Hi guys! I am writing to you from the Madrid airport, as I am beginning my all-nighter here to catch my 6am flight. Leaving today was very hard, as I became close with my classmates, teachers, and host family, especially knowing I am the only non-Temple student and won’t be at school at Temple in the fall. Previously, I mentioned how this experience impacted me as a Spanish student, but living in a foreign country knowing no one has been a great learning experience beyond linguistics. Reflecting back at the end of program, two major takeaways rise to the top: my ability to travel and dietary changes.
1) My travel skills increased
Primarily, my traveling skills have increased exponentially. Flying both ways alone is scary, but it helped me practice independence and feel more comfortable for the future. Further, we planned many excursions during our time here, like day trips to Cudillero, Llanes, Gijón, Picos de Europa, Santander, and a weekend in Faro, Portugal. This required researching locations (including finding restaurants that accommodate dietary restrictions, a problem we ran into often), coordinating plans for a group of 12 (which is not easy), and figuring out the public transportation in order to arrive. The inability to rely on cars was a challenge that could often be frustrating, but we were able to navigate the buses, trains, and metros that are interconnected throughout Spain. It was so cool to travel without relying on cars, even if it did require more coordination.
I also learned some lessons the hard way, like to buy a return ticket before you arrive in your destination, that often buses fill up so you need to arrive early (especially if you want to go to the beach on a sunny afternoon), and on certain buses you can show up early and hop on an earlier time, but on longer rides you cannot. I also practiced my Spanish a lot when traveling because I always had to ask strangers to make sure I was in the right place. I found that others were extremely helpful, and even met two of the sweetest ladies who begged a bus driver to let me stay an extra stop than my ticket was worth during a 3-hour trip to Santander. My advice to future students studying abroad in Spain is to look into Alsa bus destinations to plan your excursions, and to use the Google Maps public transit feature. This was a great help in navigating changeovers and crossing between buses and trains.
2) My diet changed in unexpected ways that are likely to stick
Another thing I became aware of was my change in diet. I noticed how much processed food is a part of American life, especially in snacks. Living in Spain, the only thing I regularly ate from a container was yogurt. As our director stressed, the ingredients here are fresh. When you go to the supermarket the fish and meat are in whole pieces, without the preservation or antibiotics that is often found in our food. People here go grocery shopping more frequently, because they buy fresh local food that expires. Although the extra trips can be inconvenient, in a walkable city like Oviedo, there is no problem accessing food in a few minutes’ walk. Going forward, I plan to be a more aware consumer, and make an effort to buy fresh foods, and fewer packaged snacks. In college, it can be hard not to rely on food I can make in the microwave in five minutes, food that is full of preservatives and chemicals. But, after my host mom’s cooking for a month, it will be impossible to go back! Below you can see some of the amazing different dishes I was able to try in Spain!
Another adjustment I will have to make going home is getting used to eating and getting coffee at home. In Spain, there is a big culture of eating out and cafes and restaurants are hubs of community socialization. It is much more affordable and extremely accessible—a sandwich or coffee only costing €1 or €2 with cafes on every corner. Additionally, when eating out, we found ourselves at small businesses, run by the same 2 or 3 employees every day, instead of fast food restaurants or coffee shops. Our favorite spot was definitely Cafe Bambu, a local cafe we went to during the break in our classes every day and got sandwiches and coffees. Often they even gave us free potatoes and pinchos! By the end of the month, they knew everyone’s order, and it was a hard goodbye on our last day.
As a whole, I had the best month in Spain. Further than these main takeaways, my worldview and Spanish knowledge has expanded tremendously. I owe my great experience to my program director, professors, and classmates that helped me love every second of the journey
To read other temple blogs about public transit or cuisine, themes consistent across all study abroad programs, check out some of the work of my peers!