Wow, it’s hard to believe two weeks of my program have already flown by! I feel like I’ve truly settled into my daily life here. Now, I can navigate around the city without any trouble. One of the wonderful parts about Spain is that the cities are walkable and they have a comprehensive public transport system. For this reason, you see significantly more people out and about in the city since people aren’t reliant on cars. Also, compared to the US, Spain is more collectivist, and regular outdoor meetings are more typical.
Stepping out of the front door of my homestay apartment, I find myself in the bustling city, with people milling around, weaving between streets lined with restaurants and shops, and chatting with their neighbors. To my left, I see the Cathedral, a breathtaking structure that dates back to the 9th century and is the birthplace of the Camino de Santiago. To my right, a large park with families sitting on the benches, children running around on the playground, and friends having picnics in the grass. The walk to campus from my home stay is only twelve minutes, six minutes to the gym, and ten minutes to get to El Casco Antiguo (the Old Quarter).
One of the strongest cultural shifts I feel when I come back to Spain is the warmth and friendliness of the people here. For example, just the other day, I visited a bookstore and asked for a recommendation for a summer read, and the clerk and I ended up in conversation for over half an hour. Or take, for example, when I was shopping for a specific kind of blazer, and a woman in the shop overheard me asking about it to one of the employees and took it upon herself to show me the boutique that sold them. Or how last week, I asked a girl at the gym for help with a machine, and we ended up chatting the entire session. Now we coordinate our workouts to meet up, and we went to the beach with her friends to watch the eclipse. I could go on and on, listing the ways I have seen and felt the community here. I certainly feel more in touch with my extroverted side here and am already feeling at home in a new place.
Irene Rose Ares, Diverse Ducks Ambassador
Advanced Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture in Oviedo
