Submitted by Samantha Halvorsen on the 2017 winter session program in Spain sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences…
My last week in Zaragoza, Spain allowed me to fully appreciate the Spanish culture because I realized what was real and what was a misinterpreted first impression. The people of Spain are very kind and the city was extremely safe! Nobody seems to be in a rush to anywhere and everyone said hello and good-bye to strangers in passing. Waiters would not rush you out of a restaurant, even though they didn’t even start eating dinner until at least 8:00 pm. The doctors in the hospital we shadowed in were extremely relaxed. They never seemed stressed or rushing. They were remarkably social with their colleagues and spent all of their free time chatting over coffee. It just seemed like time moves slower there and their priorities seem to be much different. They do not look for immediate gratification, as we tend to do in the States. I really enjoyed their value of quality time with the ones they care about being greater than the need to be rushing through life. Slowing down and growing real personal ties is one thing I hope to take back to my life in America.