Throughout the past month I have spent all of my free time exploring and enjoying Barcelona. While many students travel across Europe on the weekends, my goal is to see as much of the city and its surrounding areas as possible while I am here. However, this past weekend, February 7-9, I went on my first trip outside the city since I arrived here. I went to Madrid, the capital city of Spain!
Talia and Emma are senior interior design students who have been in the program together for the past 4 years. They had the exciting opportunity of going on a global classroom trip together to Barcelona to study historic preservation. The following blog post was a collaboration to describe a little bit about what made the trip so special to both of them, both visually and in writing.
Watch and read their blog and descriptions below
Knowing that the sun rises every morning is something that I definitely have taken for granted. I realized that the sun rising is a start of something new. While it rises in the same place every morning, it represents something more than that. A new day is not like yesterday; whatever happened then is done and a whole new experience is about to begin. Continue reading
This week I found myself struggling to write a blog post. It was not that I did not have anything to write about. I just did not have a topic that I felt I could write a lot about. I kept coming up with ideas but none of them seemed to get very far. Then it dawned on me that I was experiencing writer’s block. How could I have writer’s block? I have been here for less than a month and have only written two posts. I felt that I had so much to write about, but could not seem to get the right words on to paper. My deadline for turning this post in arrived and I decided I was just going to email my supervisor and explain my struggles. I asked for some suggestions as well. The response came back telling me not to worry and gave some topic suggestions. The one that jumped out at me was about goals. Goal setting for my time in Spain. This was perfect! I had previously just made mental goals but did not write any of them down. I took this as an opportunity to write down some of my goals and hold myself accountable to them. This breakthrough was what I was waiting for. I finally had something to write!
One of the very first things that I learn about travel, especially plane travel, is that unexpected things happen that we have no control over. The ability to understand that and be flexible is attributed to resiliency or being able to bounce back. The beginning of my study abroad experience was a large test of my resiliency. My journey to arriving in Barcelona was filled with a few unexpected events, like snow on the East coast of the Unites States.
Hello everyone! I’m back after another action packed week with the family. After such a fantastic weekend in Cataluña, I was ready to relax for a little in Madrid before doing it all again. While I had classes and homework during the week, my family was going on day trips to nearby cities. As much as I would have loved to tag along, school always comes first. I did have some free time throughout the week which we spent exploring Madrid enjoying the culture and of course, showing my brothers why Madrid’s nightlife is so famous. Then, when Friday morning came around, we embarked on our journey to the south of Spain. Continue reading
Hello everyone!
I hope all is going well for my faithful readers. I am sorry I have not posted the past few weeks, I have been super busy with school and that’s obviously my priority. The good news is that there is a break in the storm, and my family is here to visit! My dad and two younger brothers have made their way across the pond to see how life has been treating me so far in Spain. This is going to be a two part blog post, one pertaining to this past weekend in Barcelona and the next about our week in Madrid and the south of Spain. Without further adieu let’s get right into it. Continue reading
The past two weeks have been full of new sights and experiences. I am so pleased to be able to attend Lorenzo De’ Medici because my professors are all about experiencing things outside of the classroom. I do attend lectures, but they would rather students venture out into Florence to see the famous sights in person rather than on screen. It’s awesome to walk into the museums as well as see breathtaking views and architecture, but once you know what you are looking at everything turns into a different experience. Continue reading
Taking a trip outside of Italy this weekend to Barcelona, Spain has shown me a different type of culture shock than what I experienced when arriving in Italy. The most notable difference was the language barrier. I have gotten so comfortable with ‘Ciao’ and ‘Grazie’ that having to change it even slightly to ‘Hola’ and ‘Gracias’ was difficult and a definite strange feeling. Throughout the weekend, I caught myself slipping out some Italian words more often than not.
After being in Spain for a month and some change, I’m really starting to feel at home. I’ve seen a considerable amount of Madrid, gotten familiar with the public transportation, and have become friends with some of the local students. I love this city so much and it has been nothing but great to me. Living here has helped me grow so much as a person, and the obstacles I’ve faced here have only made me stronger as person. This weekend I was presented with a unexpected challenge that has taught me more than anything else so far.
Hello everyone! This week I’ll be switching things up from soccer and instead talking about some of the major highlights of my first month living in Madrid. It already feels as if I have been here for a lifetime. I have made so many new friends, seen so many beautiful places, and grown more and more as a person every day. Reflecting on this past month, I have done so much that it would take me days to tell you all, but there are a few moments that I would really love to share with you all. I’ve started my classes, taught a class on how to speak English, saw Picasso’s “Guernica” and had my twenty-first birthday! Continue reading
So remember last post when I said that I would go more in depth into going to games here in Spain? Well if you were dying to hear about it like I imagine you all were, you’re in luck because now’s that time. Continue reading
Any avid soccer fan will tell you that Madrid is currently a hub for world class football. The cities two largest teams, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have recently enjoyed success on not only the domestic league of Spain, but also on the largest stage in European football, The Champions league. Continue reading