Their next three days were spent touring Madrid, seeing Segovia and eating authentic Spanish cuisine.

Many expected the trip to be different; “I expected it to be a lot more speaking than it was, especially when we were in Madrid, but people would just speak English to us so it wasn’t that hard,” said Cassie Gayari, a Community sophomore. Although in Madrid it was easy to get around using English, this wasn’t the case with their host families.

After the group’s three days as tourists, it was time to hit the village and see the true Spanish culture. The students boarded their bus with Landrum and Shih, and were off to Toledo. An hour or so later, they arrived and multiple Spanish families awaited them with smiles and kisses. As the students got off the bus, one by one, they were greeted with a kiss on each cheek and warm smiles.

They were then taken to their host family’s home and made as comfortable as possible. “The first day in the family stay was just a struggle, it was just an uncomfortable situation. It wasn’t a problem between languages but it was an uncomfortable situation that definitely improved quickly,” said Sam Sorscher, a Community junior.

Throughout their five days, despite the immense culture shock, the students bonded with their host siblings and families. Many students accompanied their “brothers” and “sisters” to activities such as Zumba classes, soccer practice, English tutoring, and paddle (a common sport in Spain that resembles tennis and badminton).

Though the family stay was challenging and communication took longer than usual, Gayari speaks highly of the experience. “My favorite part of the trip was the host family stay because it gave you a chance to realize what the culture was actually like, not just a touristy point of view,” she says.

Unfortunately, this trip wasn’t all good all the time. During the students’ three first days in Madrid, they went on a subway trip from the hotel in Madrid to another part of the town. The subway is a very common for of transportation in Spain, but it has its dangers. Two students were pick pocketed on the subway. Though it is a common occurrence in Spain, students from Michigan did not know what to expect and two wallets were stolen. Luckily, however, the students called their parents and the cards were deactivated.

It took a couple hours to get over the shock and swarm of emotions, but it was soon taken care of as best as it could be and all was back to normal. The students ate and shopped and when they were done, returned to the hotel either by train or by foot, where they then relaxed and went out for another evening.

Not only was the trip a great experience, but some were inspired to do more travel abroad and maybe even studying. When asked why she wanted to go on the trip, Isabel Todoroff said, “I was thinking about being an exchange student and I thought this would be a good way to see if that was something that I would want to do because of the host family stay,” That being said, she is in the process of applying right now.

The students are very happy to have gone on this trip, and definitely learned a lot. Not only is it a very different culture in Spain, but they have different slang and phrases there. “A couple little things they would say that were really funny. Like one of them translated to ‘The jacket of a security guard’ which is someone whose lazy because security guards in Spain don’t move at all, they just sit there…they also had one that was ‘a melon in the winter’ because it’s out of season…a winter melon. These were very, very specific to these people,” says Sorscher.

Though the trip had its ups and downs, and points of crazy excitement and others of taking it all in, it was a success and many students would recommend the trip for future students. “Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was a cultural experience and I learned a lot of Spanish.” said Jake Ressler, another Community sophomore.

Keep an eye out for other international trips and programs available. They can end up being an amazing experience.