Travel Day
Over the five weeks I spent in Spain, we traveled all over the country in a group of 11 students and two counselors. When I arrived at JFK on June 26th, one of the counselors picked me up from the baggage claim and took me over to the Iberia counter where eight of the other students were waiting. Sitting in a circle waiting for our flight, each student sat there awkwardly, tired from their one or two flights already and their lack of sleep from the night before. I did all my packing the night before and couldn’t sleep anyway because I was so nervous. Little did I know, I had nothing to be nervous for, for this trip would be some of the best weeks of my life. We finally boarded the plane two hours after schedule and found our seats. We all were together, and talked a little bit about our expectations for the trip and got to know each other. After seven hours, we finally landed in Madrid, already jet lagged. Right after we met up with the two other students already in Spain from vacations with their families, we got on a bus and drove three more hours. At last, we arrived in Támara de Campos, a town of less than 70 people, our home for the next week. We took a tour of the cathedral in Támara, clearly historically important given it’s size in comparison to the population of the town. Before we went to bed, we ate an incredible first meal and learned a few Spanish slang words.
- Everywhere we went in Spain
- Támara, with our hotel on the left and the cathedral on the right
First Week
Each day throughout the first week we would go out on an excursion, leaving Támara, situated near the center of the province of Castilla y León in Northern Spain. Our first day would be all outdoors. First, we hiked up a mountain to a waterfall, which another student and I decided to go under. Then we put on these white suits and entered a cave. It began a wide open space with stalactites and interesting rock formations, until the guide crawls on his stomach through a hole and tells us to follow him. We had been wondering why we were wearing those suits. About half the group decided to follow him. We continued to crawl on all fours or on our stomachs through holes barely big enough for the helmet. Then my helmet light went out and two others and I were stuck. Unable to lift our heads on all fours, completely blind, we felt our way back through the holes and towards a light in the distance. This was probably the scariest part of the trip and it was only the first day.
The next day, we drove to Valladolid, our first big city. Me and some other students on our trip wanted to play some basketball. We walked all over the city, passing by a few courts, however, none of them had a ball. We finally went to the city park, and sat on a bench next to some courts. After 30 minutes, three kids a little younger than us walked over with a ball. We challenged them to a 3 on 3. We won easily but then asked if they wanted to team up with us to play the kids on the other court for a 5 on 5. We walked over and asked the other group of kids, which we later found out were 18, if they wanted to play us. We started a game to 21 and went up 16-6. Then they came back and tied us at 20-20. After 15 minutes of scoreless play, a turnover turned into a layup for us to win the game. It was all a fun experience to play against them in Spanish and we learned a bunch of vocabulary just from the game.
The rest of the week, we made traditional Spanish food with one of the top chefs in Spain, visited a famous musician’s house/museum and bodega, and hiked part of the Camino de Santiago. When we got back to the hotel, we had to pack and get ready to say goodbye to Támara.
- The Waterfall
- The caves and our white suits
- Our fun basketball game in Valladolid
The Homestay
We woke up early to drive seven hours down from Támara to Osuna, our home for the next three weeks. On our way, we stopped in Cáceres, a big city in the province of Extremadura. On our own, we found an authentic restaurant and had one of my favorite meals from the entire trip. Then we got back on the road and headed for Osuna. Once the white houses of Osuna, a town of 18,000 people, popped up over the horizon, we all started to panic. We were actually about to meet our host families. We had emailed back and forth a few times in advance, but I was about to live with a family I had never met before for three whole weeks. When we got off the bus, my host family took me in like they already knew me. After a welcome speech from the directors, we all got in our families’ cars and drove to our new houses. We get home and dinner was already prepared. We sit down and turn on “The Simpsons” in Spanish. It’s the only thing my host dad, who is a policeman in the Guardia Civil, watches. My host mother had made hamburgers, which was funny because I thought they only made them because I’m from America, but they actually love American food and eat a lot of it. Later that week when they took me to Sevilla, we ate at Foster’s Hollywood, which is Spain’s leading “American Food” restaurant. There is a page in the menu about Nashville which I was surprised to see. My host father was in disbelief to hear that I had never even heard of the restaurant before. That’s because it only exists in Spain. But that first night in Osuna I got to know my host brother, Pablo. He is also 16 and we were able to connect over talking about soccer, music, and videogames. It was cool to find out that we have really similar interests. The next three weeks, I got to live the life of Pablo, meeting lots of people and playing a lot of soccer. I even went to see Despicable Me 3 in Spanish, which was fun and surprisingly easy to understand.
My internship over the three weeks was at the Polideportivo, the sports complex. I later found that each town no matter how small has a really nice sports complex. My family would go to a smaller town called El Rubio to go to the pool because even though it is a smaller town, they have a nicer, bigger, and less crowded pool. During my internship at the Polideportivo in Osuna, I worked two or three days a week as a counselor/coach at a soccer camp for kids aged 5-12 led by a former professional. We would run simple drills for the younger kids, but some of the older kids were very skilled. It was a lot of fun and the coaches were really cool.
For the 4th of July, all of the host families rented a ‘campo’ with a pool. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet all of the other students’ host siblings as well. The next few days when I wasn’t working at the soccer camp, Pablo and his friends would either meet at the soccer field or go to ‘La Casa de la Juventud’ when it was too hot. It got up to 110 degrees there in Osuna. ‘La Casa de la Juventud’ is a place where teenagers from Osuna can go to use a computer to get work done, have a meeting, or simply play ping-pong or video games. We would usually play FIFA on “the play” which is what they call a Playstation. One day, Pablo and a bunch of his friends were there to discuss their team for the summer soccer tournament. They decided on black and white uniforms and the team name: Estudio Designs F.C, which none of them could pronounce anyway. They couldn’t think of a good team name so they just made it the company that printed the shirts of their uniforms. Thankfully, they let me play a game with them. The winner of the tournament wins 300 euros, so it was very important. The whole stands fill up each night too so it was pretty cool. Although we got beat 9-2 by a team with a kid being scouted by Sevilla F.C, it was still a really fun experience. On Friday nights, all of the kids of Osuna go to the park to party. It’s an event that anyone can go to out in the open with no need to pay, excluding no one. It was a fun and unique event that helped me meet a ton of other kids from Osuna that I would have never met otherwise. Later, everyone goes to the discoteca, where they play ‘Despacito’ every other song and no one complains.
Another excursion we had was a trip to the Caminito del Rey, which used to be the most dangerous hike in the world. It has been redone many times and is now very safe. The entire trail is hanging off the side of a rock face, which for some of the students in the group was very frightening. Later that week, we visited one of the most beautiful attractions in the world, La Alhambra. The ancient Arabic fort in Granada was incredible to see, with the walls covered in complicated patterns carved into the stone. The entire complex is amazing, and it is even more amazing that it is still in such great condition for how old it is. One of the most fun excursions was to the beach in Nerja, outside of Málaga. Each of the host families came with their American student, and we all had a great time on the beach with perfect weather. One host brother had the idea of renting some paddleboats for an hour, so we bought 5 of them and we all went out on the ocean. We saw a cliff in the distance with a cave, so we paddled slowly for about 15 minutes until we saw some kids jumping off the ledge into the water. Many of us were having doubts, but then, like every time, we just said to ourselves, “When are you going to be in Spain again,” and then we all climbed the rope and jumped off the 30 foot cliff. A few of the other Americans and their host siblings had scrapes from the rocks on their way up, but it so much fun we had to do it again. I was even more scared the next time, but I did it and it was a unique experience I will never forget.
My family was so kind and welcoming, and at times were too worried about how I felt. They always made sure I was happy and always, always made sure I was full and ready with at least two “bocadillos” in my backpack. One day they took me to meet the grandparents, which really made me feel like part of their family. I miss my Spanish family, and if I ever return to Spain, I will make sure to see them. Leaving them early in the morning was definitely the hardest part of the trip, but we still had another week in Spain.
- View of Osuna
- A page for Nashville on the Foster’s Hollywood American food menu
- Caminito del Rey
- Our soccer team for the summer league
- 4th of July party
- La Alhambra
- My host family and I
The Last Week
Each student, just having left their host families, spent the bus ride to Aracena either crying or sleeping. When we arrived at our very nice hotel, we put away our bags and went out to eat. We should have listened to our counselors on where to eat, because we stopped at this place where we had the worst meal of our trip. This made us miss our host families more.
Over the next two days, we hiked 25 miles up and down mountains. It was almost as hard as leaving Osuna. At the end of the hike, we walked up to a mosque high on a hill where we sat and reflected on our trip so far. It was then we realized how little time we had left on our trip.
We then boarded the bus and drove to our next stop Vejer de la Frontera, a more touristic town on a steep mountain very close to the beach. On our way, we stopped at a famous ranch where they train horses used in bullfights as well as the bulls themselves. We didn’t get to see a bullfight, but we did get to watch a showcase of the horses’ skills.
Finally, we arrived at Vejer de la Frontera in time for dinner. We went to a restaurant, all 13 of us, and they put a table out in the street. Cars were not meant to go down this “street,” but we had already found out that cars go wherever they want in Spain. After dinner, we had free time, so we grouped up and got ice cream. I liked how many ice cream stores there are in Spain, so you could always get some within minutes no matter where you are. The next day, we went to the beach. Right next to the beach were some Roman ruins, which was really cool how close they were to the water. After visiting the museum, we walked out to the beach and swam for a bit. The wind was very strong and blew sand over our stuff and almost buried it. With one of the other students there to watch our stuff, a few other students and I walked down the beach to what we called the “sand mountain.” On our way there, a watermelon was sitting in the water so we grabbed it. It was really slippery and when another kid threw it like a football, it slipped through my hands and exploded in the sand. We had to pick it up while a bunch of people watched us in confusion. When we arrived the sand mountain, we hiked up slowly under the above 100 degree sun. From the top, you could see over the flat canopy of the trees and the curve of the sand of the beach. We rolled down the sand mountain just in time to leave. We changed and boarded the bus to arrive at our final location for the rest of the trip, Sevilla. On our way, we stopped in Cádiz to eat lunch and visit the massive cathedral there. The tombs under the building had Latin inscriptions on them, and I was able to understand to a certain extent. After visiting the cathedral, we boarded the bus again and drove to Sevilla. We arrived at our apartments late, and only went out to eat before sleeping.
We began our first full day in Sevilla with a scavenger hunt. We had a long list of questions about Sevilla’s history and attractions which we had to answer by asking people on the street. Walking almost eight miles around the city, another student and I won the scavenger hunt, visiting almost every site and answering almost every question. I was later gifted a flag of Andalucia and a scarf from Real Betis, the rival soccer team of Sevilla F.C, for winning the scavenger hunt. Immediately after, we entered the Sevilla cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest overall, and ascended the cathedral’s tower, called La Giralda. From the top of the tower, one can see the entire city because skyscrapers are not allowed within the city. Later that day and the next day, we visited a number of cool sights in Sevilla, including the “Real Alcázar,” “Las Setas,” the Plaza España, and the most famous “Plaza de Toros” in the world. The final night, we didn’t sleep and had a long day of travel ahead of us. A bus ride to the Sevilla airport was first, then a plane to Madrid. Then we waited a few hours before we boarded a flight back to JFK, where we all had to say our goodbyes before we flew back to each of our homes all across the country. Saying goodbye to my group which had been so close was very difficult. I was so thankful to have such a cool group, and I hope I get the chance to see some of them again. I passed through security for the third time that day, and finally made it back to Nashville. After 44 straight hours without sleep and 24 hours of travel, I was finally home.
- Hiking
- Bullfight Horse show
- Vejer de la Frontera
- Aracena
- La Giralda
- Plaza España de Sevilla
- View of Sevilla from the top of “Las Setas”
- Plaza de Toros
Thank You
This trip was undoubtedly the best time of my life and I am so thankful for the Wilson family and everyone who made it possible. I learned so much while having the time of my life. I not only feel like a better Spanish speaker as a result of this trip, but also a better person with a clearer world perspective. I miss it so much already and there is no way I ever forget it or anyone I met on the trip. I am so thankful for this unique opportunity I was able to experience.
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