My First Post: Intro, Goals, and European Bucket List

My first blog post!! I have never written a blog before, but since I am going to a different country for about 4 months, I thought it would be the perfect way to share my adventures with family and friends. For those of you who do not speak Spanish, the title of my blog in English is "My Studies, Journeys, and Horseback Riding in Spain", as I hope to study, go on journeys (within Spain and Europe) and ride horses while studying abroad. 

I am so excited to be studying abroad in Madrid, Spain for a semester. I will be at SLU's University in Madrid (SLU-Madrid) and be taking classes 4 days out of the week. I will also be staying with a host family, or Señora,with one of my friends from high school. I have a lot of general goals that I hope to achieve while studying abroad, including learning about Spanish culture, people, and food, improve on my Spanish skills, learn how to navigate an unfamiliar place, meet new people, and just in general have a good time and do things that I have not done before. Oh, and study.

And my European bucket list...things that I want to do, some will be easier to do than others - this list is always growing!

• Pony Trekking!! - ever since my parents went to Ireland without me and came back with stories of "Pony Trekker crossing" signs and a girl just sitting on her horse in a little Irish town....it is basically riding horses in Ireland, or somewhere in the UK
• Riding a horse on the beach - in Barcelona maybe, or southern Spain. This has been my dream since I was little, so I hope it happens!
• Go to the Real Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestre - in Andalusia, southern Spain, this is the Spanish riding school where practice Dressage (a form of riding where the horse looks like it is dancing)
• Go to a Real Madrid fútbol game
• Learn more about Spanish dance
• Get a nice pair of leather boots - I have not found the perfect pair of fashionable "riding" or "equestrian" boots and it is driving me crazy! so hopefully in Europe I can find something
• Go to the Harry Potter set in London and Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station
• See "Cinderella's Castle" in Germany - Neuschwanstein Castle
• Go to the Alps in Austria and act out "Sound of Music" 
• Visit friends in Brussels, Geneva...and wherever else they might be 
• See the big cities of Europe (Paris, London, Rome), as well as cute little towns that have a lot of history and nice sights to see
• Go to Italy for Spring Break and Rome for Easter
• Go to Ireland 
• Eat tapas in Spain, gelato in Italy, croissants in France, chocolate in Belgium, meat and potatoes in Ireland or Britain, bratwurst in Germany, good seafood near the coast, and drink sangria in Spain
• Future husband (preferably one that rides horses and has a lot of money) - Just kidding!! But when I have told people that I am studying abroad, a surprisingly large number (ok, more like 3) said that their son/daughter met the perfect person while overseas and got married

In case you didn't see the trend, I love horses and while I am over in Spain for 4 months I am definitely going to need my horse fix. I am currently used to riding horses about 2 times a week, once a lesson with the SLU equestrian team, and once riding my own horse, Player, both of which I will miss dearly when I go overseas. I will also miss my friends, family, my dog, Dakota, and all of my friends and crazy Micahs back at SLU! So, hopefully this blog will keep everyone informed with what I am doing, and I hope to hear from everyone!

¡Adios!