The Sun Also Rises in Spain...right?

I title this blog "The Sun Also Rises in Spain" for a few reasons. One, neither I nor any of my friends could think of a better title. Two, Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises has been listed by my study abroad program as a recommended read (along with Carlos Ruíz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind which I have already read and loved! One step ahead!) because in the book Hemingway writes quite a lot about Spain and spent a significant amount of time there. Or so I hear. And so I have decided to voluntarily read this classic work of literature throughout my time in Spain...and I won't have to write an MLA-formatted essay when I'm finished! Third and finally, because despite any fears or hesitations I may have about living in a new environment with new families, meeting new friends, learning about and experiencing a new culture, and doing all of this in a new(ish) language, the sun also rises and sets in Spain --just as it does in Denver behind the Rocky Mountains and just as it does in Houston behind the smog.

I never thought that I would be a blogger. In fact, I usually have not-so-fantastic opinions of many bloggers. But never say never. Justin Bieber didn't. So because my suitcase can't hold all of y'all, this is my way of taking you, the people that I love, with me...cheesy right? But TRUE. I may not be able to tell all of you in person the sort of things I will be seeing and experiencing while I am abroad but I want all of you to experience it with me! So read away and forgive my English. I plan on forgetting how to speak it =)

Logistics:

Departure: July 22nd

Return: December 17th

I will be living in a northern coastal town called Santander, located in the Basque region of Spain, for 1 month with a host family. I am taking Iberian Culture as well as a Language and Composition class at the University of Menéndez Pelayo.

From September 1st onward I will be living in Sevilla, located in the southwest of Spain, with a host family. I will be studying at the University of Pablo de Olavide, taking some sort of Spanish culture related classes.

I embark upon this 5 month journey with very little expectations or plans. Which if you know me at all, you know this is the most frightening aspect of the adventure for me. Although at this moment my biggest fear lies in packing.

Amongst my worries, there is a peace. I am fully confident that the Lord goes before me, just as he always does. I know that I will be there during those specific months for some specific purpose that is far beyond what I can imagine or even comprehend. Ultimately, I am leaving my incredible community for reasons that I do not know at this point in the story, but I am all kinds of excited to understand them as they come.


To España! Yikes!