About me the… um… expat?

Let’s establish a few things first, the vitals so to speak:

I’m a recent college grad, 22 years old, an adventurer, coffee lover, wine taste tester and food junkie. I think I’ve always imagined myself living abroad, unrealistically of course – knowing that it probably wasn’t going to actually happen. And yet, here I am, two months away from moving from the lovely midwest region of the US to the capital city of Madrid, Spain.

I admit I had to look up exactly what an “expat” was, having seen the word so often over the past few months of searching for advice on the internet and found that it means “someone living abroad voluntarily”, okay, so that’s me, so I am an ‘EXPAT’. Kind of a funny title for a girl moving to Madrid to teach english for a year, but hey, I love a new nickname.

So why am I writing this? For you, well for you in the future whoever you are, but really for me: because I am for SURE going to stumble, trip, fall flat on my face: and for what!? Hopefully to find myself, hopefully to get a visa, make friends, all that good stuff, but what’s a good story without all the in-between. And what’s good advice without the experience that led to it? This isn’t going to be a picture perfect gap-year, I already know that, but I think if I play this right, it might just be the perfect year for me.

Likes: Guacamole (not common in Spain, seriously, sigh, I will miss it), kyacking, sailing, running, reading, music, playing the piano, meeting new people, sipping on wine (tempernillo, i WILL visit rioja!), cheese (midwest… i told you), brats (again, good old midwest), beer (I will desperately miss my IPAS, care package anyone?), my niece, my novi, my family, you name it- I probably like it.