I just finished taking midterms for a full load of courses completely in Spanish. Taking midterms abroad is a completely different experience from taking midterms at my home institution. Here, the exams are in topics I’m not used to, in another language, in another country, and during a pandemic.

I know the world’s biggest cliche must be the girl who studies abroad in Europe, falls in love, and describes everything as magical, right? I, too, used to roll my eyes and sigh at the beautiful people traveling around Europe and living a life full of unimaginable wonders. Mostly from subconscious jealousy, but that's besides the point. The truth is, it seems impossible to spend a night in Amsterdam without feeling something close to a cliche. 

For me, I'm still hit by a wave of awe every morning wondering how I ended up here.

It’s beyond me how my semester in Barcelona is already halfway done. It’s been a time of adjustment and transition. A time of taking it all in, embracing the new. It’s an adventure – “A time of your life,” they say. But low and behold, there indeed is the word “study” in study abroad. Yes, that’s right. This is an academic program, where I am taking courses with the intent of transferring credits to my home school in the hopes of graduating in the Spring.

I’ve had a whirlwind of a morning, a whirlwind of an evening, and a calmer but actually windy day. Due to unforeseen circumstances, my original trip to Galway (two days, one night) fell through just as I arrived at the train station. My phone is on strike, so all I’ve got at this point is wifi and calls I don't want to answer. This definitely raised the stakes in changing or canceling my ticket. Rather than deal with it, I made the split second decision to just go to Galway by myself for the afternoon and hopped on the train.

Taking the right classes during study abroad is a big plus that adds a lot to your experience. So far the course load has not been anything that I can’t handle. There are times in which I need to dedicate a little extra time because, of course, I am doing my homework in an entirely different language, but everything is totally doable. 

We are over halfway done with our time in Ecuador! Crazy, right? People aren’t joking when they say that time flies when you are studying abroad. I feel like every time I blink, another week has gone by. My stay here has been absolutely action-packed with class field trips, writing papers, squeezing in surfing sessions, getting my open water scuba certification, and hanging out with friends. At times, it can be exhausting, but in the best way possible!

Bienvenidos a mi blog! Today I wanted to highlight some of the amazing day trips we’ve gone on since getting to Madrid. First of all, Madrid alone is fabulous and has so much to do and explore, but on top of that, there are so many interesting and beautiful cities nearby. Through IES Abroad, we’ve been able to travel to Segovia, Avila, and Toledo. I should mention there is also a trip planned for El Escorial but that hasn’t happened yet, so I don’t have much to say about that one today.

Like many people, quarantine unlocked the inner chef in me. With more time on my hands, I spent many evenings in the kitchen learning cooking techniques from my mom and then experimenting on my own. I learned how to cook my favorite foods from all sorts of cuisines. In doing so, I developed a deeper appreciation for good food and a curiosity for foods that different countries and regions are known for. During the semester before coming to Paris, I worked as a cashier at a grocery store in my town.

Let me make one thing clear: I have been speaking Spanish for a very long time. Not like “since middle school” kind of long, but “since I was in diapers” long. So, I think that warrants some confidence in my knowledge of the language considering I come from a very non-Latin/Spanish family. But why bring all this up? I promise I’m not trying to overcompensate for anything, I am simply trying to make sense of a very puzzling situation.