Studying Abroad-Madrid, Spain

Six weeks of intensive schoolwork, mind-blowing and challenging experiences, and a

lot of new friends couldnt have went by faster. Forty-two pages of journaling most certainly
could have though. When there is so much that happens in such a little time, you cant help
but write a small book trying to describe all your new experiences. Even 42 pages cant
display the type of experiences, emotions, or things Ive learned fully.
When you are put into a new country and fully submerged into the culture you cant
help but learn a few things. I feel like I really developed and expanded on my Spanish skills,.
It didnt come quickly though. It took time, time and more time in order to even grasp the
dialect of the Spanish. The thing that I liked the most was instead of being in an English
speaking classroom memorizing vocabulary and grammar and speaking Spanish once in a
while, I was taught all my schoolwork in Spanish. So while furthering my grammar I also
expanded on my auditory skills and was able to develop a better ear for hearing Spanish. I
would definitely say that learning to hear and speak Spanish more clearly was the most
significant of my experiences. They didnt call it an intensive program for nothing! It was
four hours of straight Spanish a day for four weeks, followed by two hours of learning about
the history of Spain, the culture, as well as many other things in Spain Today for six weeks
taught by Dr. Gutierrez our UC professor.
Class was great for learning Spanish, but in my opinion you have to actually go out,
interact with the locals and talk to them in order to become fluent speaking. Being immersed
in conversation and constantly having to think in Spanish and talk back in Spanish is a skill
that you can evade in classes, but thats not quite so in a conversation. This is the biggest way
that I possessed global literacy while in Spain. Throughout my whole experience I have made
several friends from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Andaluca, Guatemala and even Paris and
Normandy in France and someone from Russia. I learned how they talked differently, how
they interacted with people relative to their friendliness and their body gestures and I gained
an enormous respect for their culture and their unique identities. Walking around town
observing the sights I happened to see a man playing guitar next to the Royal Palace. Really
missing guitar I approached him asking him if it was possible if I could play his guitar with
him, obviously in Spanish. He said yes and we played for a while and got to know each other.
He was from Russia and was a really great guy. To this day we still talk via Facebook. I
literally made friends everywhere I went. From the streets and parks to the beaches, clubs and
hostels. I gained relationships that will last a lifetime.
With all the practice that I had talking to locals and people I met I feel a lot stronger
in my ability to speak Spanish. I still need much more practice but I will get there. And in
order to do that I am going to continue on with my education in Spanish. While I was there I
developed a passion for the language and with the convincing of my inspirational professor
Dr. Bryant I chose to make Spanish my second major. This is a huge change for me and I am
so enthralled with my decision. With the skills that I am developing I will be able to become
a well-rounded doctor and treat patients from all over the world to a higher degree.
In Spain today as well as through all my field trips and culture exhibitions I gained an
understanding for the culture of Spain much better than any textbook could ever teach me.
This was able to provide me with global literacy and enhance my knowledge of the world.We
learned about the different eras of Spains history, about the gastronomy of all the regions in
Spain, womens rights, crime, flamenco and much more. Every weekend our class would go
on a field trip and culture exhibitions within the week and on the weekend. The first week we
went to Buen Retiro Park, El Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and the ancient city of Toledo. The
second weekend we explored the Parque del Oeste (West Park), saw the ruins of an Egyptian
temple called the Templo de Debod, and visited Segovia seeing the Alczar and the Palacio
Real de Granja de San Ildefonso where the kings used to hunt game. The third week we had
the luck to go to the Museo de Archivologa (Archeological Museum) where I got the honor
to see Lucy our ancient ancestor. I got to see the famous works of famous painters such as
Pablo Picasso, Goya, Salvador Dahli and many others at the Prado Museum and the Reina
Sofa. We also went to Escorial and El Valle de los Cados (Valley of the fallen) which has
great sentimental significance for the people of Spain. The fourth and last weekend for field
trips and exhibitions we went to the Traje which is a costume museum. Nothing is better than
hands on experiences when you are trying to learn something new.
One big question to answer is how did I change as a person and what did I learn about
myself? Being in a new country on your own and having full independence and responsibility
of yourself really challenges you. I learned that I can fully manage myself and even travel the
world all on my own. I could explore the city, communicate in a different language when I
got lost and I learned how to navigate without the aid of a GPS! As social of a person as I
was I didnt become extremely close with anyone on the trip. I had a great group with
wonderful people but they just didnt mesh with me. A lot of them did things I didnt like to
do. They gossiped and judged a lot and I found that they just werent my clique, so I ended
up spending a lot of time on my own exploring the city, going to museums and parks,
meeting new friends and making the best of my experiences. I didnt spend all my time at
bars and clubs like a lot of them did, I went out there, I talked to people and I lived. I
immersed myself into the society and got a full understanding of the culture. I feel like I truly
got the best out of this experience that I possibly could have. While there I made a decision to
stay with two individuals of my group who were homosexual in Segovia for the weekend. At
first I was uncomfortable with this and a little bit skeptic at first, but I learned to really
respect gays to a higher level than I did before. They respected me and I respected them. I
feel it was a good experience and helped me develop more as a person.
As much as I learned and developed there is still much more that I can improve on. I
went to Spain thinking that I was going to come back being able to speak Spanish fluently
like it would roll off my tongue. I soon realized that that dream was nearly impossible. I can
speak much better but Im not quite fluent yet. I need to take more classes and strengthen my
verb tenses as well as expand my vocabulary. One thing that I did learn about being in Spain
is while listening to Spanish, it is impossible to understand all of what they are saying if
trying to constantly translate all the Spanish to English. It is a must to just hear it and
understand it, as difficult as that sounds. The same goes to when trying to speak it. My goal is
to eventually study abroad again because I feel it is the best way to learn. Maybe even one
day Ill live in a Spanish speaking country for a little while. We will see where my life takes
me.
All of the experiences that I had and the places that I traveled on my own and with the
class made me better grasp the society gained a closer feeling of belonging to the country
making me feel like I deserved to be there. I do not feel like I would have experienced spain
the way that I should of if I did not educate myself on Chickerings Theory of Identity
development. Chickerings Theory uses seven vectors to identify development which include:
Developing Competence, Managing Emotions, and Moving through Autonomy toward
interdependence, developing mature interpersonal relationships, establishing identity,
developing purpose and developing integrity. I would say that I achieved all of those vectors.
While in Spain I became much more independent that I ever have been. I literally traveled the
country on my own. I learned to control my emotions when people would judge me and talk
about me in their gossip. I didnt let peer-pressure sway me to do things I didnt want to do,
becoming interdependent and whilst meeting new people I found different ways to interact
with them and developed interpersonal relationships that will last a lifetime. I further
established my identity as a person and gained a better understanding of who I truly am as a
person. The other resource that helped me while in Spain was numerous culture websites and
guidebooks. Travelling was a must do while in Spain. Without the help of numerous culture
websites and guidebooks I would not have been able to find all the places and see all the
things that I did. Lets face it, I would have been lost without them. The helped me plan,
organize and navigate each day throughout the city.
From today, to tomorrow, to ten years down the road I will be able to use the skills
that I have learned to help me. The skills that I have learned will give me the ability to be
able to communicate with Spanish speakers that I encounter in the future. It helps me speak
to my Spanish friends in their own language and it further opens my doors to the people I can
meet and friends I can make and most importantly the people I will be able to help as a
doctor. I look forward to the future with eager eyes and cannot wait to learn more about the
language and Spanish culture. Not only did it expand my views on the culture of Spain, it
made me realize how different and similar the rest of the world could be. It has given me the
passion to want to further my understanding for different countries and cultures.
There are many connections that I can make between this experience and other
experiences that I have had both within the classroom and beyond. In the classes here at UC
and at Don Quiote we learned grammar and vocabulary. The teachers taught completely
differently though. Instead of reading out of a textbook and doing online homework like at
UC we just talked and took a few notes here and there. The teachers at Don Quite new little if
any English what so ever, so it really challenged my classmates and I to pay attention and
gain an ear for the Spanish language while learning the grammar at the same time. I thought
that was a valuable aspect to the course. It was different than anything that I had ever done
before. In class the professor occasionally calls on you to answer a question, but if you really
want to you can completely evade speaking Spanish at all. In the classroom there was only
eight students not all who were from UC or could speak English. The teacher constantly was
talking to all of us expecting us to respond to what he said and to ask questions in Spanish. It
most certainly forced you to be able to become more fluent.
Through my blogs, Facebook, helping Dr. Gutierrez at the international study abroad
fair and just talking to my friends and family I have and will be able to disseminate my work.
I have written a 42 page blog on my experience in Spain with summarizations for each day of
what I did and what I learned that people can read and learn about all my experiences. My
audience is all the people who run into my website and all my Facebook friends. I have made
posts on Facebook and several people have already looked through my journal. I have posted
pictures to display what my experience was like and to show all the things I have seen. This
fall my professor Dr. Gutierrez has asked me to help him at the international study abroad fair
which I willingly accepted. While there I will be able to speak to countless individuals and
share my experiences, drawing people in to have the experience of a lifetime. By creating and
disseminating my work I have been able to gain a better understanding of my experience and
preserve an experience of a lifetime for a lifetime.
Here is a list of my favorite and least favorite experiences of my time in Spain in no
particular order:
o Plane rides!
o Pio Tio and the overlook of the entire city
o Exploring the historic Capricho Park
o My daily runs and workouts at Buen Retiro Park, it was the perfect place to
relax
o Going to the Reina Sofa with Dr. Bryant and walking everywhere with him
because he didnt have a metro pass
o Getting ice cream with Dr. Bryant at his favorite ice cream shop
o Making friends with Danni, Daniel and Avora at the Thunder Cat Club
o Going to Barcelona on my own and relaxing on the beach. I also took the Hop
on Hop off Bus tour and got to see the whole city and all its wonders-the Fonte
Majestica is amazing.
o Going to the Thyssen-BornemiszaI Museum and seeing the Pop Culture
exhibit and all the other exhibits they had there
o Sitting atop the Cibelles Artes rooftop and watching the sun set over the city
o Relaxing with friends at the Templo de Debod
o Meeting Vodoslov and playing guitar with him at the Palacio Real
o Concert at the San-Isidro festival
o Exploring the plazas like Puerta de Sol and Plaza Mayor
o The city actually had stuff to do all day and into the night
Some of my least favorite experiences
o Having a somewhat judgmental group and feeling unwelcomed at times
o Having class so early in the mornings
o Being woken up from naps
o No fresh sweet tea at McDonalds
o Losing my hostel room and complicating a whole day in Barcelona
As you can see there is a lot more good experiences than bad experiences. It was a great trip
and a memory that will be engraved within my mind forever.