After almost four months studying in Granada, I returned home to Oregon just over a week ago. Amidst celebrating the holidays with my family and catching up on sleep, at first I had a hard time even finding time to sit down and write a final blog post reflecting on my time in Spain. But now, with the start of the New Year, I've tried my best to gather my thoughts and summarize what I've gotten out of my semester abroad.
London, I do not even know where to start. I have been back in the United States of America for a while now, and all I can think about is my time abroad. My time away went by so fast, but I am forever grateful for this experience. I was trying to think of a way to share my memories and time in London and I figured I would start by sectioning off parts of my trip to explain things I learned, favorite memories, adjusting to life abroad during a pandemic, and just reflecting on my time here.
Packing:
As cliché as it sounds, I cannot believe that I am writing my last Granada blog! The last four months of studying abroad have flown by, but I am not writing this final reflection blog from home…
Before I set off for Spain, I made a bucket list of all the things I wanted to do while abroad & I was able to do almost all of them! Here is a reflection of 10 things with photos (in no particular order) that I adored checking off my list and would encourage anyone studying abroad in Spain to do.
1) Visit the Alhambra
It’s officially been four months since I boarded the plane to Paris for the semester. I’ve been procrastinating this final blog post because it means my study abroad experience is officially over. :( It flew by so quickly, and I tried to jot down thoughts as I went, but some of them never made it into my blog posts. So this one is going to be a hodgepodge of thoughts and feelings looking back on the semester.
Even before leaving for study abroad, I was ecstatic about the idea of experiencing the holiday season in Europe. As someone who prefers summertime, the holiday festivities are always a glimmer of joy in an otherwise colder, greyer landscape. I am also well aware of the fact that Europe is said to be home to some of the most magical cities to visit during Christmas. Fortunately, I happened to do most of my traveling in December—trips are cheaper to buy further out, and I wanted to avoid my busy midterm schedule in November.
Our program’s start date is getting closer, and it’s starting to feel so much more real! Booking my flight was the most exciting moment so far; I spent a lot of time that day researching Dublin and even walking around the city on Google Earth.
Before leaving for study abroad, I made a list of four of my biggest worries about the experience ahead of me. Now, after returning home, I’m returning to these thoughts. With my time studying in Madrid behind me, I’m taking the time to revisit my pre-departure concerns, and reflect on each of them.
The study abroad experience is different for everyone. Even if you go to the same city, on the same program—it’s up to you to shape your experience into what you make it. Below are interviews from three of my close friends that I met studying abroad in Madrid this semester, highlighting some of their unique and unforgettable study abroad moments.
Anna: “I love having picnics in Retiro Park!”
There’s nothing quite like the holidays abroad! No matter what you celebrate, spending four months somewhere means you’ll likely be missing at least one holiday at home. For me, the biggest celebrations are Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Of course, different religions and cultures have holidays at different points. Whether you celebrate the same as me or different, it’s important to understand your host country’s own traditions to better engage with the culture while still creating space to celebrate in whichever way you do!