Class of 2009

Hometown: Columbia, MD

Major: Psychology and Spanish

Interests & Activities: Mount chorale, Psychology club, Gospel choir, Environmental club, Latin American Student Association, Spanish club, chess club, and Sunday music ministry.

 A Three-Day Weekend
We had one three-day weekend while in Spain, and some of us took an optional trip. We left on Friday for Xerez, where we visited Tío Pepe, where sherry is brewed and bottled and from there we went to Spain’s southernmost city, Tarifa. Tarifa is one of the windiest cities in the world, making it excellent for flysurfing and windsurfing. We swam in the sea for a bit and walked around town to take in the sights. On Saturday we went to Gibraltar. From there, we could see Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar, and we went to see the famous rock monkeys of Gibraltar- all named after members of the Royal Family. We also went out to get some delicious British food- most of us got either English breakfast or Fish and Chips. It was interesting how in Gibraltar there’s a colloquial mix between English and Spanish. I went up to a stand and forgetting about Gibraltar being a British territory, asked the man in Spanish for a bottle of water. He looked at me puzzled for a moment and in English responded “well, we have these waters here.” It was a really fun weekend.

The trip was one I’ll never forget

A Typical Day in Sevilla
My family, Concha (which is not a dirty word in Spain) and Pedro, was very welcoming and kind. My roommate from college and I always enjoyed eating and talking with them, even though Pedro talked very fast, faster than we’d ever heard someone speak Spanish.

On a typical day, my roommate Eddie and I would wake up around 7, eat a typical breakfast of toast, olive oil and other spreads, and Spanish hot chocolate. We’d grab our schoolwork and meet up with my girlfriend Noelle and her roommate Ashley, who lived nearby. Since most of us lived in Triana, which is right across the Guadalquivir River from downtown Seville, we’d often meet with others at the bridge the Puente de Triana and walk to the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies (CC-CS) together. We’d socialize or review class work, then head to our respective classes.

My class, “Al-Andalus,” comprised of me, Eddie and Diana (the only other Mounties), and eight girls from other American colleges. Our teacher Conso García loved to take us on trips around the city, lecturing as we walked from site to site. One day we even took a bus out to Carmona to spend the whole day studying the Alcázar there. The material was very interesting; our teacher was hilarious (especially when she attempted to speak English), and I enjoyed that we rarely spent all three and half hours of class in seats as we usually went on excursions.

Class began at 9:00 and went until 11:00, when there would be a half hour break for coffee, churros, tapas, and other snacks. We’d return to class for another hour and half and often would go home for lunch. For lunch, we frequently had gazpacho, which was the best thing after walking for 20 minutes in mid-day Andalucian heat of July. We’d stay at home during Siesta, when my roommate usually napped, and I would study, read, or journal and occasionally nap. Sometimes we’d go out and meet with friends to do some shopping, get a small bite to eat, or work on papers. Many of the Center’s cultural excursions were in the early evening, around 6 or 7 and often lasted and hour or two. From there we’d return home for dinner, which we usually had around 9:30- a very typical time in Spain. After dinner, we’d usually read for class and usually be in bed around midnight.

La Rábida and Córdoba
This past summer, I went on the Mount’s trip to Seville, Spain. While there, I took some classes, polished my Spanish, and learned about Spanish culture through many excursions and trips through Spain’s southernmost province of Andalucía.

The first weekend, a group of us traveled to La Rábida, the monastery where Columbus developed his idea to travel to the Indies via a western route. There, we toured the monastery and spent a day at the beach. The following day I went to Córdoba with other Mount students and we visited a Roman museum, shared some Spanish tapas (small plates of appetizers) together, and ended our day touring the Mezquita, the mosque built during the Moorish Conquest of Spain. It was later taken in the Reconquest and is used today as a cathedral. I walked in and couldn’t believe how beautiful it was with a mix of Muslim and Christian art. What most took my breath away were the many arches and columns which went in every direction I looked. It was a perfect visit for me, since I took a course on Hispano-Muslim art and architecture. That week, I would study the structural design of those very arches, and the artistic designs of the Mihrab, the place where the Koran is kept.