It’s day 7- I’m taking you international today! I haven’t told many people the story about how I wanted to study abroad to fluently learn and speak Spanish…In 2012, My dad had timeshare and knew that he wasn’t going to use it that year. So, my brother Jerry Jr. and I convinced him to let us use it for him. One of the reasons that my dad said yes is because he knew that I wanted to study abroad and that part of the trip would be me seeking out additional information and to also get a feel for the country before committing to the program.

I didn’t end up going abroad, and instead I invested the money I had to move up to the Bay Area with my brother. Although I have no regrets with my decision, that door of opportunity closed…but from time to time I think about how my experience would’ve been…I am obsessively curious with learning different languages and experiencing a different way of living when traveling. My life goal is to learn 2 more languages, Spanish first, then Tagalog (Philippines) second.

Back to my story of Spain….Our main stay was in Málaga, which is on the Southern tip and right off the coast with perfect weather. A little over an hour drive through the countryside is a small town up in the hills called Ronda. We rented a car and spent most of the day up there.

This town was very quiet and peaceful, with not much to do but had everything you needed- The true definition of simple living. People aren’t glued to their cell phones, everyone is involved in the conversation when dining, sipping on coffee and milk (or even wine), and taking naps in the middle of the day is the norm in this culture. We visited during the weekday in June, so the streets were very quiet. One of the first things we did when we arrived was have lunch. As we overlooked the town’s scenic stone bridge (Puento Nuevo), we saw a few places to eat that had a scenic patio that overlooked everything- so we ate there. We walked passed by a crowd of students walking around and hanging out with each other after school- None of them on their cell phones either- It was honestly a culture shock to me.

This trip was about 11 days and would’ve loved to travel to other cities, especially Barcelona. Nonetheless, we had a great experience will be back in the future.

¡Hasta pronto, España!