This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Valencia, Spain with North Carolina State University's Study Abroad Office. I knew that this would be an incredible opportunity, but I had no clue just how much of an impact this trip would have on my life as a whole. Living in Spain for a month gave me a new sense of cultural competency. Though I was pursuing my Spanish minor while I was abroad, I was not completely fluent. I was immediately challenged with my language on my 8 hour flight overseas. The lady that I sat next to was returning home to Spain and did not speak any English. I am not the type of person who can sit in silence for 8 hours so I decided to try out my Spanish knowledge and make conversation with my neighbor. Though we had to use a lot of hand gestures at first to get our point across, as the flight progressed, we become more comfortable in our speech. She even gave me her phone number and the number of her friend who lived in Valencia in case I needed any help. Our chat on the flight helped prepare me for my housing situation while living in Valencia.
I lived with a host mom who was probably in her 70s. She was the sweetest lady, knew very limited English and was the most amazing cook! She prepared all three meals for us each day. She tried to expose us to as many authentic Spanish dishes as possible and gave us tips on how to blend in with the Spanish culture. One of the most popular Spanish dished is paella,a rice dish with chicken, green vegetables, beans and seasoning. This was probably our favorite meal and we would have eaten it every single day if we could.
I took two Spanish elective courses while I was abroad in order to complete my Spanish minor. One was an art classes and the other was a culture and civilization class. Both classes were difficult because you had to listen to and comprehend what the teacher was lecturing about in Spanish while taking notes and actively participating at the same time. I struggled a little in the art class because I don't really understand art in English, but it was a great learning experience and I enjoyed the class. We took several field trips for our classes and visited local cathedrals, art museums, factories and exhibitions. I loved being immersed in the culture and it made studying very fun and easy!
My favorite part of studying abroad was the ability to easily travel on the weekends. I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona, Granada and Peníscula while in Spain and once my abroad program ended, I met up with my best friend in Italy and spent a week there. All the buildings and sites in Europe is so much older than those we have in the United States. It was incredible to learn the history of the places we visited and to see how much character and detail was put into the architecture. Also, the landscape throughout Spain and Italy were breathtaking. My travels abroad not only allowed me to mature and improve my language skills, they also made me want to travel more often and experience the world that we live in. Study abroad is an incredible opportunity and I believe everyone should do it while they are in college. Oh the places you can go...
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historic castle in Peníscula
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| breathtaking view of Barcelona |
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our host mom fixing paella, yum!
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| touring beautiful Valenica |
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