Since I became a Spanish major I couldn’t wait to study abroad. It was an absolutely terrifying thought to me, a natural homebody, but the thought of traveling to a completely different country was both thrilling and nervewracking at the same time. So, freshman me thought I’d go to some Spanish-speaking country sophomore year. Then, sophomore me thought I would go junior year, and then… it was junior year spring semester. When people tell you that your college years fly by, they are not kidding. So here I am junior year spring semester taking an Integrative Experience course because I wasn’t able to study abroad when the one and only marvelous, Patricia Gubitosi tells our linguistics class about a summer study abroad program to Salamanca. I quickly google Salamanca on a map and see it is practically a desert, surrounded by land, not close to the water at all. As someone who basically grew up on the beach, I desperately wanted to travel to a place that was close to water, but I still took a flyer because it said it was a one month program and that seemed short and interesting. Profesora Gubitosi kept on advertising the program to our class (and my other Spanish classes) and I eventually talked to her about it. She tried to sell me that program like a vacuum salesperson. She really got me interested and I started mentioning it to my parents, my friends, my boyfriend. Everyone and their mother wanted me to do that program, but anxieties and thoughts piled up in my head and I missed the deadline to apply. People still asked me if I was going to Spain and I sadly shook my head and told them I had missed the deadline. I really wasn’t going to study abroad ever.
I mentioned in passing to Patricia that I was sad I missed the deadline and she encouraged me to talk to the person in charge and tell them I was very interested even though the deadline had passed. So I did, and the next thing that happened was I was enrolled and buying a plane ticket to Spain. I was thrilled that I was actually going to study abroad, and I even knew someone who was going!

The actual plane ride to Spain was an adventure in itself. I started the adventure even before I got to the country! My flight got canceled and I found myself running through Logan airport with a broken suitcase and my carry-ons slapped on my back. I was a sweaty, teary-eyed mess, but thankfully kind flight attendants got me on a flight… which was eventually canceled too, and I found myself running through Logan with my now very broken suitcase once again. FINALLY, I ended up on a plane that was for sure headed to Spain. I now laugh about this because of what a disaster it was, but wow it really was a disaster.

8 hours later I was in sunny Madrid and awaiting my group and bus to get to Salamanca. I was one of the older students on the trip and I’ll admit I found it hard to make friends at first, but after a few days, I felt like I found life-long friends. I also had the most amazing host mother in the world. Juani was an actual angel. She was a small, curly-haired woman who loved to cook and loved her cat even more. She had a moody teenage son who we rarely saw and a beautiful apartment. Juani truly became my mom away from home. She helped me with homework, she taught me to make tortilla de patata, and we watched comedy movies late at night together. She was an absolute gem and truly made the trip to Salamanca amazing. My favorite moments with her were when we would have dinner. Almost every one of her host children and I would be bursting with laughter from inside jokes with her. Her son would come home from being out and tell us he could hear us from the first floor… we were on the fourth. I really do believe she made my experience amazing.

Salamanca itself was always like walking through a history book. The university was celebrating its 800th year anniversary, and yes you read 800 correctly. I still can’t believe I got to study in an 800-year university, it truly shows you how long humans have been on earth. I loved the Plaza Mayor and all the cathedrals I would see each day. I probably ate my own weight in gelato, I actually ate so much gelato that the gelato man knew my order by the end of the month (it was una tarina pequeña de dulce de leche if you were wondering).

The excursions on the Salamanca trip were amazing as well. We got to go to Segovia for a day and saw the aqueduct that was built by Romans in the year 50 A.D. It was incredible and I probably cried, but no one needs to know that.
We also took a weekend trip to Galicia, the north-east of Spain and that trip was amazing. We got to go to the coast and saw the ocean! It was breathtaking and comparable to pictures of Ireland. We even got to go to the beach and swim, I’m pretty sure I was in actual heaven. I really enjoyed the excursions we went on, but I also enjoyed the free weekends too.
On one of the free weekends, a lot of people on the trip decided to go to Portugal, which ended up being a disaster. We had a hostel at the bottom of the hilliest hill of all hills, and when it was time to leave we missed our bus… three times. We ended up sleeping in an airport because no one wanted to get a hostel or hotel for the night and then our taxi driver took us to the wrong bus station in the morning. It was almost as bad of a disaster as getting to Spain was, but better because I went through it with friends and now laugh.

Despite the disastrous weekend in Portugal, the trip was overall amazing. I made great friends, ate great food, and drank all of the Fanta de Naranja Spain had to offer me. Also, free tapas with drinks is a real thing, so if you go to Spain be careful because they are delicious and you’ll never stop eating, ever. I absolutely loved Spain and I wish I could have done a semester there instead of just one month. I have never had such an incredible experience, and even the rough times were life teaching lessons. I now know how to handle a high-stress situation in an airport!… for the most part. However, if there is anything I can give advice about from going on this trip it would be that if you are thinking about studying abroad, don’t overthink it, just do it. I got lucky and ended up being able to study abroad, but I really almost wasn’t able to. So don’t overthink things, if you can afford to go abroad, do it, and you will have amazing experiences and probably some embarrassing ones too. If I could go to Salamanca again I would in a heartbeat, and I recommend if anyone else ever wants a place to visit, then please visit this beautiful and culturally rich city.