No Spain, No Gain

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting one of my oldest friends in Spain. I bought my tickets months ago and I had been looking forward to this trip ever since I returned home from Peru. Rachel lives in Santiago de Compostela, a beautiful city in Galicia, in the northwest. Here we are:



I had the chance to visit a cathedral that houses James, the apostle of Christ. If that's not an indication of how old it is, the last renovation this cathedral underwent happened ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO.



I was in Santiago for seven short days. Within this time I hiked, took a day trip to Finisterra (people used to think this was the end of the world!), ate delicious seafood (octupus and mussels), played apples to apples with Rachel's international friends, and had some chocolate with churros. In all, it was a wonderful trip and it meant a lot to me to visit Spain, the motherland of my favorite language.

Going to Spain, Central America (Nicaragua) and studying in Peru have all been vastly different experiences. I tried picturing myself studying in Santiago, living how Rachel was in an apartment with Spanish speakers. I just couldn't picture it because of its stark difference from my experience. While I would inevitably enjoy the Spanish life, I don't think that I would have learned as much about myself by living there.

I know that I am very young, but I still think that it is important to reflect on the things that I have done. Going to Spain was the best thing that I could have done. It was amazing to reconnect with Rachel and validate my time in Peru. Even though it was never easy, I know that I made the right choice by studying there. I hope that all of you can look back on your lives and pinpoint certain actions that you know you did right by. It really is a great feeling.

A Day in the Life

I know it's been a while since I've last written, but I thought I would write about what an average student (me) does during one day at Saint Michael's College.

8:00- Wake up and have breakfast with a friend. Scrambled eggs with cheese in Alliot are the best!
9:30-Go to the gym where I see at least three of my friends at any given times. There are new treadmills that make indoor running a lot more fun.
11:30- Early lunch with my dad (he came for the day) at the Penny Cluse Cafe, a Burlington favorite.
1:00- Principles of Microeconomics, where I learned how to measure satisfaction (it's in utils, if you were wondering).
2:30- Global AIDS Pandemic also known as my favorite class.
4:15-Hang out in Alliot with my friends for an early dinner snack. Tonight there was live music to celebrate Mardi Gras.
7:00-Student Association, where an on campus organization, Fix it With Five presented. Fix it With Five takes $5 from every student's activity fee, which together makes $10,000, and this money is donated to a charity. However, the charities have to present and express why they deserve the money.
8:00- GLEE. Enough said.
9:00- Write a blog post in order to procrastinate the studying process.

Goodnight!!