Visiting the Alhambra

Author: Ella Baker | Major: Biochemistry | Semester: Summer 2023

My name is Ella Baker and I am a student of J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences studying Biochemistry with a minor in Spanish language. This summer I traveled to Spain to further study Spanish and complete my minor in the capital city Madrid. The program through which I traveled abroad was API Abroad. I chose this program mainly because it was the only one that met all my requirements on duration, location, and course offerings while also offering many planned activities outside of classes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the classes I took at the University because my instructors were fun and engaging and the course content was challenging enough that I did feel more confident speaking in Spanish and functioning within the culture. Spanish is spoken in Madrid specifically at a very rapid pace and was, at first, intimidating. However, over the course of the month I was there, I became more comfortable in listening, understanding, and conversing with native speakers. This was ultimately my desire because studying Spanish in Arkansas where Spanish is not the first language proves difficult because of lack of actual utilization of the language and active practice. My experience in Spain was encouraging because of not only the apparent improvement but also the comfortability in speaking.

While the focus of my trip was to improve my Spanish speaking skills and knowledge of the culture taking classes at the University of Nebrija, I was able to further accomplish my goals outside of the classroom through exploring the city on a bike tour, taking a cooking class where I learned to make authentic Spanish cuisine, going to one of the city’s many art museums, making weekend excursions to various cities throughout the country including Granada, Barcelona, and Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and much more. The culture is different in a very exciting way. I rode my first high speed train as well as traveling within the city on the metro as that is one of the main modes of transportation there. It definitely took some getting used to. The food was just as amazing as people say. My personal favorite dish was paella which is a seafood and rice dish that I actually participated in making during a cooking class. One of the most culturally enriching experiences was on a weekend trip to Granada, a city in the mountainous Andalucia region in the south of Spain most commonly known for the Alhambra. There, I toured the Alhambra which is a Muslim fortress constructed during the thirteenth century! I also went to a flamenco dancing show which was truly something I will never forget.

Being fully transparent, there is a lot of work and planning that goes into a trip like this, but I know I have grown to be more independent after this summer. I could go on and on about my experience overseas this summer and would recommend in a heartbeat to anyone who is considering studying abroad that a summer in Madrid would truly be an incredible adventure and would result in memories that would be cherished for a lifetime.