Tamar Freeland, a Communications major with a minor in Spanish Literature, is studying at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. She describes herself as a student, a sister, a barrista, a hopeful realist, and a bad joke-teller. Based on her visit with Ray and Verena in Davis they would add that she is also a delightful conversationalist. Tamar wrote that she is “looking forward to this experience as an opportunity to become fluent in Spanish, travel throughout Europe, gain a more worldwide perspective, and completely immerse myself in a new culture.” One way Tamar prepared for her year abroad was by living in the International House at UCSD, because she “knew that meeting and befriending international students would not only be a great cultural opportunity here, but would come in handy when I travel to other countries.” Her first impression of Barcelona from the airplane was that “the Mediterranean Sea wasn’t as blue as I was expecting, and that all of the houses had red roofs.” After two weeks of searching, she found a comfortable and affordable apartment with 3 other girls—two from San Sebastian in the Basque Country and the other from Athens. She seems well on her way to achieving the goals she laid out in her Statement of Purpose: to “grow more mature and self-confident in my abilities to live autonomously as a young adult.”