Day 1 and Day 2

After making my long journey across the Atlantic and thru Germany I finally made it to Alicante. Alicante is a very busy seaside city. It has many stores and even more tapas bars. After getting settled into my dorm which is amazing.

Its a little blurry but to my left is my bed then my closet at the end of it, to the right is my personal bathroom, the next door is a shared sink and refrigerator and then the outside door and my desk is to the right.

Flying over the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain.

Flying into Alicante. Yep that is the Mediterranean 

View from my room. Mercadona is an awesome supermarket that also caries toiletries and other things and its right outside the dorm which makes getting groceries and other things really simple.

Mountains!

We were told that we had to try the churros here, especialmente the chocolate one's so we got some last night. They were delicious.

On our walk thru campus we walked down a sidewalk lined with orange trees. I thought it was cool that I could just reach up for breakfast on the way to class. Our leader informed me that that wasn't a good idea because they are part of the school of science and they're doing some kind of testing on them... Kinda freaky.

This is some graffiti on a wall across the back entrance to the Mercadona in San Vicente (a suburb of Alicante, which is where the dorms are). It says " In a world of lies, telling the truth is an act of rebellion"

In an hour I have a walking tour of downtown Alicante, which we did some of last night, and hopefully I'll take quite a few pictures on that to post on here. To get into the city is about a 30 min tram ride, which feels way shorter and also provides us with lots of people watching.

I'll try to update tomorrow with the pics from the walking tour.

Hasta pronto,

Andy

All packed

I am all packed and ready to go for Spain. I am very excited but very nervous at the same time. I am so blessed to have this amazing opportunity and extremely thankful for everyone who has helped me get here. I will try to keep this as up to date as possible while I'm there.

¡Hasta luego!

Donor Letters Round 1

First round of donor letters CHECK! Feels more real everyday!

Application Letter

I thought I would post the brief description I had to submit for my application with the host program. It kind of gives a better understanding of why I want to go to Spain.

"Since I was a little kid the Spanish language has always infatuated me. From an early age I tried to teach myself Spanish. I bought a used book from the library called “Say Hello to Spanish” that’s when I told myself that one day I would become fluent in Spanish. As I grew older I would look at my mom’s college Spanish books and try to understand what they said, I was a bit naive in thinking it was something I could just pick-up. I even bought multiple computer CDs that were designed to help you to learn beginners Spanish. I joined the Spanish club when I was in eighth grade and my appreciation for the Spanish culture grew more and more. Fast forward through my Spanish years in high school and I am now a senior in college majoring in Marketing and minoring in Spanish and Journalism and Mass Communications. I have come very far in my goals to become a fluent Spanish speaker and studying abroad in Spain would be the icing on the cake. Studying in Spain will finally allow me to experience the culture and language that I have grown so fond of. Ever since I decided I wanted to become fluent in Spanish I knew that I one day I would travel to a Spanish speaking country, I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, I didn’t know how I would pay for it I just knew that it was something I was meant to do. Now I have this opportunity to accomplish all these childhood goals of mine and I couldn’t be more ecstatic.
            I think this experience will help me grow personally because it will show me first-hand a different culture, a culture which I am quite fond of. However, my knowledge of this culture comes second-hand from my textbooks and my professors. Going to Spain will allow me to put what I have learned into action, to me that is the ultimate goal of education. Studying abroad in Spain along with learning and studying Spanish in college will help me in my professional career by making me more marketable in the business world. A large percentage of people living in the United States speak Spanish and I will be better able to serve my company with my knowledge and skill-set of the Spanish language and culture.
            This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I couldn’t be more excited. Spanish is truly one of my passions and I hope that with this program, that passion will only continue to grow."

If you would like to donate to help me with this experience you can go to my GoFundMe page at http://www.gofundme.com/4su61s

Thanks,

Andy

Passport

Got this bad boy in today. Now its all starting to feel very real. The world is now literally at my finger tips. Now I just need to finish up my host program application so I can finally call this a for sure thing. I'm so excited!!!

I am very excited to announce that my K-State study abroad application has been accepted!!!! Much more paperwork to do though. My recommendation... Don't wait until 3 months before the trip to decide to go, it'll make things a lot easier that way.

I was a little worried with the whole government shutdown that I might not get my passport on time. But they cashed my check the other day so hopefully thats a good sign? Right?!?

Passport

Just turned in my paperwork and took one of those ugly photos for it. This 4 to 6 weeks needs to hurry up. Can't wait to have that little sucker in my hands. It gets more and more real everyday.