One of my favorite parts about my program are all the excursions we have built in. So far, we’ve taken trips to Ronda, Setenil, Cordoba, and, my favorite of the trips we’ve taken, Seville. We were in Seville for one night with our program and then my friends and I decided to extend our trip an extra night. With our program, we went to the Cathedral, the Royal Alcazar Palace, and Plaza de España. My friends and I loved exploring the Alcazar and Plaza de España especially. It was gorgeous to see the architecture and the enormous size of both. When we were at the Plaza, it was sunset and there were people playing live music. At one point, my friends and I just stood on a terrace overlooking the Plaza and it really made me appreciate everything we had been experiencing and how surreal it was to finally be in Spain after so many months of planning and talking about studying abroad.We also saw a flamenco show in the evening, which was incredible. It was my first time ever seeing a show and it was amazing to sit and have that experience with my program. I also have two Wofford friends who are studying abroad in Seville this semester so I was able to see them and meet their friends from their program. I really enjoyed being able to meet up with them and share stories about our times abroad and connect over the things we miss about Wofford and home. On our extra day, my friends and I went to Las Setas, a famous architectural structure just outside of our hostel. We went to the top for the most amazing views of the city at sunset!
Honestly though, the best part about this trip was getting to spend time with my new friends here in Spain. I felt like over the course of that trip (with our extra night especially) we were able to really bond and connect and form our group. It was one of the first times we all really hung out together and we all talked about how much closer we felt afterwards. For anyone else studying abroad or thinking about studying abroad, I definitely recommend planning trips with your friends or extending a program trip if you have time. It’s such a great way to really connect with people and have new experiences in incredible new places.
