This summer I spent a full 2 months (June 1-July 25) in Alicante, Valencia in a Spanish immersion program. I stayed with a host family and attended classes at a local university, and on the weekends pursued activities with other members of the program. This was my first time experiencing full, long-term independence and while sometimes it was stressful, I found it to be a wonderful experience and one of the best of my life thus far! I improved my Spanish, needless to say…

I met friends that will remain close into the far future. Seba and Celia, a college couple from the US, are huge nature fanatics (especially Seba), and we had some awesome times exploring the plethora of wild spaces around Spain. In addition, Seba introduced me into the potentially profitable hobby of ant collecting and keeping, which I look forward to pursuing back in Singapore! In addition, he got me back into herping, a hobby involving seeking out, observing, and catching reptiles and amphibians. I hadn’t pursued it since I was a kid, and I’m happy to add it to my long list of hobbies regarding the natural world 🙂

Altogether it was an excellent summer. Here are some photos that more or less summarize some of the stuff we did and the surprising biodiversity of Spain: