Saturday, June 11

Today we went on an excursion to Sevilla. After a lengthy bus ride full of sleeping boys, many were excited for the bicycle tour of the city. Led by our tour guide, Vicky, we weaved our way through the crowded streets, while enjoying the view. We biked alongside the Guadalquivir river and visited the Plaza de España, which showcased a semi-circle type building with a fountain in the middle. There were only a few scary moments along the way, some aimlessly wandered into oncoming traffic (luckily not getting hurt), others forgetting to use their brakes and slamming into classmates, and even more falling off their bike for no reason at all. All I know for sure is that Jimmy Duffy was “accidentally” body-checked into some boards while riding his bike. Afterwards, we got a tour of the Cathedral of Sevilla. We got to experience the masterful artwork and saw firsthand 15% of Christopher Columbus’ remains encased in his tomb. We then made our way up to the top of the Cathedral where we were able to see out onto the city.  The view was beautiful, definitely worth the long walk up.

Since we went on the excursion, we did not get to spend much time with our families today. Although this is the case, I can tell you more about my overall experience with my family. At first I was very cautious and conservative about talking with my family members, but now I enjoy doing it. Not only does it help me with my Spanish speaking skills, but also helps me learn more about Cádiz and Spain in general. I am more confident when speaking in Spanish than when I first came, and am starting to understand what is being said to me, even though I still get lost at times. I feel as though I have been welcomed kindly into the household and that my family as a whole is very generous and helpful. The food is great, but I am never able to eat everything that is given to me; there is always so much to have.

Although we have many activities lined up every day, there is always time to talk and hang out with friends. I go to different beaches with friends almost every day, enjoying them to the fullest. Although Will always leaves Rohan lying in the sand, the football games on the beach are always enjoyable activities. There are also many different plazas to explore. I have been to almost all of them and I am beginning to get around Cádiz without a map. The buses are convenient and extremely useful for getting to all the activities. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Spain, and I know the rest of my classmates are too.

-Tyler Wolfe

Friday, June 10

Today was not as busy as other days. We did not have class this morning as we visited Navantia. Navantia is a company that erects and repairs hi-tech military and civil ships; they took us through the process of constructing massive ships and later showed us this laser cutter that looked a lot like the one in the MSI Lab (@Dylan Zhou). Unfortunately, they were really strict about taking pictures, so I do not have anything to show for this. Later in the afternoon, we headed over to San Felipe Neri School to face off against the Spanish students in street hockey, soccer, and basketball. We first destroyed them in basketball as Joe Nero and I were looking like Steph Curry with the shot. The Hog (el Cerdo) and JD showed the Spaniards their hockey prowess and won convincingly. I am not too sure what occurred on the soccer asphalt since I was occupied with basketball, but I am pretty sure that we did not do too well against them as I had seen the San Felipe Kindergartners running circles against the RL boys before the competition.

These past few days, I along with everybody else on this trip, have been doing so much and I am starting to lose my recollection of the things I have done. Every day consists of so many activities and I am finding it very difficult to keep up due to my lack of sleep. I came into this trip very worried about my Spanish ability as I have only been studying the language for two years. The main issue I have is speaking to kids (girls) on the streets and at San Felipe Neri School since they speak way too fast. I find it much easier to understand and communicate with the members of my family because they know I have difficulties understanding them when they speak fast. The family has also been patient with me when it comes to defining words; my Spanish mother, Mariluz, urges me every day to bring a notebook to the table while we eat so that I can write down new words.

Even though it has only been a week, I feel as if I am advancing in the language tremendously. I am always outside of my comfort zone when I decide to hang out with the family in the living room instead of locking myself in the room; I like the challenge. I am blown away as to how fast my mind works when communicating with the family. I must first make proper eye contact with them and listen very closely, comprehend it and translate it, think of my sentence in English and translate that, too–all in seconds. I believe I have come to appreciate the value of listening. When my friends speak to me in English, I usually find myself multi-tasking, usually on my cell phone and not making eye contact. I have realized that I have to be totally locked-in and engaged in the person’s words if I want to come up with a fruitful response.

– Ahmed Abdelrahman

Thursday, June 9

The last few days have been such a whirlwind for me. I’m glad I now have the chance to sit down and reflect on what’s been happening.

As with all new experiences, there are always some problems and difficulties getting used to the new environment. The main problem that I’ve had so far has actually been trying to find my way around the city. At first my friends and I got lost several times and it was hard to track the complicated and random city streets on the map. But after a while, we were able to find backstreets and side roads, which made traveling the city much easier. I have also been really impressed by the bus system, which is always on time, quick and cheap. The bus has been instrumental in getting to and from school each day as well as getting to areas of the city that are far away. For the most part I have been really happy with how my Spanish has held up. I’ll admit, there are times when I do get lost when the people start talking fast, and it’s been a hard challenge transitioning from the classroom to the real world. At first it was tough to adjust to the colloquial, slurred speech of the locals but once I got over the language discrepancies and became accustomed to the heavy accents, it’s been smooth sailing for the most part.

My Spanish family has been nothing short of spectacular and really integral in making this an incredible experience. I worried a lot about what I was going to eat in Spain because, being a vegetarian, I presumed it would be difficult to find substantial meals. But each day so far, I have left the table absolutely stuffed after every meal. Most of the food has been new and foreign to me but it’s been delicious, and I have enjoyed the Spanish native foods a lot. I have definitely been pleasantly surprised. Whether it’s been through watching Family Guy episodes in Spanish or talking about the upcoming political elections, I have learned a lot from my host family about the Spanish culture and atmosphere.

School has also been a really valuable experience. Although I initially cringed at the thought of going to any sort of school in the summer, what I have seen so far has showed me that the school is an invaluable part of the immersion program. In the classes themselves we have discussed important comparisons between the United States and Spain as well as learned important information about Spanish history as a whole. The kids at the school have also been quite nice, during recess we have played basketball and soccer with them and they have been more than welcome. Talking with them is a little bit humbling as I see a nine-year-old girl has more Spanish fluency and experience than I do but it’s also been really helpful in learning how to speak colloquial Spanish.

In the oodles of free time that we’ve had over the past week we’ve done a lot of really fun things. Our many activities have included playing sports on the beach, swimming in the waves, grabbing some food from the plazas and window shopping at various stores and much more. Today specifically we were able to go to one of the more famous ice cream places in Cadiz in the Plaza Mina and play a few games of pickup basketball at the school gym. The main activity for today was also to go see the jobs and lifestyles of many of the Spanish people around the city. Grady Hayes, Robert Cunningham, and I went to a frozen food shop where we talked with the owner, about the history of his business and his expectations for the future. It was a really unique experience especially considering the lack of local small business food shops like that in the US. It was also enlightening to see and hear stories about how Spanish people take pride and enjoy their jobs.

I’ve had a lot of fun so far and I can’t wait to see where the trip takes me. Everything is going by so fast but no doubt I’m enjoying every second of it.

– Rohan Balakrishna