Castillo de Santa Bárbara 

So if you have read my blog before and seen the background photo, or follow any of my social media you would have seen a gorgeous panorama that I took of the city of Alicante and the sea. If you were wondering where I took a picture of such an amazing view, the answer is el Castillo de Santa Bárbara. Upon arriving to Alicante, and basically everywhere that you walk in the city you will see this castle. It is the most prominently featured part of the city. (And one of the most beautiful). I was fortunate enough to climb to the top of it along with my group from Spanish Studies Abroad just before sunset on one of the first nights I spent in Alicante. The view is indescribable. You can see the port, the sea, the city and the mountains. Pictures do not even do it justice. 

Clearly I wasn't lying! It made me so excited about the beautiful place I was living. Furthermore, this castle is full of history regarding the city. It was originally constructed by the Moors who invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 711. Ownership went back and forth between the Moors and the Christians for centuries. The most prominent feature of this castle is not the amazing views, but rather, La Cara del Moro, or the face of the Moor that can be clearly seen from several places in the city. There are several legends regarding the face in the mountain, but they all seem to agree that the face belongs to to Moor King who is grieving the loss of his daughter. Regardless of the truth of the legend, there is no denying that a face can be clearly seen in the side of this mountain. My host mom took me on a walk to the point in the city where you can best see it! This face and the castle are the real symbol of the city and this should definitely be the first thing you visit upon arrival to Alicante!

Arriving in ALICANTE

SO here we go!! Thursday evening at dinner I was not packed, had not printed out my boarding pass, misunderstood my flight time because it was in military time and basically was unprepared for my trip to Spain for which I was leaving at 10:30 Friday morning. Fun fact about me, I am a chronic over packer. I will stay the night at a friend’s house and bring enough clothing, makeup, toiletries etc to last a week long stay. For this reason, the thought of packing petrified me. FIVE MONTHS IN A CITY I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO?! I NEED TO BRING EVERYTHING. This is all I could think as my departure approached. However, every single person I talked to told me that the biggest mistake I could make would be over packing. I repeated this advice over and over in my head until I finally sat down to pack. Ironically, I brought the least out of all the girls I traveled on the same plane as. Even more ironically, for a girl who normally packs the world, I brought about 12 dresses and 5 shirts...about the same amount of clothing I typically pack for a week vacation.(under estimate) When I arrived, I had a mini anxiety attack realizing how little I had brought, but come to find out its "rebajas" season here in Alicante so every store has MAJOR sales. I am doing just fine :) (I imagine this is part of the reason I was advised to pack lightly)

Anyway, so Friday rolled around and I flew from Boston, to JFK, to Madrid, to Alicante. Traveling was so easy. I followed the same crowd of people almost the whole way. Customs took 30 seconds and I am not even positive the man looked at my face. A breeze compared to the states! I don't know why I was ever nervous! 

The only part that was nerve racking was arriving to my new home to live with a host family. Watching the taxi driver turn the corner as I stood outside a foreign apartment building with my luggage made my heart drop. I rang the bell and said (in Spanish) "Hi I'm your student, I think I live here" and nearly ran away in embarrassment before she answered "Susanne!!" and buzzed open the door. I was blessed to discover an elevator (as I live on the sixth floor) and was happily greeted by my host mother. She showed me to my room and gave me a quick tour. I could not contain myself when I found out there was a little old dog that lives in the house as well named Fernando or Fer. Within 5 minutes we went grocery shopping. It was so amazing to immediately be surrounded by my city and get to speak Spanish with my host mom who was eager to learn about me, as I was eager to learn about her. She is a wonderful woman who I have already learned so much from in my short time here. I look forward to spending more time with her. She even teaches at the university I attend and we now ride the bus together in the mornings. 

In regard to my fears, I have been loving every minute of these past few days. Sure, walking into a stranger's home to live there and trying to make new friends, all while trying to speak a new language is very intimidating. However, I wouldn't trade this experience for the world and I am only on day 4. I cannot even imagine how I will feel at the end of all of this! 

As far as travel and arrival goes, my best advice for future SSA students is to be flexible and open-minded. For me, I was astounded at how nothing turned out how I planned but in a great way! You may have preconceived notions about how Spain or the people will be, but just let yourself be ready for whatever your city has to offer, and get ready for an amazing arrival.