By Kris B., Guest Blogger from Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona, Spain
I have always been fascinated by the idea traveling and have
spent the initial part of my life dreaming about it and then the latter part of
it actually having it come true. It’s an addiction and no matter how much I
travel, it never seems to be enough. However, it is one thing to go for a
vacation and completely another thing to really travel. A vacation is just a temporary break from our regular life,
with an emphasis on leisure and entertainment. Traveling, on the other hand,
means letting go of all our comfort zones, our embedded habits and ingrained
prejudices; it means stepping out of our cocoons and opening our mind and heart
to new perspectives about the world and ourselves. Real traveling requires
interaction with people, the society and its culture. Otherwise, in my
experience, we come back feeling that we have not been able to breach an
imaginary wall between the place and ourselves. We remain an outsider.
As I traveled, I understood that language is a critical enabler
to a meaningful traveling experience; it enables the traveler to breach that
imaginary, yet thick wall of foreign-ness. In many places I visited, the people
spoke English and I was able to get along fine superficially, but I still felt
that I was denied a real glimpse into their life, which would have been
possible had I known the local language. On the few occasions when I had a
local guide to help me interact more deeply with my surroundings, the overall
travel experience became highly rewarding.
While it is not possible to learn every language, especially at
an advanced age, I have always had an urge to learn Spanish, not only because
it is the most widely spoken but also because I felt I would really enjoy
learning it. I have also wanted to travel extensively in Spain and South
America for a long time, but felt I should wait till I had a better grasp of
the language. The perfect opportunity came in November, when I lost my job
(which I was already tired of) and it seemed like the best time to make my
dream of learning a new language come true. Thanks to AmeriSpan and the ability
to choose from multiple sister schools to choose from, I was actually able to
customize my planned language immersion in Spain, which would allow me to both
travel to different cities and learn Spanish. I decided to make Sevilla,
Granada and Barcelona my home over a five-week period starting January 3, 2010.
What a great way to start a New Year!
Click for more information on all of AmeriSpan’s Study Abroad Programs in Spain.
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