Hey friends!
My name is Dan Marr and I will be blogging my abroad experience to Seville (say the double l’s like yaaaaa and you’re golden), Spain for the next few months. I’m currently a junior at Penn State, recently finding my calling in the major of International Politics with a minor in, you guessed it, Spanish! While abroad, I’ll be working towards my Spanish minor for the most part since I’ve only taken SPAN 100 thus far at Penn State. So if anyone reading this is considering going abroad with minimal language experience… this is the blog for you! I’m certain that my grammatical failures will highlight much of my posts and will encourage you to think that “Hey, at least I’ll be better off than this guy.”
So Christmas ended yesterday and Santa certainly seems aware that I’m studying abroad next month. I received a “Gregory” travel bag, portable tooth brush, Europeanesk clothing (sisters thought my Old Navy apparel wasn’t cutting it), a card promising some of my traveling expenses while abroad to be covered, a neck pillow for the plane, a book on Spain, and more items that attempted to give me the security in knowing that I’m SOOOOOO ready for my abroad experience. And then, December 26th hit and I can no longer hide behind gifts or trees; January 14th is coming whether I’m ready for it or not.
I’ll be flying TAP Portugal, which is a subsidiary of US Airways. It’s actually been the cheapest flight I’ve heard of compared to all of my friends who are also studying abroad (in different programs) in Seville (Roughly $875 round-trip) so I highly advise whomever this might concern in looking into this airline. I only have one connecting flight, which is in Lisbon, Portugal and I’ll be arriving in the early morning in Seville on January 15.
Between now and my next post in Seville, I’ll be experiencing gratefulness, anxiety, culture shock, hesitation, Spanish-speaking dreams, and even more of a mixed-roller coaster of emotions. One of the things keeping me sane is the confidence of some of my peers who have come back from their abroad experience with the story-telling capabilities of a 5 year old (seriously guys, less detail), but the look on their faces and the passion in their words of someone who had the semester of their lives there. They were once where I am now and I know that I’ll be where they are soon. Have a great New Year and I’ll see you all on the other side.
– Dan
P.S. for some reason this blog didn’t post correctly the first time so this is a repost
Location: Yardley, PA
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