“I’m not going to say that every single day was easy during my time abroad . . . but looking back, the fact that I was able to persevere through those times is priceless to me.” — Erica Biagini
I’ve interviewed many a student who studied abroad in Spain, but none that lived in Bilbao; a city with a population of 345,000 that’s nestled in the north of the water surrounded country.
“Cozy up with a good book” is how I’d describe Erica’s interview. Only in this case, the book is Biagini it’s your ears instead of your eyes. She does a great job of telling multiple stories inside her story and we had a lot of fun recording it.
My favorite part was her unsuccessful attempt to have a traditional Thanksgiving in Spain. 🦃 not so much, so she had to settle for 🐓.
I’m excited about the PDF 📝 that goes along with this interview, too because:
A) I don’t normally link to PDFs or lists
and
B) it’s great insight
I’ve been weaving this theme into the interviews and articles and it deals with picking a place to study abroad.
Thank you to Erica for shedding the light on this important decision process.
“Everything that you need is already within you.” (“Todo lo que necesitas, ya esta dentro”)
SHOW NOTES
- Choosing to study on scholarship in Bilbao – an underrated gem of Spain 💎 [1:58]
- Struggling socially in a single-person dorm room, searching for apartments in a second language 🤦♀️ [7:51]
- Exploring the scenic beauty of Spain, France, and Scotland 🏞 [9:28]
- The stress of being stranded while traveling due to missed busses and Airbnb 🚍[12:00]
- Better burgers and pizza in Spain and the ubiquity of Sangria 🍔🍕🍷 [16:48]
- Chicken for Thanksgiving (but Erica gets an A for effort) 🍗 [20:25]
- Learning to connect with people and commit to plans after studying abroad 🙋♂️[23:35]
- Enjoying the “Community of Care” at Butler University 👨👩👦👦 [25:38]
- Recommendations and final quotes 🙌 [28:48]
- Skyscanner 🛫
- Hopper (I haven’t used this personally, but was impressed with the interface of the site and have since downloaded the app) 💺
- El Corte Inglés (Spain’s Target) 🍌👕
