Author: Stephanie Larkin

Hola from quite possibly the hottest place in the world right now!

For the past three days it has been 100 degrees or higher here. I am in a constant state of sweat and dirt from the city. I wish I could take about five showers a day, but alas, energy and water are very expensive here in Europe. My host mom said this is the hottest she’s ever experienced in September in Granada.

Besides the extreme heat, things are going well here! I’ve started my classes and met some really cool people. I go to an intensive Spanish class from 9am-1pm every day. It’s kind of boring and long, but I’m definitely learning a lot. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I also have class from 5pm-6:30pm with Professor Blanco and my group from Bucknell.

I’ve joined the gym here too! The weight section is super intimidating because there are just Spanish meatheads lifting, and they all just stare at me. Also, the weights are in kg (obviously), so I have to do a lot of converting. I’ve found that my comfort zone is on the erg (go figure). Even though the machine is in Spanish, watts are exactly the same as in the US.

One thing I’ve discovered here is that Netflix has SO MANY GOOD MOVIES. Seriously, study abroad just to watch Netflix here. I don’t have a ton of time to watch movies, but sometimes I do while doing easy grammar homework or before bed if I don’t go somewhere with my friends.

Finally, this week we went to the Alhambra (castle) and Generalife (gardens). I liked the castle a lot, but the gardens were breathtaking and definitely my favorite. I highly suggest visiting if you ever have a chance(or looking up pictures!!).

Feel free to follow me on instagram (bixby19) or friend me on Facebook for pictures! (@ the recruits).
That’s it for now from Spain! Hasta luego!!

Buonasera amici!

I hope you all are having a great semester so far! I arrived in Florence, Italy on Tuesday with the Syracuse University in Florence program, and this week is orientation. I am the only Bucknell student doing this program, which is a little intimidating, but I am already making friends with students from universities all over the United States.

Tomorrow I will be registering for my five classes that I will be taking this semester. A lot of the classes that are offered go on day trips to museums, other placesin Italy, and even cities outside of Italy. I am looking forward to doing some traveling on the weekends both for class and for fun!
Yesterday I met my host mother, Anna, and her daughter, as well as my new roommate. My host mother does not speak any English so we can only speak Italian to communicate. I will also be taking Italian as one of my classes, which will help me pick up the language more quickly.

So far, I have done a ton of walking (wearing comfortable shoes is a must), so I am definitely burning off the pasta that I have been eating (which is delicious). This evening I had time to go running before dinner and passed by lo stadio where ACF Fiorentina plays calcio (football/soccer). Hopefully I can get to one of the games while I am here.

I will be posting pics to Snapchat and Instagram on a daily basis so feel free to add/follow me!

Ciao Ciao!

Steph Larkin

Hola a todos!

I’ve been in Spain for about a week now on the Bucknell en España program. We flew into Madrid and spent a few days there, and also took day trips to Segovia and Toledo. One of the most interesting things that I learned in El Prado in Madrid (an art museum), is that the Spanish royal family’s lineage may have broken at some time because a king couldn’t have children, and the queen had many lovers and illegitimate children…so people think that the royal family isn’t pure (or something similar to that…it was all in Spanish).

Yesterday we took the four and a half hour bus ride from Toledo to Granada, where I will be spending the next four months. I met my host mom, Pepita. She is so nice and a FANTASTIC cook. I’m about to have major gains (probably in the weight department), so watch out. However, she doesn’t speak English so we have to communicate completely in Spanish. It’s a little daunting, but I really think it’s going to help my language skills and fluency. I’m already thinking about how to say everything I do in Spanish (including what I’m typing here).

Today I had an orientation for mi escuela, and I’ll start classes on Friday. It is hot as el diablo here and they don’t really use air conditioning (except for in stores) so I’m literally sweating it out, because it’s like 90 plus degrees todos las días. Today I got lost on the way home from the school…but I eventually found my way home (after like twenty extra minutes).

I’ll be joining a gym in the coming days, and there are beautiful places along the river to run. Unfortunately the river has very little water, so I won’t be able to row.
I hope everything is going well for everyone at Bucknell! Stay tuned, because my professor wants to do a flamenco class this semester so I’m sure I’ll have entertaining stories about that…

-Bixby