Is this Really Happening?

Diana Angel Alvarez Fundación Ortega-Marañón, Spain

Date

September 6, 2018
Image

Does this happen to you, that as soon as someone asks you to write down your experience, your brain wipes out and goes blank? Well, it happens to me and more often than I would like to admit. I arrived to Toledo, Spain, with two weeks to anticipate the program. I felt I needed more time to adjust to this new experience and I am glad I did because for the past two weeks I have been living in denial. I still cant believe I am just about to start a semester abroad in a city that looks like a scene from a fairy tail in medieval times.

Every morning for the past two weeks, I have been waking up to the sound of church bells, some close, some in the distance. Then I open my window and I see a castle, a fort and a skyline like the one described by Cervantes in Don Quijote De La Mancha. I think, "How in the world, did I end up here? Is this really happening?" To bring myself back to reality after this enchanted sunrise, I walk to the local coffee shop that is near the Fundación Ortega Marañon, where I will be studying this fall semester. I sit and sip my delicious brew, I look around and I whisper, “Yes! This is really happening and it is happening to me.” I am glad classes are starting soon, so I can stop talking to myself and share these moments with others.