Arriving to Valencia

By Kent Truckor - Guest Blogger studdying in Spain

I write you after spending three days in Valencia and I must admit I have not done a great job of seeing the city - it is good size eh. The classes are good and the instructors are very good. As time progresses I have gotten better at speaking with my madre, although it is still an act that demands patience, more from her than me.

One of the things that I find exciting is that the class that I am in now there are students from China, France, Belgium and Russia. The entire school is this diverse, which makes it a great environment to learn in and outside of the classroom. Everyone is here it seems to achieve the same goal of strengthening there Spanish skills as well as experience the culture which makes it great. I must admit that it is an uphill road in learning a new language but the rewards of doing so are innumerable.

From what I have experienced everyone carries a story and it is nice to be able to communicate with people in order to hear their's. This is one of my strongest ambitions in learning a new language and I would recommend to other if they have even a slight interest to give study abroad a look. All for now, I must go to mi casa for dinner.

A few days later....

Things are going very well - it should be know that learning a new language is very demanding on the mind :) However, it is very fulfilling to be able to communicate with peoples of different backgrounds. The school is great; I love the diversity. The other day I played cards with four girls from Turkey and two guys from China. It is great because we all have a unified purpose of learning Spanish.

My homestay is going well. My Spanish mom, Carmen, is a very good cook and is patient with a gringo learning the language. Valencia will be very busy this weekend because Pope Benedicto is coming to town - something exciting for me because I am Catholic and it is rare opportunity. Tomorrow, two of my friends from school and I will go out and see what he is up to :)

Valencia is very warm this year but not outrageous, it is a nice city with a nice beach - I hope to see much more of it in the days to come.

Tonight, I was able to communicate with Carmen at the dinner table and we had a conversation, which was pretty incredible because I have only been here for 6 days and my Spanish knowledge was minimal coming here. Study abroad is going well - so far so good.