Let's Get to Know Each Other

Hi there! As you've probably already seen, I'm Alfonsina. Whether you are starting this teach abroad journey with me, or you are doing research to see if this is for you, or if you somehow just stumbled upon this page, welcome to my  little corner of the CIEE blog! Over the next few months I will be sharing my adventures, joys, frustrations, and fears about lving in a foreign country. I won't pretend to be a pro at this or even be semi blog savvy in the slightest, but I do promise to be honest in my thoughts and advice (caviat: humble advice on how not to crash and burn as I presumabley will as I get used to living in a new place!). 

I guess the only real place to start is with an introduction! So, without further ado, let's get to know each other. 

I actually studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain with Texas Tech University in 2017. That was the most amazing and eye opening experience I've ever had and since then I've had this crazy hunger to go back to Spain and relive that experience. I just completely fell in love with the people, the food, the architecture, the pace of life, the music, the smells. . . I mean anything about Spain, I loved it and I knew I needed to go back one day. While I was studying abroad I got to meet my favorite person in the world, who now happens to be my husband, so the experience overall left me wanting more! I'm over the moon with joy that Philip and I are going to get to live in Spain again!

After our study abroad adventure, we (you'll note I will speak in the "we" a lot, mostly because I'm a queen, partly because I'm married) went back to TTU to finish our undergraduates. This was a really fun time where we got to know each other even more while taking fun classes together like Volleyball and Ceramics. We then both applied for our Masters, mine for Creative Writing and his for Spanish Linguistics. We were both accepted and spent the next 2 years in TTU Graduate Programs. 

A year out of Grad School and now 6 months married, Philip and I are ready for an adventure! Join us as we begin this next awesomecoolexcitingdaringscaryfun part of our lives. I won't say the writing will always be riveting but I can promise Philip will deliver some outstanding photos in these blogs. Spoiler alert: he's an amazing photographer!

I will be blogging on how to get used to living abroad, i.e. where to go for coffee in the morning, where to get a nice, but cheap week-night dinner, where to go grocery shopping and how to find American staples in Spain. Also, my husband and I are trying to go vegan so that might make an appearance every now and again in our cooking accomplishments and struggles. But be forwarned, we won't go fully vegan because helloooo there's so much ham and cheese and amazingly delicious foods in Spain that we will be eating on the regular. (Sidenote: my dog's name is Jamón because Philip and I love Jamón Iberico THAT much)

Along with writing on how to survive living in a new place, I will also be blogging about how to make the best of the weekends! I have a bit of experience in this since I already studied abroad and did a lot of traveling, so there should be a few  useful tips in my blogs for traveling cheap, making the most of your short weekends, finding the best airbnbs and hostels, the best phone apps for traveling to new cities, using public transportation, and so much more! 

I guess what I'm really trying to say is, let's have fun together and let's see what this new chapter will bring!