Jackson Flora: Spain

Madrid/Toledo (Midlands)

Flying into Madrid on the first day, it immediately met and surpassed expectations. Having finally made it seven hours, I was ready to go back to the hotel and take a nap and wait until the next day to hit the streets of Madrid. That was only a dream. We literally dropped our bags off at the hotel and went straight into the city. As tired and jetlagged as I was, seeing this extravagant city turned all of my expectations into reality. We scurried through the streets all day until about 10:30 local time when we were treated with our first Spanish dinner. We ate for such a long time and when we left the restaurant, stomachs full with fresh "paella" (a traditional Spanish dish featuring rice and seafood), we were struck with the sounds of a huge concert in the Plaza del Sol. First reaction: when do these Spaniards sleep? After staying awhile at the concert, listening to random Spanish songs, we headed back to the hotel. Day 1 complete... and this was only "orientation". Madrid continued to meet expectations all weekend. The stay in Madrid was highlighted by a trip to the Prado. This museum is arguably the most famous and most renowned museum in the world, behind the Louvre in Paris. You name it, it was in the Prado.

After Madrid, we headed to a small, quaint pueblo called Toledo. Toledo struck me immediately as beautiful. From across the river, I was already impressed with the style of the buildings and the layout of the city. The whole environment changed in Toledo. The tourist attraction in Toledo is a large cathedral which dates back to the 1200’s. We spent most of our time getting to know our group members going to picnics and getting henna tattoos.

Homestay in Jerez de la Frontera (South)

Traveling 4 hours via train to my homestay, I was sweating. My Spanish was decent and I was pretty comfortable with the language but I had NO idea what to expect. I decided to go into this part of the trip open-minded and see how it turned out. I met my host-family at their house with balloons in the archway to their large, urban house. I had 4 host siblings: Andres (21), Jose (19), Rosa (17), and Beltran (13). When I got there we ate a late lunch and then the took me out of the house. If there was one thing I learned in my homestay, it was that the Spaniards drive ridiculously out of control. Their streets are so narrow and they drive so fast. Meanwhile, the car conversation was hard to keep up with in part because my Spanish was not up to par with theirs but also because their questioning was excessive. The first night my host brother and I were forced to prepare a traditional Spanish dinner: “Tortilla Espanola”. Jose made his and I watched and then he made me make mine. Let’s just say they didn’t ask me to prepare another meal. During the ten days I stayed with my host-family, we visited two beaches at El Puerto de Santa Maria and La Playa de San Fernando. The latter was located right outside of a military base and was extremely crowded but very beautiful. The greatest thing about the home-stay was their custom of siesta. Although I was only treated with this luxury in my home-stay, I enjoyed every minute of these afternoon naps. All in all, I was extremely grateful for the care and love that my host family gave me.

Pamplona/Bilbao (North)

The final portion of our trip consisted of a community service oriented stay in Pamplona and a small visit to Bilbao. Although we missed the festivals of San Fermin (Running with the Bulls) by one day, Pamplona was still my favorite city. We worked at the Red Cross with the little kids. We essentially were camp counselors and had to teach the occasional English class. My class was full of five-year-olds and it was quite the challenge communicating with them because they did not speak with correct grammar and sentence structure. We played a lot of soccer at the park with the kids and were the source of entertainment for the week. After "work", we would see the sights in Pamplona which included all the sights that accompany the festival of San Fermin. For the city of Pamplona, the Running with the Bulls is the only reason anyone would travel to Pamplona. When we got there the day after it ended, it seemed as if the city was evacuating.

Following our visit in Pamplona, we traveled to Bilbao. In Bilbao our tour guide took us to many of the museums which highlight the city. My favorite part of Bilbao was visiting the Guggenheim museum which is one of five in the whole world. We took a day trip up to the Mediterranean coast and hiked up to a church out on a little peninsula which was arguably the most beautiful sight I saw the whole trip.

This whole experience was the trip of a lifetime. The friends I made, places I saw, and things I learned all make this "experiment in international living" unforgettable. I am truly grateful for receiving this opportunity and it could not have been possible without the Wilson family and their generous donations. I wish I could thank personally everyone that impacted me on this trip and I highly recommend everyone to enhance their Spanish by traveling abroad.

Sincerely,

Jackson Flora