My name is Kimberly Mauricio pursuing a civil engineering career. I am a student that is currently in San Sebastián, Spain. This is my first time traveling to Spain, and this will definitely not be the last. This is the first time I travel internationally other than Guatemala which is my parents home country. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to come on this once in a lifetime experience to San Sebastián with my peers. We are now about 10 days in, which is around the halfway mark. We have done so much, both on our own and with our profesor.

Past 10 Days in a Nutshell

Getting to know San Sebastián was a little difficult at first. For most of us this is the first or one of the first few times traveling on our own. It is good to know that we have Professor Zabalbeascoa, Associate Director of Honors Experiential Learning Opportunities and Communication, around. This experience so far has made the group get better at communication and has created a bond where we can’t help but watch out for each other although it wasn’t necessarily like this at first. We now learned how to use public transportation and learned more about the food we like. I have enjoyed the food, there are many tasty places that I have been able to try. We got here considering each other strangers and leaving with friendships created in San Sebastián that will expand into a lifetime of adventures. 

Santa Clara Island

On Wednesday July 10th the group got the chance to visit Santa Clara Island. We took off to the Island at around 6:00 p.m. It was about a 10 minute ride from the dock in San Sebastián. At the island we got a chance to self reflect and share with each other our experience so far. We noticed that people in San Sebastián live more freely than we do back in the United States. Through out the week they do more than just work. They find themselves going out for a drink or having a couple hours at the beach. They live life as stress free as possible. I learned that being stressed is a valid reason to take a sick day at work. Because of this, they have a longer life span. We also acknowledged the moderation that they have. One big example is their relationship with alcohol, especially beer. Everyone has a beer regularly, and because of this their addiction or overconsumption of alcohol isn’t a problem here. We also noticed that the use of cigarettes is much higher than we are used to back at home. Almost everyone smokes. I have noticed that they eat a lot of bread here. A lot of it. Almost every dish includes bread. They also often give you bread before having your meal at a restaurant. This is something that most of us haven’t gotten completely used too. We also talked about the locals. Some of us have had better experiences than others. Personally, I haven’t had a hard time communicating with the locals because I have spoken Spanish since I was a little girl. It was in fact my first language. I noticed that our Spanish is different. We have a completely different accent and that causes trouble for me sometimes. I also don’t understand a couple of words because I would use a different word instead. I have learned a couple of new words at Lacunza Academy.

After conversing, the group was anxious to get in the water. There was a very small beach and a dock that we could jump off. It was one of the hottest days of the week at around 80 degrees fahrenheit. Because of this there was a good amount of people there. Once we were ready we got in and the water was very refreshing. We were dying of heat and jumping in the water is exactly what we all needed. I haven noticed the significant change of temperature at the beach here compared to the one close to home. The water here is much warmer.

Conclusion

I haven’t regretted a second coming to San Sebastián. Although we have had rainy days and have felt overwhelmed at times, I would come back again. I have loved the experience so far and hope to come back in the future. I love the environment that San Sebastián has to offer. I like how safe and environment friendly it is. Thank you San Sebastián for the experience!