Adios America!

Hey everyone,

As most of you know by know or should at least I am going to be studying abroad in Spain next semester. Specifically in Oviedo, Spain (its in northern Spain) at the Universidad de Oviedo. I will be there from Jan 5th till the end of May.

So many people have asked me to keep them updated with my travels that I figured blogging would be a good way to keep in touch, plus allow me the opportunity to have my time, travels and experiences logged for the future. My biggest regret from my trip in high school to Australia was that I lost my journal on the last day of our trip and no longer have a day to day account of the things I did or the names of the places I visited. I am hoping to keep this blog updated as much as possible and to include some of the many, many, many pictures I will very likely take while I am gone.

I am still in the process of packing and deciding what I should bring for the 5 months and 2 seasons I will be there for. Trying to think about spring and short sleeve shirts while there is snow on the ground is a little challenging. Through all the vacations we have taken as a family I have realized how important it is to pack light. The many times I got to cart my suitcase around airports, train stations, subway stations and city streets. This time however I don't think I am going to be able to make with one suitcase, forget about the itty bitty suitcase I normally take everywhere!

For Christmas my parents got me the Eyewitness Guide to Europe and the guide for Spain. I have a laundry list of cities and countries I would like to visit before I leave Europe (without going broke) but we will see how many places I get to, and are able to put red tacks in on my map of the world. (yes I have a giant map that I have red tacks in for everyplace I have been to so far, thanks to Laura)

I'm more than a little nervous about my use of Spanish while I am there. I always seem to think I wont be able to communicate very well. Although I have taken 7 and 1/2 years of Spanish to this point. My joke of the matter came when Evan asked me yesterday how to say cricket in Spanish and I was like I don't know about the game but I do know the animal (grillo). I realized if I knew such an obscure word like that I will most likely be able to make it by in Spanish. Hopefully that is true.

I am leaving in a little over 24 hours from now, almost 24 hours from now I will be headed out to JFK. That's all for now. Bookmark this page and check back when your curious about my adventures on the other side of the Atlantic! Feel free to send me emails as well!

-Erika