Submitted by Amanda Reed on the 2022 spring semester program in Granada, Spain…
It has been another exciting week in Granada, with new learning opportunities, travel destinations, lots of homework, and great food. Last Wednesday, I started my first “voluntario” in a local middle/high school. In this volunteer role, I will serve as a teaching assistant in an English class of 13- and 14-year-old Spanish students. Another UD student is also volunteering in the same class. Our first day, we introduced ourselves, drew a map of the United States on the chalkboard, and tried to explain to the students where we are from, where we go to school, etc. After these short introductions, the teacher prompted the students to ask us questions for the remainder of the class period. They asked us a little bit of everything: how we like Spanish cured ham, what we think about the meal schedule in Spain, what it’s like to live in the United States, and of course, what our favorite movies, songs, and TV shows are. I was surprised by how animated the students were in class. In the United States, I’ve been in many classrooms where it’s hard to get anyone to talk or participate, but these students were yelling over each other, asking tons of questions, and even breaking into applause at some of our responses to show their agreement/excitement. It was a truly fun classroom culture, and I think it will be a great way to break up the week and have a little bit of fun in between my studies.
Because yesterday was “El día de Andalucía,” the holiday celebrating the southern-most region of Spain, we all had a long 4-day weekend. A big group of students in our program from Boston College went to Copenhagen. Because we UD students are not allowed to travel outside the country with Covid restrictions, a few decided to spend a couple days in an Andalusian beach town. However, because I had been to the beach the past two weekends, I decided (somewhat spontaneously) to take my first solo trip to Valencia, a location that has been on my list to explore. I left on Thursday evening and took an overnight bus to Valencia, which lasted about 7 hours and 15 minutes. I was slightly too optimistic about my ability to sleep the whole ride there. I may have slept 3 or 4 hours, leaving me pretty exhausted when I arrived in Valencia the next morning. However, I had booked a cheap Airbnb through a nice woman who rents out a small room in her apartment. She let me enter the Airbnb that morning, made me a strong cup of coffee, and I started my weekend off strong.
While in Valencia, I visited the Science Museum, el Oceanográfico (the biggest aquarium in Europe!), the beach, and several other museums, national monuments, and viewpoints. I usually ate breakfast at a café, made my own lunch (with materials from the grocery store), and went out to a restaurant for dinner. One big hurdle for me was getting over my fear of sitting alone at a restaurant. I still don’t feel completely comfortable doing it, but over the course of the weekend, it started to not bother me quite as much. Overall, I think travelling solo really helped my confidence about being here in Spain. The whole weekend, I was able to practice my Spanish with my Airbnb host, with other travelers, and with people at restaurants. I learned to be more confident in my abilities to navigate cities, plan activities for myself to enjoy, and look after myself in a new place. I also met another solo traveler from Romania on the beach, and we chatted for a while and took pictures before going our separate ways. Although I prefer travelling with other people, travelling solo was a great exercise in my independence and it allowed me to explore at my own pace. This week, I have class Tuesday through Friday, and will go on Saturday to visit La Alhambra for the first time. More on that in my next post!
