Target run prediction: 2+

Hello! If you feel like you haven't seen me around recently, it is probably because I have been holed up in my living room watching videos on Spain like Rick Steves and Globe Trekker. (Seriously, how can I land a gig like Rick Steves' job? He's kind of the man.) If you are wondering why I'm so all-about Spain and have somehow also missed the blog title, I will enlighten you: I am spending my spring semester in Sevilla, Spain, studying and generally enjoying my good fortune. 

My hope is to improve my Spanish language skills, especially in conversation--I need it. I am also looking forward to living in a different culture. Spain will not be my first trip outside of the United States, but vacationing twice in the Bahamas did not exactly expose me an authentic Bahamian lifestyle. I will be living with a host family, though I do not know who they are yet. Although my classes will be with other American students at the study center for my program, all will be taught in Spanish.

As I went through the study abroad process this fall, I thought about all of the places I wanted to visit in Europe outside of Spain. Now that I have researched Spain more, I am not so convinced that I even want to visit anywhere else with the little time I have in Europe. Spain has amazingly diverse natural landscapes and cultures within itself, and like the rest of Europe it is steeped in centuries of art and history. Every day I become more excited to start exploring.


On the geeky side of things, I want to take you back to the Globe Trekker videos. If you have never seen a Globe Trekker video, you should go watch one straight away. I was slightly obsessed with watching them all throughout high school. I can remember watching the one on Spain in multiple Spanish classes (apparently my school's video collection on Spain was rather limited), and I still cannot believe that I will actually stand in the streets with the Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions in Sevilla, learn flamenco,  and paraglide over las Sierras de Cazorla just like I have seen in the video. Oh yeah, paragliding for thirty minutes over Spain's largest national park is definitely near the top of my list of things to do! I rented the Spain Globe Trekker video from the local library just to make sure I was remembering it correctly. 

Hopefully I will be committed enough to keep you updated on paragliding and other adventures, but I am known for having started several journals that never made it past the one- or two-month mark. If I start to ignore the blog for a few weeks, feel free to call me out on it! 

I fly out in two days, and the packing process is rolling along today. I expect to make at least two more trips to Target between now and Tuesday. For what? Your guess is as good as mine at this point, but trust me, there is always something.