One thing I was not expecting was the difference in the way people eat in Spain. My host family generally would not eat breakfast and would begin their days on empty stomachs. Then lunch would be the largest meal of the day and would happen around 3pm. This meal was about catching up with the rest of the family as well as eating well. Then after that dinner would take place around 9:30 or 10:00pm. The meals are very spread out throughout the day and it took me some time to adjust to this schedule. I think that it was a good thing to start the day on an empty stomach, as most people in Spain work primarily in the morning. After they have a big lunch and then take a nap for a couple hours. A break in the middle of the day is a nice touch and I understand why so many Spaniards participate in siesta.
I believe studying abroad was a great experience for many reasons. I learned more about the Spanish culture and significantly improved my language skills along the way. I was able to travel to something like 7 countries, as well as pretty much everywhere in Spain. I saw more of the world in 4 months than I feel like I have seen in a lifetime. Living with a host family is another part that made the experience more cultural. I would say most of the study-abroad people that I met were not staying with host families. And it seemed those students were just kinda confined in who they knew already and were not really forced to branch out. I enjoyed the way it turned out overall with the host family situation. The only real complaint I have is how the classes that are taught in English are graded. I took a class that transfers over to Rollins as a communications class, and the class average is like a 5/10 which transfers over as a D. I think this is really unfair and incomparable to Rollins, especially for a communications class.
I think that someone from my host culture would say I got the real deal. Being in Asturias which is not a normal place to have much tourism, this means that was very little English spoken, as compared to more popular study abroad places such as Barcelona, or Valencia. I became part of the culture in the sense that I was doing exactly what the local kids my age were doing. Overall I am very happy with the cultural immersion I received from this experience.
One main thing I learned is that it is important to keep an open mind when meeting people. People are all different from the cultures that they have grown up in. I am sure when I was first meeting local Spainairds they thought I was a bit weird, and I knew I thought they were too at first. But after getting to know people more you see that we really are not that different. Overall highly recommend it.