¡¡Estamos Aquí!!

After a full 24 hour day of traveling, I finally arrived in Pamplona, Spain on Sunday afternoon.  I honestly cannot believe that I’m here and that my year abroad has actually started.  I’m so happy and thankful to be here, and I’m so excited to start exploring Pamplona and all that it has to offer.  As a quick reminder, Holy Cross has a special program at La Universidad de Navarra (Pamplona) for all the students studying abroad in Spain.  The program is basically designed to acclimate us to the Spanish language and culture.  After the three week program, we will be living and studying in our respective host universities for the rest of the academic year.   

I know that I haven’t updated the blog in a while, so I’ll give you a brief run down of my last week in the States.  On August 6th, my family threw me a farewell party which included my favorite American food (and people) as well as a midnight impromptu dance-off to house, latin, and disco music.  Typical Tasca family fun.  It was great spending some time with my entire family, as well as some close friends from home and Holy Cross for one last hoorah.  The rest of the week included jam-packed days of running last minute errands and saying my final goodbyes.  At the end the week, my family ate out on DePasquale Square, an Italian-reminiscent street corner of Federal Hill, Providence.  It was a picture perfect night with delicious food and the best company: there’s nothing more I could ask for!  The next afternoon, we finally finished packing, just one hour before I left for the airport.  To be honest, I didn’t realize that saying goodbye to my family was going to be one of the toughest things of my life.  As my mother blessed me with her Holy Water, we all started crying as it finally hit home that I’d be gone for a year.  My mom later described the scene as “you would have thought we all took a vacation to Niagara Falls.”  After one final group hug, I left for Logan to start my year in Spain.

Although traveling to Pamplona took a full 24 hours and included: 3 planes, 3 Continents, 1 bus ride and a taxi to our hotel, for the most part it went pretty smoothly, aside from the fact that they lost my luggage (but it was found and actually delivered to my room!). Traveling with Claire, Ali, Maggie and Eva was a lot of fun and it was great to get to know them even better since after Pamplona they (as well as Steve, Briana, Katherine and Kendra) will be studying with me in La Coruña.

Even though I’ve been in Spain for merely three days, I already love it and I’m so glad that I decided to study abroad.  I’m certainly no expert on the Spanish language nor can I rattle off a bunch of facts about the culture, however in my short time here I’ve recognized that the Spanish live well and truly enjoy every moment.  Waking up to a chocolate croissant complemented with cafe con leche and ending the night with tapas and a San Miguel beer in La Plaza Mayor de Lo Viejo (“old Pamplona”) is not too shabby; I’m really looking forward to making that a regular! 

Not even half of what I brought...

Ernest Hemingway's hang out spot in Pamplona.