Michelle Green
Seville, Spain
¡Buenos días!
I am a sophomore studying in Seville, Spain for the spring 2014 semester.
Being in a different country has proven to be amazing so far, if nothing else, with every building in this city dripping (literally, it’s rained every day since I got here) with history.
Everything here is an adventure! When I arrived, the taxi driver dropped me off at the front door and that was it—I was on my way.
It was crazy for me to realize that I was really on my own in a different country, and the taxi driver hadn’t even waited to see if I got inside the building.
Contributed Photos: Michelle Green
That day, I met my host family and my roommate, and I couldn’t imagine living here with anyone else.
I have two little sisters: Ochi, who is seven-years-old, and Angela, who is ten-years-old. Also in the house is my roommate from the University of Maryland and my host mother, Roció.
I have begun tutoring Celia, one of my sister Angela’s friends, in English.
As a future educator, I think that it is very important to meet the needs of every student in the classroom, and it has been rewarding to see that I can communicate with her and help her understand English much better.
She has improved greatly even with the few times we have worked together, and it has been an eye-opening experience for me.
I live in a neighborhood of Seville called Los Remedios.
One of the most interesting things I have found about it is that there are orange trees everywhere, but you can’t eat the oranges because they are really acidic and can make you sick.
I walk back and forth to school every day, which only takes about 15 minutes and is absolutely beautiful. Along the way, I cross the San Telmo Bridge, which connects my neighborhood with the neighborhood on the other side of the Guadalquivir River.
The school that I am taking classes at this semester is called the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies and is entirely American students taking classes taught by Spanish professors.
In just the short time that I have been here, I have seen ancient palaces and the surrounding gardens, the third-largest cathedral in the world, and the place where part of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was filmed.
I went to Córdoba, a culturally rich town about an hour from Seville, and saw Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues within a ten minute walk of one another.
Later on during my trip, I have plans to visit Portugal, many different cities in Spain, England, Germany and Italy.
It is so easy to travel here, and I fall in love with the people and the language more and more with each day that passes.
It’s true what they say; the world is a novel, and those that don’t travel only read a single page.
The more of the world I see, the more I learn about myself and about how I compare with those around me.
I have found a whole new kind of appreciation for the way I grew up and all of the experiences I have had in life.
Also, I have learned how to appreciate the world for what it is, in all of its natural beauty.
Although I’ve been a little homesick, and some days are worse than others, I have already had great experiences here.
I am looking forward to coming home to my family and friends, but not until I finish adventuring here!
I’ll see you soon, Keene State!