Student Zeke Lloyd ’24 is studying in Spain during Summer 2022 as part of CC’s Summer in Spain program, based in Soria. Students live with host families and participate in city life for two summer blocks. In addition to immersive language learning, the program incorporates several cultural activities and excursions to places such as Madrid and San Sebastian, learning about the history and culture of Spain. Zeke shares stories and pictures from his summer experiences along the course.
Soria’s main street is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I walk along it every day on my way to school. The four-lane road became the central artery, curving from one end of the city to the other. The most important buildings are located along this road. Every morning I pass a huge bullring, a 17th-century Catholic church, and a social security office, where the Spanish flag hangs alongside the blue banner of the European Union.
In Colorado Springs, or any other American city, the centrality of this street would make the street noisy. But on my way home there are no loud horns, loud motorbikes, and the city is generally crowded. In fact, there is never any traffic. Cars glide smoothly through roundabouts, and pedestrians cross the streets without the need for a stop sign. There are two things I’m looking forward to on my morning commute: the coolness of about 15 degrees below the midday heat and the serenity you only find in a city without rush hour.
This is the taste of a small Spanish town, a place that has remained uniquely unaffected by foreign influences. With a population of around 40,000, Soria does not attract much tourism. The location of the village also contributes to this cultural seclusion. Soria sits about two hours by car from any major city.
There is another component of Soria’s lack of tourists: the lack of English. Shop owners, cashiers, waiters, and most tour guides only speak Spanish. This presented one of the greatest challenges in the journey. Some people in our group were fluent; roughly a third of us were beginners.
But perhaps more difficult than understanding how to speak a language is learning about the cultural context that shaped it. Rural Spanish customs introduced a plethora of habits I had never been familiar with. It is not uncommon for dinner to last until 11:00, and walking is the most common method of transportation. Not to mention, Soria’s location in the middle of Spain’s open plains means temperatures often top 90 degrees.
Admittedly, the whole experience was intimidating. In one day I crossed the Atlantic Ocean, met my host family, moved to a new house, and started living in a foreign country. At first, it was hard not to feel a little isolated.
The first Saturday after classes started, a day when the temperature was over 100 degrees, I found myself in an open field surrounded by at least a thousand people, all packed tightly. The event was part of a series of festivals the city hosted during the summer. Food carts line the periphery of the scene, music blasts from every direction, and everyone is talking, eating, and dancing. In one area, a group of bulls roamed and spectators watched from the top of the stone wall that covered the animals. The whole experience was like nothing I had ever seen. Sweating under the hot sun, I felt incredibly far from home.
Then, I remembered that I was not alone. Looking around me, I and a group of ten other CC students, all sitting together on the grass. I only know a few by name. After all, most of the people on the trip have never met. As we sat steaming under the Spanish sun, the overwhelming novelty of the scene around us did little to stop the conversation from flowing. We all struggle with the same thing: communicating and connecting with our host family, and understanding the customs of a new place. Sitting together, we talked about difficulties. It makes everything easier. From that moment, I didn’t feel alone.
Colorado Springs is 5,000 miles away, but Soria soon becomes a second home. Armed with the confidence that we were exploring this new country together, it didn’t take long for us to settle into a normal routine. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we go to the dance studio to learn salsa and bachata. Some people went to the old warehouse to play football with local friends on Wednesday. As our Spanish improved, we found ourselves getting better at connecting with our host families. Lunches and dinners change from quiet, confusing meals to opportunities for laughter, learning, and bonding.
By the time the Fourth of July came around, we had been overseas for over a month. Monday marked the end of San Juan, the annual five-day festival in Soria. We had not seen much of it; last night our group had returned from staying in San Sebastián. And now, with only a week left in the classroom, it looks like the journey is over.
As is traditional for the end of San Juan, Soria wears fireworks. The serendipity of its coincidence with our Independence Day produced an interesting irony. Fireworks searing the sky served to remind us of home, but at that moment, many of us did not want to leave Spain. The quiet city of Soria, with no traffic, has captured our hearts. Gone is the sense of urgency my daily routine once included. It was replaced by lunches that took up the whole afternoon, aimless walks along the river, and conversations in Spanish restaurants that lasted well into the night.
Finally, Spain does not seem to be new. The time spent there just felt alive, which is why our departure felt like an odd conclusion. It doesn’t fit the narrative. There are many parts of the experience that seem unusual for that reason. Like any travel tale, our journey has elements of a good story. There are protagonists, challenges, and triumphs. But an important part of the classic plotline is clearly missing. There is no call for adventure. There is no major conflict. There is no satisfactory conclusion. We overcame obstacles, then we found a routine that is not more usual than the one we had in the United States. Then we left.
So, in looking back on my time abroad, the most memorable part is going home tomorrow.
