HOLA! My name is Alyson Gabel, and I will be spending my fall semester of my junior year in BARCELONA, Spain! I’m so unbelievably excited, I don’t even know where to begin.

I have wanted to go abroad ever since I was in high school, when we had exchange students come and stay with students in my school. During my fall semester of my sophomore year at Penn State, my roommate was a student studying abroad from Melbourne, Australia, and she really helped to solidify my desire to study abroad. The fact that someone from another country was able to learn so many new things everyday and just enjoy herself to the fullest in a new country was something that I envied, and there was no way I was going to pass that up. Now, even 7 whole months after we have parted ways, she is still one of my absolute best friends, and I can only hope that I form a friendship as strong as the one I formed with her during my experience abroad.

Packing is a huge concern of mine. I have way too many clothes for my own good, and I get separation anxiety at the thought of leaving so many of my favorite things behind. The bag I will be checking is the maximum size allowed by the airline, and I will have another large carry-on bag full of stuff, but I don’t know where to start as far as choosing what I will need/want and what I won’t. At least I have a few more weeks to worry about that!

I am not worried about most things, such as food, media, and other things that I will have to become accustomed to in Spain, because most humans have the same needs/desires as far as hygiene and other consumer goods, but communication still remains a large concern for me. I am addicted to this social media age that our generation has become engulfed in. I check my Facebook obsessively, update my Twitter compulsively, and I have newly become addicted to Tumblr. On top of that, I am never without my cell phone, on which I can access all of my social media outlets just at the tip of my fingers, anytime, anywhere. I know that I will not be able to do the same when I am in Barcelona. I will be getting a prepaid type of cell phone as soon as I get there, but I do not expect it to have the same capabilities as my current smartphone, so I will feel slightly cut off from the social-media world. I know I will have my computer with internet, but my computer will most certainly not be going everywhere with me (I plan on traveling everywhere I possibly can throughout Europe). I guess I will just have to see what kind of cards I’m dealt with when I get there on August 1st, and at that time I’ll just have to roll with the punches.

That’s about it for right now! I’m still waiting for my visa to get back to me, but other than that, I’m all set with paperwork and other things that had to be taken care of prior to departure. All I can do now is wait anxiously and hope for the best. I hope Barcelona (as well as the rest of Europe) is ready for me!!

Location: Verona, NJ