hola!

I'm beginning to write three weeks into my trip to Spain. Better late than never, eh? Just for starters, here's a brief run-down of what I'm doing here: I'm living in Valladolid, Spain (2 hours north of Madrid, the capital of the Castille-León region), studying at the university with 45 other students from Cal Poly. We're taking Spanish language courses from Castillian Spanish profesors as well as courses from Cal Poly taught by Dr. Hiltpold, the coolest prof on record, in my opinion. I'm taking his Humanities class on the Culture of Spain, as well as doing an independant study project (that I have yet to begin research for... oops). We have Spanish families and a roommate from Poly, my roommate Kristen is wonderful and a great friend, and are parents are incredibly hospitable and really funny, but details later. We spent the first week of our trip touring Madrid and Toledo, and have three day trips throughout the quarter to Burgos, Segovia and Salamanca. Aside from that, we have weekends and some holidays from school to travel on our own. So far I've gone to Barcelona, and in the process of planning trips to Paris and England.
More detailed posts to come soon, I'm off to have dinner with my family. At 9 pm. Because Spaniards are crazy and that's what they do here.