Travel
Chile
During the summer of 2009, I studied abroad in Chile. I lived in Viña del Mar and studied at the nearby Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, where I took classes in Advanced Spanish Grammar and Latin American Film and Literature. I traveled to both Mendoza, Argentina and Santiago, the capital of Chile during my time there, and had many unique experiences while studying there.
Chile has a particularly unique language variation, which was one of the most fascinating parts of living there. I was exposed to an accent that was completely different from any that I had heard in any of my Spanish classes. This experience ended up being the main inspiration behind my McNair research project, and drives me to include the concept of language variation in my classes whenever possible. |
Spain
My first trip to Spain was in the summer of 2015, when I received a full scholarship from the student travel company T&E to experience their Salamanca trip. I spent two weeks there taking professional development classes with other Spanish teachers, and had some amazing experiences, including taking a flamenco class (particularly exciting to me as an experienced tap dancer!), visiting the 2,000-year-old Roman aqueducts in Segovia, and even having dinner at a former monastery that Christopher Columbus once stayed at!
My second trip was two years later, in 2017, when I had the opportunity to visit Barcelona with some family and friends. I attended a professional flamenco show, visited some of Ernest Hemingway's favorite spots, and of course spent some time in the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral, which was still unfinished over 130 years years after construction began.
My second trip was two years later, in 2017, when I had the opportunity to visit Barcelona with some family and friends. I attended a professional flamenco show, visited some of Ernest Hemingway's favorite spots, and of course spent some time in the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral, which was still unfinished over 130 years years after construction began.