Spain: The First Week

It’s finally here. I am currently living in Spain.

The journey here wasn’t the best but the first week made up for the awful travel. It was a flight of many firsts including my first time using the bathroom on the plane and my first (and second) time throwing up on a plane. It was also my first time flying alone and while it could have been better I survived it. The airline lost my suitcase for five days which wasn’t great but I was able to buy some new stuff.

The first three days were filled with tours and orientation. We spent an entire day learning everything we could possibly need to know for our time here in Valencia. Then we were able to participate in walking tours that took us to the beach and showed us where to shop.

The shopping area is very touristy but it's such a fun place to be. I bought some things on Air France’s dime since they lost my suitcase and I was able to spend more time getting to know people in the program. The stores here are basically the same as home, there’s a Zara and H&M. There are European stores too, obviously, like Primark. The shopping area also features a lot of food, most of which are American chains like Five Guys, KFC, and Taco Bell.

Sunday was the beach day, it was gorgeous and the water was cool. It was the perfect activity for the day before classes. I read my book for a while but mostly talked with the people around me about their travel experiences and lives back in Tallahassee.

Monday was our first day of classes. I am doing a program within the program so we follow a different schedule than a majority of the other participants. We have class twice a week and have class all day on those days. Each day is a little different because we take field trips and have guest speakers to break up the long hours in the classroom. Our first class featured a trip to Mercado Central, the local market.

It only took five minutes in the class for me to know that I was going to love it. The professors run the class like a newsroom so things are fast-paced and I’m thriving in the environment. We are creating a magazine used by FSU International Programs as promotional material for the Valencia study abroad program. All our stories feature something relating to the program or events within the country.

I am one of the student editors so I am trying to help everyone as much as possible because a majority of the class has little to no experience working with a publication. I have some experience so hopefully, I am able to provide the help they need.

We picked topics on the second day and I’ve been assigned a Formula 1 story. The professors have given me free rein and are trusting my prior experience. I don’t know exactly where the story is going yet but I have a few directions I’d like to possibly go. There are so many things related to the sport in Spain and its growing popularity in the States will make working on this article a dream. There’s a racing team based here in Valencia that I am hoping to get in touch with, this team also features a female driver that I think would be an amazing person to interview for the article.

During the week, we have excursions that are optional but don’t cost anything extra to participate in. I wasn’t able to go to the Wednesday trip but I did go to Friday’s. It was to the City of Arts and Sciences Museum and Oceanographic (the aquarium). The museum was interactive and featured lots of different exhibits but we didn’t have too much time to explore. We spent more time at the aquarium because of the dolphin show and all the different areas it offered. It also features lots of restaurant options which was a big draw for some of us (my group). It was like any other aquarium you’ve been to but the buildings themselves were gorgeous.

My suitcase showed up Monday after my first class and I was very happy to see it. Now that I have all my stuff I can practice with my batons like I normally do and also not be worried about if I will ever see my suitcase again.

After the first week, I am loving it here. The food is great and the people are even better. It's a lot of walking and the lack of constant A/C is something I had to get used to but I’m in Spain so it’s worth it.

I can’t wait to start traveling around outside of the city and country. We are only here for six weeks which sounded like a lot at first but now doesn’t feel like enough time. I’ve got a few trips planned already so hopefully they all happen and I get to make the most of being so close to other amazing countries.