Tag: Sparta High School

Here we are back in the United States. Not going to lie, I cried a little bit boarding my plane home. Mainly, because I was so sleep deprived, but also because I was realizing how much I’d come to love and cherish Spain during my language camp in Salamanca. I thought back to my first time walking into the Madrid airport and how I was physically shaking with the excitement of being in a new country, about to start the adventure of a lifetime. Little did I know, it would go by in the blink of an eye.

Here is what I’ve learned during my program in Spain:

Airport Confidence      

I’ve become confident in navigating airports and deciding if I really do have time to walk halfway across one for Starbucks.

Pro tip: Probably shouldn’t unless you have at least an hour to kill.

Making International Friends was Easier than Expected     

Making friends wasn’t half as hard as I had imagined. I’m so glad I’ve become so close with so many people from around the world. I was blessed with some real gems. Now I have reasons to visit so many more exciting places to see them!

Full Immersion Really Does Improve Spanish Fluency

While I still have a long way to go on the road to fluency, my Spanish has improved a great deal after being immersed for a month and a half! Before going abroad, I felt scared to enter conversations, in fear of getting lost in the many words and tenses I wasn’t familiar with.

However, after so much practice, I get excited to use what I know now! One of best friend’s moms back home, who is Hispanic, has even invited me over for dinner to talk in Spanish about my experience! I’m also thinking of either double majoring or minoring in Spanish in college next year.

Traveling is Part of My Life Now

This experience helped me to really dive into thinking about how I can incorporate traveling into my life in the future. Right now I’m set on studying abroad in university (probably coming back to you, España), and hopefully getting TEFL certified by Greenheart Travel, of course. The world is so big, and I get excited with every piece of it I uncover.

Spain is a New Home   

I’ve learned that you can have more than one home. I can still picture my walk to school every day and can hardly believe that it’s 4000 miles away. It definitely holds a special place in my heart now, and I know that I will be coming back real soon.

Gracias a…

I want to thank everyone at Estudio Sampere for being so kind to me and teaching me all about the Spanish language and its culture. Ibán, Joaquín, Maricha, and Mariana were the best teachers I could have asked for, and made my experience in the classroom and excursions so much better.

I would also like to thank all of the staff at Greenheart Travel for your kindness and giving me the privilege to run this sweet blog! Don’t worry, I’ll be back for more traveling with you guys in the near future!

I’d also like to thank all of the readers on here for following along, and I hope I sparked a little bit of wanderlust in at least one of you!

About the Author:

Emmy Scott is 17 years old, from Sparta, Michigan and our 2017 Greenheart Travel Correspondent scholarship winner. Traveling to our language camp in Salamanca, she is “over the moon excited to travel to Spain because it will have lifelong effects on how I look at the big world around me.” Follow her adventures here!

Make traveling part of your life. Spain is the perfect place to start!

Everyone was right; my first two weeks at my language camp here in Salamanca, Spain have truly flown by. Every day is full of new experiences and (while it may sound a little lame) lots of learning! In the beginning, my schedule was a little sporadic but it has since fallen into more of a rhythm. So without further adieu, here is “más or menos” (more or less) what a typical day in the life of a student in Salamanca, Spain is like:

Wake up: 10am – 10:30am

Since I’ve been here I’ve been blessed with afternoon classes. So that means I have a little more time to sleep in the morning. However, many of my friends have morning classes (9am) and haven’t had much trouble adjusting to them.  

Breakfast: 11am

When my roommate and I wake up we usually hear  our host mom, Juany, making us some food. In Spain, breakfast isn’t very big, so our typical dish has been, toast, an egg, and some hot chocolate. She then sends us on our way with a sack lunch ( A sandwich, fruit, and water.)

Meet with friends and finish homework: 11:30am – 12pm

After breakfast, we meet up with some friends, and finish our homework (very minimal) from the day before in one of Salamanca’s many cafés.

School 2pm – 3:30pm

My first class of the day is with a really nice teacher,  (they’re all super nice) named Joaquin. We do a few lessons in our workbooks and always share out loud. Sometimes it’s a little scary, but they’re there to help you learn and get better.

Break 3:30pm – 4pm

This break is between our two classes and is a really nice time to get a coffee or eat a little snack from one of the plentiful vending machines. Explore new snacks!

School 4pm – 5:30pm

This is my second class and it’s with a teacher named Ivan. He’s a really nice teacher, too. What I like about the teachers at language camp is that they are always quick to learn your name and are comfortable joking around with you.

Activity 5:30pm – 7pm

Ivan and Joaquin usually run these and most of the time make them pretty fun. So far we have done:

• A brief tour of Salamanca
• Sports (little outdoor games in teams, soccer balls, etc.)
• Dancing (personally I’m not a huge fan of dancing but it was a good experience I suppose)
• Eating and learning about authentic food of Spain

Activity is a good time to meet more people in the program, especially if they’re in different classes than you!

Free time 7pm – dinner time (for me it’s 9pm)

During this time I usually hang out with friends in the plaza, a café, our favorite garden, or go shopping. There’s a lot to do in this time since this is when most people seem to be around town. This is also a great time to explore!

Dinner 9pm – 10pm

For me, dinner is at 9pm, but it just depends on your host family. Our host mom, Juany, always makes really delicious food and always gives us more than we can eat! My favorite dish she makes is spaghetti noodles in an alfredo sauce with bits of “jamón” or ham (famous in Salamanca).

Nightlife in Salamanca 10:30 – 1am (ish)

Salamanca is gorgeous all the time but when they turn on the lights in the Plaza Mayor, it isn’t unusual for you to hear clapping. Night time is a great time for ice cream with friends, looking at the sights in a different light, or just people watching.

My tips for future students studying abroad with a host family:

• Be courteous

-Remember to keep your room clean, come home on curfew, and make sure that when they’re showing you how to use their weird spanish door, you pay attention so you won’t have to wake them up to let you in at 1am.

• Getting lost is sometimes a good thing

-My first night here, our house moms brought us to the Plaza Mayor and showed us where the school was. After, they told us it didn’t matter what time we came home. All of us were having fun and exploring until we realized we had no idea how to get home. We walked in a huge circle and eventually found our way. But I’m glad for that walk, as it was full of laughs and excitement for living in our new city.

• Try new things

The first few days are going to be full of a lot of “firsts”. While that can be overwhelming sometimes, I promise you will eventually adjust. These firsts don’t have to be something very thrilling either. It could simply be, your first time sitting in a ~Spanish~ park. Or just adventuring into a new fruit market.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments or if you want, you can add me on snapchat to follow the daily adventures!  Snapchat: emmyscott123

Happy adventuring! 💚

About the Author:

Emmy Scott is 17 years old, from Sparta, Michigan and our 2017 Greenheart Travel Correspondent scholarship winner. Traveling to our language camp in Salamanca, she is “over the moon excited to travel to Spain because it will have lifelong effects on how I look at the big world around me.” Follow her adventures here!

Greenheart Travel is excited to send a group of amazing travelers to study and volunteer abroad as part of our 2017 Travel Correspondent and Global Explorer Scholarship awards. To help introduce our inspiring writers, we are doing a series of spotlight interviews to help you get to know a little more about who they are, where they will be headed and what inspired them to travel abroad.

Read on to meet 17-year-old, Emmy Scott, our Greenheart Travel Correspondent from Sparta, Michigan, who’ll be traveling abroad to study Spanish at our Teen Summer Language Camp in Spain!

What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?

Petting dogs and enjoying nature from the comfort of my hammock.

I’m also a huge theatre nerd. I’ve been in 16 productions and have been blessed with so many great friendships from it. You can catch me singing show tunes basically all day long.

Another thing that really interests me is music. I’m in our school band (no that’s not a lame as it sounds) and am the section leader for the Front Ensemble. I play the Marimba, which is pretty much this huge wooden xylophone.

Have you traveled abroad before?

I’ve traveled to Canada a few times and went on a cruise when I was younger but I don’t remember too much.

What got you interested in learning a new language and traveling abroad?

My Spanish classes in middle and high school definitely sparked an interest in not only Hispanic culture, but many others as well. I don’t think I’d be going where I’m going if it wasn’t for them.

What are you most excited about experiencing or seeing during your language camp?

Honestly, I’m super excited to dig into some authentic food! I’m really looking forward to the different architecture and traditions as well.

Why do you feel it’s important to travel to a new place and learn a new language?

I feel it’s important to travel and learn new languages because it opens your eyes to different traditions, food, and experiences that you otherwise wouldn’t have. It also expands your social circle; imagine being able to talk to entirely new group of people!

What are you nervous about?

I’m a little nervous about the Spanish custom of “dos besos.” I don’t usually get that close to people’s faces! However, I’m sure I’ll become used to it as my time progresses in Spain.

How well do you speak a second language at this point?

I feel that I am at a higher intermediate level of Spanish understanding. I am mostly confident in reading and writing, okay at listening, but I get a bit nervous when I need to put together sentences that are more complex.

How do you think you will change the most during your time abroad?

I think I will become a much more independent person who will continue to grow in my sense of self and have an even stronger appreciation for Spanish people and their culture.