Submitted by Amanda Small on the 2016 winter session program in Spain and Italy sponsored by the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice…
Going into study abroad, I have always been warned about the culture shock. The people and the food are different and the jet-lag is sometimes intolerable to some people. I thought that being a Spanish major studying abroad in Spain, the culture shock would be diminished for me, but I was wrong. Although I can speak the language of the natives, it is hard being around different people and different dialects. Although I have been learning Spanish for so long, nothing has really prepared me for the rapid speaking of the natives and the informal dialect they use. Furthermore, I feel like an outsider. Coming from a huge Jewish community at home, it is difficult coming to a place with little to no Jews in sight. Our one day in Toledo changed everything for me. We visited an old Jewish synagogue and passed several different shops related to Judaism, and finally, I felt at home again.