Adriel Perez
Alicante, Spain: Spring 2008
I’m a senior at Penn State University and will be graduating in May 2009. Last spring semester I chose to study abroad in Alicante, Spain. I wanted to study in Spain, but I didn’t want to live in a huge city because I felt that I wouldn’t enjoy the culture as much so I chose Alicante which has a population of about 300,000. Not only is it a smaller city, but it’s right on the beach and it’s about 70 degrees year round.
While abroad I decided to do a home stay and that was a great way of learning about the culture and improving my Spanish significantly. I feel that the home stay option is the best decision I could have made because not only did I improve my Spanish, but I was spoiled beyond believe. I didn’t have to do my laundry and I was fed like a king every day.
Luckily, Europe is a very condensed continent and it’s very easy to travel. I had the opportunity to visit Brussels, Paris, Malta, Amsterdam, numerous places in Spain. My favorite adventure was my week long hike in Galicia, Spain traveling on St. James Way. St. James Way is a religious pilgrimage and is very popular in Europe. I’m not a religious person, but I still found the experience to be very fulfilling and recommend people to experience this journey if they can.
