Back in the US of A!
HOLA! I just got back from SPAIN two days ago, so I'm back adjusting to life again in the States. What a great trip it was, though. I look back at it now and realize just how much I got to do and experience in the past month. Spain is a really neat country with so many different places to see and things to do. As a whole, the study abroad experience was amazing and even better than I had imagined it would be!
Classes were difficult at times, but it helped me learn SO MUCH about the culture of Spain. In one class we studied the politics, art, education system, and government, and in the other we studied the different legends and traditions that were part of Segovia, the city that we lived in. Segovia is a really great city and I'm glad we studied there instead of somewhere larger. It helped that everything was within walking distance because we definitely did A LOT of walking this past month. The most famous thing about Segovia is the Roman Aqueduct which was built more than 2,000 years ago. It's a huge, breathtaking structure, I'll be sure to attach a picture of it.
Staying with a host family was also a really different, yet great experience. When we first arrived, our Spanish was very rusty, so it was really difficult. Our host mom, Lola, didn't speak a word of English and talked really fast in Spanish to us so we had no idea what she was saying! Soon enough, however, we caught on and I noticed my Spanish skills improved dramatically within that first week! When your native language is taken away and you're forced to communicate in a different language, it's much easier to learn!
In addition to living and studying in Segovia, we traveled other places on the weekends. The first weekend we stayed in Segovia since they were celebrating the festivals of St. John and St. Paul so there were a lot of different things to do and places to go in town. The second weekend we went to Barcelona, Spain's second largest city. It's right on the beach, so we got to swim in the ocean, in addition to seeing many great sights, such as the Christopher Columbus monument. The third weekend, my roommate Ali and I went to Avila for the day. This is where St. Teresa of Avila is from so there was so much there to see dealing with her and the order the started. Avila is also famous for the huge wall that surrounds the city. I will make sure to put a picture up. Finally, for the fourth weekend, for my 20th birthday, we went to Valencia, another big city in Spain. It's also a beach town, so I was able to spend my birthday on the white sandy beaches of the Mediterranean...you can't beat that!
Every Wednesday we took excursions as a whole group. The first week we went to "La Granja" which is a famous royal palace. There was a lot of famous artwork to see, in addition to the beautiful gardens and fountains outside...once again, I will attach pictures. The next week we traveled to Toledo to see the Cathedral and other parts of the city. The third week, we went to El Escorial and El Valle de los Caidos. El Escorial is a famous monastery and a palace where they have buried all of the famous Kings and Queens of Spain. El Valle de los Caidos is this huge basilica at the top of the mountains that was actually built by Francisco Franco in order to honor all of the fallen soldiers from the Spanish civil war. Even he is buried there, right behind the altar...it was crazy to see! Our last excursion was to Madrid, which was a really neat city. It's the biggest city in Spain, so there's so much to see and do. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do a lot, but we did go to two very famous museums. The first one was called the "Reina Sofia" and it had all contemporary art, including almost all of Picasso's and Dali's original paintings. It was definitely different than the classical art we were used to seeing, but it was very interesting. The other museum we went to was called "El Prado" and this had so many famous Spanish artists' works in it, such as Goya, Velasquez, and El Greco. It was very cool to see the originals of some very famous paintings.
The nightlife in Spain is a lot different than here in the States. People don't even begin to go out until 12:30 or 1am. The bars and clubs don't close until 6 or 7 anyway, so it typically becomes a really long night. I remember the first weekend we left the bars around 4am and the streets were still packed with people. We looked lame for coming home so "early" but in my mind I thought 4 was late! We quickly learned from our mistake, though, and didn't start going out until 12 or 1 instead so we could at least try and last longer into the night!
Words can't describe how great this trip was. I'm going to go ahead and upload pictures with captions, though, so you can get a better idea of everything! Hasta Luego!
Jul 19, 2007 3:48 PM
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