October 28, 2009

Long Time, No Blog

Like I said yesterday, I have fallen off the blogging horse. I was doing so well at the beginning of the semester but things just start to pile up as the weeks go by. Here is my first step toward getting back on that horse.

Geez, I have so much to tell you all! I'll spend the next couple of entries catching up on whatever the heck I've been up to. Then I promise it's back to the random blurbs. :)

I'll begin with biggest news in my life right now...

I'm studying abroad in SPAIN next semester!

I didn't want to get ahead of myself by mentioning it earlier. But the trip is officially on! And here are a few details about the program:

-It's in Malaga, which is in the Costa del Sol region. It is also where Picasso was born so they have a bunch of really cool cultural and artsy museums. The weather should be absolutely gorgeous in the spring.
-I'll be taking 12 credits in Spanish-related courses such as Spanish Language, Spanish Culture, Spanish Literature, and Spanish Art History: Greco to Picasso. Seriously, how cool does that sound?!
-It's a relatively short program, which is awesome for two reasons. First, I don't need a visa which is A LOT of work. Second, I will be back in time to see J's high school graduation in May!
-I will be living with a Spanish family who will provide 3 meals a day and laundry once a week (score!). They are also supposed to help us assimilate by speaking only in Spanish, preparing typical Spanish food, and just being Spanish in general.
-We get out of classes for one whole week for La Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Malaga is known for its week of festivities including parades, dances, and overall celebration. I can't wait!
-The program includes a ton of excursions all over Spain such as Madrid, Sevilla, and even Morocco.

I will obvi be blogging about the whole thing while I'm there. I plan to take a kajillion pictures and buy a million knickknacks for you all. So holler if you have any requests.

I can't believe it's all finally happening. I always thought it would be nice to study abroad but I never thought I would actually do something about it. And I never thought it would involve this much freaking paper work! Seriously, this whole process has really opened my eyes to the lack of communication between the different departments at our school. With technology today, everything has the potential to be streamlined by working electronically between departments. I had to hike all over campus with a billion forms to complete for just the preliminary applications. The thing that keeps it going is knowing the end result of all of this work will be an AMAZING time in another country.

1 comment:

Kasey said...

Very cool! Paul and I went to Malaga a few years back. We stayed in Marbella which was totally awesome. I remember all the cute guys in the trains when we were traveling to various other cities. I'm pretty sure Antonio Banderas is from Malaga too. I hope you have a great time!