Diego Alanis: Blog Post #3

Enjoying My Time Abroad

Welcome back, y’all!

I have now been abroad for officially two months! Wow, time flies by SO FAST! I know I’ve only been here for 2 months, but October has definitely been my favorite so far. This month I had the opportunity to go to Morocco, the  Canary Islands, Cordoba, Mallorca, and Dublin! All the trips were so fun, but my absolute favorite was Mallorca. Mallorca was such a beautiful island, I truly cannot get over it. Mallorca has a small town feeling throughout the whole island, and it feels like an escape from the busy world we navigate daily. I loved it!

Second to Mallorca was Dublin. Dublin was my second favorite trip this month. We went to Dublin for Halloween and visited several tourist locations. We visited Trinity College/Book of Kells, the Guinness Storehouse, and St.Patrick’s Cathedral, to name a few. It was a great trip.

Lastly, here in Sevilla, I am continuing to have a blast. The temperature in Sevilla has managed to cool down a bit, so now I have been able to enjoy more outdoor activities, such as going on walks and sitting in the park. I have a class I am taking with CEA CAPA called “Food and Culture in Spain”; it is one of my favorite classes this semester. We often have “catas”, which are food tasting sessions during class, so far we’ve had olive oil and ham catas. As we participate in these catas, we learn about the food and its connection to Spanish cuisine. One thing I’ve learned is that the food that makes up Spanish gastronomy is not just food Spaniards eat because they think it tastes good, but food that actually reflects the rich, diverse culture and history of the Iberian Peninsula. For example, the practice of mixing foods for a single dish (rice and chicken/paella, and rice itself) was brought to Spain by the Muslims when they ruled over the peninsula. How interesting!

All in all, I have really enjoyed my time abroad. Now that I have been here for 2 months, I have passed my halfway point abroad and will be focusing more on truly living and enjoying my time abroad. Thanks for tuning in, see you all next month!