Study Abroad: Alicante Spain
The study abroad program was the defining semester in my educational life. Going to Spain in order to put into practice of what I learned was an eye opening experience, it told me many things like the difficulties that other cultures faced, how Americas involvement in other nations is seen in Spain, the religious beliefs and practices, social constructions, and that I still had a lot of work to do on my comprehension of the Spanish language. One of the most memorable experiences that i have about Americas influence on other cultures is when I began my trip, and i was still in Madrid, I was at the Puerto del Sol Plaza, in madrid, and i was enjoying the night there more and more people began coming to the plaza, many started to come with picket signs that said "US out of Syria" I asked one of the locals what the protest was for, and he told me that America had announced that it was planning on becoming active in Syria and it would have a negative impact on Syria and the surrounding countries. many of the spanish citizens were distressed about this plan of action by America and showed their disagreement by flooding the plaza with people, it soon became so crowded that police showed up around all of the entrances and exits, they were not there to stop the protest because many of the officers believed in the same thing, they were there in order to make sure that it did not become a riot.
Another cultural factor that i had to internalize was the time schedule for Spaniards, it is vastly different from the schedule that i am used to in the United States. a typical day for spaniards starts such as most do for Americans, a quick breakfast usually a bowl of cereal and some toast, then its off to school, after my classes were completed in the morning I typically went and studied untill 2:00 PM, after that it was time for the daily siesta, in which you can do many things, sleep, eat, hang out with friends, watch some TV, its usually a break in the middle of the day. During this time usually 2:00-4:00 PM most of the stores close down and the city becomes quieter, this siesta is taken in order to prepare yourself for the night ahead. normally I would eat lunch during this time and take a brief nap. In the afternoon it was back to work as usual, homework, studies, jobs would resume in the time between 5:00-9:00. After 9:00 most Americans would be done with their day and be preparing to head to bed. but for Spaniards the mid day siesta has prepared them for more time awake. 9:00 is usually spent with friends in the bar district or at clubs or simply enjoying life. Dinner is often eaten at 11:00 PM or later. They will often stay out as late as 4:00 AM on weekends, and this is not exclusive to the youth, adults and the elderly often stay out as well, talking with eachother till the wee hours of the morning. The image below is the Puerta del sol in Madrid taken by my own camera at 2:00 AM only a couple of days before Christmas.
Another cultural factor that i had to internalize was the time schedule for Spaniards, it is vastly different from the schedule that i am used to in the United States. a typical day for spaniards starts such as most do for Americans, a quick breakfast usually a bowl of cereal and some toast, then its off to school, after my classes were completed in the morning I typically went and studied untill 2:00 PM, after that it was time for the daily siesta, in which you can do many things, sleep, eat, hang out with friends, watch some TV, its usually a break in the middle of the day. During this time usually 2:00-4:00 PM most of the stores close down and the city becomes quieter, this siesta is taken in order to prepare yourself for the night ahead. normally I would eat lunch during this time and take a brief nap. In the afternoon it was back to work as usual, homework, studies, jobs would resume in the time between 5:00-9:00. After 9:00 most Americans would be done with their day and be preparing to head to bed. but for Spaniards the mid day siesta has prepared them for more time awake. 9:00 is usually spent with friends in the bar district or at clubs or simply enjoying life. Dinner is often eaten at 11:00 PM or later. They will often stay out as late as 4:00 AM on weekends, and this is not exclusive to the youth, adults and the elderly often stay out as well, talking with eachother till the wee hours of the morning. The image below is the Puerta del sol in Madrid taken by my own camera at 2:00 AM only a couple of days before Christmas.
Another one of my most memorable experiences was the family that I tutored in English. while it was my job to converse with them in English, i still learned much about the Spanish language and culture through them and their parents. In the picture below are the awesome kids that I had the opportunity to spend time with.
one of the memorable experiences I had with this family I hadn't realized at the time that it had occurred. Felix and I were having a conversation in English and were discussing other foreign countries, from my travels in other countries I have gathered a collection of paper money from each country I have traveled, I was using the different types of money as an example, when Felix asks if he could see one of the American dollars. It being my own money i didn't think anything special of it, it had no cultural value to me because it was my own country, However I let him look at the dollar anyway. Felix took the dollar, and studdied it for a minute or two and put it on the pile of the money from other countries, I took the dollar back out of the pile and put it into my wallet, however Felix said "no, it belongs here" he placed it back in the collection of foreign money. while I didn't realize it at the time, I had just learned a lesson that will stick with me forever, the symbolic action of keeping the American dollar with the collection made me realize that America is not separate from the rest of the world, we are all in this together and must live with each other, you cannot look at yourself as being an outside observer of the world. the world affects you and you affect the world. learning this lesson has helped me to understand that I am not only a citizen of America, I am a citizen of the Planet Earth, and I need to make a positive impact on my society. Yes the lesson I learned may sound whimsical and make the reader laugh at how silly it may sound, but the lesson that was indirectly taught to me has burned a permanent hole into what I am and what I will become.
while in Spain I attended the University of Alicante in San Vicente del Raspeig where I was enrolled in track 4 (advanced level) spanish grammatical courses. these courses where difficult but assisted my understanding of the Spanish language.
The study abroad program satisfies MLO 5 and 3, and assists in MLO 1
From left to right: Thomas, María, Iñigo, Felix, Javier and myself.
one of the memorable experiences I had with this family I hadn't realized at the time that it had occurred. Felix and I were having a conversation in English and were discussing other foreign countries, from my travels in other countries I have gathered a collection of paper money from each country I have traveled, I was using the different types of money as an example, when Felix asks if he could see one of the American dollars. It being my own money i didn't think anything special of it, it had no cultural value to me because it was my own country, However I let him look at the dollar anyway. Felix took the dollar, and studdied it for a minute or two and put it on the pile of the money from other countries, I took the dollar back out of the pile and put it into my wallet, however Felix said "no, it belongs here" he placed it back in the collection of foreign money. while I didn't realize it at the time, I had just learned a lesson that will stick with me forever, the symbolic action of keeping the American dollar with the collection made me realize that America is not separate from the rest of the world, we are all in this together and must live with each other, you cannot look at yourself as being an outside observer of the world. the world affects you and you affect the world. learning this lesson has helped me to understand that I am not only a citizen of America, I am a citizen of the Planet Earth, and I need to make a positive impact on my society. Yes the lesson I learned may sound whimsical and make the reader laugh at how silly it may sound, but the lesson that was indirectly taught to me has burned a permanent hole into what I am and what I will become.
while in Spain I attended the University of Alicante in San Vicente del Raspeig where I was enrolled in track 4 (advanced level) spanish grammatical courses. these courses where difficult but assisted my understanding of the Spanish language.
The study abroad program satisfies MLO 5 and 3, and assists in MLO 1
From left to right: Thomas, María, Iñigo, Felix, Javier and myself.