends going to different program sites and headed towards Alicante. It was a glorious five hour bus ride, through which we slept the entire way (proving just how well we meshed with the Spanish nightlife).

Knowing we would have an even larger adjustment in Alicante, the program staff had a meeting with us in Madrid to learn more about our host families/apartments, and where exactly we would be living for the next four months. My incredibly sweet host mom, Amparo, greeted me as soon as I got off the bus and we went to my new “home.” There I met my 16 year old host brother, Abel, and the two of them showed me around the house, then left me to unpack my things while almuerzo was being prepared. 

I wanted to quit. Then and there. Turn right back around and go home. Twenty minutes was enough, right? Luckily, all of the students in my program had made plans to meet after lunch. As our program director said, “You have 66 new friends right here. Nobody knows you like they do.” So, we walked to the beach (because we can do that here) and convinced each other to stay. The next day we toured Alicante together, and the day after that, we hiked El Castillo de Santa Barbara.

Now, several days in, things are better. Realllly different, but better. 

Encima del Castillo de Santa Barbara. 

Halfway up el castillo! 

Plaza de Luceros

Day 3: Toledo

Overlooking Toledo

Ayuntamiento de Toledo

Artwork inside of a cathedral

Unbelievable detail

Couldn't take picures inside, but we saw his masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz

Went back to La Reina Sofia (no line this time!) 

Sunset from La Reina Sofia

Day 2: Segovia

El Valle de los Caídos

Madrid roommates! 

Nine mile long aqueduct

Intricate artwork

La Reina Sofia (and the insanely long line to get in) 

Day 1: Madrid

El Museo del Prado, where we saw many paintings by Francisco Goya and El Greco. 

Una iglesia bonita afuera del Museo del Prado. 

La Plaza Mayor

Best creation ever. 

So many statues in Spain!

El Palacio Real de Madrid

Puerta del Sol

El Parque de Buen Retiro

Plaza de Independencia

Madrid

After a much needed siesta, group meal, and what seemed like the best night’s sleep EVER, we set out to explore the city. Our program had arranged for several tour guides to travel with us for the duration of our stay in Madrid. I opted to do the tour in Spanish…figured I had to start sometime! The first day was really difficult, but as much as I wanted to switch to the English tour, I knew that it was important to start tuning into the Spanish language. Our tour guide was super sweet, and very accommodating for our wide range of language needs.

Having really only ever been to New York City and Washington, D.C., I was interested to see where Madrid would fit into my lack of knowledge of cities. It’s not as busy and chaotic as Manhattan, but less serious and businesslike than D.C. Day and night, however, are two different worlds. Nonetheless, it was very cool to experience the different culture. Some parts (i.e. the artwork, architecture, family-oriented nature) were welcomed with open arms, whereas others (smoking *cough, cough*) I could have done without.

Three days was certainly not enough time to see everything, but we managed to see a lot. We'll be back in December! 

And so it begins...

If I had to name my least favorite place in the world, it would be an airport. Any airport, try me. Flying is not for me, but ready or not…I started the journey to Madrid after an extremely tearful goodbye. As anxious as I was to spend a semester abroad, I was excited for what was coming. The best decision I ever could have made in the entire study abroad process was booking the group flight to Spain. After checking luggage and going through security, I was greeted by 90 other college students, all in the same boat.

There we stood, in our dweeby t-shirts sent to us by our program (just in case you were to miss the mob of overly excited twenty year olds waiting at Gate 92), awaiting the next step. A good number of students in my program were from the west coast, and had already had several connecting flights....they hadn’t even left the US yet, and jet lag was slowly creeping upon them. Fortunately, most of them slept on our seven and a half hour, overnight flight to Madrid.

Me, you ask? Nada. Not one single second of shut eye.

However, that did mean I was able to watch the incredible sunrise over the clouds.

Needless to say, I was more than relieved when we finally landed in Madrid. Luggage was intact, passport was stamped, and customs was a breeze (but, actually). Our program directors met us at the airport, and we bused over to our hotel in the city.

The view from our hotel

Getting There...

For someone who hates to fly, making the decision to spend a semester across the Atlantic Ocean was not one I took lightly. After a lot of thought and an incredible amount of support from family, friends, and professors, I did it. I applied to the Universities Studies Abroad Consortium’s semester-long program in Alicante, Spain, and voila…that was that.

Here in Spain, I will be living with a host family for the next three and a half months while taking classes through USAC at the University of Alicante. I have been placed in the third of four “tracks” through their program, and amazingly, the language courses I take here will count as credits towards my Spanish minor at the University of Maryland (score!). I will also be taking a conversation class and a Spanish cuisine course (just for kicks….you win some, you lose some – although I’m not sure I’ll be losing anything in that cooking class :p). More to come! 

Better Late than Never!

¡Hola! Soy un estudiante estadounidense que está estudiando en España. Although I didn’t start a blog when my trip began, I’ve decided to catch up on what has happened by documenting events here, and of course there will be more posts to come. ¡Disfruta!