“Sometimes one day in a different place will give you more than 10 years of life at home.”
-Anatole French
The farthest tip I have ever made was when I decided to leave Illinois for The University of Alabama. I have never left the country or traveled in a plane for longer than three hours. Am I nervous? absolutely. Am I excited? mot definitely. I get to spend three and a half weeks in Porto, Portugal learning alongside my peers all about how to make and run a business. I will be learning about marketing, technology, executive decisions as a figurehead of a company, and so much more. And the best part? I get to do it in a country that connects me a little more to my heritage.
I am Mexican, Argentinian, and Spanish. My name, Ria, means river. Part of my last name, Ybarra, comes from the Catalonian region of Spain. But my name comes from Galicia, which is the little piece of Spain that is right above Portugal. European Portuguese and Spanish are very similar. I can understand it but I have no idea how to speak it. My best friend from Chicago, she is Brazilian and speaks fluent Portuguese so we often code-switch between Spanish, English, and Portuguese. It is important to me that I know where I come from because I want to be able to teach my friends about what makes up me. I want them to know and understand who I am at a fundamental level. I get to come back and tell my mom that I learned about what makes me who I am today while also fueling my passion for learning and discovery. What better way to end the summer?
I get to be myself in a country that has gorgeous architecture, beautiful nature, and castles from medieval times. I will be taking a trip down to Lisbon with a few friends on my trip and we are going to see the Palacio Nacional Sintra
While this may be just a photo from the internet, I will be standing in front of it soon enough.
I look forward to writing about my adventures and sharing them here!