Tag: Spain

2015 Fall

Trent Singelton: Post 3

Trent Singelton IES Barcelona, Spain Fall 2015 In the thick of it… Once this week begins, I will have approximately six weeks left in Barcelona. I am both a bit disappointed and excited to see that reality. While I am excited to return to H-SC in the spring, I know it will be difficult to leave Barcelona—a city I now feel comfortable calling my home. I can only hope that the next six weeks go by slowly.              View from Rooftop Bar-Hotel Majestic  (Sagrada Familia in center) My Spanish skills are definitely improving. I definitely benefit from living with a […]

2015 Fall

Skyler Whitfield: Post 2

John Skyler Whitfield JYS Seville, Spain Fall 2015 An average day in Seville… My time in Spain has been like waking up in an Alfred Hitchcock-inspired mini-series; while daily life is overall the same on a grand scale, it has been riddled with perplexing and subtle differences that I continue to stumble upon with each passing day. That said, here’s a few of my most noteworthy/amusing differences I’ve noticed during my time here in southern Spain. Every day there are colonies of stern looking businessmen buzzing around on mopeds in designer suits. Men of all ages wear pants that are […]

2015 Fall

Trent Singleton: Post 2

Trent Singleton IES Barcelona, Spain Fall 2015 After  Mi Primer Mes I have settled in quite nicely here. I really enjoy the family I am living with, and I am able to practice my Spanish frequently. I am still loving the city and the many activities to do and sites to see. Within the first month I have accomplished a lot: I have climbed Montserrat and Montjuic, been to several beaches, traveled to Munich and Salzburg, and I plan on visiting Paris this weekend and Amsterdam the next. The proximity of the many countries in Europe is both convenient and […]

2015 Fall

Skyler Whitfield: Post 1

John Skyler Whitfield JYS Seville, Spain Fall 2015 I was first exposed to basic Spanish in middle school back in 2005. By my junior year in high school, Spanish had become a passion of mine, which has been nourished and enriched in and outside of the classroom to present since I started as a freshman at H-SC in 2011. While I loved the language and wanted it to be a part of my life, I was never the strongest or most fluent student in the classroom; so in the traditional Tiger-Spirit, I began seeking a radical, hands-on approach to change […]

2015 Fall

Trent Singleton: Post 1

Trent Singleton IES Barcelona, Spain Fall 2015 La Vida España My short stay in Barcelona so far has been nothing short of amazing. The culture, the architecture, and activities have all been both rewarding and didactic.   Initially, I chose Spain because I was already interested in the Spanish culture. I have taken Spanish since I was a freshmen and high school and after my first class I fell in love with the language. Trying new foods is also something I really enjoy, and I knew that I would love the variety that tapas—essentially Spanish appetizers—would provide. However, the main reason […]

Academic Year, Semester

William Imeson (April)

Somehow, this semester is finally coming to a close. I have only ten days left in Spain and I will soon be taking my final exams and packing up all of my things. I must say, back in January it certainly seemed like this day would never come. Although the end of a semester always comes abruptly, this study abroad experience has certainly amplified the feeling. It was seemingly just yesterday that I was stumbling around this Spanish apartment and trying to figure my way around a foreign city. As far as expectations go, I tried to limit mine so […]

Semester

William Duncan (April 28)

I’m extremely glad to be back home in the States. I’m ready to go visit H-SC and see my friends, I’m ready to see my family and be in my own bed. I am going to miss Barcelona like crazy, though. There are many special qualities of that place that are giving me excuses to go back in the future. What I found that I loved from Barcelona and Europe was the quality of the things there. The food was fresh – you can buy a fresh baguette for 35 cents and have a great, cheap sandwich for 2 days. […]

Semester

William Imeson (Valencia, Feb. 23)

I have been in Valencia for a little over a month now and it’s finally beginning to feel almost normal. The initial shock of waking up in the mornings and realizing that I’m halfway around the world has worn off, and now I’ve settled into a fairly standard weekly routine. I have classes from Monday through Thursday, and these three day weekends are fantastic. The UVA center here offers 90-minute Spanish classes twice a week that feel pretty similar to the classes at HSC. Each morning, I have three options for travel to get to class. I can walk, take […]

Semester

William Duncan (February, Barcelona)

It already feels like I’ve been in Barcelona much longer than one month. As I’m notoriously bad with directions, I shocked myself with how quickly I learned my way around the city. I didn’t get much practice with using the metro in my home town of Pinehurst, North Carolina. My first time ever on a metro was a week after Christmas in order to pick up my Spanish visa for this trip. Now that I live in a city where my primary source of transportation is the metro, I purchased the T-Jove pass, which is a three-month long pass. At […]

Semester

William Duncan (Barcelona, Jan. 23)

While choosing to attend Hampden-Sydney College was a difficult decision to make, the decision to determine my study abroad location to be Barcelona, Spain proved to be oven more challenging. As I don’t know what I want to do after college, I have been set on studying abroad for some time now. I’m biased towards warmer weather, so I knew I wanted to be somewhere close to water and in a warm climate. I had never been out of the country before and I knew I wanted to see Europe, but I was unsure where I wanted to spend the […]