El Escorial de San Lorenzo
Hola Amigos! So, I have been here for a little less than a month and I have already fallen in love with everything and everyone in Spain. Where to begin… In my opinion, we are staying in one of the most beautiful and homey places in Spain, San Lorenzo. The entire town of San Lorenzo was built around a monastery built by Filipe II in the 16th century. During one of my classes, I got the chance to climb to the top of a tower in...
Hasta Luego Granada
Returning from Nicaragua was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I had just began to get used to the heat, the food and using Spanish more than English. Above all, I felt like I had not spent enough time in the clinic. It almost seemed unfair to go down to Nicaragua, recognize the necessities that the country has, help for a few weeks and then disappear. I know that there is so much more that I could have done to help if I...
Reflections in Spain
6/14/17: This trip to Spain has truly been one for the books. As the trip comes to a close, I reflect on how this trip has changed me. For starters, my Spanish speaking skills have improved tremendously. Our facilitators implicated a “Spanish only policy” on us at the beginning of the trip. While almost all of us loathed this new rule, I came to realize that it was exactly what we needed to improve our speaking and comprehension of...
Homesick in Paris
This experience has really been a dream come true for me. Although it has had many downfalls, I have experienced many high points that has made this study abroad experience worthwhile. Our first week was spent in the beautiful city of Paris. Although they try to prepare you for all the different emotions during orientation, my lowest point happened on the fourth day when I was overcome with homesickness. I went to a clothing store for...
Gaining A Bit of Perspective
Nothing compares to field experience. You can spend months in a classroom studying something but until you see it out in the real world your perception of it is never quite true. You need to see it in relationship to the other things in its environment and then you can form new questions based on those interactions. For example, this is a Xestospongia muta sponge. It is one of many sponges that I am responsible for identifying while...
Thoughts and Feelings: Pre-departure versus Now
Now that the first of the two sessions I am spending in Spain is coming to an end, I can think of a number of things I wish I could tell the pre-departure version of myself. Before departing, I had a wide range of feelings surrounding this experience. I am a huge worrier so, naturally, I was nervous about quite a few things. First, I am terrified of flying and knowing I was going to have to be on a plane for 7+ hours did not help...