My Growth in Spain

        As a Bio major with a concentration in Health and Human Sciences, my degree plan includes an internship component in the health field. And ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to study abroad. I don’t think it was even a month after coming to HPU that I was talking with our wonderful Study Abroad director about my academic prospects. I was focused on finding a program that wouldn’t derail my graduation plan and eventually, I caught wind of a program that would satisfy my internship abroad in Sevilla, Spain. 

        Despite dreams of traveling around the world, I had never left the United States before this program. I found myself 12hours away from my life on Oahu in a place whose culture and language I knew little of. Was it terrifying? Absolutely not. I was completely out of my element, sure, but I had nothing but excitement and wanderlust for the next month of my life. Okay. I talked a big game, but the truth is that I was feeling a tiny bit of uncertainty. While I knew what I had signed up for, there was no telling how everything would play out. From my PHTLS (Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support) training and hospital rotations to simply acclimating to life in Spain, I had no idea what to really expect. I also knew that the language barrier would be a slight obstacle, despite my best efforts to learn as much as I could in a short time. 

        It’s actually kind of funny, my first night in Sevilla, about three hours after I landed, I met the other students in my program. We were a whopping group of three (and eventually just two). I tried striking up a conversation with one of the others, Morgan, asking what her name was, only to be met with a “dos semanas”. She’d misheard me, thinking I was asking how long she’d been in Spain, but my stomach DROPPED when I heard her response in Spanish. After all, with a group this small, I needed people I could communicate with. It ended up being a silly miscommunication and she does in fact speak English. Some people who don’t speak English, though, were my host family.

        I opted to live in a homestay to better immerse myself in the culture and lifestyle here, and boy did I get what I wished for. When I first met Alfredo, he asked me a simple question: “Hablas espanol?”. While I understood that much, I definitely wasn’t anywhere proficient enough to claim that I was good at it. I remember having the stupidest expression of shock on my face as he just smiled and led me up the stairs. In a fun twist of luck, I didn’t speak much Spanish and they didn’t speak much English. Of course, I fully accept that this was on me, since I was the one in their country. But we made it work! Through my limited Spanish, a bit of Google Translate, and a LOT of charades, we were able to communicate.

        It’s easy to play it safe and stick to what feels familiar. For me, that would’ve been holing up in my homestay. But I didn’t travel halfway across the world to play it safe. I thrusted myself into a situation that would push and challenge me because I knew I would be better for it afterwards. So every day, I would leave and explore the city, with or without my newfound friends. My program had a bunch of activities planned, but what I found to be the most gratifying was to just put one step in front of the other and get lost. You notice so much more around you when you aren’t focused on getting somewhere. I found that Sevilla is just another place on Earth. A beautiful city rich with culture, mind you, but it was nothing to be scared of. The people live and laugh, the dogs bark and beg, and the sun rises and sets.

        That being said, there are definitely noticeable differences here in Spain compared to what I knew in Hawaii and other places in the States. For one thing, the days are a lot longer than what I’m used to. The sun doesn’t set until at least 10pm, and the city is still up much later than that. Many places are open quite late and it’s not uncommon to see people, including small children, walking about in the late hours of the night. Nightlife doesn’t even begin until around 1 am to 2 am and it may not end until the early hours of the morning. Even stranger to me is the general atmosphere of safety. Neither me nor the two female students I came here with felt unsafe walking home late at night. I’ve heard the same sentiments from many others, as well.

        Now that I’ve finished my time in Spain, it’s fun to look back on my journey. It’s been humbling, eye-opening, and incredibly empowering. A month is either a short time or a long time, depending on who you ask, but to me, it’s incredible how acclimated I felt to life in Sevilla now. Everything that was strange to me now feels muted, like a simple fact of life. Even outside of my program/internship, I can feel that I’ve grown a bit more. In a way that I can only describe as “stepping into the world”, I feel like I understand life a little bit better. No one way of life is right, people are fascinating, and the key to learning more about both is living it and asking. Thanks for sticking along with my rambles here, I hope it was at least entertaining!

3 Weeks in Spain

Landing in Sevilla, I was greeted by warm, golden sunlight and a welcoming atmosphere. The drive to my housing was picturesque, with narrow streets lined with orange trees and historical buildings that told stories of the past. My host mother was a sweet older woman who became like family. During these three weeks that I lived with her, I felt safe, happy, and at peace. I was extremely appreciative of the delicious food, the heartfelt conversations, and her kindness, patience, and humor. Señora genuinely brought a smile to my face every day!

Weekend excursions were a highlight of my trip. Throughout my time abroad, I was able to travel to Barcelona and Lisbon, Portugal as well to truly maximize my experience. I loved Sevilla, but getting the experience to travel to other places was the experience of a lifetime. Classes were held at a local university, a short bus or train ride from my homestay. They were challenging but engaging, taught by passionate professors who encouraged us to immerse ourselves in the culture. Each day in Sevilla was a new adventure. Mornings started with a stroll to a local café for café con leche. Classes took up a significant part of my day but were balanced with exploration. Afternoons were spent visiting the Parque de María Luisa adjacent to the Plaza de España, getting gelato or relaxing by the Guadalquivir River.

I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had in Sevilla. It was a transformative experience, and I do believe it will DEFINITELY stand out on my résumé and in future applications. Returning to the States after my time in Europe has been an eye-opening experience. I never fully realized how much growing and changing happened until I got home. I grew a newfound sense of confidence, independence, and self-assurance in Europe. I learned to navigate unfamiliar environments, adapt to new cultural norms, and communicate more effectively in Spanish. These experiences pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me develop a stronger sense of self and resilience. I also gained lifelong friendships with the other girls in the program! 

Since returning, I've felt a strong longing to go back. Life here doesn't feel the same, and I miss the excitement and growth I experienced in Seville. This has motivated me to explore opportunities for employment and graduate school abroad. I'm particularly interested in finding a way to return to Spain when I graduate in May 2025, as the experience with GlobalEd has profoundly shaped my aspirations and worldview.

Suggestions/Advice to Future Study Abroad Students

1. Embrace the Culture: Dive into local customs and traditions. It will enhance your experience and help you feel more connected.
2. Learn the Language: Even basic Spanish will go a long way in making daily interactions smoother.
3. Be Open-Minded: Expect and embrace differences. They are what make the experience unique and enriching.
   

Interning in Sevilla (and other things I've done while here!)

Hey! My name is Kyle and I’m doing the GlobalEd Abroad 2+2 Medical Internship program in Sevilla, Spain. I’m here for a month doing a Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) course followed by two weeks of interning at a hospital. I didn’t know what to really expect or look forward to when I signed up for this program, but it’s been incredibly exciting and I want to share all about it what I've done for anyone interested in this kind of thing. I'll begin with my program/s day to day.

PHTLS

I started my first two weeks with my PHTLS training. Every day we’d start by discussing EMT theory and then do practice scenarios, either with a training dummy or one of us playing a victim. In a group of three, one person would be the “leader” and direct the situations, ranging from cardiac arrest to car accidents to even a multi-step earthquake extraction. We’d arrive on scene, do our multi-step assessments, and provide the on-site emergency care. At times, it proved to be stressful and I was definitely pushed in ways I couldn’t have even fathomed before. Still, this was the kind of training and preparedness I’ve wanted for years and I believe I’ve come out more confident and better for it. This training would run from about 9am to 5pm Mondays through Thursdays, leaving the remainder of the days and the long weekends open for whatever we wanted.

Hospital

Part two of my program here in Spain includes two weeks of hospital rotations, which I'm currently in the process of. I’ve finished one week so far and I’m thoroughly enjoying it! I’m interning at Vithas Hospital, a private hospital with a lot of different departments. My shifts go from 9am to around 1:30pm, depending on the doctor I’m with and the caseload of the day. So far, I’ve done two days in pediatrics, one in the ICU and one in the ER, as well as one day in the adult ER, so I’ve seen a wide range in my small snapshot of hospital life. It’s incredible seeing patients come in and get assessed by these doctors with years of experience, then to hear the thought processes behind everything discussed. I also got to visit the NICU ward twice, which I really enjoyed. I came into this experience primarily interested in cardiology, but now I’ve found a budding interest in pediatrics. I’m unsure what to expect for my remaining few days, but I know that I’ll learn and see a lot. I may even have the opportunity to watch a heart surgery, which is exciting as that’s one of the things that struck up my interest in healthcare in the first place. Unfortunately I don't have pictures out of respect to privacy.

Extracurricular Activities

My newfound friends and I would spend our nights trying different tapas bars around Sevilla. And with or without them, I was going out for ice cream pretty much every single night. So if anyone needs recommendations, I have an amazing list and I am more than willing to share. I also took full advantage of my weekends off to travel to a couple of the other beautiful cities in Spain. 

Italica

Our first excursion was to Italica, the ruins of an ancient Roman city. To backtrack, I found out something incredible on my first night with the other students: all three of us were Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon fans. Luckily for us, Spain is home to many of the filming sites used in the two shows. Italica was home to the Anfiteatro de Italica, the spot where the big families met in season 7 of GoT, so naturally we had to go!

STARSTRUCK

Our other classmate managed to book us a private, guided tour of the city where we learned a lot of its Roman history, culture, and beautiful architecture. We ended the tour with the Amphitheater in all of its glory, where I unfortunately nerded out and took many pictures. 

Comparison

Granada

That same weekend, a day later actually, we took a train to the city of Granada. One of the others had studied there before so we got our own sort of guided tour, hiking up to the Alhambra, an Islamic palace, walking around the city, and trying some of the best churros I’ve ever had in my life. I will say, if you end up going to the Alhambra, which I do very much recommend, wear shoes with good traction, as some of the steps were kind of slippery. We also went to an Irish pub later than night and watched one of the Eurocopa games, Netherlands vs Turkey. Let’s just say “rowdy” was a complete understatement. 

Ronda

I went on two solo trips in the weeks after. One was a two-day trip to Ronda, a city with the most incredible bridge I’ve ever seen before. The Puente Nuevo is a gigantic bridge made of stone over 200 years ago, which is absolutely insane to me. There’s a canyon hike you can descend to get an amazing view of the gorge and bridge (I’ll attach a picture, but it’s something I think you need to see for yourself). Other places I explored were the Mondragon Palace, the Arab Baths, and the Museo Lara S.L. The palace and baths were cool to see, but they were ultimately a little small and over with soon. Not to discourage anyone from going to see them, of course, admission was very cheap, but I think that the real prize was the museum. There were centuries of Spanish history on display, as well as a basement full of witchcraft and terrifying medieval torture exhibits. Skin crawling stuff, but fascinating in its own right. 

Cadiz

The other self trip I went on was a simple day trip to Cadiz yesterday. I’ll be honest, as a student living in Hawaii, going to a beach town was not high on my list of travel priorities. However, one of my friends studied here in Spain before me and said that I absolutely had to visit. In all honesty, I saw where he was coming from. Cadiz has a HUGE stretch of beach that you could spend an hour or two walking down and the water is so incredibly clear. I didn’t even make it all the way down before I realized I had to turn back to make my return train (but that’s a result of train delays and planning a short trip). Would I say it’s a must-see in Spain? No, but it wouldn’t be a waste of your time, either. 

Program Provided

I’ve talked a lot about my travels outside of Sevilla, but I should also mention that my program has had a lot of activities for us to do within the city. We started the entire trip off with a horse and carriage ride through the city followed by a tapas dinner to try a couple of Spanish foods. There was also a boat tour, a flamenco show, and a visit to the top of Las Setas, a giant wooden structure that I learnt was actually the largest one in the world! But that’s not all. We also had an ice cream social, another night doing a tapas crawl, and coming up, a paella cooking class that I’m very much looking forward to.

View of Sevilla from Las Setas

Long story short, there’s no shortage of things to do here in or around Sevilla. A lot of activities and travel are actually on the cheaper end if you know where to look/book, and I say if you can do it, open yourself up to the experiences. You'll thank yourself for it in the years to come.