I've never had my own blog before. I've never even thought about blogging. Even as I sit here typing, I have no idea what even to talk about. But one thing is for sure; I'm usually very good at talking about myself. :) So I guess I will start with how this all began.
When I changed my major to Secondary Spanish Education toward the end of my Freshman year at UNL I never imagined that I would be signing up for a semester abroad, but that is exactly what I was doing. My adviser told me that day that I would be studying abroad during the Spring semester of my Sophomore year and asked if that time would work for me. It would be an understatement to say that I was shocked. Studying abroad wasn't required, but it was highly recommended (so required in other words). Though this would sound exciting to most people I almost changed my major then and there. I would lean toward classifying myself as a homebody and I'm closer than most 20-year-old's to my family. After discussing this trip with my mom and my friends I came to the decision that I definitely had to go study abroad. God put this trip into my life for a reason and I was meant to follow this path no matter how hard it would be.
The destination for my semester abroad was left up to me and I immediately remembered a presentation that was given a few months prior in my Spanish class about the CIDE program at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. The program was sponsored by the University and specialized in teaching language proficiency. It couldn't be more perfect. I quickly began to envision myself living in Bilbao for a semester. This program would allow me to take the 15 credit hours that I needed to stay at pace for graduation while learning in the target language, Spanish. All of the credits will transfer back to UNL and count toward requirements for my major. I would be able to choose how I wanted to live and what exactly I wanted to study.
I chose to live with a host family, preferably a family with younger children so I could feel as much at home as possible. I was thrilled to find out that I was placed with a family who had an 11-year-old son, Martin (who would be only a year older than my brother Jake). Martin is into soccer rather than football, but I figure that will be one of the easier adjustments I will have to make. My host family even has a beagle named Max! I will be living only a 10 minute walk away from the University so I will be living in the middle of the city.
I will be leaving for Bilbao on Monday the 7th. I'm thrilled to have a layover in Brussels, Belgium even though I won't be able to venture away from the airport. The program begins almost the minute I touch down in Bilbao. I will be there until May 17 when I will arrive back in Lincoln. I'm both terrified and slightly excited. I thought a blog would be the best way to keep everyone informed: my friends, family, and even my community. Hopefully I keep this updated as well as I would like. : /
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