Más o Menos: Gotta Love The Puentes

Woah, that was an unforeseen break in blogging. Sincerest apologies. First off, can’t believe that three days ago marked my three month period in Spain. Time really does fly! All in all, these past three weeks have been really great; here’s a brief timeline of what’s been going on in and around Coruña.

“Los puentes” (literally translated: the bridges) are one of the many reasons as to why I love Spain. A puente is basically a long weekend (thanks to a holiday), however some puentes can be 4-day weekends if the respective holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday (because mostly everyone will take off the Monday or Friday). In any event, I took advantage of the Halloween puente (All Saints Day) by trekking across Spain to Barcelona! This was a super last minute decision since I was suppose to have a debate on Halloween, but man am I glad that the date got switched. Not only was I excited to explore another region of Spain, but I was in great company which made the trip even better. It was so great to spend the weekend with an assortment of HC friends from Spain, Ireland and Italy, however even better was the fact that I met Kit Wallace, who is now my real-life (not just FB friend)! This meeting ordeal was kept secret from Kit (looking back, I honestly don’t know how Claire, Eva, Maggie and I pulled it off) but it was really funny and I’m glad we know each other now!

Barcelona was absolutely beautiful and I can now understand why its regarded as such a beloved city. Barcelona is simply awe-inspiring at every corner. I know that for me, each street (and even each corner) was so different then the next, however equally spectacular. Eva described Barcelona well by saying that it is sort of dream-like, something I now completely agree with. Although I got to see and walk around the entire city (thanks to the typical-tourist city-bus tour), I unfortunately did not enter La Sagrada Family, so I guess I now have a good excuse to return (which I definitely plan on doing)!

These past couple months have been extremely hectic and I’ve done quite a bit of traveling, so I decided to kind of take a break from constantly moving and stay in Coruña for November. As I approach the halfway mark of the month, I can honestly say that it’s been really nice getting to know Coruña that much better and as every day passes, I appreciate the city more and more. I’ve also come to realize that my study abroad experience is rather unique, however I wouldn’t want it any other way so props to HC for choosing Coruña as a study abroad site! I’m a firm believer in the fact that you do your best learning in a small yet active environment, which is exactly how I would describe my experience thus far.

Although this month has been very relaxing, I’ve got two upcoming things that I’m beyond excited for. First off, my sister Eliana and three of her closest friends (the sweet sisters) will be arriving in Spain in just four days! They are spending the first three days in Madrid, and then on next Wednesday the 23rd they are flying up to Coruña and will we spend two days here and one in Santiago. I cannot express to you how excited I am to see my sister and her friends, to show them Coruña and Santiago, and for at least one member of my real family to meet my awesome host family. Second and lastly, I just booked a trip to Paris for December 6th-10th! I’ll be spending the December puente, which is the puente of all puentes since the two national holidays fall on a Tuesday and on a Thursday (oh how I love the Spanish) in a city that I’ve always dreamed of visiting.