Sarah Durbin '15 delves into Spanish culture

Over the next five weeks, I will be traveling and studying abroad in Spain via the Davidson in Spain program.  We arrive in Barcelona and spend several days exploring the city before moving to Madrid.  During the initial week of the program, we have both guided activities and unofficial ones in which we can explore the cities ourselves.  From Madrid we relocate to Cadiz, where we will be living with host families and taking two classes at La Universidad de Cadiz.  Many historians recognize Cadiz as the oldest city in Europe since its close proximity to the ocean made it a convenient port city. 

In addition to the official tours and classes we are taking, this program encourages students to branch out on their own and explore the culture themselves.  This is the aspect that I am the most excited about—while I have been to Spain before as a tourist, this time I will attempt to blend in with the local culture.  As I write this, the next five weeks stand before me as a huge black hole of unknown experiences, conversations, and meals, but it is a leap I am excited to take. 

As part of the Davidson Student Summer Series, Sarah will be writing about her experiences abroad during Summer 2012. If you're a current Davidson student or alumnus and you're interested in writing about your summer experiences for davidsonian.com, please contact Sarah Welty at sawelty@davidson.edu or Scott Matthews at samatthews@davidson.edu  If you're I