American Sign Language Version ↑
English Version:
Hello! There are just 4 days left until I go to Spain! The city in Spain I am visiting is Madrid. I am very excited as the day is soon approaching. Allow me to first introduce myself. My name is Felix Gonzalez, and I am DeafBlind. I am first generation Mexican-American/Chicano. I am from California, where I spent all of my life. The school I am attending is Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. It is a university that uses a bilingual approach with American Sign Language and English reading and writing simultaneously. This is how Deaf students there obtain their education. I am a junior there majoring in Information Technology (IT) and minoring in Spanish.
I am excited to share about the studying abroad program in Madrid. The reason I am so excited to go to Madrid is because they will provide DeafBlind interpreting services, including visual information about my surroundings. This is fantastic because it is barrier-free!
There are three main reasons why I want to go to Madrid: 1) to improve my Spanish reading and writing skills, 2) to be exposed to and delve into the culture of Madrid, and 3) to network and create new connections with people in Madrid who are Spanish speakers and sign language users. This will open more doors and better opportunities for me in the future.
Thank you, and goodbye – oh! One last thing. Please follow my blog while I am there in Madrid. Thank you, bye!
Author’s Note: Study abroad program is from June 1st-June 30th; captions coming.