Bienvenidos to the Spain J-term blog,

Just one week after the new year begins eight Luther students, including myself, will travel to Spain for our J-term course. Professor David Thomson will lead us on our journey in Spain. Together we will visit Seville, Córdoba, Toledo and Madrid.

My name is Victoria Bleckeberg, and I will be the blog coordinator for the course. However, you will have the opportunity to hear about our adventures from everyone on the trip on this blog as we make our way through the country.

While we are in Córdoba,  we will have the opportunity to live with a host family, visit famous Spanish landmarks such as El Prado and explore cathedrals, synagogues and mosques that contain centuries of history. While our trip is filled with many fun activities such as dance classes, cooking classes, and a tapas tour, our primary purpose is to be immersed in Spanish language and culture.

Before we depart, let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Victoria but for the most part people call me Tori, and I am a senior economics major from Maple Grove, Minnesota. Like most of my classmates on this trip, I am working on completing a Spanish minor. Actually, this course abroad will be the last one that I need in order to complete it! I am an active member in many groups on campus, but one of my favorite activities has to be teaching English in Postville, Iowa. I am able to use my Spanish language skills to help teach others. I enjoyed being able to use a second language to communicate with people in my community so much that I decided to add a Spanish minor.

The most exciting part of this trip, for me, is that I will be able to further develop my Spanish speaking skills by immersing myself in the culture. The next time I post we will be in Toledo, Spain. I can’t believe that we leave in less than a week!