Study Abroad, Honors Program & Other Student Experiences

Last week I went to London to visit my best friend who is studying there. On my way to the airport I was on the verge of tears. It felt as if I was leaving Spain for good since whenever I travel alone it´s usually to and from my studying destinations. I may have only had my back pack but it felt as if I was lugging all of my bags and getting ready to go home for good. When I arrived in London I spoke English… with other people who speak English as a first language. yes, in Morocco and France they spoke English but not as their first language. It was hard for me to grasp the concept that I could ask for directions and such in English and not have to point to places on a map or use obnoxious amounts of hand gestures.

Luckily London didn´t seem so far away from Spain. I feel like every time I got on a bus I heard Spanish and I would try to guess where they were from and if they were from Spain what part of Spain (using my dialect clues learned in my classes! haha). London was nice, it was my second time going there since I went with Arcadia on Preview. I was able to have a more relaxed weekend just enjoying time with my friend rather than running around the city trying to see everything since I have already seen the important stuff. It didn´t rain at all which was nice seeing as Spain had been raining for a few days right before I left.

Last weekend I spent the weekend ONLY with Spanish friends. Crazy! On Friday I met Tina after she was done with work (I met Tina on the plane home from London! It turns out she works the street over from where I live) and we went to her town on her moto. Anyone that knows me probably knows I´m super afraid of cars and things like that because of a bad accident I was the passenger in when I was 17. Well the whole 2 wheel, only a helmet to protect me thing was really freaking me out. I just held on and hoped we got there soon. In the end it was actually kind of fun. We met up with her friends and went out for a few tapas which are even bigger and cheaper than they are in the center of Granada. We spent a few hours in her town and then they took me back to the center. Saturday I went to another town further outside of Granada with 4 of my Spanish friends. I was the only girl and the only one who spoke English.  The town had games and tents set up with dancing and music. We bought some bread and chorizo (a very popular spanish meat, kind of like salami) and made sandwiches while sitting in the shade to get away from the extreme heat.

Sunday I just went for a walk with another friend and at the end of the day I realized my absense in the American Granada scene all weekend. It was nice and kind of a preview to what it´s going to be like in a week when all of the Americans go home.

Finals are this week and I have my history one tomorrow. Yikesss. Off to study some more!