Exonians in Spain Reflect On Past Year
Students at Exeter have a lot of pride in their school and its legacy. There is also a great deal of emphasis put on surviving Exeter. People are proud to have gotten through the rigorous and sometimes unbearable, academic and social climate. Because of this, there is a lot of stigma placed on people who take a hiatus from the school, for whatever reason that is. These people who take a break are supposedly unable to handle Exeter. Believe it or not, our decision to come to Spain for a year was not just a futile attempt to escape the horrors of upper year.
Truth is, Spain isn’t just warm weather, bullfights and siestas. It’s been a year full of learning, reflection and discovery. This may sound fake and forced, but we genuinely believe this. Our own clichés pains us, but this year has been the best year of our lives. We all made the decision to come to Spain for various reasons, but none of us understood what we were getting ourselves into. We didn’t realize how big of a change it would be until we were clinging to each other in a huge conference room in a hotel just a mile away from John F. Kennedy Airport.
After landing in Madrid, we had a three-hour drive to Zaragoza, where the School Year Abroad (SYA) Program is located. The buildings looked drab as we drove through the outer part of the city, and the Mediterranean climate we thought Spain had was completely false. Zaragoza is a desert. There is no grass on the side of highways, no trees. Just desert shrubs and orange dirt. We were thankful SYA offered countless opportunities to travel, and since September we have been to almost every corner of the peninsula. Between trips we learned to call Zaragoza home. It was where we felt most comfortable, where we could eat home-cooked food and enjoy the familiarity of the city center streets, where our school was located. It is hard to explain to everyone from the United States just what has made this year so special to us and worth the impending doom of senior year plus the 333s. The easiest way is to put together a highlights reel of SYA Spain, starting from our first dose of Spain and its culture, to our last weeks.
Spaniards eat well without a doubt. Though there isn't much variety within the country, there are regional delicacies. The Northwestern shore is seafood heaven, the Southeastern shore is the only place for a nice Paella and in the central area, you’ll find the best ham imaginable. There are the typical Spanish plates like chorizo (pork sausage), previously mentioned paella (a seafood platter), tortilla de patata (egg and potato dish), calamar bravo (calamari sandwich), jamón (ham) and gazpacho (tomato soup) that are found in any Spanish household. Another aspect of Spanish culture is its love for bread. We can walk into any grocery store and leave with two loaves of delicious bread for just a euro. Also distinctly Spanish, in the fall, during tomato season, we ate gazpacho at least three times a week, cold, hot or with other things or alone. We were thankful when tomato season ended, and the baskets usually filled with them in El Mercado Central emptied out. Spain is interesting in the fact that if it is not Plum season, there will be no plums. There are no trucks or airplanes transporting food from regions that can still grow it. If the fruit or veggie is not in season, it is impossible to find.
We have had the incredible fortune to not only go to Spain for a year and live in a city completely immersed, but to travel around the country and experience the beauty of each of the regional subculture. Between the group of Exonians here, we have touched every corner of Spain. On school trips we were sent all over, into other Spanish homes and into hostels shared with other travelers from across the world. Each independent travel trip was a true test of the bond between those who went and, as the name implies, just how independent we actually are. There was no one checking in on us, making sure we got dinner or made the train; it was all us. Between our first independent travels and our last, there have been countless mishaps, like missing documents, missing trains and a lot of getting lost, but they have only made us better travelers. The friends you travel with become friends of a new level. You see exactly who they are and how they function in all types of situations. Lunches and dinners filled with delicious food have an odd way of coercing stories and pasts out of your travel companions. It's challenging to have to fend for oneself in a foreign country, but when one finally finds that museum hidden in a side street, plaza with the incredibly extravagant fountain or magnificent church, the stress of directions and whatever else becomes insignificant. We have never been such independent individuals.
As we count down the days until the group flight home (May 25), it’s hard not to walk down streets without reflecting. So much has happened in one year, and it has all gone by unbelievably quick. In October, we never thought May would come. Everything was so new and exciting that we were constantly busy. It never occurred to us that we didn't have an eternity here. By January, we were praying to make it to May. The killer Cierzo (wind from the Pyrenees) made most treks outside unbearable. In April, we realized we were in Spain on borrowed time, and that this experience, full of discovery, would soon end. We regretted wishing the time would move quicker. We are relishing our last couple weeks here and trying to absorb as much Spanish as we can to take back with us. We are coming back wiser, more mature, self-aware and independent global citizens. As much as it pains us to leave our host-families, teachers, friends and beloved country behind, it’ll be amazing to see Exeter again. See you soon.