Who am I?

Well, I figured while I'm wasting time, I might as well introduce myself for those of you who have stumbled upon my page and have no idea who I am.

My name is Christy, I'm 21 years old and I'm a Spanish major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, or IUP for short. 

My personality is kinda indescribable, but I've been told I have a loud (slightly obnoxious) laugh that is rather contagious, and a happy-go-lucky personality. I try to stay positive and look at the world with rose colored glasses. 

I'm addicted to traveling and learning about new cultures, which is probably why I decided to be a language major. After graduating from College with my degree in Spanish, I want to get my certification to teach English in foreign countries and then go to South Korea to teach for a year. From there, I want to go to Spain to teach, then the middle east, and then finally, China. 

By this time I should know about 5 different languages (including English) and I will hopefully be able to return to the states and be a translator or interpreter, possibly for the government. 

If those plans fail, I'll be either a flight attendant, a street performer, or join the circus. Who wouldn't want to learn how to swallow knives??! 

I've always wanted to travel to Spain/Europe and now that this dream is coming true, I'm so excited to share it with everyone!! I know how hard it can be for some people to travel with jobs and such, but I'm really hoping this blog will take you along with me and we can explore Europe together! :) 

What has always been your dream destination?

Besos!

-Christy

Prep prep prep!

Oh Goodness.
It is almost exactly two months until I hop on flight 8046 to Granada, Spain to spend 4 ENTIRE. MONTHS. there.
Alone.

I'm freaking out here.

I'm already starting to plan everything out. I have a packing list already pre-made, I'm already busting my wallet for my "Spanish wardrobe", and my journal has already been bought! I've been DYING to write in it - hence this lovely little blog that I've created! I actually wrote a lil' quote in it already...shhh, don't tell! ;)

And more importantly, my Spanish dictionary is starting to fall apart a little from all the use its been getting from my two Spanish classes! I'm so nervous my Spanish will not be "up-to-par" when I get there. But, I need to keep reminding myself that I'm going to Spain to LEARN Spanish - NOT to go there and be like, oh hey! I already know Spanish....why am I here again?
That would be kinda pointless.
And too easy. Where's the fun in that?

Anyways, Spain.

I bought some tourbooks (heh. by some, I mean 4. I'm kinda a secret tourbook junkie. I spent like 2 hours sitting in barnes and noble trying to decide which book to get and then ended up just buying them all because I seriously could. not. decide. Did I mention I'm also hopelessly indecisive? I did? Good.) and I've been obsessing over each and every one of them. Two of the books are specifically on Spain: Lonely Planet's Spain (Here) which I enjoyed. I really liked how they had a "understand Spain" section in the back. Really useful information! The other Spain book I got was Rick Steves' Spain 2012 (here) which was also really good. Apparently if you show his book to the places he mentions in his book, you can get discounts! (even the e-book on your kindle, which is what I have.)
The two other books I purchased were Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring (here) and Let's Go Europe 2012: The student travel guide (here).
As Good as the Lonely Planet guides are, ( I would recommend them in a heartbeat to any traveler! They are very good sources!!!) I LOVE the Let's Go Europe 2012 book! Maybe its because I'm a poor college student and it practically spoke to me when I read it. It gives information on Hostels and cheap dining, as well as interesting locations specifically for the traveling college student. It's, in a word, AWESOME.
I would HIGHLYYYY recommend it for any college student that is looking fora  cheap way to travel!
I'm planning on touring around Europe. After all, why not? I'll be in Spain. Might as well see it all, right?
I'm thinking I'm going to hit up Italy, Greece, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, as well as others. I'm so. excited.
It has ALWAYS and I mean alwayyyssss been my dream to backpack around Europe. So this is kinda like a HELL YES moment in my life. Besides, do it all while your young because you only live once. Pretty soon, you could be married, with babies...and cats. And who can travel with 8 children, 12 cats and a husband? Not this girl, I can tell you that!

Anyways, I'm not planning on posting very often before my trip, but whenever I get excited about Spain and get an uncontrollable urge to write about it, you'll know.
Trust me.
Until then, stay awesome.

Christy