Getting Ready

My name is Morgan Long and I will be a Junior in High School this fall. In three days my mother and I will be traveling across the Atlantic to experience the culture and festivities of Spain that draw in over 50 million visitors each year, making Spain the second most popular tourist country in the world (after its neighbor, France, which I also plan to visit). From June 6^th to July 6^th, I will be attending a language school in the Spanish region of Cataluña, in northern Barcelona.  During this month I hope to discover just what it is that distinguishes Spain from the other 193 countries in the world.

So this trip should be interesting for a number of reasons:

Numero Uno – I’ve heard that people in Barcelona speak with lisps and that should be funny/entertaining.

Numero Dos – I’ve also heard from reliable sources that Paella (a Spanish dish) is “to die for”.

Numero Tres – Bye-bye iPhone.

Numero Cuatro – It should be interesting to see how long my mother and I can survive together in the apartment without killing each other. (Just kidding…but not really). We both give it seven days.

Numero Cinco – Three-hour lunches with optional siestas? Sounds like heaven to me.

However these details are trifling in comparison to the more wondrous aspects of the trip – the museums, the family heritage, the churches, the mosques, the language, the fiestas, the people! – and best of all I won’t be left out during dinner conversations when I eat with my boyfriend’s family (they’re from Guatemala). I only hope to capture the essence of it all through words and pictures.

So all that’s left to do now is pack and wait to see what wonders España will hold and find out whether or not Spain will live up to my expectations. Got to go! My family wants to get Greek food (not too much for me though – I’m saving my calories for Paella!)