Submitted by Margaret Tragakis on the 2017 spring semester program in Granada, Spain…
When someone thinks about studying abroad in Europe, the only things that pop into their head are images of traveling from country to country, making lifelong friends, and overall finding yourself. I have no doubt in my mind those will eventually and gradually happen, but I wanted to talk about the little day to day things they don’t tell you about studying abroad which you quickly recognize during your first couple of days abroad.
The hardest adjustment for me was the food. Breakfast is around 9:00, lunch at around 3:00, and dinner at 9:30. AND snacking is not a thing here. By the time dinner comes around, I’m starving. The portions are so different, too. Breakfast is just coffee and toast while dinner is usually soup and bread. Lunch is the large meal of the day. Due to these different times to different portions, I struggled with adjusting.
I am a Spanish minor. You would think studying Spanish for the past 8 years of your life would prepare you for studying abroad in Spain, and yes, of course it helps, but there is nothing more confusing and frustrating than being a 20 year old girl from the suburbs being thrown into a Spanish city. The first 3 days we did not have a phone unless we could connect to WiFi, so being that American who can usually be glued to her phone for directions, Google translate, and communicating with friends was not possible. Trying to converse with shop owners, waiters and especially my Spanish house mother, Carmen, seemed almost impossible. Yes, being dropped in a foreign country is terrifying and difficult, but I think in this past week I learned more Spanish than I have learned in my entire Spanish education.