From Classmates to Soulmates: A Love Story Born from CIEE Barcelona
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They Signed Up to Study Abroad – They Found Each Other Instead
Meet Rob M. and Megan S., two CIEE alums from 2016. They signed up for an adventure when they enrolled in CIEE's Summer Language + Culture in Barcelona and met each other along the way. After connecting in Spain nine years ago, Rob and Meg fell in love and recently got married! Discover how studying abroad with CIEE in Barcelona led to their unexpected connection and a forever kind of love.
Q: What made each of you decide to study abroad? Why Barcelona?
Rob: I had always wanted to study abroad so that I could experience and fully embrace another country's culture by living there. Growing up, I started learning Spanish in grade school and was also fortunate enough to spend a month in Salamanca, Spain in high school. Having such a great experience there, I knew I wanted to return to Spain. However, attending the University of Virginia, I loved my semesters in Charlottesville. With that in mind, I knew a summer program was the best option for me. I loved the idea of coming to Barcelona in the summer given all it had to offer (history, culture, architecture, and unique location). In addition to that, I found an internship so that I could gain work experience while participating in the program to earn school credits. It was a perfect match!
Meg: I had also always wanted to study abroad and had the intention of going for a full semester during college, however, I was studying science at the University of Minnesota and my academic advisor let me know that it wouldn't be possible to graduate in 4 years if I studied abroad for a full semester because my specific science classes and labs were not offered abroad. As such, I also opted for a summer program and chose Barcelona because I thought it offered a perfect balance of everything.
Q: What was your first impression of each other?
Rob: Well, I remember Megan walking into the hotel lobby where all students were meeting for orientation and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Upon finally getting to talk to her, I could totally tell she was from the Midwest given how sweet she was.
Meg: Something drew me to Rob from the very beginning. When we went on a walking tour during the first day of orientation, Rob was walking in front of me and I kept thinking about how much I wanted to talk to him (and how cute he was). He was also wearing a college t-shirt that I recognized so I was hopeful that we would have a lot in common. I ended up using that as a conversation starter and we immediately became friends.
Q: What was your first adventure together abroad?
Rob: The Costa Brava trip through CIEE! We got to all spend such quality time together on the bus, beach, city, and hotel. We sat next to each other on the bus ride and couldn't stop talking, learning more and more about each other. Even after this and spending all day enjoying the area with the rest of the group, Megan and I still spent hours in the hotel lobby talking.
Meg: Definitely the Costa Brava trip! Besides already being abroad together in Barcelona, it was awesome that we all got to travel together so soon in the program. I remember intentionally sitting next to Rob on the bus on the way there and on the way back so that we could talk for hours. That ended up being my highlight of the trip; just talking to Rob and getting to know him better.
Q: How did studying abroad shape your connection?
Rob: I mean, sharing experiences of a lifetime together in Spain and beyond really drove a strong connection given we could immediately relate to each other and have those memories to talk about. Also, we formed a really strong core group through CIEE that allowed us to also create a strong friendship and be natural with each other among our other friends.
Meg: I think being immersed in a different culture and traveling together for a month allowed us to grow close very quickly. This gave us countless shared memories and experiences of a lifetime that became the foundation of our friendship and then relationship.
Q: What parts of the Barcelona study abroad experience brought you closer together? Food? Weekend trips? Spanish class?
Rob: All of the above! While we didn't have the same classes, we would always spend our breaks joking with and talking to each other, before going to a nearby café nearly every day to get a bocadilla and coffee. We kind of had a routine, which was nice. Beyond these, as I mentioned, we had a really strong and fun core group of friends who liked to go out and socialize which also provided us more time to hang out!
Meg: As Rob mentioned, while we weren't in the same class, we spent the majority of our time outside of class together and with our shared group of friends. We would often grab coffee from a go-to café together before class, talk during the break, grab lunch together after class, go to the beach, explore Barcelona's tourist attractions, and try new bars and restaurants. Once the first month of classes were over, we also planned a trip to Rome with some of our other close friends in the program!
Q: Were there any culture shocks or funny moments that bonded you?
Meg: Speaking of the café that we would go to before class, one morning during the first week of our program, I walked up to Rob and showed him a text message I had received from a phone number that I didn't know/have saved. I asked Rob if he knew the number and who this random person could be that is texting me and Rob let me know that it was him who had texted me. I saved his number right afterwards but we still joke about it to this day!
Q: How did you stay connected after the program ended?
Rob: It was a lot of texting. Megan went on to travel for another month while I stayed in Barcelona. We ended up meeting in Copenhagen, Ireland, and Scotland once I finished my time at CIEE before heading back to the U.S. at around the same time. From then, it was long distance given we were attending college in different states (I was in Virginia and Megan was in Minnesota). We looked to visit each other once a month and always had such busy and fun weekends planned. Being in different places, we kind of got to experience the other's college and hometown which allowed us to create more amazing memories and connect further.
Meg: After deciding that we wanted to stay connected, we communicated as often as we could (texting and FaceTiming whenever we had access to Wi-Fi) and tried to see each other as often as we could. While we were both still in Europe, this meant meeting up in different countries, and once we were back home, this meant taking turns visiting each other at college until we both graduated. In total, we did long distance for two years before living in the same city together and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Q: How do you think your study abroad experience changed your lives, both individually and as a couple?
Rob: I think my response goes kind of hand-in-hand. Studying abroad and being able to live/breathe another country, language, and culture really drove a desire to travel and see as much as I could. This has driven Megan and I to do and see so much together, having been to 20+ countries together to this point!
Meg: I love that Rob and I met while we were traveling because it's something that we both already loved to do, and now we get to travel together for the rest of our lives. The summer after CIEE, we planned a three-week backpacking trip in Europe and the year after, backpacked in Southeast Asia for six weeks. We just returned from our honeymoon in Mallorca and Barcelona, because of course we had to go back to Spain where we first met!
Q: What’s your favorite shared memory from the program?
Meg: My favorite memory overall is the close group of friends that we had. We got really lucky with the other students that were on the program. We still stay in touch with a lot of them and one of them actually ended up officiating our wedding!
Q: Any advice for students studying abroad today? Especially those who might find love when they least expect it?
Rob: Always be open minded! Whether it's regarding a trip to a new city, new food/dish, or an opportunity to work somewhere, you never know where it will take you and who you will meet!
Meg: I signed up for this CIEE program on my own, without coordinating with or knowing any other students from my university until we arrived in Barcelona. This allowed me to meet so many new people AND my future husband!
Thank you Rob and Meg for completing this Q&A for the CIEE blog. The CIEE Study Abroad team wishes you a lifetime of travel together!
Interested in having a CIEE adventure like Rob and Meg? Start planning today!