Reflections with Raisa

I could never take any of this for granted. I can’t believe I’ve traveled as much as I have. So far I’ve been to Paris, Amsterdam, and Italy.  Hungary is coming up for Thanksgiving break. I think it’s so easy to get caught up in it all. I would be lying if I didn’t say the hype of traveling around Europe get me. I mean how could I not if I’m here! I just have to remember I’ll be back here to Europe. It’s hard though because there was a time in September where I was gone a couple weekends back-to-back and I’m afraid my connection with my host mom is not going to be as strong. I really think it’s what you value and prioritize here when studying abroad. If you value travel more than family connection and language then, by all means, do what you have to do. After Amsterdam, I really just wanted to explore Barcelona more and Spain in general. There’s this famous mosque in Cordoba that I really want to go to. It’s called the Cathedral of Cordoba.

It would be awesome to do a day trip there or stay for a weekend. I believe it’s a four to five-hour train ride. I definitely want to visit before I leave. I have to plan and figure it out. My solo trip here was to Italy and the rest has been with a group of friends. I’m thankful to have met the friends that I did. The recent Costa Brava and Girona trip is when I feel like I got closer to people and just had a grand ole time. The Madrid trip with IES Abroad was also really fun! I was freezing and wasn’t expecting it to be colder than Barcelona but it was! It was like ten degrees colder but nonetheless, the Reina Sofia Museum had such beautiful art and historic paintings. The El Prado museum was so nice too. I was a little tired and sick coming in, but our tour guide did a really great job in educating us. Actually, all of the tour guides did a really great job in explaining the history and symbolism in the paintings. I definitely learned a lot about Goya and his paintings.

My favorite part was seeing Salvador Dali’s painting in the Reina Sofia Museum towards the end of the tour. I got to see The Great Masturbator painting which was amazing, and I wasn’t expecting to be this interested in art, but I am! Traveling to Girona and getting to see the Salvador Dali museum was by far one of my highlights of this trip. It was the coolest trippiest art I’ve ever seen, and he’s so crazily talented. Anyways, I can’t believe there’s only a month left of being here. Work has picked up and is going way more smooth. I’m working with two other other interns and we are working on a couple projects right now. I feel integrated and comfortable here and I’m so grateful for it all!