By meaggymurphy
Hola from Spain! If my calculations are correct, it's been 16 days since I left the good ol' US of A. After a bit of traveling in Ireland and Madrid, I was able to settle into my apartment in Pamplona, where I'll be living with 4 Spanish roommates for the semester.
I spent a couple days at orientation (1st discovery: the Spanish love icebreakers just as much as Americans) for international students, getting to know the city and lots of students from all four corners of the globe. We took a day trip to nearby San Sebastián (sun! beach! tourists galore!), where I saw my dream house from afar on the top of a mountain in the middle of the bay. Back in Pamplona, I spent a few days indulging in my status as a newcomer, exploring the Casco Antiguo (the old part of the city) and getting lost along the way (2nd discovery: Pamplona is quite fond of its roundabouts, which make navigating to specific places confusing and may or may not have caused me to take a couple hour-long detours on the outskirts of the city).
So far, the most challenging part of arriving here has been, surprise surprise, speaking Spanish 24/7. Luckily, I love learning Spanish. When we began classes this week, I was interested to see whether or not I would regret my decision to take all my classes in Spanish. For example, what if I have a professor who mumbles or has an accent or makes fun of my accent in front of the class?! But after introducing myself to my professors and sitting through the classes, I feel much more at ease. It won't be easy, but I know that if I dedicate myself to understanding and work hard, I'll be glad I forced myself to surround myself with Spanish all day, everyday.
Now, to wrap this up with a couple personal goals that I have for the semester:
1. Speak and learn as much Spanish as humanly possible!
2. Of course, do well in class (not the most exciting of goals, but there it is!).
3. Meet as many people as humanly possible and get to know different points of view (lucky for me, everyone I've met so far has been incredibly friendly and just as interested in my point of view as I am in theirs).
That's all for now! TTFN y adios!