Friday, December 23, 2011

An Experience of a Lifetime.

In 16 days, 21 hours, and 58 minutes I will be boarding a plane in San Francisco and end up in Madrid, Spain. The excitement is growing day by day. This is an experience I have been looking forward to for years. I never knew it would come, because I honestly never thought it was a possibility. The trip in itself is a fortune, and I figured it was close to impossible to come up with the money necessary to go. But it's been a Christmas Miracle! My parents have decided to let me go and have been able to fund my trip. I'm so grateful to have parents who support me and the things that I want to do.

First off, you should know that I've never been out of the country. Yep, you heard me right. I've been lucky enough to travel around the U.S. quite a 'bit, but never out of the country. This is my first travel experience abroad. Can you believe it?!? Why Spain, you may ask? Well, I've been in love with the Spanish language since high school. It's been a dream to speak fluently with others, and slowly but surely, I've been able to take the necessary classes in order to prepare myself for this study abroad. I don't feel that I am completely prepared to go out and speak with natives, but I do feel that I've had some good training that will help me feel more confident with my ability to speak in Spanish.

One of the necessities to have for the trip!
I will be taking classes at a university outside of Madrid, and then touring the country almost every other week with a great group of students. My roommate and I will be living with a host family in Madrid... who are they? I don't know yet, but I can't wait to meet them! It's kind of a nerve-racking experience to think about where I will be next month, who I will be with, what I will be doing... it will all be foreign and new. I will be living in a home where Spanish is the only language spoken. I will be attending a university with Spanish students. I will be traveling around Spain and other parts of Europe. All of these experiences will be new. All of these experiences will be amazing. By the end of this experience, I hope to fly home with the feeling of accomplishment. I want to feel like I've done all I could to learn the language, to love the people, and to know the history of such a beautiful country.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I know that I am so blessed to have the chance to do something so extraordinary as this. I'm embracing it. I'm going to blog as much as I possibly can, take as many pictures as my camera allows, and soak in every waking moment of my time in Spain. I'm about to go have the best time of my life. Want to follow along?