On Studying Abroad

So, the last three weeks or so have been a whirlwind. I don't have the memory to tell what happened each day, but I'll try for a brief summary. Here we go:

Morocco

Well, my first trip to Africa was a success. Last Wednesday night, I took the bus to Granada, to meet up with another branch of my study abroad program. Our bus left from Granada at 03:00, and I fell asleep until morning.

Fish Soup

Good news: this will be a relatively short post! Let's jump right in, shall we? Fuerteventura was spectacular. I slept in the Madrid airport Wednesday night, and arrived in the Canaries Thursday morning. Landing was pretty cool, because we came in heading south, yet landed heading north, after making  this huge 180° turn. Getting to see the island from the air was pretty awesome, too. Anyway, I got off the plane and...

On Being A Travel Addict

So it seems I haven't posted in a long while. The sad thing is, time is flying by so fast that it feels like I posted just yesterday. Where did I leave off? I suppose it would be nearly two weeks ago. Sheesh. I'll try and give a short rundown of the last two weeks.

Run Like Hail

Well, it's been far too long. The past week or so has been more or less uneventful, though. I never thought I'd say this, but I missed blogging. I think that's the first sign of blogoholism, but oh well. I apologize, blog-liver. Anyway, now that the silly jokes are over, let's get to the good stuff:

Salamanca Part Two, Ávila and Cuenca

Well, last weekend I went to Salamanca again, this time with the Americans. We got up Friday morning and met in Moncloa, at the Metro stop. We loaded the bus and headed towards San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It's about an hour [by bus] from Madrid, and there's not much in the town. Oh, except for the gigantic granite monastery.

Primavera Pop, Toledo, Tranquility, Real Madrid and More

Well, there seems to be a trend forming here. Another week, another post. Last week was pretty cool, but nothing crazy really happened. I kind of like it. I believe we last left off on Thursday night, so here goes:

School, Segovia, La Corrida, and The Best Sandwich I Have Ever Eaten

Well, well, it's been quite a while. Last week was pretty eventful, but tame compared to what's coming up. I apologize again for the long post, I've got to update more often. Let's see: last week was the first week of classes, and the first time everyone in my study abroad program got to meet. On Tuesday, we took a placement test which was a bit challenging, but overall it wasn't too bad. I got placed in group B2B, which is a bit above average. Either I got lucky, or...

Days 7-12

What an eventful Semana Santa. Those who fear long posts: beware, this is a biggun. My family and I left on Wednesday morning to go to Salamanca, where we would stay at their vacation home. We got up early, crammed all of our luggage in the trunk, and hit the road. The drive wasn't that bad at all. It was about 3 hours long, and I got to see a lot of the Spanish countryside. 

Más y más...

Where to begin...let's see. Well, on Saturday, we [the men of the house] worked all day tearing off doorknobs and locks in preparation for the painters that are coming later this week. It was pretty tiring, but interesting to learn that father figures are generally the same no matter where you go. When working with their sons, it seems to be a universal law that they must make fun of their strength. Girly nicknames and gay jokes aside, it was fun male bonding. At night my cousin and I went to a discoteca.

¡Bienvenidos!

Well, I made it to Spain! The flight to Germany wasn't really that bad at all. I sat next to a North African man who spent the entire time reading about the physics of mass spectrometers, so that was interesting. Our flight arrived a bit late though, and I had to go straight from the plane, through customs, and then onto my other flight. A few hours later, I had landed in Madrid...

20, 20, 28 Hours To Go

Well, there you have it: my entire life packed up into two tiny little bags. I packed super lightly, bringing [mostly] only the essentials. In my checked suitcase, I've packed only about 12 days worth of clothing. In addition, I packed a razor, an extra pair of shoes, flip-flops, a metal drink container, drumsticks and a practice pad, and TOWELS.

The Final Countdown

Well, it's now less than a week before my flight, and lately I've been keeping myself up at night just thinking about it. I'm way pumped to be going to Spain, and to be honest, it can't come soon enough. I finally sent my info to my school so they can send me what they call my "ISIC Card", and I figure this means my International Student Identification Card - Card. How redundant, like the University of Maryland University College. Anyway, this time next week I'll be sitting in Frankfurt International on my layover on the way to Madrid-Barajas.

Goals

Upon reading countless travel sites, blogs and pamphlets, I've found nearly all of them recommend setting goals before you travel. Part of me thinks this seems kind of silly, but I suppose it couldn't hurt, so I've been thinking of some general goals I want to achieve while abroad.

Pre-Departure

Well, as this my first post, I feel I should take this time and explain a bit about myself. I am a college student from Virginia, about to be studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. My flight leaves in about 11 days and 21 hours.