When I was 16, I decided that going straight on to college from high school would not be the thing for me. I wanted to experience a little more of the world before asssigning myself four more years of homework. So, I spent 10 months in not-so-sunny Spain (it was during the year of Weird World Weather). I learned to adapt to another culture, another language, a new family, and an apartment on the 6th floor with no elevator. Choose a thumbnail to see pics of Spain! It was hard adapting to life back in the U.S., and then life at Kalamazoo College. I missed my Spanish family, friends, and especially the discotecas! I became fluent in Spanish during my sojourn there, and thought about being a Spanish major. In the West, where I'm from, it's definitely a plus for potential employers. However, staying true to my newly-acquired Spanish insticts, I decided to go with what made me happy instead of what made me money.


It took me quite a while to make the decision to return to Spain for another 6 months of foreign study with "K" College's university exchange program. At first I rebelled against the idea of returning to a (somewhat) "familiar" country. Since I studied Chinese for three quarters my freshman year, I toyed with the idea of going to China, or perhaps even Ecuador, Australia, or Germany. I even took a quarter of German at the beginning of my sophomore year to see if Germany would be my destination. I always thought about Spain, though, and in the end decided that Spain was where my heart wanted to go.

Everyone always said that foreign study would be the most fun I'd ever have in my life. "You'll be having so much fun, you won't ever want to come home!" my friends said. This refrain kept coming back to me as I struggled to find a course schedule that would be challenging to my already-high language level, facing the stubborness of local university officials and a slow process of acceptance. I had troubles with my host family, troubles adjusting, and at times yearned for the day when I would leave Caceres. I missed my long-distance boyfriend and had trouble making friends with both my American group and the Spaniards at my university. In the end, I have decided that my semester abroad was an invaluable experience that I will never forget. No, it was not "wonderful" and it was not "loads of fun"; it was hard work and a painful learning process, but I wouldn't trade that experience for anthing else in the world.  Two friends and I traveled Europe after finishing the semester, and that was perhaps the most memorable part of my study-abroad experience. We ate all kinds of food, stayed in all kinds of scary youth hostels, and basically bummed around famous museums and churches while shopping non-stop. I really gained an appreciation for the international language of "Yes" "No" "Thank you" and "bathroom?"

Click here for an essay about guidebook beauty written halfway through my Caceres experience!

Choose a thumbnail to see some more pictures of me in Spain--older, wiser, different haircuts!



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