Spain Semester Abroad

Before I even started college, my one goal was to do a semester abroad. It had been a dream of mine since I first discovered it was even a possibility, so when I began at UC, I started the planning process as soon as possible. I created an academic planner and anticipated the Spring of 2024 to be my time abroad. I decided on Spain as my siblings before had studied there, and I was passionate about advancing my Spanish-speaking skills. Because of this, I opted to stay with a host family for a little over 4 months in Bilbao, Spain.

 

Though I expected the journey to have its difficulties, nothing could have prepared me for the changes I was about to undergo. The first eye-opening experience I had was the food and eating times that my host family had. Though I would consider myself to have a diverse pallet from my upbringing, it still took getting used to their meals and eating lunch at 3:00PM with dinner around 9:00PM. I also experience culture shock with other aspects of Spanish living such as "siesta" where all the shops and restaurants close down from around 4:00PM-8:00PM. This took a lot of getting used to as this is very different from what we experience in America. Beyond this, I was able to travel to so many different places during the weekends which taught me patience and appreciation for different cultures. Though I faced some of my hardest times while abroad, I would not change the experience for anything and am grateful for all the memories and friends I have made along the way.

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