San Antonio, Texas

We're off and running! A week from today, we'll be on our way to the Kingdom of Spain.

Mariana Ornelas, a professor of Humanities, and I, Denise Barkis Richter, a professor of Journalism/Communications at Palo Alto College, are leading a group of 13 students to Spain during the first summer session.

Today, the students read "A rat in my soup" by Peter Hessler and "In Madrid, there's no such thing as too much ham" by Daisann McLane to understand the type of writing that they'll be learning how to do while we're studying and traveling abroad. Both stories feature amazing descriptions that incorporate all five senses, abundant humor, complete dialogue, interesting facts/information, and make-you-want-to-continue-reading leads, the opening sentence, that hook you in. The students discussed what makes these stories excellent, and we aspire to write like this during our time on the road and here in San Antonio.

My hopes and dreams for this study abroad are that each student traveler will return to San Antonio a savvier world citizen with an appreciation for the people, culture, language, lifestyle and history of the Iberian peninsula. I spent my junior year of college in Madrid, Spain, in the early 1980s, and I firmly believe that there is no better educational opportunity. This experience will stay with these students the rest of their lives, and I am excited and happy for them.

I imagine that Spain will be as delightful as ever. This will be my fifth trip to Spain, and I never tire of it. I can't wait to visit some of my old haunts. In addition, I look forward to exploring some new places. Thanks for joining our adventure! We hope that our blogs give you an insight into Spain that you might never have had before. Welcome!