This is the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Spain. It is still under construction after centuries, designed by Antonio Gaudí, but that doesn’t stop the eye from being captured by its architecture. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world.

Author: Savannah Godwin | Major: Chemical Engineering | Semester: Summer 2023

My interest in Spain was sparked when I started learning Spanish in high school. It is where the language originated after all, so it was only natural that I developed a curiosity for the country. Thus, I decided to study abroad there in the summer of 2023 for a variety of reasons. I wanted to improve my skills in Spanish, since it has always been a goal of mine to be fluent. What better way to do that than to launch myself headfirst into a country where that is its official language? On a more professional level, I have goals of traveling to other countries to learn about their sustainability and energy production, as I am majoring in chemical engineering and want to get an advanced degree in environmental engineering. One country in specific is Costa Rica since it produces 100% renewable energy. I would like to travel there in the future to learn more, and speaking Spanish well would help me in that endeavor, as well as any other Spanish-speaking country that I travel to in the future. So, long story short, I was Spain-bound.

This was the Albacín neighborhood in Granada, Spain. We came up to view the city, and the sights were gorgeous.

Upon arriving, I quickly realized I was not as prepared for communicating in Spanish as I thought I was. Still in the Madrid airport while in a line for coffee, I was yelled at but was completely lost in what was being said to me! I laughed it off, but after that experience, I had never been so relieved that I would start classes, as I needed to drastically improve my speaking skills! I went to Antonio de Nebrija University, and it was a very different experience than the University of Arkansas. Compared to my classes with two to three hundred people in organic chemistry, these classes were tiny with 10 to 20 people. I was able to form an extremely close relationship with my professors and my classmates. The classes were greatly driven by conversation: the professor simply talking along with us about lessons they were teaching, ensuring that each class was interactive, which allowed me to stay attentive in class. The professors solely wanted their students to succeed. The assignments and exams were very clearly meant to help us learn and improve. Also, since the classes I was taking lasted a month as opposed to a semester, they were each two hours every day, so four hours straight was spent in school. I was surprised to realize that we were gifted a ten-minute break every fifty minutes. I was not accustomed to being able to refresh and reset at Arkansas and taking “pausas” helped me to remain focused throughout the four hours. School in the United States throughout my whole life had been a great source of stress for me. However, this manner of teaching made me excited about learning and relieved as I could have a safe place to make mistakes outside of the “real world.”

This is a photo of one part of the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a Muslim fortress that was built when the Moors had control of Spain. It was built atop a hill to see threats coming from far away.

This is the San Nicolás Church in the Albacín Neighborhood of Granada. It has a brightly stained-glass ceiling with brilliant colors weaving between each other.

My daily routine in Spain consisted of going to class in the mornings for four hours, and then having the rest of my day for cultural activities and exploring. If I was to sum up my experience of Madrid in one sentiment, I would say that it is a city created and designed for humanity. Any place that I needed to go was within walking distance because the city was built before cars. I was consistently getting exercise and sun, solely because I had to walk every day to get anywhere. An unexpected perk of this is that there were dogs everywhere, because people just take them on walks as they walk. I was constantly asking to pet strangers’ dogs and was constantly in a good mood because of it! For places that are further away, I used the public transportation system which is inexpensive and easy to navigate for madrileños.

Something that I noticed immediately was that there were lines and bumps all over the ground in Madrid. I didn’t realize what they were at first until I saw people using them to guide their canes. I then started to notice there were ramps everywhere and wheelchair accessible areas even on the metros. The crosswalks have loud noises that play to notify people to cross the street. Madrid has put so much energy into being as accessible as possible for people with different kinds of disabilities. The city is built for all kinds of people, fostering a kind of safe haven for all.

Additionally, the food in Spain is intentionally meant to cause fulfillment and health. Even in fast-food places, the food must be locally sourced; it is fresher, healthier, and doesn’t have unnecessary chemicals. It was jarring to simply drink orange juice for the first time here. It was natural, fresh, and real, making “Simply Orange” taste exactly like what it is: fake sugar with drops of orange concentrate.

This is an image of me ziplining in Toledo. I am flying over the Tormes River and beside a bridge that was built by the Romans!

This was a picture I took inside the Alhambra. It was a stunning view of the quaint Granada city, with rust-colored rooftops and speckles of trees dotting the sight.

The work-life relationship in Spain is much different than in the United States. There are “siesta” hours every day that can start as early as 2pm and last up until 8pm. This is a time when most stores are closed. So, if I needed to go somewhere between those two times, I needed to check to make sure they were open! I can’t remember the number of times I had walked somewhere only to find they were closed due to siesta hours. These times were meant to give Spaniards a rest and reset time. The attitude towards their jobs is drastically different as well. People in Spain have much more paid vacation time than the United States. I was consistently reminded that while in the United States people live to work, but in Spain, people work to live. I would see people in business suits sitting outside a bar drinking a beer with a friend at 3pm, which is unheard of in the United States.

This was a unique experience. I was able to climb up to the bell tower in Salamanca. The bells actually rang when I was up there!

In a more cultural sense, I was able to have a myriad of new experiences. When I went to the Reina Sofia, I was able to see paintings in person that I have only learned about in classrooms. Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso were two of my favorite famous artists. I turned into a “fangirl,” utterly in awe that I was able to experience art like Guernica with my own eyes. Spain is also known for its “mercados.” The largest and most well-known is El Rastro. It is an open-air flea market in Madrid that occurs every Sunday. The road is blocked off for the day so people can stroll along the booths, listening to prices being called out and gambling in their heads if there will be a better price further down the road.

Although Spain has incredible food, the first thing that I did when I returned home is ate some Chick-fil-a in an air-conditioned restaurant. There was a lack of air conditioning throughout Spain, and I missed my Chick-fil-a runs in the United States. For anyone who is wanting to come to Madrid or Spain in general, my advice is to just do it. I had never traveled outside of the country before, never mind ever traveled alone, so I was an anxious mess before leaving America. I was out of my comfort zone in a new country and new language. However, it was worth pushing through the unknown to experience all that Spain offered. I wish that I had understood beforehand that friends are a guarantee, as I never felt lonely, and eventually the unknown becomes known.

This was a visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. There were so many cool pieces of art that I was able to view, but my favorite exhibit was Wu Tsang. Of Whales. It was an immersive piece that displayed to the audience a whale’s perspective in the ocean.

This photo displays less of cultural enrichment than my other photos, and more of a fun experience. I had met great friends in Spain, and we were able to see a band called the Lumineers in concert in Madrid! We were front and center. It was truly an experience I won’t soon forget.

This is Park Güell in Barcelona. It was designed by Antonio Gaudí as well and is characterized by the colorful mosaics and Arab influences in the architecture.

This is a photo of the Lumineers. The rain created a truly unique ambiance, dramatizing the entire experience. The photo shows that I was as close as a person could get to the band, something that would never have been able to happen in the United States.

I am a theatre nerd, so I was ecstatic that I was able to see a musical in Spain! It was all in Spanish, but I knew the musical in English, so it was fun to listen to how the music changed.