Back in America

Now that I'm home and starting to get back into my normal routine, my trip to Spain almost feels like a dream. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I still can't believe so many of the things that I saw and got to do. I miss it so much. I miss all the amazing people that I met, walking through the beautiful city every day, coming home and eating lunch with my host mom, and laying on the beach and just relaxing. I love my home and my life here, but every day that we woke up in Spain there was always something new to see or do and something exciting to experience. Since I’ve been home I’ve had to start worrying about summer assignments and applying to colleges and typical teenage drama. In Spain, I didn’t even think about those things. We lived for three weeks without any stress or any worries. One huge part of the program that really helped to eliminate our stress was the staff. They were all so approachable and helpful that we all felt comfortable going to them with any problem. I had an ear infection the last few days and Javier, one of the staff, took me to pharmacy to help me explain the problem to them and find a way to fix it. They also make the classes fun and effective. We spent a fair amount of time learning grammar and rhetoric, but we also did a lot of applicable lessons that we could take out into the city, which made our classes so much better than traditional ones at home. Other than classes, we had a lot of really great group activities. I really liked going out to dinner as a group, because it encouraged us all to talk and get to know each other while enjoying really good Spanish food. By the last dinner on the last night, sitting around a table with 27 other kids felt completely normal and comfortable. I also really enjoyed going to the National Spanish Ballet, a flamenco show, Torre Tavira (a tower where you could see the whole city), and the Museum of Cadiz. The ballet was a little bit of a culture shock just because it was so much different from American ballets that I’ve seen. The costumes were very vivid and dramatic, and there were many different stories that were told. My favorite weekend trip was to the gorgeous city of Ronda, which was a completely different climate than Cadiz. One of the best parts of my trip was my homestay and host mom. Although our apartment wasn’t what I was used to at home, it was cozy and cute. Our mom, Noelia, worked so hard to keep us comfortable and happy. She was so generous with her home, always telling us to go wherever we like or use whatever we like. She was truly one of the sweetest women I have ever met and I hope I can go back and visit her someday. All in all, my trip to Spain and my experience with Abbey Road was phenomenal. I loved every minute of it and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Ever since I’ve been home, all I’ve wanted was to go back to Cadiz, and hopefully someday I will.

Playa Caleta

Last night the whole group met after dinner and went to the beach that's in the old part of the city. It was around ten so the sun was just starting to set and the view was beautiful. The beaches here are all gorgeous and at night the tide goes out so you can walk out a lot further on the beach. We spent about an hour walking around on the beach and watching the sunset. Since it was one of our last nights in Cádiz it was fun for everyone to get together and do something kind of cheesy. I'm gonna miss Spain so much!!!

Ronda

Last Saturday we went on a trip to Ronda, a little city two hours inland from cádiz. The city was beautiful and a lot different from cádiz so it was really interesting to see. It's in the mountains so we got to see a lot of the area surrounding it. Ronda is also the site of the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain, so we got to go and see that too. We had free time to walk around and explore the city so went to a little cafe and got fresh squeezed orange juice. The view from the cafe was amazing.