Postcard from Abroad
Dear Office of Study Abroad:
In Spain, I made the conscious decision to be as immersed as possible in the Madrid experience. One of my highlights was the personal connections I made with Spaniards. I had a great group of Spanish friends in Madrid from Universidad San Pablo-CEU, and a lot of awesome friends in Sevilla.
In Sevilla, there is a festival called "La Feria de Abril," which involves a whirlwind of traditional dance, food, and fun that lasts all night (it is, after all, Spain, where the party doesn't get started until midnight). But it's very exclusive; you have to know someone from Sevilla to get in. Luckily, I had friends from Sevilla who not only got me in, but taught me sevillanas, a type of partner dance, and explained to me the entire festival. That weekend was probably one of the best I had in Spain, and I learned that the best way to know a place is to know its people.
I definitely applied that lesson to my subsequent summer in Chile, where I bonded with Chileans who engaged me in a part of their culture to which I would have been ignorant otherwise. I now plan on applying for a Fulbright after graduation so work on international economic development, and if I get it, I plan on getting as immersed in my host culture as possible.
- Priyanka Chaurasia
Credit: Priyanka Chaurasia
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