I know I am a little late on this blog, but I figured better late than never =) Well I am currently in Italy with my family... still speaking Spanish everywhere I go! It is amazing to look back now on the 6 weeks I spent in Spain and realize how fast the time really did go by. The beginning of the trip, I am not even going to lie, I cried half the flight to Amsterdam. I was overwhelmed with excitement and also nervous to leave the country for the first time by myself. I really did not know what to expect, especially since we did not know much about our families, classes or even Salamanca. After all is said and done though, I can truly say I enjoyed and loved every second of my time in Spain. My family was absolutely amazing and by the time I left I felt like I was leaving my own family all over again. I exchanged emails and phone numbers with my brothers and we promised to keep in touch!

Since I have now experienced the Salamanca study abroad program, I feel like I could give a few words of advice... so here it goes:

-Being nervous is definitely okay and perfectly normal.. but make sure you're excited too!

-Since you will be living with another family of a different cultural background, there definitely can be some conflicts so make sure you communicate with your Señora about every little thing you are unsure about! Most of them are great ladies and want to make you feel at home so just be positive and have a good attitude!

-Do NOT stress about your classes... you're in SPAIN! So live it up because you never know when you'll be back again.

-Salamanca is a small town... so the same scene of the Michigan group hitting Camelot, Gatsby and Irish Rover can get a little old but make some local friends! Not only can you practice your Spanish, but they most likely will tell you a few spots in town you may not know about!

-TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL!!! You're only in Spain for 6 weeks... so take advantage of being in Europe and travel every weekend you can. I traveled with 2 other girls every single weekend to a different city and I made some of the best memories. Yea, it definitely gets tiring, but take some vitamin C and do as much as you can!

-Embrace the culture and soak everything in... I never realized how much I learned and how much I accustomed to until I was speaking Spanish to the Italian taxi driver, wanting siestas every day around 4, not being hungry until 10:00 at night, and singing Shakira's Waka Waka all day, every day!

Well I could go on for days about my memories in Spain because I really just had the time of my life! It definitely makes me sad to think back and realize it is already over. As I read over other peoples posts I laugh at the memories we made and cry because I wish we were still there. Not only was Spain the best thing to improve my Spanish studies, but it was also the beginning of many new friendships and memories I can share for a lifetime!