Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I hope to be consistently updating this to keep everyone up-to-date on my adventure abroad.

I will be departing January 9 and returning sometime in mid-July. I am spending the semester in Madrid taking NYU classes, then in May I will be going to stay with my good friend Irene and her family in Pamplona for the rest of the time.

My class schedule is as follows (all classes are taught completely in Spanish):

• Islam and Spain: Past and Present MW 4-5:20
  
• Spanish Culture Through Cinema M 6-8:50
• Literature and Film of the Cuban Revolution W 6-8:50
  
• Masterpieces in the Prado: Baroque through the 19th Century TR 4-5:20

I chose to stay in a homestay for various reasons. First of all, the last thing I want to do for an entire semester in Spain is speak English the entire time, so living with a roommate from NYU was not an option. Second of all, I have kitchen priveleges which means I will still cook my own meals and do my own grocery shopping, and so I still get a little bit of the independence of apartment living. And third, the señora of the household will not only be looking out for me, but she will be a great resource for advice about the city AND she will be doing my laundry once a week as part of the deal.

I also plan on taking lots of trips around Europe on the weekends and during my 2 week long Spring Break.

Some of the places I plan to visit:

• London
• Dublin
• Amsterdam
• Marseilles
• Paris
• Morocco
  
• Lisbon
• Alghero
• Barcelona

And of course a few more excursions to places in Spain.

Sounds like the fabulous life right? Well this is what I've been waiting for since I decided to go to NYU.

Another very exciting part of my trip will be staying with Irene in Pamplona. Her family was generous enough to let me come stay with them for a few months, and it should be a very nice time. Not to mention I'll be there for the Festival of San Fermin from July 8-14, more commonly known as the Running of the Bulls, made popular by The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway (one of my favorite novels of all time).

This is a pretty brief overview of what my "Half a Year in Spain" will entail. It was a wonderfully successful semester here in NYC, but now I'm ready for Spain!