Spain has brought me some of the best and some of the worst moments in my life. Looking back, it is crazy to see how much has happened over the last few weeks. My whole journey through Europe has been a roller coaster ride and I have finally made it to my end destination. My arrival to Spain seemed to be accompanied by an avalanche of problems. I was left stranded with no apartment for my first four days in Murcia. I was forced to call the cops and flee a scene where my friend and I did not seem safe. I lost close to 600 euros due to a scammer who’s flat was nothing like they promised and the school here is very unorganized where not even the staff seem to know what they are doing. Back at home, I felt the agony from my family who is coping with my grandmother who is suffering from cancer. I also managed to lose one of my best friends. I felt lost, confused, and was starting to have second thoughts about coming to study abroad. Universidad de Murcia wins my vote for being the most unprepared school on the planet. First off, the staff has no communication which each other whatsoever. The professors are late to class and rooms are changed from one day to another with no announcement. The whole process to even register for classes is confusing. The official “First day of class” comes after a whole two weeks after classes have officially begun and you can’t even access an online portal to look at the course syllabus or homework assignments without being enrolled in the class. In order to enroll you have to set up a meeting with your assigned tutor who does not even remember they set up a meeting time with you, followed by an appointment with the secretary’s office who doesn’t even enroll you for all the classes you selected. Murcia on the other hand has brought me so many wonderful memories. The amount of support I have received from my friends here is crazy. I have also met so many people from around the globe, who are all interesting individuals who took the same challenge of studying abroad like I did. I also managed to build incredible relationships. Beor, you and I have gone through some pretty chaotic things and I am glad we both decided to take this journey on together. You have helped me so much, and push me to smile through all these rough moments. I cannot thank you enough for always looking after me and pushing me to live life to the fullest. Your humor and bubbly personality continues to make me laugh day after day. Taryn, you are the sweetest girl I have ever met in my life. Thank you for always being there and being the base that holds everything together. I am also very proud as to how far your Spanish has come in such little time! I have no doubt you will learn the language in the next coming months! Despite the hard times, I can honestly say this has been the best experience of my life. The friends and people I have met along the way have left a mark on this incredible journey. I cannot describe how lucky and blessed I am to have received this opportunity. Through traveling and through living in a different country I have started to learn things about myself I did not even know existed. I developed a love for photography and I gained the confidence to get out of my comfort zone. I have managed to solve problems and learn from experiences that would not have happened otherwise. I am glad to say I am morphing into someone I am so proud to be. As I write this I can’t help but get emotional as to how far I have come in my overall life. I have managed to attend a university, a lifelong goal that no one in my family has ever seen, and now I am studying in Spain. This is all surreal and seems like a dream and I never want to wake up from. Reflecting and being able to sit here and type something so personal sets an example as to how much I have changed throughout these past two months. I am finally developing the courage to be myself and it feels pretty damn good. There are secrets of my life that I am waiting to address to the people closets to my heart. I am finally starting to believe I am ready to let these secrets free. I never would have thought that this moment would come, I never thought I would be ready and here I am. What awaits is scary, but I know I have the strength to push forward. Thank you to everyone who actually takes the time to read and follow me on this quest. There is one last thing I wish to say. Ricardo, I am so incredibly proud of you.
-Ricardo
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AuthorRicardo Perez Archives
October 2018
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