Update: Leaving in 4 weeks!

In just four weeks and a few days I will be leaving for Spain. I will spend August in Salamanca with International Studies Abroad and September through December 20 in Seville with Spanish Studies Abroad. I decided to do both programs so that I would be able to have more background and practice when I begin my studies in Seville in the fall, and thus be better prepared to dive into deeper study of Spanish and get the most I can out of my time abroad.

I'm really looking forward to this time abroad. I want to explore the Spanish culture, especially since my mother was raised in Argentina and my upbringing has not been that of a normal american. I'm looking forward to improving my Spanish, which I have heard since birth (and find particularly comforting, since my mother spoke it to me) but have not learned to speak fluently. I hope to develop friendships while abroad. I hope to experience the difference between the United States and Spain the the practice of Catholicism, as far as things are variable by country.

I also have some fears. I'm a bit worried that my visa won't arrive in time (the consulate said that it would be 3-4 weeks, which leaves 1 or 2 to spare, so I should be okay). I'm afraid that I will still be affected by the shooting on my campus the last week of spring quarter and will struggle at times with unreasonable fears and/or irritability. I'm afraid that my slowness to speak (which I have also struggled with in English) will be perceived as ignorance of the language. I'm afraid that I will struggle with making connections with people.

But on the whole, I'm not so afraid as I am excited. Sure, there are problems I have to face. But they are not insurmountable and I think I'll be fine. I'm really looking forward to this trip, and all that I will learn and do and see in Spain.

See you from Salamanca and Seville!

Hi

Hello. My name is Cynthia, and I decided to make this blog as a way to record my journeys studying in Spain. As of today, I have been accepted to study with GlobaLinks Abroad (7-7-2014: The program has since been changed to International Studies Abroad by GlobaLinks and ISA.) in Salamanca in August 2014, and I am in the process of applying to study with Spanish Studies Abroad in Seville in the Fall. I will use this blog as a place to post my progress as I prepare to go abroad and when I go abroad. In the meantime, here are a few pictures that I took the last time I was in Seville:

This guy was just playing his guitar by the walls outside the castle.

I don't know where this is in Seville, but somewhere near the castle.

A random alley in the Jewish district.

I stepped in here to get out of the way of a car. Either that, or I just saw it and stepped in because it was pretty. But the alleys in that area are narrow enough that you have to jump into doorways to get out of the way of oncoming cars. Or enough of them are, anyway.

One of the many plazas in the Jewish district. I don't remember the name.