No tengo las palabras explicar cuánta diversion yo tenía pero lo intentaré. (I have no words to explain how much fun I had but I’ll try.)

I arrived in Madrid three days earlier than what I was supposed to. I  was nervous, scared, and armed with a less than basic level of Spanish in my head ready to be used. Once I managed to find my way to my hostel in Barajas all that didn’t matter because I fell in love with the city. With this being my first time outside the United States everything my eyes gazed upon was new and unfamiliar but had a feel of home. In Madrid the city was busy and the people moved faster but at the same time still so friendly.  I visited the biggest park I ever had the chance of exploring parque del retiro. From that moment I understood that I had been given a great opportunity. I saw the monument of fallen heroes, a monument that was a gift from ancient Egypt, to the royal palace and the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen the Cathedral de la Almudena that is across from the royal palace and ever though Madrid’s plaza mayor falls short in comparison to the plaza mayor of Salamanca I enjoyed the feeling of being in a city center.

Salamanca is truly a beautiful city and at night Salamanca looks as if it is a shining gem in the dark. Salamanca has it all, the beautiful history to fascinating legends and finally the awe inspiring golden plaza mayor that never gets old.

I know I am truly blessed when I am able to walk on a 2,000-year-old roman bridge or when I walk inside a cathedral that took 150 years to build.

I am here learning a language that is as beautiful and nice as the people who speak it, with great professors. The food here can make my stomach satisfied each and every time I eat it. The only sad part is I have no favorites because I like all of the typical food of Spain mostly because soy gordo.

On this program I learned and did so much from understanding the history of Spain and visiting the royal castle in Zamora to palaces and cathedrals across Spain and even seeing a Roman aqueduct in Segovia without having to go to Italy. All of this fell by the waist when I arrived in San Sebastian, the city was simply perfect. I fell in love walking up towards the fort where a monument to Jesus is above all. I rode a roller coaster, had fun with friends and looked at art and humbled myself to the priceless diamond that is San Sebastian. San Sabastian alone will make me come back to Spain.

I thank SPC study abroad for letting me go on this program because I was able to play soccer with my friends on the beach in Biarritz, France, I conquered the metro in Spain, I held conversations in Spanish, and learned a lot of history of Salamanca and Spain, gained friends, finally saw mountains, fell in love with a culture and a city. And lastly, I had the best summer in my life that will not be easy to top. Only thing I truly needed was my girlfriend but we will explore Spain together soon and other parts of the world because this trip opened my eyes to another world to which I am very grateful to SPC for helping me be able to immerse into it.