I am such a nostalgia-prone person that I actively avoid situations that may trigger it. I used to cry at the end of every school year, already nostalgic for a time that had only just ended. I can look at an old movie ticket and remember my first date. I used to keep these mementos on display, but for my… Read more →
Tag: madrid
Study Abroad: And So It Ends
And so it ended where it started…at my kitchen table. I wrote the very first Pre-Departure blog post at my kitchen table, and now 6 months later I’m hovered over it again attempting to put into words everything that I’ve gone through in this time. Surely, I would have had a life changing experience regardless, but my father passing away… Read more →
Madrid VS Barcelona
Before I came to Spain, whenever I told people I was studying abroad in Madrid, they’d say, Oh, you’ll love Barcelona. This was mildly annoying, because I wanted people to tell me that about Madrid, but the fact is that less people visit Madrid since it’s isolated in the middle of the country and is located in what is effectively… Read more →
Spain: Semana Santa
It’s been a while I know. If you must know what I’ve been doing since I haven’t been writing. I got a cold and spent two days in bed, then thinking I was better went to Lisbon, only to get the stomach flu the following week and spend the next three days in bed. The last thing I wanted to… Read more →
The Obligatory Food Blog
Even though I consider myself a “foodie,” I’ve never been someone who takes pictures of my food and probably never will be. I don’t know if that’s because I don’t take many pictures in general or because I just don’t understand what I’ll do with a picture of French toast a month down the road. I don’t have Instagram, so… Read more →
Top 5 Spanish Cultural Differences I’ve Noticed
1. Handwashing People don’t always wash their hands here after leaving the bathroom, but I don’t think this is necessarily a choice. Of all the dozens I’ve been to, only a few have had hand soap and of those only a couple have had both hand soap and a way to dry your hands. I asked my host mom about… Read more →
My Not-So-Bad Weekend Alone
I’ve always considered myself an outgoing introvert. I love talking to people, but I often find myself needing to recharge after time spent in a group. But last weekend, I was overcharged. I’d spent so much time alone back in America, that what I really wanted was to be with people, to think about someone else’s life for a while.… Read more →
Being Sick Sucks
So if there’s one thing I can take away from living abroad it’s that being sick abroad sucks and inspires intense longing for home. I know this because I’ve had the flu for the past week, which explains why I haven’t been writing as much as usual. Last Friday my friends and I went out to El Kapital, which is… Read more →
Small Scale Traveling in Albuñuelas
There’s something I like to call small scale traveling versus large scale traveling. You could consider this the difference between spending a week in New York City seeing all the attractions and spending a week in Greenwich Village. I love both of these modes of travel. You kind of have to do the first type of touristy traveling to… Read more →
I Forgot the Bocadillos!
Remember last time when I said that there will be bad days, well I didn’t exactly have a bad day, but I did feel my first wave of homesickness and feeling down about myself and my progress. And it’s all because of a sandwich…let me explain. Our group is spending a week in Granada, which is in the southern tip… Read more →