From the moment I arrived in Spain, it seemed like I was thrust into a very fast-paced lifestyle. I landed at the airport in the afternoon after almost 24 hours of travel time. I was greeted by my program and taken to a room to get checked in. During check-in, I met my roommate Megan and we were instructed on how to take a cab to our homestay. Once we arrived at our homestay, we were greeted with the double kiss that is customary in Spain. That was definitely a shock to me, mainly because I was super tired from jet lag. Megan and I tried to push through the jet lag and explore our neighborhood, but the jet lag won in the end. We went home to sleep and woke up for dinner which was at 9 p.m. That’s really late! The first weekend, I went to Zaragoza with some girls I met through my program for a day trip. We visited the Goya Museum and ate a traditional meal. As part of the IES program, I was required to do an excursion to the city of Tarragona. During this excursion, we toured a monastery, ate calzots, and tried forming human towers. It was amazing. It took the whole month, but the pace is starting to slow down for me. More interesting news to come.

About the blogger

Christina T. is studying abroad on the IES Abroad: Liberal Arts and Business in Barcelona program in Barcelona, Spain.