This weekend, I left Spain for the first time this semester to visit London. Though it sometimes feels like travelling around Spain is going to different countries, the lack of Spanish heard on the streets of London was a reminder that I was actually in a different country this time. Though I managed to visit […]
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” The professor is standing at the front of the classroom, with a diagram of a marine ecosystem behind him. He’s explaining how the species are stratified on the rocks based on competition. The final panel shows what happens if the starfish in the ecosystem are […]
111 days. 36 new friends from 4 schools. 19 cities in 6 countries. 7 long-distance bus rides. 4 new (host) family members. 3 French macarons. 2 Thanksgiving dinners. Countless servings of Tortilla de Patatas. How am I supposed to put this 1 incredible semester into words? I can’t. I literally cannot. I know that as […]
Before I came to Madrid, one night at dinner, my dad and I had an uncharacteristically sentimental conversation. He asked me a bunch of questions about my upcoming study abroad experience that ranged from the typical “why did you decide to study abroad?” and “where do you want to travel in Europe?” to the less […]
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Martin Luther King, Jr. KATIE CAMPBELL- On Friday morning, I got on a plane to go to Paris. How lucky am I that this was not my first, but my second time visiting the city? I had been especially excited for this trip, but in […]
As I approach the first Thanksgiving I will spend away from my family, I can’t help but reflect on the holiday. Thanksgiving is perhaps the most American holiday there is. Take my aunt as an example: a 60-something unmarried woman, she uses Thanksgiving as the holiday for her core group of girlfriends to get together […]
KATIE CAMPBELL- During one of my first weekends in Spain, my host family took me to the “pueblo” where my host dad grew up. It was a picturesque, medieval town nestled in the Valle de Cinco Pueblos about 2 hours west of Madrid. Throughout the weekend, I marveled at the natural beauty around me, ate […]
KATIE CAMPBELL- At the beginning of the program, we watched a TED Talk that explored the idea of locality. The author, Taiye Selasi, suggested that rather than ask other people “Where are you from?” a better, more accurate question would be to ask, “Where are you a local?” According to Selasi, your locality is the […]
KATIE CAMPBELL- On Monday, as I flipped to the next week in my planner, I realized that we were beginning our eighth week here in Madrid. The program is approximately 16 weeks long, so this week marks the halfway point. This didn’t at all seem possible. It feels like my classes are still getting started, […]
KATIE CAMPBELL- This week has been strange for me. First, it rained. A lot. I woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain pounding on the skylight of my bedroom. My inner-Midwesterner briefly thought it was hailing before I realized I just hadn’t heard rain in a long time. I had gotten used […]