Hola dear reader. It's May 21, 2025 and I am preparing to accompany 20 college students to Spain for three weeks. If you read this blog last year, you'll know that this will be the second time I've led this class. If you are interested in reading about my experience last year, I invite to go back and read my previous posts from last year. If not, that's ok...but I don't like it! JK ;)
Similar to my pre-departure post last year, I have mixed emotions right now. But the source of my emotions this year are very different. Last year, I was mostly concerned about the fact that I had never been away from my family for more than a week AND the not so small issue of me not knowing what the hell I was doing as the instructor of this course.
From a personal standpoint, being away from my family for three weeks proved to be rough. Despite being surrounded by people, the evenings in Spain were quite lonely. I spent HOURS walking through strange cities, listening to music, and eating delicious food by myself . "Una mesa para uno, por favor" became my least favorite Spanish phrase. Now, I don't expect any sympathy for the guy who got to hang in Spain for three weeks whilst "working". But, I am going to make some changes this go round. First and foremost, I am scheduling 1 on 1 conversations with each of my 20 students. I figure me buying 20 kids coffee or ice cream is well worth it if it keeps my mind busy. ;) But of course the greatest benefit of this strategy is that it will allow me get to know these young travelers as individuals. I was able to meet with a handful of students individually last year and those simple conversations really helped facilitate a heightened level of trust and familiarity. Many of my students from last year have stayed in touch with me and I've written several letters of recommendation for them because I felt I could write a genuinely supportive letter. I look forward to getting to know this new batch of students and future leaders.
From a professional standpoint, I feel much less like a phony this go around!! I feel comfortable in Madrid and Barcelona AND have a 500 day Duolingo streak running (no big deal). While last year's course was a wild success for me as an instructor and learner, in some ways I look back on it as the first pancake. Certainly the class had the correct shape and composition but it didn't really hit all the points I was trying to address when designing this course.
Last year, we spent a fair amount time learning about how Spain takes care of those who are sick and/or underserved. We visited public and private hospitals, emergency medical services, and social service organizations. And those visits were inspiring! But this year, I want the class to focus more on the factors that drive optimal health and well-being. We will dive further into the Mediterranean diet, innovative city designs that promote walking and movement, and will even visit the Olympic Village in Barcelona! Our goal is to understand what makes Spain great and try to bring a few lessons home.
The emotions I'm feeling this year are also mixed. I'm excited to travel, to learn, and to experience new things. I'm again apprehensive about being without my family for three weeks. But this year, I'm also concerned about state of our country and how this group of young Americans will be perceived by Spanish citizens. We will be traveling to Madrid and Barcelona, two cities that have a reputation for anti-tourism demonstrations (we'll get into this more later). The goal of this class is to expose students to a new country and way of life, let them consider the differences between these two countries, and articulate how those differences contribute to health and well-being. A secondary, but equally important goal, is for this group of students to leave a positive impression among the citizens of a wonderful country that is allowing us to visit and learn. We are ambassadors and will represent ourselves as such. I'm grateful for this opportunity and I'll do my best to share my experiences here for those who want to tag along.
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