I first traveled to Spain when I was fifteen with my uncle. I fell in love with the country, the architecture, the films of Pedro Almodóvar, the delicious food.

I knew I wanted to study in a Spanish-speaking country and was angling for Latin America for a semester until I realized

that my major (English Literature and Creative Writing) wasn’t conducive to a full semester in a non-English-speaking country. Thus, I settled on five weeks studying Spanish through ASC Summer in Spain.

I’ll be in Madrid for the first week and then spend the next four weeks in Oviedo in the province of Asturias. I’ll then return to Madrid for a few more days until my trip home.

I can’t wait for paella and thick chocolate during long, lazy meals and staring in silence in centuries-old cathedrals. Nor can I wait to dive into a mass of people whose language and culture I’m only beginning to understand. I’m truly blessed.