Sara in Spain!

May 31, 2023      One of my best Spanish meals was eaten today, and guess what…it was made by us! Today was our cooking class! It is something I had been looking forward to the whole trip. Each person played an important role in contributing to our meal. I started off by cutting bell peppers, squid, and chicken for the paella. Others were in charge of making the cake, grating tomatoes, or preparing the paella pan.  The next thing I helped do is peel the shrimp. Most people didn’t want to do this because it is a bit unusual. I have grown up my whole life peeling shrimp, so I was used to the process. While we were peeling the shrimp, the cake was in the oven, and the paella dish was being made. There was never a moment when I was bored as I was always intrigued by the kitchen action. After a fun filled hour and a half in the kitchen, it was time to eat our creations. The menu: gazpacho, pinto de tortilla, mixed paella, and tarte de Santiago. Everything tasted so light ...

May 30, 2023      As I was waking up, I knew today was going to be an emotional day. I did not know what to expect, but her story shocked me. We were scheduled to hear from a victim of human trafficking. She began to explain her story all in Spanish while Vanessa was translating. It was beyond sad. I began tearing up when she explained the abuse she went through. Two things that stuck out to me most: she has to keep her identity a secret to stay safe and around 95% of prostitutes are in the human trafficking system. I could never imagine having to change my identity because of a horrible event in my past. I feel as if it would be a daily reminder of the bad things I endured. Before this lecture, I thought most prostitutes chose to have that job. The fact that most are forced into this industry with no way out made my jaw drop. The strength this woman had when she was telling her story was admirable. I do not think I could ever recover from this experience. My heart was ve...

May 29, 2023      After a long Sunday, I struggled to wake up on time for our morning lecture. We had to be there by 10am, and I woke up at 9:30. Somehow I was not the last one at Accent! A guest speaker came to talk to us about the Mediterranean Diet and the benefits behind it. Honestly, I was already well versed in most of what she was telling us because I am interested in a bunch of research behind it. There are studies that show how the Mediterranean Diet food interacts with the microbes improving the health of the entire body (in simple terms). She was a very sweet lady, and had very good things to say about this “way of living”. That was something else she mentioned; the Mediterranean diet is not a diet but a lifestyle. There is culture and history behind the eating practices. It was interesting to hear her perspective of eating even though that was not how I ate. She kept repeating the importance of olive oil. I think they might use it a little too much...boiling y...

May 27, 2023      A bright and early morning for our light hike…or so we thought. Our coordinator James explained to us it was a hike for all ages, and would only be around an hour. In the kindest way, those comments were deceiving. We arrived at the hiking trail around 9:45am, and began the hike. Honestly, I was expecting a short hike, but when I saw the hiking guide in a huge backpack, I got scared. Half of the girls were hiking in converse because those were the only shoes they had. I really love hiking, and knew I was going to enjoy it no matter what! Some girls were quite the opposite though; I think they would have preferred the extra sleep. The trail started out with a solid incline which initially was daunting. It turned out to be a beautiful view at the peak.  As we were going along, it was super interesting to hear the guide explain the different plants. He pointed out lavender and thyme which both smelled amazing! Towards the end of the hike, I noticed a s...

May 26, 2023      I woke up bright and early today with no clue of what the day would consist of. The only thing I knew was that our visit was at a place called Apollo Positivó. When we arrived, a kind lady greeted us in a small enclosed building. We took our seats, and Vanessa stood next to the lady to translate for us. The purpose of this organization is to prevent and educate about sexual health, especially for vulnerable populations. They also offer the generic STD testing on site, along with numerous resources for safe sex. Each location is called a “CASA” named after a reference from a United States TV show. The facility was established in 1990, and initially worked to provide resources for treating HIV. It also served as a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community in times of turmoil against their population. In around 2010, they shifted their mission to prevention and education. Compared to the United States, Spain does not have as much sexual education in their schools...

May 25, 2023     Standing outside of Cruz Roja early in the morning, we were surrounded my young foreign men our age. It was an interesting greeting, but it was extremely impactful on my view of immigration. This facility caters to immigrants that left home due to poor financial situations and to find a better life. It is not for refugees seeking safety. The individuals that come to La Cruz Roja are in search of a better life. One thing that I found unique was that a majority of the facility is men. In the European countries, men flee first to establish a better life; this is in contrast to Latin American countries where women flee to find a better life for the children. Later on, our group got to hear from a Moroccan young man who left home when he was 16. He had a long journey as his mom died at 16, and he decided to jump the border from Morocco into a Spanish Colony. The bravery of this journey was tear jerking. I could never imagine leaving home at 16 to find a better...

May 24, 2023      As we were waiting outside the hospital, I really didn’t know what to expect. There was not really a set schedule for this visit, and because of emergencies, the doctor showed up over an hour late. It was interesting to hear about the differences between private and public healthcare, but the most significant difference to me was between the Spanish hospital and the American hospital. One difference I noticed is all of the healthcare workers do not have any identifying name tags. They all wore random colored scrubs with no label of their name or position in the hospital. This would be a huge violation in the United States as every healthcare worker is required to have a form of identification visible on them. The doctor showing us around allowed us to go into the ICU which I found very odd. We were a group of over 20 people, and although we were wearing masks, we could bring in various new types of bacteria to patients in critical condition. I also felt ...

May 23, 2023      My morning (aka 1300 hr) started off exhausting. I didn’t want to get out of bed, but because we had class at 1400, I needed to get moving. In class, I noticed something quite different than the United States. No one could find the exclamation mark on the keyboard. This may not seem like much of an issue, but it was a needed character to login to do presentations. This actually cost us a lot of time simply overcoming this obstacle of the missing “exclamation” key. Of course, we found a solution, and listened to 2 presentations. Later that day, we had Flamenco dancing lessons. I was initially super nervous because I am an awful dancer. Our poor instructor was late because she just found out about the death of a family member. Although she had this unfortunate event, she showed up ready to teach. The pain was easy to view in her eyes, but as she began to dance, I could see the stress of her outside life begin to fade momentarily. I could tell that dancing ...

May 21, 2023      Chaotic Morning. We were supposed to take a train to Valencia at 8:45am. Because it is Sunday, there were no Taxis on the road so we had to Uber which hurt our time. The Uber kept trying to take short cuts for the sake of time but it actually ended up hurting our chances of making the train. There happened to be a marathon/race going on so all the roads were messed up. We missed our 8:45am train. Lessons learned: The Spanish culture does not get up early on Sundays, and the train station is more like an airport. You can’t just hop on the train with a ticket. It is large, and you have to go through security. I ended up buying a ticket for 9:40am, but after I bought the ticket I found out it was a different train station. No one speaks English, and everything was in Spanish. I started to panic, but a guy told me to take a short train to the other station. A worker who spoke a bit of English helped me get a ticket, and I was running to the train bound to P....

 May 20, 2023      Waking up for the Segovia trip was a breeze. I think I have recovered from my jet lag episode! We started off the day with the bus driver yelling at us because there was coffee on the bus. One thing I have noticed about Spain is people just expect specific things from you without expressing what they do/do not allow. We began our journey to Segovia around 20 minutes late, but I was still excited. My favorite part about the morning was viewing the 9 preserved tapestries. The fact that these people did this in 6 years while hand threading every single piece amazed me. I admired the attention to detail and extremely accurate depictions. Our tour guide was explaining each tapestry in depth and the hidden features of them. The tapestry makers must have been extremely dedicated to their time to make these beautiful pieces so quickly. In the afternoon, we got lunch at a Segovian restaurant that served authentic food. It was quite the traditional experienc...

  May 19, 2023      As I sat listening to our guest speaker about Spanish History, I could not stay awake. The lecture was super interesting, and I enjoyed learning about the history of Spanish. The only issue was my eyes were literally closing from exhaustion. Jetlag was the only answer. I have gotten over 8 hours of sleep everyday, do that is the only answer. Vanessa offered me tea which helped me for the rest of the day. I felt so bad because I never have fallen asleep in class, but I physically was struggling. I needed a siesta. After the Spanish history lecture, a group of us went to the grocery store to get a few necessities. We were in shock with the different items and how they were stored. For example, the milk was on a regular shelf. The eggs were also not refrigerated. I was in shock of these simple differences, but it shows the different ideas of different countries. I took a nap to recover for the extreme jet lag, and then we went to see the beautiful Mu...

 May 18, 2023      Standing outside of the resident building, I smiled at a young man walking by. This is something I did not think much of because in the United States this is considered normal. In Spain, that is not the case. If you smile at someone in Spain, it means you are interested in them. Basically, I just looked dumb. I was lost in translation culturally, and at the time, I had no idea!      Yesterday at the Market filled with foods and drinks, I saw a couple excessively displaying PDA. In my mind, I felt uncomfortable, and looked away; what I didn't know is these acts are considered normal. Today at orientation, James explained to us the main two reasons public display of affection are so accepted: past history and socioeconomic status. In the earlier days of Spain's history, their ruler would not let any couples show affection. Even married couples could not hold hands. This all changed when he was no longer in power leading to the Spanish ...

May 17, 2023      Checking out in the Zara line, I get a notification on my phone telling me to check into my American Airlines flight. I panicked. The entire time I thought I was leaving on the 17th of May instead I was leaving the next day. Less than 24 hours later and I was in a plane to Madrid. Flying in, I was in awe with how beautiful the city looks from the air, and I got even more excited for the trip. Looking around the airport, everything was in Spanish. I began to fear the language barrier that was existing, but it also made me realize I am really in Spain. When we arrived, I met up with my roommate at the airport so we could call a taxi together. I was not used to standing outside with a line of Taxis waiting to pick people up. This was the first big step of my Spain journey. Usually, my dad handles all the transportation, so this was a new task for me. I sat in the front seat, and spoke to the man with the little Spanish I know. Although I thought I knew litt...