I am extremely excited for my trip to Colombia! It’s my first study-abroad opportunity, so I want to make the most of it while I’m there. I’m studying in Colombia this summer because it’s the perfect way to finish my Spanish minor in an immersive way. I love traveling and one of my biggest dreams is to live in a Spanish-speaking country for at least five years once I graduate. Fortunately, this is not my first time traveling out of the country to a Spanish-speaking country; I have been to Honduras three or four times in the summer during middle school and high school, so I feel prepared to connect with others and learn comfortably. When I visited Honduras, it was super easy for me because even though I knew a lot of Spanish, there were translators I could rely on everywhere we went. I got to speak more freely with all the Hondurans I met, but I didn’t spend time practicing Spanish like I probably should have. Throughout this trip, I hope to gain more confidence in my ability to speak Spanish. I tend to write, listen, and think in Spanish well, but I get nervous when I need to speak. It will be very difficult, but I’m extremely grateful that I will be forced to exist only in Spanish for the next six weeks. It’s also much more fun when I can learn with people I know personally rather than strangers. Aside from the academics, I’m also very excited to experience Colombian culture. I’m a dance major, so I am looking forward to learning Colombian dances and taking classes from professionals. I’m also not picky and love trying new foods everywhere I go, so I want to bring back a few new recipes as well. Arepas are one of my favorite Latin-American foods, so I hope I can learn to make them from my host family or a class somewhere in the city. Overall, this experience will be a lot of work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! I can’t wait to see how much I’ve changed and improved after six weeks. If you’re like me and you need help becoming confident in your conversational skills, I implore you to study abroad even if it’s only a few weeks.
