Hola, todos
I am Jayden Taylor. I’m a Music History and Culture and Comparative Literature double major with a creative writing minor. I'd consider myself an extremely artsy person and all the work I create is, in part, about me exploring being queer and black.
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That’s also exactly why I wanted to go on this program. I participated in the Kidd Creative Writing Workshop this past year and I’ve been itching to continue my creative writing. I’m lucky that it gets to happen in Spain! And, I really want to improve my Spanish. I studied it all throughout middle and high school, and I want to be better. I’m currently reading Isabel Allende’s Violeta, which was originally published in Spanish, if anyone wants a book recommendation.
I flew into Madrid Saturday night June 28th, and to say that I was scared would be an understatement. I truly haven’t known anxiety like that in a long time. I think the idea of being out of the country for so long was really stressful and it truly didn’t hit for me until I was on the plane. I’d been interested about how Spain approached queerness, and like many Western European countries, its laws are fairly protective of LGBTQ+ people. And most of the experiences I’ve read from other Black travelers to Spain were positive. I have never gotten the impression that I’d be unsafe here on behalf of either identity. I was extremely nervous about leaving the country and despite the research, I still felt I knew nothing. But I texted my mom and my dad, and both of them were able to offer a little comfort.
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So, having been here for more than a week, I’m starting to get into a rhythm with the program. Oviedo is a beautiful city. It’s mountainous and verdant and an even temperature. The city amalgamates centuries old buildings into modern urban construction in a way that just isn’t done in the U.S. One second I see a skyscraper, and the next I’m standing in front of an 800-year old church and an abandoned bull fighting ring. It makes the poet in me sing in a way that no city ever has.
Finally, I've had two main struggles since I’ve been here. I have to fight the part of me that wants to use English, and I don’t know where to go for community. When I can’t figure something out in Spanish, I want to say it in English because that’s easier for me and I know I can articulate my idea. However, when the person you’re talking to doesn’t speak English, English isn’t all that helpful. As for community, I’m just not sure how to interact with other queer people in Oviedo. Madrid is a big city, so it has a codified “gay district” in Chueca, but Oviedo is smaller and seemingly has a much quieter queer community. I’m determined to find something, and I will be making use of my Spanish skills to learn all I can.
Hasta luego,
Jayden Taylor, Creative Writing in Oviedo