I have mentioned before the wonderful friends I made on my study abroad summer in Spain. Recently I was tasked with writing a speech (I am participating in a Toastmasters club to beef up my public speaking skills) to introduce myself to the group. I was just supposed to be a short speech to share something about yourself and "break the ice" - here is the story I told:
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The Craziest Thing I’ve Ever Done
Ice Breaker
October 3, 2012
Introduction
Let me preface this story by warning you that I wouldn’t exactly call myself a crazy person and I haven’t led the most adventurous life. Thus far in my adult life, I went to Texas A&M University a (school 2 hours away from home that 3 generations before me have attended), married my college sweetheart (who I met in middle school), moved to Dallas (a whopping 3.5 hours away from home - this was pretty big for me), bought a small ranch-style home (in a safe neighborhood with a good school district) and got golden retriever and lab puppies. I told you, I’m a crazy one, right?
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Getting There
a. But, I have done at least one crazy thing – my junior year in college I decided that I was bored, my life had been too predictable and I wanted to do something exciting. So I looked around, found and researched some study abroad programs. I saw all the beautiful pictures of students doing cool and exciting things all around the world and I decided that I was in. So I signed up for a summer business program in Barcelona, Spain.
b. Wait… What?!?! Three months, in a country across the world, that I doesn’t speak English, and I don’t know a single person going… oh goodness. What was I thinking?
c. Needless to say, I was more than a little nervous boarding the plane the morning of May 23rd. Ok, I’m lying I was terrified… hugging my Mom, Dad and Ryan, my boyfriend, goodbye, I started balling and just couldn’t stop. All the way through the security check tears streamed down my face. I was stopped for a “random” check and the guard tried to ask me what was in my bag. After trying unsuccessfully to form a coherent sentence about a power outlet converter with no success he just let me through. (I guess terrorists don’t typically have emotional breakdowns while going through security.)
d. I just knew I was going to be home sick and sad the whole time. Confession – sometimes I would listed to Miley Cyrus it’s the climb in my room when I was missing home and I knew I would be ok.
Saw The World (Europe Anyway)
a. Well, despite all the drama, I made it on the plane and 14 hours later was landing in Spain. There I was picked up by my program for a quick de-briefing of all the students before we were sent out to meet our host family. In Barcelona I had the opportunity to truly experience a different culture first hand.
b. Unlike vacations where you are really more of an observer of the culture, I lived it. My two American roommates and I actually stayed with a Spanish family in their home; we ate meals with them, spoke very rough Spanish with them, watched futobl matches on the televisión with them and got to experience the true Spanish lifestyle. (Including the shock of finding our house mom hanging all our undergarments out on the patio to dry – they don’t have dryers in Spain.)
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| Our host parents, Nidia y Alvaro, my roommates, Dana and Alyssa, and Greta, the perro |
c. I also got to attend classes at a Barcelona Universitat; however, most days we would skip class to go to the beach, visit museums, parks or tour cathedrals all over Barcelona (As they say, “when in Rome…”). Our group traveled on the weekends, to Mallorca (an island off the Spanish coast), Costa Brava (north towards France), and Sevilla. After the trip I also got the opportunity to travel to Rome, Venice, Paris and London.
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| We sat in this little cove one night and just talked and listened to the ocean for hours. This picture does not do the coastline justice at all... |
La Familia Guapa
a. I knew I would get to see so many amazing places while I was in Spain, what I didn’t realize is that I would also make some of my best friends. I’m not really sure how we all came together, there were over 50 people on my trip total but for some reason the 6 of us just clicked right away. Brett and Laura from Vanderbilt University, Bre and Erica from OSU, Harrison from Pitt and myself from Texas A&M (Whoop! Did I mention I was an Aggie?).
After about our third day in Spain we were inseparable, we called ourselves La Familia Guapa (the beautiful family).
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| I cant even tell you how much I love these people |
b. My favorite memory of the six of us is of July 4th when we took a long weekend and flew down to Sevilla. There we stayed in one room with six bunk beds in a beautiful little hostel (unlike most movies have depicted every Spanish hostel I stayed in was very clean, and often times in beautiful buildings.)
We toured around the Catedral de Sevilla and The Alcazar, an Islamic palace, and even got to see a live flamenco show that night.
c. The next day was actually the 4th and we decided to have a good ol’ American celebration. (We had been away from home for a month and a half at this point and we were all missing America). We all wore excessive amounts of red, white & blue, and searched high and low in the local mercados until we found some hot dogs, buns, chips, dip and Heineken (ok, I know that's not American, they don’t sell Bud Light in Spain) and threw our own little party. It was wonderful, we cooked out on the rooftop patio of our hostel and played games and reminisced about home. It was just the taste of America and the feeling of family that we all needed.
Engaged!!!
a. Well the program ended as quickly as it began and before I knew it I was hugging my precious friends goodbye in the airport. It was a bitter-sweet moment for me because seconds later I was meeting Ryan at another gate. He had flown over to travel around Europe with me for a few weeks after the trip.
b. Little did I know, after my traumatic departure a few months earlier, he had gone home and asked my parents and sister for my hand in marriage. (No wonder he acted so strange those first few days, I had warned him about pick pocketing in Europe and to keep his wallet in his front pocket. Well not only did he do this, he always had to have his hand in his pocket too…. weird. I remember saying “Babe, its ok, not everyone is out to rob you, you can chill out.” I guess he had good reasons.)
c. On our last night in Barcelona we went to Mont Juic, an old Spanish castle that has a fountain/light/music display on summer nights. And there on the steps of a castle he got down on one knee and popped the question!!! (Yes ladies, I got engaged on the steps of a castle?!?! You can call me Cinderella…) From there we traveled to Rome, Venice, Paris and London as a very excited, newly engaged couple.
Conclusion
So yes, I am a fairly predictable person. I like (scratch that, love) making lists, having a routine and keeping my calendar up to date. But the craziest decision I’ve made allowed me to see the world, meet some of my closest friends, and get engaged to my husband! So, while it was the crazy, it’s also the best thing I’ve ever done.
All this to say, Spain was an amazing experience - I got to visit some amazing places, made some of the best friends of my life and got engaged to the man of my dreams! Not too shabby for one summer. This post is to preface our 2012 reunion that happened later in October. Writing it has made me nostalgic for our lazy summer days in Barcelona - can we go back, like tomorrow?!?!
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