My sorority has a tradition for all girls going abroad. At the end of the last meeting of the spring semester, each girl is given a guidebook for the country they are traveling to. The best part of the gift is the collection of scattered comments left by sisters throughout the pages. For my book, there was advice from younger girls about the best cafes they visited in Madrid and forewarnings from older sisters who studied abroad in Barcelona about streets to avoid. Each chapter included scribbles in Spanish and warm wishes for an adventure they would live vicariously through me.
In May, I flew to Colombia to start a summer intern program and spent multiple flights jotting down notes from each section of the book. I slowly built a bucket list. I’d catch a Real Madrid match, then take a train to Grenada, see Barcelona at dawn, and find a rooftop restaurant in Seville. There was also a less romantic, yet more realistic list mounting. I needed to get a visa, practice my Spanish, book flights, see my doctor, and much more. For an avid procrastinator, the latter list was intimidating not only by its length but by its hard deadline. I am going to Spain. I can’t get an extension on visa appointments and the reality of my future has set in and taught me so much already.
All in all, I can’t wait to return to life in Europe and to get to explore Spain with fellow GWU students. At first the idea of a program for only GWU students alarmed me, but after spending the summer in Colombia with students from all over the hemisphere, I found comfort in the idea of studying my university peers in Madrid. As I looked through my guidebook waiting for my appointment at the Spanish consulate, I realized that there’s something inspiring about always keeping a little bit of home with you wherever you go. ¡Hala Madrid!