Experience in Spain(Community)

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Spain and their love for togetherness and community/things I found troubling.

I made a little snippet on YouTube about San-Juan festival and how the band brought everyone together.

Everything about this video is absolutely beautiful. I love the sense of togetherness that everyone has. This city has a knack for bringing people together. This is done in many ways. whether it is eating tapas together, or dancing together. Everyone gathered on the night of san-Juan to celebrate the change from spring to summer. There were fireworks, music, bonfires, and more. It was a joyful moment. A highlight of the night was the band. Something about it was heartwarming. I loved the mannerisms of the players, they bent down, turned around, switched parts, just to entertain the people of valencia. I was reminded of my time in Ghana The band especially brought back memories because I was a part of a youth group band in which I was a drum major. I loved that what I did because everyone has eyes on you and you draw people to your community and culture. The skills and talent disappeared when I came to America because everything that is done individually. I felt like a completely changed person when I came at first.

Another presentation of joy in Valencia community happened when some friends and I went to Poblats Marítims on the beach to get paella. When we were there, someone randomly turned on a big speaker and everyone joined in and danced. It was so beautiful how they can party anywhere. I mean anywhere. I had to dance too because the DJ really knew how to get people up on their knees.

I have said some positive things I noticed in Valencia. Now, I am going to talk about the bad things that I found troubling to me as a black-African girl. Two-weeks into the program, I needed to change my hairstyle so I started looking for places where I could find proper hair extensions that would help me. I could not find any. This is because there are not a lot of African people in Valencia. To get what I needed, I had to go to Barcelona, which was quite pricey. I found that troubling that I cannot embrace certain parts of myself in the city of Valencia.