I’ve been home for a few days now and I’d like to take some time to reflect on my semester in Spain.
HCAYS was an excellent program and I’m very glad I was able to participate in it. I made some new friends with students from the other schools and I got to know better students from Hamilton whom I didn’t know too well before. This semester was also a nice break from the rigor of academics at Hamilton. Although you still needed to study just as hard as you normally would for exams at Hamilton if you wanted to get good grades, I hardly ever had the need to stay up studying past 3am like I often do at Hamilton, especially due to computer science projects.
Through various cultural activities and academic excursions to different regions of Spain such as Andalucia, Galicia, and Valencia, the program exposed us to the rich culture and gastronomy of Spain. I took the flamenco class this semester, which is a style of dance that originated in Andalucia, and I absolutely loved it, and when I went to a professional flamenco performance, I was blown away. Watching the pros dance with such passion, strength, and grace really impressed me and I made sure to take some mental notes on how I could improve my flamenco skills for the class. I loved that flamenco class so much that I’m thinking of maybe joining a dance group on campus senior year.
I set out with the goal of being able to speak Spanish fluently, and although I still wouldn’t consider myself completely fluent as of yet, I’d say that I am super close and it’s very much within reach. While I was in Spain, I tried to immerse myself in the Spanish language as much as I could. I only intentionally listened to music in Spanish and I only watched shows and YouTube videos in Spanish (with the exception of videos related to comp sci because I needed to practice my coding skills). Living in a country where the target language is spoken is such a great benefit because you’re surrounded by people who speak it, and now that I’m back in the English speaking world, it’s going to be a bit harder to keep that up, but I’m going to continue to listen to Spanish and Latin music, watch videos in Spanish, and keep in touch with friends from HCAYS and talk to them in Spanish.
Being in Spain and speaking only Spanish for this semester gave me the point of view of an immigrant who does not know the culture well nor speak the country’s language like a native. Although I didn’t face any serious hardships during my time in Spain, I have a better understanding of the difficulties that immigrants may face in America and I have a greater appreciation for the bravery that they needed to have in order to leave their home country to live in a foreign one.
To conclude the first half of my study abroad adventure, here are a couple pictures of stained glass windows I came across in Spain!
