Hello from Valencia! – Jessie Hainley

Hello from Valencia! I am writing this as I am traveling to Valencia after wrapping up our classes earlier this week. School is out so early because August is seen as a holiday for most educational institutions. We now have two full weeks to explore Spain and participate in program company visits and planned activities. While we have officially reached the half-end of our trip, I am determined to make the most out of it.
Since this was our last week of school, many of us had presentations and finals that we had to prepare for, so usually, after school, we would head over to a coffee shop and work for a few hours. After those hours at the coffee shop, we spent the evenings doing something fun. My favorite evening activity this week was grabbing dinner with some of our classmates. We had a Spanish-style dinner that lasted two and a half hours, where we enjoyed the plaza that we were eating in and each other?s company.
After dinner, we grabbed some gelato and walked around Las Ramblas. This night was one of my favorite things we did this week because it gave us a chance to slow down from the busyness of school and activities and appreciate my surroundings.
This week my final presentation was about Pablo Picasso. Since the famous Pablo Picasso Museum is located in Barcelona, I visited and learned about him there rather than searching on the internet.
It was interesting to formulate an entire presentation based on facts that I learned directly from a museum.
This is when I truly experienced the benefits of studying abroad. Studying abroad is not all about what you learn in the classroom; it is about taking what you have learned from the school and from your time experiencing a different culture and applying both. I also found it interesting to experience the difference between a professor from Spain teaching one of my classes and a professor from A&M teaching my other class. Both professors had different teaching styles and methods of instruction, but I was able to get so much out of my school experience this summer because of the diverse topics we covered.
Our planned professional trip this week was a tour of the Barcelona Port Authority. This is one of the most significant contributors to the Barcelona economy, where they import and export to places all around the world. Our program had the opportunity to take a boat tour around the entire port and see up close all the main port activities. After that, we rushed home and grabbed our bags to make our train ride to Valencia. It was a hectic process trying to navigate the busy train station, but my group made it on the train and successfully got to Valencia. We plan to spend this weekend exploring the city, the beach, and taking an excursion to go cliff jumping! Our weekend is packed with so many fun things to see and experience, but I have found how important it is to slow down and appreciate the moment.