Studying abroad to Valencia, Spain has been so far an amazing experience. The country of Spain has so much to offer such as food, culture, history, architecture, art, and the list goes on. Arriving to the city of Valencia my first impression of this place was astonished how beautiful the city really is. The city of Valencia has many remarkable aspects that makes it a true beauty. Valencia is tightly connected to nature and agriculture but it still ties in a modern metropolitan city feeling. I really enjoy that the city is still a big city, but still contains beaches, parks, and nature embedded. Upon arrival to Valencia, I was warmly greeted by my host mother and went to her home afterwards. My homestay where I’m living is very welcoming and spacious. I enjoy living with my homestay family because we always have conversations about many things and I feel as if we have been knowing each other for a long time.
We have had many great opportunities to learn about the culture and historical facts about the city of Valencia. We took a walking tour through Valencia to learn more about the city’s history and culture, we have been to crop fields to learn about Valencia’s vegetation and irrigation, and we have had many adventures to add. We have been to many sites in the city, but one of my favorite of the trip was at a ranch to cook paella. We went to the ranch of Tony Montolui to pick out crops and help out to prepare the paella. I really enjoyed this activity because we got to immerse ourselves in the tradition of Spanish cooking paella, plus being on a ranch and having fun was awesome on my list.
It has been surreal that we are almost finished with the study abroad program because there is so much we are doing and so far everything has been a blast. I am looking forward to visiting the cities of Barcelona, Madrid, and Toledo to view more aspects of the country of Spain. I’m very excited to visit the city to see it’s architecture, food, and culture. I am also excited to visit the aquarium in Valencia’s famous City of Arts and Sciences, I think it’s going to be an exciting time. The thought of leaving Valencia has not even come across my mind, but the day we depart back to Purdue is going to sad, because I feel I’m not going to want to go back. This trip has been very rewarding and I am very thankful to have joined HORIZONS on this trip and learned a lot about Spanish culture.
