from the beginning

i created this blog to share my study abroad experience. i thought it would be a great idea to let everyone know what i'm doing in spain, as well as a virtual journal for me to write about my experiences.  i hope you enjoy!

i've always loved spanish.  i took several years in high school, but unfortunately i didn't learn very much.  it was shortly after high school that i had made up my mind that one day i would become bilingual, but i figured it would come after i was done with school, and i could study the spanish language at my leisure. i took my first year of college spanish at siue, and fell in love. i give a lot of credit to my instructor for feeding my desire to learn spanish. while i was in class it was impossible to not notice the passion my instructor had for spain and teaching us the language. we'd constantly ask her about the way people in spain did certain things.  she truly made studying spanish a wonderful experience. it would be very easy to say that i became a sponge; trying to absorb as much as i possibly could in our mere 50 minute class meetings. my professor always told us that if we have the opportunity, spend some time in spain, and i knew someday, i'd visit.

my opportunity came when the school's study abroad coordinator came to speak to us about studying abroad.  she talked about the multiple places we could travel to, and the experience and lessons we could learn from the opportunity.  i can remember thinking how wonderful it'd be to study in spain, but knew i'd never be able to afford it. i knew my parents weren't going to offer up the $8-10,000 i would need to study abroad, and to me it was still a dream. i did my homework and looked up various programs and saw the pricey dollar signs flashing before my eyes. the more i looked the more i told myself keep dreaming.

one day, i woke up and just decided, i'm going to do it, i'm going to study in spain! i knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it would be the best way for me to enjoy spain and learn the language, but i had no idea how i was going to pull it off. when i got serious i found ways to fund my trip and suddenly my dream was quickly becoming a reality.  i got serious about researching where i wanted to spend my time, and decided salamanca spain was the place for me!

my program runs june 26- july 28, 2012.  not only will i be studying the language in spain, but i get to visit london, madrid, portugal, and i'm currently working on planning a weekend trip to barcelona.  i know my trip it still 6 months away, but i am seriously overjoyed. i can only imagine the experiences i'm going to have, the things i'm going to learn, and the memories i'm going to make.

it wasn't until recently that i looked at a map to see just exactly where i'll be.  i just don't think it has quite sunk in yet.

my goal is to post as often as i can.  i want to keep friends/family updated on where i'm at and what i'm doing, as well as keep a journal for myself.