Ending February has made me realize how fast time is truly going by in my experience abroad. The excitement in this month for Spain and most of Europe does not revolve around Valentine’s Day, but Carnaval. Carnaval is a holiday and celebration marking the beginning of lent. The celebrations occur on different weekends of the month in different cities and I was lucky enough to get to experience two. The first and biggest in my area was in Avíles where they fill the streets with foam and a parade of hand built boats go through. Everyone dresses up like Halloween in anything you wish to be and it turns into a huge party on the streets of people of all ages celebrating. The second I went to was in Gijón, which is an ocean side town which made the celebration interesting based on that fact alone. The celebration wasn’t as big but it was still incredible I got to be there to experience such a large holiday.
I made my first trip to another country out of Spain the end of this month to see my best friend from back home in Massachusetts. She is studying abroad in London, England so I visited her for a long weekend. The buildings and culture of England was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Being able to stand next to churches and things such as Big Ben that are older than our country is like being in a time machine. I feel truly blessed to be experiencing the incredible opportunity that studying abroad is.