Discover the World: Spain

Hi everyone! I’m Melissa and I just completed my rotation in Rome, Italy through St. John's University's "Discover the World: Europe" program and now in Seville, Spain! Out of every place I’ve been to whether it be Greece or Morocco, Rome definitely has a special place in my heart. Rome was the first city where I was able to discover and culturally emerge myself.

"On Top of The Vatican Dome", Rome, Italy

While I called Rome home for 5 weeks, I’m now making Seville my home. When I first arrived in Seville, we had a huge group meeting with all the students from the “Discover the World” program. During that meeting, we were given the opportunity to sign up to volunteer at a local elementary school and work with Spanish students during their English class. I was so excited to work with students again, just as I did in Guatemala.

My first day, I walked into the school with the teacher, Violetta. She told me that’d be in a classroom with twenty 12-year olds and that I’d be coming up with group activities for the students to work on in English! She explained to me that all the students were very open and communicate well in English and that she wants me to speak in English for the entire class. We then discussed together that I’d introduce myself, talk about where I am from, my life in New York and what I’m doing in Seville. One of my worst fears is standing up in front of a room of people completely unprepared and freezing.

"Schoolhouse", Seville, Spain

All the kids came up to me before walking into the classroom telling me their names. They all hurdled around me smiling and full of joy seeing that someone new has come into their lives. Meanwhile, my excitement came over me and I had no fears at all. I just had to be myself and they loved it. After I told them about myself, they had a million questions. A girl named Maria, asked me what was my favorite place that I’ve visited since I named all the countries and cities I’ve visited while in Europe. I told her I loved Seville. While I’ve been here two weeks, it is full of rich Islamic history in the Alcazar de Sevilla and the Cathedral of Sevilla that it makes me very excited to learn more about the country. I explained to her that I am studying religion while in Spain and I’m very interested in learning about the history and culture of Seville and the rest of Europe. This made them so incredibly happy. All of them had smiles on their faces just listening to me talk about my love of learning religion.

"Gothic and Islamic Architecture", Seville, Spain

After I answered all their questions, we broke into groups so they could create short “role-plays” and perform completely from imagination. One group of boys decided that they were going to create a character who is a mad scientist and all of his experiments are going horribly wrong and has to figure out how to clean up the mess he’s made. Listening to all the groups made me realize what powerful imaginations they have since they come up with each role-play on their own and perform in a second language. I remember when I was 12, I was taking my first Spanish class and barely knew any of the language at all while these students are almost fluent in the language. I’m in complete awe of their public education since the students also explained to me that they have the option of taking French in addition to English!

I can’t wait to go back to the school every single week while in Seville. They brighten my day and it seems like I brighten theirs too. I’m hoping this experience brings me closer to deciding what type of post-graduate service I’d like to do. I can’t wait to see what happens in the following weeks.