La Mejor Expriencia De Mi Vida

When I say my time here in Granada has been the best time of my life, I truly mean it. I was extremely nervous coming to Spain because I didn't know anyone and I've never been away from home for this long. Although I'm excited to see my family, dogs, and friends, I am not ready to leave!

My experience has been amazing and here is a list if things future students should and shouldn't do:

DO's:
- Spend as much time with your host family as possible! You should build a relationship with them that you'll keep forever. My family is awesome and I hope to maintain contact with them for the rest of my life!
- Talk in Spanish as much as you can. When you first arrive, you won't know that much Spanish but that is why you are going to Granada. Your family are going to work with you and don't be afraid to mess up and say something stupid. You are only going to get better if you continue to practice and try talking. Additionally, your families can teach you so much that you cannot learn inside of a class room.
- Walk around the city as much as you can without a plan. Some of my best experience were when I decided to just walk around with my friends and take random turns. You'll find so many cool places, including the park we found with this AMAZING teeter totter :) The teeter totter is located near a park by the river and there is one in Park Garcia Lorca (there is also a two story tube slide and zip line in the park)!
- Get a gym membership at YO10 and take Zumba classes with your classmates. This was something we did and it was a blast! I never did Zumba before this trip and I absolutely fell in love with it.
- Go to the beach one weekend with the whole class. I personally liked Nerja better, but Malaga is great too. 11 of us spent the night in Nerja and it was one of my favorite memories staying up all night with my best friends!
- Try to get to know some local Spaniards. Not only can you practice your Spanish, but they can give you the ins and outs of what you should do. I would recommend going to a botellón and getting that cultural experience as well.

DON'Ts:
- Don't say inside of your comfort zone. Spain is the perfect time to adventure out and try new things. I tried so many new foods and fell in love with them! I was a very picky eater before I came and now I'll almost try anything!
- Don't spend all of your free time studying. Yes school is important, but you will get more out of your experience if you go out and have adventures. You will actually be surprised how much more you learn when you are out on an adventure. Make sure when you do study, study with your friends. As crazy as it might sound, after only 3 days all of us became best friends and you will be really upset if you don't take the time to get your classmates.
- Don't go to the same tapa place everyday. Granada is filled with tons of tapa restaurants and I would recommend to go to as many as possible.
- Don't spend your weekends traveling. Before coming to Granada, I thought I would want to travel around Europe during my trip. I am so happy I did not because if I did, I would have missed out on so much in Granada.