One of my favorite things about studying abroad- and one of the things I’ll miss most after I leave- is speaking Spanish every day. Whether I am at IES Abroad, in class at Católica, at my internship, traveling, at home or just walking around Quito I am constantly hearing, speaking and writing in Spanish. It’s not only the fact that I get to improve my fluency in the language, but what is also important to me is that I am exposed to a different perspective of life.

Mexico versus Netherlands soccer game on November 12
After the the 2014 World Cup match of Mexico versus Holland in June, there was a lot of controversy about the penalty that was called out two minutes over time that resulted in a goal and the victory of Holland. On Wednesday November 12, I attended the friendly game awaited by all fans. According to MLS Soccer,

A couple of weeks ago, I met a girl from Denmark at a hostel in Spain. As most conversations between travelers begin, we got talking about language. We compared the stark difference between growing up in the United States versus Europe. With the exception of the minority who are exposed to more than one language in the US, most Americans only speak English, and why not?

I’ve already touched on the subject of my personal development in a couple of my previous blog posts; however, I feel that, being perhaps the chief benefit from studying abroad, it deserves its own post for International Education Week.

So far in November, all that has kept me occupied can be captured in one word: family. I started my month by taking a trip north to Alcobendas to visit my first host family from my high school student exchange program. I spent an entire Saturday with Adrian, my partner from the exchange, and his family. Even though I had only lived with them for three weeks–almost two years ago–in a way it was as if I had never left their family.

Being more of a hands-on learner, I love how much outside-the-classroom activities the IES Abroad program provides. It seems like almost every week there’s either a leisure field trip to experience a different aspect of China’s culture or a professional company visit.

Kia Ora!