My name is Sierra Young and I am one of the 14 students studying abroad with The University of Akron this summer in Valladolid, Spain!
It has been a crazy last couple weeks here in Spain.
We left Akron May 24 and our plane arrived in Madrid, Spain, on May 25. After a tiring overnight flight, three different airplanes, some sketchy airport food and a two-hour bus ride from the airport, we have officially begun our five-week study abroad trip to Valladolid, Spain, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Life here is substantially different than life in the states. For example, the foods we eat, the times we eat and the way we spend our time. After about two weeks here, I would like to think I’m nearly adjusted, but this probably isn’t 100% true…yet.
We first arrived at the station where we would meet our host families the evening of May 25. Everyone was eagerly waiting to meet their new family that they would have for the next 5 weeks. Some with kids, some retired and some single. There isn’t just one kind of family/person that enjoys having abroad students living in their home for an extended period of time.
After talking with some of my new friends, I have heard many of stories about their home experiences. A couple of girls live with single sisters around the age of 60, while others live with a young married couple with 2 kids under the age of 4. For me and my roommate, we get the opportunity to live with a caring, hard working, energetic retired woman, who loves her family so dearly.
From what I have seen, the people here really treasure time with their families. The majority of them take an hour out of the middle of their work day to go home, spend time with their families at lunch and rest. This is a custom that isn’t typical in the U.S., but is a huge difference about Spain. Many of the businesses on the street are closed for this afternoon hour, as well as on Sundays, to spend time with family and rest. This makes for an adjustment, because in the states, we are used to being productive on Sundays, getting our shopping done and running errands that we didn’t have time for during the week.
Another aspect of home life in Spain is our meals. Our loving host mom constantly cooks for us, providing delicious food to give us energy for our crazy busy, 12 miles walking per day, mentally draining days. She never accepts help and spends hours cooking Spanish food for us. She’s very good at listening to us when we don’t particularly enjoy the food she has made us, too…at least I think. She hasn’t made us the fried eggs again. Hopefully it stays that way. 😉
Additionally, the schedules of Spaniards is quite different. We have our breakfast around 8, in order to leave home by 8:30 for class. Lunch is typically around 3 p.m., which is the meal they call ¨la comida,¨ meaning ¨the food.¨ This meal is the biggest meal of the day. There are typically 3-4 different courses during this meal. The first few days were difficult for me because I’m not used to waiting 7 hours between breakfast and lunch. But trust me, with the amount of delicious food you eat at lunch, it’s worth the wait! (Also, snacks from the delicious cafeterías are suggested. They call these ¨tapas.¨ 🙂 )
Dinner is also quite different than in the States. We eat ¨la cena¨ around 10 p.m., right before bed time and right when the sun goes down. This meal is substantially smaller than la comida; typically it is one course. This seems crazy to Americans, because this is nearly what us college students would refer to as a ¨midnight snack while studying.¨ Haha. But it´s not too crazy to me now, because around 10 p.m. is when you begin to get hungry from the big meal we eat in the middle of the day.
On another topic, now that you’re all hungry, is the way the city is designed. This place is so historical and beautiful, I can’t even begin capture it with pictures. The city basically revolves around historical sites, cathedrals and plazas. When we first arrived, I panicked, thinking that I would never be able to figure out my way around the city. After a couple of weeks, lots of teamwork with friends and our handy map, we have yet to get too lost. Since none of the streets are parallel, they all begin to look the same.
The first floor of nearly every building is a store of some sort. There are many restaurants, cafes, fruit stores, bread shops, furniture stores, wedding dress shops, bars, pharmacies, etc. The additional 4-10 floors of the buildings are what we would call apartments. Here, since everyone lives in an apartment, they call these their homes. You won’t find a single family house like in the United States until you’re a couple miles outside the city, in the countryside.
My home is located on the south side of the city, about a 70-minute walk from the University. It is very common to use the bus here, as it is the main mode of transportation in the city. It’s inexpensive to use, always has room for more people to join and is a great way to see more of the city without getting terrible blisters.
My experiences here have already taught me so much about the culture, the people and the city. You can sit in a classroom for 16 weeks every semester, cramming knowledge into your head, but the only way to actually understand the culture and the language is to go there. You need to live it, speak with natives, see with your eyes the way the city comes alive at night, experience the beauty of this historical location and approach every new situation with an eager mind to learn.
It’s only been two weeks and I have already become worlds more comfortable with speaking Spanish, learned so much about Spanish grammar and culture in my classes, and made so many new friends that are going through this exact same experience with me.
If you get the chance to study abroad, do it. You will see the most beautiful castles, cathedrals, buildings, historical sites and architecture. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
What is experiential learning?
The main purpose of study abroad is cultural awareness through visiting many interesting places in the different countries. I think that it is very easy to lose the goal because seeing the various places is memorable, but not directly related to cultural awareness without reflective inquiry. Keeping journals is one way, but without reflective inquiry or reflective questions, students feel as thought they are JUST visiting Japanese famous places.
(Here are a few quick photos of the guest house and our pet conejito, Sami- I will be sure to have more photos of us actually doing, first day was more of a travel day.)
