Author: Sydney Golding             Majors: International and Global Studies – Peace, Security, and Human Rights 

Virtual class session

Nearing the end of the program we were asked to come up with a slogan for the city of Barcelona. Without any further thought, I wrote down “Hurry up! It’s time to slow down.” The words seemed to have already existed in my brain and were patiently awaiting their beckoning. The culture of Barcelona is one that values time, community, and the small pleasures in life.

Even though the Changemakers program was virtual, the community partners organized activities to give us cultivated cultural experiences of the region of Catalonia. My favorites were the online cooking class where we prepared a regional staple, Coca de escalivada, and the language crash course on the basics of Catalan. Catalan cuisine is a beautiful representation of the land and the ‘melting pot’ culture. “There is a care given to food in Catalonia that is not so often found in Anglo-Saxon countries…It is appreciated as an art, not just gulped down as a necessity” (Eaude 2008). Coca de escalivada is a roasted vegetable flatbread that is beautifully simplistic in method yet dynamic in flavor.  The ‘melting pot’ nature of Catalonia also gives the residents and natives an Americanesque identity, not based on race or ethnic origins, but rather language and a sense of nationalism. However, a history of dictatorships and attempts to devalue the minority languages of Spain has fueled the movement of Catalan inclusion, as the language is what primarily sets Catalonians apart from the rest of the country. After reading up on the political history of the Catalan language movement, the sense of pride our language instructor had was apparent and heartening. I have since taken up my own informal study of Catalan as I plan to move the region after graduation next Spring.

I chose this program because the topics of focus were food insecurity and job skill development, the former being the main theme of my academic career and thesis research. As an international studies major, Spanish was also my language study of choice. To me, this program epitomizes the International Studies method of thought and provides a practical setting for multifaceted growth; partnering with organizations to gain new perspectives outside of pure academia. I think that the structure of this program in particular is also very beneficial for service learning – studying and researching a problem in our own community and then applying what we have learned to the same issue in a different cultural context. One element that I believe the program could have benefited from is a sort of peer ambassador element. Since the program is only two weeks, I think that being paired with a cultural ambassador to meet with separately during the duration of the “stay” would have made for interesting unscripted dialogue about the culture and area and facilitated more of a local’s perspective on topics of interest. I absolutely would recommend this program to students that wish to participate in a truly influential study abroad experience.