During the Spring 2022 semester, I studied abroad in Alicante, Spain, a smaller city on the southeast Mediterranean coast of Spain, just south of Valencia. My program was run through University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), and I attended classes at the University of Alicante and had four classes taught completely in Spanish and one class taught in English. This experience significantly improved my Spanish speaking abilities as I was completely immersed in a Spanish speaking culture. The incentive of living in a smaller city is that less of the residents spoke English, so there was less of a temptation to use English, and it forced me to constantly practice Spanish. Not only did I improve my Spanish communication skills, but I also learned a lot about Spanish culture, such as the importance of siesta, the origins of the tapa, the regional differences of paella, Spanish government and politics, as well as regional cultural and linguistic differences in Spain. Additionally, I had the amazing opportunity to travel almost every weekend over the course of the semester, visiting places like Rome, Copenhagen, Paris, Brussels, London, and Lisbon. I am so grateful for this experience and know I will carry the memories and things I learned for the rest of my life! 

 

During the Spring 2022 semester, I studied abroad in Alicante, Spain, a smaller city on the southeast Mediterranean coast of Spain, just south of Valencia. I attended classes at the University of Alicante and had four classes taught completely in Spanish and one class taught in English by university faculty. Before my study abroad experience, I was expecting to be fluent in Spanish, but I was nervous that the different grammatical form in Spain (vosotros) would impede that. Throughout my time abroad, I learned that being “fluent” in a language is completely subjective, and it is hard to find a universal standard for fluency. I also realized that not only is the vosotros form easy to learn if you already have a robust understanding of Spanish grammar, and it is not super frequently used as it is not super common that are you speaking to a large group of people; needless to say it was something I learned mostly through my professors using in the classroom. 

 

Before traveling to Spain, I had always heard that Spanish people took an afternoon nap called “siesta”. I was skeptical, even after but sure enough, on my first full day in Spain, when attempting to purchase a SIM card, I walked up to a cellphone store at around 3:00 in the afternoon, and it was closed, as were the boutique and corner store on either side of it. I checked the store signs, and they listed hours of closure between about 2pm and 5pm. I learned the hard way that siesta is, in fact, a very real thing that Southern Spain takes very seriously. I could not complain, however, because I got an afternoon nap out of it. 

 

If it was not already clear enough from the significant prevalence of the siesta, the cultural difference between the United States and Spain, particularly southern Spain, it’s very real. My life in the United States moves very fast, compelled by the hustle and bustle and fast-paced life that seeps into every aspect of society. But, while in Spain, I learned how to live slower, to savor moments, to spend a longer amount of time around the dinner table, to cherish conversations and loved ones, and of course, how to speak better Spanish. I’m having trouble thinking of a way in which Spain in the United States are similar, but if I compare southern Spain, to the southern United States, where I am from and where I attend college, I am reminded of the kindness of the both cultures, and the ways in which people go out of their way to help in whatever way they can. That is something I found to be true where I lived in Alicante as in my life in South Carolina. 

 

One of my favorite experiences was toward the beginning of my time and Alicante. My study abroad group was going on a group hike to the top of the Castle of Santa Bárbara. During this hike, I got to have a number of meaningful conversations with new friends, and learn more about their interests and dreams and connect with them in an intentional way. This specific experience stands out in my mind because it’s sowed the seeds for how those relationships would develop throughout the course of the semester. Many of the friends I had long conversations with would be the ones I would travel with on the weekends to other parts of Spain and other countries. 

 

Another meaningful experience abroad was also toward the beginning of the semester. One of my roommates in Alicante, Charlie, and I went over to our friend Andee’s host family's house for her birthday. Her host mom and host sister had made her a cake and ordered food from one of their favorite restaurants in the city. It was so special to watch how so quickly her host mom had embraced her and treated her as her own daughter and how her host sister called her, “mi hermana”, or “my sister”. And of course, the food and the cake were delicious, and it was lovely to get to know Andee‘s host mom and host sister. 

 

A significant challenge I faced throughout the entire semester was managing my money. The summer prior to this experience, I worked four jobs in order to afford the experience, and so I had to balance wanting to travel and experience new things, within the constraints of my budget. However, in tracking and managing my money throughout the semester, I’ve learned how to survive without an income on money I had previously saved. Hopefully I will have an income for the rest of my life until I retire, but if for some reason I don’t, I feel confident that I have the money managing abilities.  

 

My thoughts on how my study abroad experience impacted how I think about myself and my relationship to society are complicated. One of my biggest frustrations was that even though I was living in Alicante for four months, the fact that I was traveling every weekend limited my ability to feel connected in the community. However back home in South Carolina, I am involved in a variety of different community engagement activities and organizations. Feeling connected to my community is necessary for me to feel whole and connected to myself as well as generally grounded and mentally stable. Having no sense of regularity other than the couple days a week I was in class impacted how I was able to function as an individual and as a member of society. Through my study abroad experience I learned that I greatly value stability as manifested through ethical community engagement and generally feeling a part of the community. 

 

My study abroad experience enriched my academic development because through speaking with native Spanish speakers on a daily basis, I significantly improved my Spanish-speaking abilities. Additionally, being in four classes completely taught in Spanish at one time helped develop my Spanish speaking, writing, and reading abilities much more than any semester ever before since I was taking a higher concentration of Spanish courses. Additionally, since all but one of my courses was taught in Spanish, I was frequently having to ask questions about things I did not understand or was not clear on. Asking questions is a very important part of academic development, and I certainly strengthened this ability during my time abroad, and since being home, I have incorporated asking critical and clarification questions and even my courses taught in English.

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Click the following link to find my study abroad blog including photos and detailed testaments about my experience: https://catetedford.wixsite.com/whateverfeelswrite