I landed in Bilbao Airport at 6:00pm local time, and I began mentally preparing myself for my first ever experiences outside of North America. I had heard the stories of beautiful San Sebastián, seen the photos from our presentations, and most importantly I set no expectations for the journey. Waking up the next morning I found myself with only four hours of sleep under my belt, and jetlagged to an extent that I had never previously experienced, but somehow I was full of energy and enthusiasm. I was absolutely not prepared for the day ahead. I’ll make the summation brief – but as everyone knows, there was never a dull moment. From breakfast to Spanish class, then the sim cards and lunch, then the extensive tour around San Sebastián, the beach, the cheap dinner, I really could go on and on dissecting every moment from the day. But my first 24 hours in Spain is not best illustrated through simple summary – my personal takeaways came from the small moments alone with my thoughts or with my group mates. For example: I was always told that authentic Spaniards had a lisp when they spoke, and this always confused me. I wondered how an entire nation’s population could somehow be born with lisps, a condition that affects roughly 23% of the global population but is somehow 100% prevalent in Spain. While going through letter combinations in Spanish class, the teacher went over the official pronunciation of “ce” and “ci”, both of which involve a “th” sound. It seems like such a small detail – maybe even obvious or moronic to some, but for me it was an absolute revelation. Of course the entire population of Spain isn’t BORN with lisps, it just sounds that way because of those special letter combinations that have different pronunciations. Another example would be the group meeting behind the sculpture on the bay. The subjects of the meeting were relatively mundane as we all remember, but I felt as though I had another mind-blowing moment. I may have spaced out for a few moments, but in that time I truly took in what I was seeing. The vast views of the bay, boats floating calmly within, the masses of people on the beaches looking like ants in a sandbox. I may have been moderately dehydrated and exhausted, but I felt as though I was living in a dream – potentially sucked into a photo of San Sebastián, and I would soon be waking up in my bed in Leominster. But alas I did not – I snapped out of it and came to terms with the fact that this was my new reality for the next three weeks. I have never experienced that form of satisfaction before – it was as though my dream had literally come true before my very eyes. I’m not sure I have the words to explain it fully – I’m sure it’s one of those things that you must experience to understand, a qualia of sorts.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about making friends with my group mates. I had only met one of the twelve other students before. I was effectively walking into the situation blind – but so was everyone else, so that helped ease my anxiety over the situation. In retrospect I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. I found that a lot of the fun and enjoyment from the day was found in the LACK of pre-existing friendships, and was supplemented by frequent chats with the group mates out of necessity. That sounds like it would be forced or unnatural, but it was actually quite the opposite. Because we had never met before, no questions were off the table: everyone was starting fresh and were in a positive, amicable mindsets. I think it also helps that we are all fluent English speakers while much of the surrounding population defaults to Spanish, putting an inward pressure on us to socialize with one another since we have a common basis of understanding. Around halfway through the day I realized that I was completely comfortable with all of my group mates. I could easily approach anyone without issue, and when plans were being discussed everyone was often easy-going and agreeable. Towards the end of the night it was nice to grab some food and drinks with a small group of us. Even after an exhausting day I was still comfortable cracking jokes and poking fun at them while we ate and drank, and they always reciprocated. It’s crazy to think that just one day together could bring a group so close to one another. It was a pleasure to get to know everyone, and I’m enthusiastic for what the next few weeks will bring for our group.