August 4 (day 37 - last day)

August 4th 2010. This day is significant for me for two main reasons. Number one, its my 17th birthday. Number two, today I end one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I learned about a new culture and lifestyle. I practiced and improved my spanish. I learned an extensive amount about artists, artistic styles, and art history. I now know that my true passion is art and that whatever I decide to do for the rest of my life will definitely be in the creative field.

I have made amazing friendships with wonderful people that I hope will last for a very long time. Saying goodbye to them was very hard. I was really sad, but I knew it was going to end sooner or later. I knew the end is unavoidable.

But now I realize that every end is nothing less than a new beginning. I now have a different take on life. I know that I want to travel the world. In just five weeks, this program has changed me into a more open-minded and confident woman.

As I write this, tears swell up in my eyes as I remember all the good times and the memories I created on this trip. I will never forget this summer I spent in Spain.

August 1 (day 34)

I can't believe its already August 1st. The days are now quickly counting down before we all have to go our separate ways. Everyone knows this. I think this is what is bringing us closer. During the nights that we are free to walk around, I have found myself in the middle of deep conversations with certain people where we talk about our lives, share our past or present troubles, and our thoughts about certain things. I feel that with every en-counting hour I am growing more and more fond of the group of friends I have made here. Its going to be really hard to say goodbye to them.

The day before yesterday, we walked to Dalí's house in Port Lligat. This was Dalí's fixed abode from the 1930's up until 1982 when, upon his wife Gala's death, he left everything behind and left. Most has been left untouched since then. It was a very weird but cool-looking house. He was a collector of junk. The saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" perfectly fits him.

Yesterday we went to the Greek/Roman ruins in Ampurias. It was a very exhausting day, but very interesting to see that parts of two-thousand-year-old walls and floors still remain after all this time.

Today we went kayaking! That was a ton of fun. We kayaked all the way to a lighthouse were we spent about an hour in this beautiful secluded beach. The water was perfectly clear.

July 28 (day 30)

Girona was beutiful city with stone buildings and narrow cobbled streets. To get to the hotel the first day was a challenge. We had to drag all our suitcases up eternal, uphill, stone streets but once we were situated, Anna, Ramon, Cesar and I had an adventure through the city's ruins.

During our days in Girona, we visited its magnificent cathedral and a film museum. We would spend our free time playing soccer on the skinny streets and walking around the city.

Yesterday, on our way to Cadaqués, we took a stop at Figueres to visit Dalí's museum. We were only given about an hour to see the entire museum. Basically I was running up and down, left to right, through the musem to be able to at least get a glimpse of everything. With all the running, and the strange paintings and sculptures, I ended up being kind of dizzy. I had a really weird dream that night, no doubt influenced by my experience that day.

In the afternoon we arrived at Cadaqués, a coastal city on the Costa Brava. I was absolutely stunned. It reminded me a liitle bit of the south of France. All the buildings were white with blue doors.

We spent our afternoon at the beach, which to many of my group member's surprise, was a beach of stones rather than of sand. The water was freezing cold. After I got a little bit used to it, I started skipping stones with Cesar, Ramon, Esther, Anna, and Sofia.

The guys' room had a huge balcony. Last night we had the idea of putting their beds outside and sleep there. The stars were beautiful. I've never seen a sky with that many stars in my life. If you stayed looking at the sky, every once in a while you would see a shooting star.

Today we took a beautiful hike all the way to a house that Guille's parents own just a few kilometers away from the main part of the town. On the way I was listening to the new Mute Math CD on my ipod. I loved how well the music went with the hike.

Guille's place was beautiful. It had a lot of windows so you can see the beautiful view from all parts of the second floor and it is right next to a cliff and a kind of lagoon where I spent my time climbing, exploring, and snorkeling.

July 25 (day 27)

Barcelona has been my favorite city so far. I loved everything about it. The food, the people, the modernity, the feel of it all, the colors. Everything.

In Madrid, I felt like we saw almost everything we needed to see, but with Barcelona I feel like we only scratched its surface.

July 22nd we went to La Pedrera. This building was designed by the Catalán architect Gaudí and is situated on the Passeig de Gracia. Gaudí would draw his inspiration from objects in nature like ocean waves, tree branches, acorns, etc. The limestone building seemed sculptural with curves, concavities, and voids of pale stone contrasting with dark iron.

We then visited the Tápies museum.

That night, Esther and a few of us (Anna, Roland, Ramon, Cesar, Nicole and I) went to see a movie that was being played on a huge projector screen outside in a plaza. The movie was called "Paris, Je t'Aime".

On July 23 we took a ride on the Teleférico up to the Castell de Montjuic. From there we went to a contemporary arts museum and then enjoyed the late afternoon to ourselves.

Yesterday we visited Parc Guell, which is a famous park with structures designed by Gaudí. We saw well-known structures like the dragon fountain adorned with beautiful, colorful tiling, twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks, and the beautiful terrace with a twisting bench decorated with colorful mosaic and from which you see a breathtaking view of Barcelona. Esther, Anna, Ramon, Cesar, and I got lost on our way back to meeting with the rest of the group. It was an adventure.

That night the group went out to the nearby bars playing pool, foozeball, and dancing.

Today is the 25th of June. We are saying goodbye to our beloved Barcelona and on our way Girona.

July 21 (day 23)

Barcelona is Spain's second-largest city and a major industrial and commercial centre. On my arrival to this beautiful city yesterday, I was pleased to see its familiar streets and modern buildings. Its hard to explain, but Barcelona has this special charm that the other cities lack. It has a more artsy and modern feeling.

Soon after we dropped off our stuff at the apartment were going to be staying at located on Carrer de Sarria, just a few blocks away from La Sagrada Familia. We then went to the Picasso Museum. Last time I came to Barcelona six years ago, the Picasso Museum was closed. I was so excited to finally get to see it. It is located on Carrer Montcada, a street known for its elegant medieval structures. Two buildings were converted into the Picasso Museum, home to one of the most complete collections of works from his youth and formative years as an artist. It includes a number of childhood portraits and paintings, as well as engravings, drawings, and art from his Blue and Rose Periods.

The walk back home I remember being dead tired due to lack of sleep. The previous nights I had barely slept for my host brothers and sister wanted to hang out as much as they could with me before I left. I had my eyes closed through the whole walk while Ramon and Cesar directed me back to the apartment.

This morning we visited the Barcelona Pavillion designed by Mies Van der Rohe. The building was done for the Universal Exhibition in 1929 that took place in Barcelona and was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition. It was supposed to be a representation of the most modern side of German architecture. The building is the best example of Rationalism in architecture. In opposition to the natural forms of Gaudí and the old styles like gothic and neoclassical, Van der Rohe wanted to design something based on a mathematical style (against the organic),based on the approach "less is more". I liked how the eight metallic supporting pillars not hidden but rather formed an exterior skeleton.

After we visited the MNAC (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya). It is situated on the side of the hill called Montjuic, where we all took great pictures of the city. Then we explored the museum's massive collection of roman, gothic, renaissance, baroque, and modern art.

From there we wen to the Fundació Joan Miró, which is the museum of Miró. I had previously visited this museum, but I had forgotten big chunks of it. It was a nice refresher. I really enjoy Miró's work. His use of simple and abstract shapes are very pleasing to the eye.

July 20 (day 22)

Looks like the homestay came and went. I am now on the bus that will take us to Barcelona.

I definitely learned a lot during my time at the homestay. What I thought was going to be an easy blend into the Valencian culture, ended to be a lot more difficult. I had no idea Valencia had its own separate culture that was so different to the parts of Spain I knew. They're a different people with a different language, different food, and different customs. It was like visiting another country.

The Valenciano language was what especially made it difficult to blend in at first, but by the end of the 16 days, I could understand most of it if I paid close attention.

Throughout the course of the homestay, I came to realize that my host family members were very regionalist. They corrected me a few times saying that "Valencia is not Spain". To them, the government in Madrid is a corrupt dictatorship that should give Valencia its independence.

In the end, I think I established a pretty good relationship with them. I hope I taught them a bit about my culture as they did to me. Now I am off to one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in my opinion: Barcelona.

July 15 (day 17)

Before the homestay, I thought my experience would be much easier because I speak fluent spanish. Turns out I am actually having more trouble understanding my family than the other kids in my group. The thing is, my family comes from one of the many peublitos in the region of Valencia where they only speak Valenciano amongst themselves, which is a mixture of spanish, french, and portuguese. They learn castellano (spanish) at school because it is the law, but they rarely speak it except with their friends in the city Valencia, where few people speak that language.

Also, compared to my own family, the three kids are a lot less disciplined. Bad words and insults frequently pass their lips. Fights often erupt over silly things. My host parents rarely get in the middle. They usually just say "Ay, que tontos" (meaning, "oh, how stupid of them"). Never could I imagine myself acting that way with my own sister. Not only am I learning about a new culture, but also a new family life style.

I am noticing that most adolescents here are free to do a lot of things. The drinking age is 18 but it is loosely enforced. Everywhere I go at night, I am being offered all types of alcohol. Smoking is extremely common here too. Everyone smokes. And they smoke a lot. Its getting a little monotonous constantly rejecting offers to smoke too.

The discoteques are supposed to have an age limit of either 18 or 21, but if you're a girl, they rarely check for I.D.'s. Ferran was telling me this is because they want young girls to come in and help their business. I didn't know how to feel about this when he said that.

Since they eat dinner late (like at 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. or so), the time my host brothers and sister meet up with their friends to go to the discoteque is always past midnight. This freedom of staying out the entire night is definitely something I ever do at home. It can be fun sometimes, but other times just really tiring.

Last tuesday I went over to Ramon's place with Cesar to spend the day. His host family is a family of three with one son also by the name of Ramon. They were really friendly. I must say, however, that Ramon's host mother's cooking couldn't compare to Mari-Carmen's. We spent the day playing soccer and hanging out at a friend's pool. Seeing my friends again was great and I enjoyed listening to how their homestays were going.

July 12 (day 14)

It is hard to start this entry calmly because I am still very hyped up from yesterday. I witnessed, no I experienced history. Yesterday the national Spanish soccer team won the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever in history.

The experience of watching the game was one that is very difficult to put on paper. Spain was to take on the Netherlands, a very good team with amazing players like Rubben and with experience in winning the world cup before. I honestly wasn't completely confident that Spain would win. The people here, however, had a completely different mentality. The commercials on the TV all said famous logos like "Podemos!" (meaning, "we can!") and "A por ellos!" (meaning, "let's go for it!"). Everyone here was talking about the octopus in Germany called Paul who became famous for correctly "predicting" all of Germany's matches and who had now "predicted" Spain was to win the final. My host brothers's friends were joking around that if Paul's prediction was incorrect, they were going to fly to Germany and eat it with chips.

Cesar told me over the phone that he saw it with his host brother and some friends in the Puerto de Valencia where they put a huge projector screen for thousands of people to come and see the game. He said it was crazy.

I saw the game with my host family and their friends at a neighbor's house where they put the TV outside for us to pull up a chair and watch. It was a lot of fun to watch. Every time Spain would come close to scoring, everyone would get on their feet and go crazy, including myself. There was a point in the game when they were asking me if I was sure I wasn't Spanish.

The game went to over-time and in the 113th minute, Andrés Iniesta scored the deciding goal that gave Spain its first ever championship. With all the emotion of the victory, I couldn't help myself and started crying of happiness.

To celebrate, we all jumped in the pool with all our clothes on and stayed up all night eating and glorifying the victory. I don't think I'll ever forget that day.

Tomorrow I made plans to hang out with Ramon and Cesar at Ramon's host family's place.

July 10 (day 12)

It has been five days since I first arrived at my homestay. The days go by slow here. You sleep little and during the day we usually just go to the beach making the days long.

So far my family has turned out to be fairly nice. Mari-Carmen turned out to be an amazing cook. Every day she prepares traditional Velencian meals for us that just seem to melt in your mouth.

I am trying really hard to get used to their culture and family routines, which turns out to be far more different than I had imagined. A big change, for example, is the frequency and quantities at which they eat.

No matter the time in which you went to sleep the night before, the entire family is up by 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. This when we have breakfast, which is very small consisting of only juice or milk and cereal or "ensaïmadas" or other Spanish baguettes. At noon we have "el almuerzo" which is where we eat a "bocadillo" (aka "bocatta"). A bocadillo is similar to a sub sandwhich which typically has jamón serrano (a type of ham) and/or queso manchego (a type of cheese). Later at around 3:00 p.m. is the time of "la comida" which is a good hearty meal. After, at about 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. is the time to have a "merienda" or snack. Here, we usually eat Spanish baguette-like foods with Horchata Valenciana, which is that sweet, milky drink I mentioned before. Finally at 10:00 or 11:00 is when we eat dinner, or "cena", which is another hearty meal.

In terms of food, I have plenty. When I told them that back home we have three meals instead of five, they laughed. Its funny how what I think is strange can be turned the other way around in different eyes. I also think I lucked out in Mari-Carmen as a host mom because her cooking is exquisite. I am noticing how important they value food and meal time. It is a time to get together and share with the family and put on hold everything they would currently be doing.

July 5 (day 7)

I'm finding it hard to believe that it has already been more than a week since I have been in Spain. Time has gone by so fast. The days in Madrid definitely flew by.

A lot has occurred in the days I ceased to write. Last friday, the 2nd of July, we visited the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía, a worldly-famous museum with a vast collection of 20th century art. We gave special focus to Spanish artists like Picasso, Dalí, and Miró. We compared the old Spanish masters that we saw in el Prado, like Goya, with the 20th century artisits. We contextualized their work with the Parisian Vanguards (like cubism, surrealism, etc.) and in relation to postwar Europe (such as Tápies, for example).

The main work of the museum was Picasso's "El Guernica". We learned about Picasso's work and its influence by the Spanish Civil War. We learned that those works in protest of Francisism were examples of political art.

That afternoon Esther gave us free time to walk about the city of Madrid. I remember getting the people who were following me with my map lost because I had taken a wrong street. That was when Cesar and Ramon downgraded me from wolf pack leader to wolf pup and told me I must work my way up te regain my wolf pack leadership status, which I most definitely intend to do! :D

The following day we visited Toledo. It was raining and as we left Madrid on bus, I would look outside the window and see how beautiful all the reflections of the buildings and the cars looked on the wet streets. Toledo was a 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Madrid. It was a very gothic medieval-looking city with a very vast and complicated history. A guy on the bus was going on and on about its history through a microphone, and its complexity made me space out a little.

What I was able to take notes on, though, was that Toledo grew to be of great importance during the Roman times. After the fall of the Roman empire, Toledo became capital of Spain "visigótica", or visigothic. Toledo then enjoyed a golden age with the coexistence of moors, jews, and christians. Toledo then became the first major city to be conquered by the Christians from the Muslims during the Reconquista in the 11th century. For some time during the 16th century, Toledo became the capital of Castilla, and the city flourished. Its was until the Spanish court was then moved to Madrid that Toledo's importance dwindled but its poorer economy allowed it to conserve its antiquated architecture. Today, Toledo is a country with rich heritage that receives plenty of tourism.

What impacted me the most was its age and how it all looked untouched since the 16th century or so. I found my self just looking at the streets and feeling transported to the time when Toledo was living a golden age.

One of our activities that day included completing yet again another scavenger hunt, only this time the scavenger hunt asked us to talk to locals and ask them questions about their opinion of the city and the way of life in Toledo. This time I was paired with Anna and Roland, who are both wonderful and hilarious which made the hunt all the more fun.

Talking to the locals made me see how absolutely warm and talkative Toledianos really are. One old man, I remember, we spent a good half hour talking to. What started off as an interview ended up as a casual talk and him telling his life story in Toledo, his family, his experiences, and such.

I also remember meeting up with Cesar to watch a part of the World Cup game where Argentina got beat by Germany. The game was being played everywhere and crowds would form to watch it. I remember thinking to myself how cool it was how much Spaniards loved soccer. Even if it isn't their own country playing, they still show great interest to any game.

Yesterday (Sunday, July 4th) the day finally came when we were to get on the train to Valencia and meet with our host families, with whom we will be staying for the next 16 days. It was hard to find the reasons why, but I was slightly nervous, as I always get when faced with the unknown.

The only information I had received prior to my meeting with host family was that my host parents are called Mari-Carmen and Fernando and they are both te achers. The have two fraternal twin sons of 18, Joan and Ferran, and a daughter of 15, Carme.

At the train station, Fernando, Mari-Carmen, Carme, and Joan were waiting to pick me up. While Esther was sorting everyone to their families, my family was telling me how this was their second year they hosted an experimenter. They also told me that where I will be staying is actually their summer home (or as they called it "xalet", pronounced "sha - let"). Where they live throughout the year in La Llosa, which is a small pueblo of about 4,000 inhabitants about over an hour away from the city of Valencia.

When it was time to leave, I quickly said goodbye to my friends and wished them all luck on their homestays.

At my family's xalet, I met Ferran. I was so happy to see that their xalet is conveniently located one block away from the beach in Alboraya, which is on the outskirts and about 10 minutes from the actual city of Valencia. They were telling me how in Alboraya it is the best place in Spain to get Horchata, which is a white, sweet, milky drink very typical to Valencia.

The apartment, since its a summer home, is really small. There is a room for Fernando and Mari-Carmen and a small nursery that they use as a second room, big enough for a bed and a pull-out. This is where me and Carme sleep. Joan and Ferran sleep on the couches in the living room area, which made me feel really bad but they assured me that it was perfectly fine and that they slept there all the time.

To sum it all up, I living with a lot of people in a very small amount of space. Although this is different to what I am accustomed to, I feel like I am easy with adapting. It'll be like my camp in Maine where we would squeeze twenty girls into one cabin.

Today I spent the day with Carme and Joan and a few friends at the beach and the pool.

July 1 (day 3)

Yesterday in the morning we had a group meeting where we met Guillermo (or, as he said we could call him, "Guille") who will be our artistic guide for the next five weeks and Chantalle, a French woman who had been living in Spain for most of her life and one of the directors of the Spanish programs.

We all sat in a circle in the hotel and were asked one by one to introduce ourselves, what we liked to do artistically, etc. Here I learned that, in one way or another, all of us were artists. Some were more sure about what they want to pursue, like Anna with photography and Cesar with architecture, while others, myself included, had a broader idea of what they liked.

Chantalle then gave us a tour on foot of the historic part of Madrid, or the "Habsburg District". We walked around Plaza de la Encarnación, el Palacio Real, Calle Sacramento, Plaza de la Villa, Plaza Mayor, Plaza de la Provincia, etc. All the while Chantalle would go on about their general history and architectural styles.

Something I noticed was the simmilarity of the styles of many of the Mardid streets of those of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I was born. This trip is serving as a discovery of my Spanish roots.

Today we finally visited el Museo del Prado. This is honestly what I was most looking forward to during our stay in Madrid. In the Prado, Guille gave us a general introduction to several art historical periods, such as Rennaisance, Baroque, Neoclasism, etc., and their main artists.

I saw breathtaking works done by Spanish masters such as Goya, Velazquez, Zurbarán, Ribera, and el Greco.

The artist that probably impacted me the most was Velazquez. When I would take a closer look at his works, it surprised me that his style consisted of doing three to four strokes that from afar would give the impression of being something highly detailed. We studied his development and main themes that he used through close study of several works, especially "La Rendición de Breda", "Retrato de Baltasar", and the "Meninas". I spent a good half hour just looking at the "Meninas". I just found it so beautiful and found so much that can be observed, felt, and said about that one painting..

We also learned about the initial idea of still life developed by Sanchez Cotán. Finally, we saw and learned about the works of Goya and the beginning of modernity in the Arts with his "pinturas negras" series.

In the afternoon the group sat down in a circle in one of the many beautiful parks in Madrid and created our "constitution". Here we discussed our personal as well as mutual expectations and goals we hoped to meet throughout the course of the trip.

With this discussion, I was able to get an idea of the mentalities and points of view of my fellow group members. It pleased me to hear we all had similar expectations and goals in mind. This made it easy to reach a consensus and record it onto our "constitution". We all agreed that during our time in Spain we are to keep an open mind, try new things, learn about a new culture and language, and, for some of us, discover our Spanish roots. This talk gave me a feeling that this group would become very close.

Soon after, Guille holds up a map and asks who was willing to direct us through Madrid to El Retiro, which is this huge royal park. This walk was very memorable because that is where Ramón, Cesar, and I took that responsibility and created the inside-joke that the group was our wolf pack and we were the wolf pack leaders.

We spent our time in el Retiro sketching, climbing trees, walking around, and basically getting to know each other really well. There are a couple of kids that I felt a strong connection with from the start, as well as a couple of others that as I got to know better I developed that same strong connection.

As of now, the days have proven to be completely action-packed and adventure-filled. I can only imagine what awaits me in the weeks to come.

June 29 (day 1)

So today we finally arrived to Spain! The past day seems like a blur to me. It could be partly because I was very tired during the 9-hour flight and partly because my anxiousness had my mind going off somewhere else.

My group consists of 11 students, 3 guys and 8 girls, and Esther, our group leader. They all seem pretty nice. I can't say much about them yet for I hardly know them. In the airport we were all pretty quiet; the awkwardness of not knowing anyone around you. One girl, however, Anna Staddon, seemed completely comfortable with herself. I really liked that about her, and after I chatted with her I learned what a truly hilarious personality she had.

On the plain, Esther handed out a piece of paper to each of us and told us to write about our expectations and what we thought we would gain from this trip. She told us she would keep what we wrote and return it to us at the end of the trip. I think I wrote some thing about being really excited and happy to be given the opportunity to travel to spain but that I was scared to lose something important because I know I tend to space out a lot.

I spent most of the plain ride sleeping and the bus ride from the madrid airport to the actual city was really slow. The traffic was incredible. The driver said it was because all the metros were not in use that day was the the first day of a strike against the metros.

I remember getting the first glimpses of the city and getting really excited. It was now hitting me that I was in Spain.

We arrived to our hotel and were sorted to our rooms. I couldn't help myself from being deeply fascinated by the spanish dialect I was hearing. It is a very different type of spanish than what I am normally used to; it's definitely more correct than my Puerto Rican spanish and they pronounce their "c" and "z" differently.

We had only gotten off the plain about a few hours prior and already Esther had given us an activity for us to do in the city. We were to complete a scavenger hunt.

They separated us into three groups. Each group was given a list of crazy things to do in certain places in Madrid and then meet up with Esther at 8 p.m. at the Real Jardín next to the Prado Museum.

My group included Sofia, Ramon (both whom I learned were also part Puerto Rican living in New York), Stephanie, and I. The crazy things on our list to do on the scavenger hunt included taking a picture in front of El Museo del Prado with a foreign stranger, get a waiter at El Café Comercial to autograph a napkin for you, take a picture of yourselves in front of El Museo Sollosa with your clothes inside out, etc.

The objective of this activity was for us to practice our Spanish in order to ask for directions as well as to familiarize ourselves with the city and its composition.

The immensity of Madrid really impressed me. We had to walk... a lot. What also astonished me was the friendliness of the Spanish people. That is something I am not accustomed to living in Miami. In the end our group finished with the most tasks completed.

That night Spain was taking on Portugal in the FIFA World Cup. We set out to find a good place to watch the game and that is where I learned that this kid named Cesar, also from New York but from Mexican descent, also really liked soccer (or, as they say in Spain, "fútbol").

It amazed me how quickly the streets became empty. We found a small yet fairly packed café that had a projector up with the game on. The energy in that little place by the Spaniards made the game more exciting and fun to watch. Most people in our group, however, were falling asleep on the table due to jet-lag and exhaustion of travel. I was exhausted myself, but the intensity of the game kept me up. David Villa was the player to score for Spain giving it its win which made the whole place go wild. Spain now advances to the quarter finals.

Right now I am writing in our hotel room, but I can hear a huge raucous outside our window made by the celebrating Spaniards. Honking of cars and shouting is all I hear.

It is almost 1 a.m. and I know that tomorrow awaits another eventful day. I should try to get some sleep.

June 27 (day -2)

(The following posts are copies from a journal that I kept throughout my experience in Spain with some editing for grammatical purposes)

Words cannot describe what I'm feeling right now. Its a mixture of excitement and nervousness and a little bit of stress. Stress because I stress out easily. When a lot is going through my head I stress.

Tomorrow I am headed to Spain for a five week program. I honestly don't know what to expect. Five weeks is a long time. A lot can happen. I've visited Spain before but it was long ago. I was 11 years old and living with my best friend who had moved away there.

I guess what is making me so anxious is the fact that this time I am on my own. Its a weird kind of freedom. Its one that I don't get often. Well, that is one of the program's objectives. To push past your comfort zone in a new country.

I think I just need to be more optimistic. This is a great opportunity that I am being given. I am going to be completely immersed into a different culture as well as learn hands on about Cataluña's art history and architecture, which is something that I know I truly like.

I can't wait to try new foods, smell new smells, and see the different colors of all the settings I am at. I am growing impatient. I want it to be June 29th already where I am walking through the streets of Madrid.