It started when I was offered to participate in the Spain study-abroad program. It is one of the several programs offered by the Foreign Languages department at Gallaudet. The Costa Rica internship program was one of them; this program is another opportunity to travel to another country and take in the culture there. I was in Costa Rica for 4 months and took two classes while doing my internship. This program takes a group of Gallaudet students (12 of us) to Spain for a month and provides classes for LSE (Lengua de Señas Español - Spain's sign language) and for theater... We are learning LSE and incorporating these skills into a play that we will provide for the deaf community at the end of our month-long stay here! Pretty cool :)

I'm sorry I do not have any pictures to show at the moment- once I get back to the good ol' States, I will be able to upload them on my laptop and share away. So far, it has been a week and we are staying in Aranjuez, a small city about 40 miles outside of Madrid. There is a small university located here, where we attend our classes. Our "dorm" is at a Catholic school (which provides preschool, elementary and high school levels)... Our "dorm" is actually an old seminary, which is okay except that we are starting to suspect the possibility of, ahem, ghosts. At least it keeps us on our toes!

We have already been to Madrid once to meet some deaf people at the association for the deaf in Madrid... There are MANY associations located across the country, and this particular association is for the comunidad autónoma of Madrid... A comunidad autónoma is equivalent to a state in the United States. Within a comunidad autónoma, there are counties and cities. This association is for the county of Madrid, located in the city of Madrid :) Kinda tripping - within the same region, there is the same name for three different levels. Oyy.

During this past weekend, we visited Toledo, another city. I have officially fallen in love with this city... It is CHOCKFUL of history and old buildings! Those two make for a very happy Jess. Again, I have tons of pictures, but they will have to be shared at a later date.

We have been busy with LSE and theater classes, exploring Aranjuez, and sleeping the afternoons away! The classes are in the mornings while our free time is during the afternoon and evenings. After a week, I am still hesistating to make my final judgment of Spain until the end of my trip. After our 4 weeks are up, I will stay for another week and take the time to explore the other cities in the country - including Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, and Sevilla. Costa Rica STILL remains in my heart, however. I love Costa Rica's biodiversity and old-fashioned look and the food and the people. What I have seen so far of Spain is a lot more modern - as it has been emphasized, I'm a fan of history and old-fashioned times. The food and the nature there also can't be beaten!!

¡Pura vida!