BW does a pretty snazzy job of preparing its students for going overseas. For example, the semester before you depart, there’s a mandatory meeting where they go over safety, money, culture shock, etc. I think the one I did on a Saturday went from 9am-Noon. However, they don’t know everything about location specific concerns (as the meeting is for all the people going to all different countries), but something that might not even be on their radar is a common safety precaution American females take in the states, is in fact illegal in Spain. Can you guess what it might be? Pepper spray! You always have to be aware of your surroundings, your belongings, and try and stay with other people while abroad, but pepper spray is a handy little tool that many people carry with them just to feel like they have the ability to fight off an attacker if necessary. I’m not quite sure why Spain has decided it should be illegal. Sadly, one of the girls in our program had it in her purse while we went to the Prado museum and the security guards were in the process of calling the police when she explained her situation and that she really had no clue she was breaking the law. Point of blog: Part of safety is checking the laws of your country of destination – you never know what we might consider normal could be considered unsafe there.

Hey everyone! The semester’s started and this year I am studying abroad in Spain for the whole year. That’s right. Spain, full year, me. Not sure how well it’s going to go, but through this blog I can give you the full scoop of what it’s like to be a BW student who studies abroad. Normally, students are only able to study abroad for one semester; however, exceptions are made for International Studies majors. The process starts in the fall, at least it did for me since I didn’t want to miss any deadlines. You turn in the application after all the spring applications have been turned in (aka around the end of December or beginning of January) and then the hard part starts: the visa application. When you are accepted into the ISA program (at least, this is all valid for Spain, things may vary depending on country and double check with study abroad before you set your heart on a location), they send a Schengen visa application, but Spain adds some things if you are going for over 180 days (and you are if you plan on a year) then you also have to include a background search showing that you have no pressing charges or previous convictions in the past, five, years I believe as well as a note from your doctor stating you’re in good health.
Enough technicalities for the day, later I’ll talk about the support BW has given me prior to arrival. I am in the middle of orientation, so the internet connection was not free until we found it in the second hotel, in Toledo. The office in Granada, where I’m studying, has free wifi (score!) and blogging will be more frequent (we can hope). Orientation is going well. The program directors are really relaxed about what the students do during free time (and there’s a lot). For example, yesterday in between the tour in the Prado Museum and the tour at the Royal Palace, we were told “Go get lunch and here’s a map to find your way to the Palace, don’t be late.” Those tend to be the instructions they give us for everything, except the tours where the tour guides take control. We had a meeting yesterday night to go over academic stuff. Prior to leaving the states I had to get equivalencies accepted by the heads of each department I might take classes in, and ISA provides a pretty decent description of all the options to help with that. We won’t know our schedules until a little later, as the first part of this trip is an intensive Spanish language month. AKA, we all go from summer Spanish, where we have mostly forgotten it all, to grammar, vocab, life overload, lol. Not really, it is four hours a day, and in one chunk so the rest of the day is yours to do with, at least during the intensive month. So, I imagine it to be like, three classes on campus back to back, which some students purposefully choose to do when designing their life for the next semester. However, I’ll let you know how similar they are. Pues, tengo que irme. Hasta luego!

Insanely enough, summer is already over and I am back at BW for Fall 2009. Today was the first day of classes. This morning I had Survey of American Literature with Dr. Kohn. I had expected the class to focus on one specific era of American Lit but apparently we will be studying a broader range of literature, briefly touching on everything from Native American writings to present day works. We are going to read one work for each prominent author. I’m excited to get back into reading and exploring the classics through writing and discussions.

Later I had Chemistry. I honestly am not that thrilled about this course but do need to take it for my core requirements. My class is in the new Center for Innovation and Growth on North Campus. The building and classrooms are beautiful and there is even a new coffee shop inside!

Then this afternoon I had Food and Nutrition at Risk, which is an honors level class that I need for my Honors Core. The topics that we will cover are definitely really relevant to issues today in terms of new Health Care and Nutrition Policies.

Even though I was unsure about some of my core classes, I’m confident that I will be able to learn something new and important in all of my courses. I’m excited for this new year and this semester in particular!