Week 1
¡Hola a todos!
It’s been one week in Segovia, and I am starting to feel more settled in here. Before I left, my goal was to enter this experience with few expectations. I found that the information provided about the program was very unspecific, and therefore I couldn’t be sure of what was to come. I knew I had to commit to the program, and from there, see where it took me.
The first few days were not easy. I fought an uphill battle of culture shock, jet lag, homesickness, and missing my close friends, family, and boyfriend who I left behind in America. I met the rest of the study abroad group (10 of us total) and the two GEO program coordinators, Laura and Marian, at the Madrid International Airport on September 1st, Sunday. We introduced ourselves and piled into a big coach bus for the hour-long drive north to Segovia, our new home for the next three months. The other students and I buzzed with excitement and nerves.
Upon arrival to the bus station in Segovia, our host families were waiting for us. Everything happened so fast, and the next thing I knew I was saying bye for now to my good friend Milly, who is also part of the program, and hopping in the car with my host family, or “mis afitrionos,” Paco and Amelia.
Sitting in the back of my host parents’ car, while they spoke Spanish in an unfamiliar accent at a rapid pace, I recall feeling overwhelmed. I thought I knew a decent amount of Spanish before starting the trip but as I listened to them talk, I could barely understand a word. Perhaps it was their accents? I felt my nerves start up again.
Paco and Amelia’s hospitality was evident as they welcomed me into their home and helped me with my two small suitcases that I’d packed my life into for the fall. They opened the door and showed me to my new room. I thanked them profusely and then took some time to unpack, orient myself, and get settled. That’s when my reality hit me like the bus we took here.
Sitting in my new living space, a room much smaller than I’m used to living in (even smaller than my dorm, Justice Bean, in Eugene), and surrounded by new people in a new place, three months seemed like a long time to be away from home. Away from my own language, from my friends, from Bennett, from my cozy room in Portland. I felt claustrophobic in my situation. But, I know how good this program and experience will be for me. I will (hopefully) master Spanish, or at least improve by a lot. I hope to become more tolerant of differences and new experiences while I’m here. I hope to become more independent and confident in myself and can’t wait to meet the Antonia who’s waiting for me on the other side of November 27th.