Shayna: For my study abroad program I traveled to the small tropical island of South Caicos to study marine ecology and fisheries management. I spent three and a half months scuba diving, doing research, tanning, playing music, meeting amazing people, drinking local rum, snorkeling, and making friends that I know I will keep forever. I let go of what I thought were daily necessities (like internet, fresh food, and showering more than once a week) and embraced living simply. It’s hard for me to put into words how much this experience changed my life, but I’ll try to simplify it and explain a few key lessons this semester taught me.
Megan: During the summer of 2014 I volunteered in Adelboden, Switzerland and the following fall semester I studied in Madrid, Spain at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid with IES. I lived with a wonderful host family and studied art history in the Prado Museum as well as Spanish literature, journalism, and politics. Also, I was able to travel around Europe in my free time to places all around Switzerland and Spain as well as France, Italy, Germany, England, and Morocco seeking eidelweiss, the best European coffee, and some of the craziest days and nights that I will never forget.
1. Only Good Things Come from Stretching Your Comfort Zone:
Megan: “Si tú puedes hacer algo, tienes que hacerlo.” The best advice my Madrid-native host mother gave me loosely translates as, “if you can do something, then you must do it.” While in this case she was urging me to go on a date, this advice should be applied to practically everything. One of the best trips I took while abroad was to Paris, where I was alone for nearly a week. When you push yourself through new and challenging experiences you learn so much more about yourself. No matter the experience, even if it’s dining alone in the most romantic city in the world, you will come away all the wiser and more self-confident.
Shayna: They always tell you that you’ll never forget your first breaths under water, and I was no exception to this rule. As I ducked below the surface of our saltwater pool, regulator in mouth, inhaling slowly, I began to panic. The mix of nitrogen and oxygen inside the tank on your back doesn’t feel like the air you breathe on a regular basis, and it caused me to feel like I was suffocating. I started to breathe rapidly and surfaced, taking my regulator out of my mouth and breathing the sweet sea air. I had to talk myself down and convince myself that it was worth it, even though I was scared out of my mind. It was the second descent back into the pool that opened up a whole new world to me – a world that allowed me to swim 100 feet below sea level with sharks, dolphins, and turtles. The newfound lesson of determination opened up an abundance of new experiences for me: front-flipping into the ocean, jumping off a very large ship wreck, even going on night swims with barracudas. Leaving my comfort zone gave me memories I will treasure forever, and a skill I hope to use over and over again in the future.
2. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff:
Megan: Best friend is kicked out of a club in Barcelona and you lost your cell phone in the ocean? Raining for the first time in over a year on your birthday trip to Morocco? Life goes on. There’s nothing like traveling to teach you that you can choose to be happy. Traveling frees you of those things that you didn’t even know you may have depended on, like showers that last longer than five minutes. Instead, you’re taught what really matters, like friends, family, and experiences. No matter how many cell phones, water bottles, and earrings you lose while abroad, there are always some great friends and delicious croquetas waiting for you at the bar.
Shayna: During the first two weeks of my semester, we were rendered internet-less by a recent tropical storm. I only learned of this development a week before I left for my program, and (like most other young adults in the 21st century) I freaked out. How was I going to live in a new country, and start a new adventure with no way to communicate with my friends and family? I was certain I would go crazy. However, a couple days into the program I found that not only could I do without internet, but not having it intensified my experience. I couldn’t use my phone, so I wasn’t constantly looking down. I couldn’t update Facebook, so I enjoyed my experiences purely for myself. I couldn’t get engrossed in other people’s lives, so I enjoyed my own to the fullest. Something that I thought I needed became something I no longer needed to think about.
3. Take Time to Smell the Roses Drink the Coffee and Live on Island Time:
Megan: In Spain, coffee-to-go doesn’t exist and siestas are a way of life. Take some time to enjoy yourself, because, contrary to the popular American belief, life is not a contest to see who is busiest.
Shayna: On the island everything starts late. If you schedule dinner for 7:00, you better be prepared to order around 8:30. If you plan to meet up with friends at 6:00, you’ll probably see them around 7:00. With a beautiful blue ocean always within walking distance, a warm sun streaming down, and one dollar ice cream, it’s easy to get lost in the good life and forget about what you need to do. As a person who gets frustrated at the slowness of Grinnell-time, it took a while for me to appreciate not being on a rigorous schedule. But I can now assure you: living slow is the way to go. Whether it’s waking up so you can soak in the sunrise, or laying on the dock for a couple minutes (or an hour) more than you planned, living on island time creates a more relaxed, happier you.
4. It’s okay, and even fulfilling, to experience things alone:
Shayna: As an ENFP (100% extravert) being alone is something I have always struggled with. So I was a little bit terrified to be going abroad to a remote island, with limited communication to the outside world. Although I had a group of 34 wonderful people around me constantly, it did feel isolating from time to time. However, my view on being alone changed one morning as I sat watching the sunrise over the ocean, and consciously took a minute to appreciate it for myself. I acknowledged that I was alone in this moment and that it would serve only as my own personal memory, something I enjoyed purely for myself. I felt calm and at peace knowing that I could be happy being alone.
5. Bucket Lists are Overrated:
Megan: Overplanning and high expectations only set you up for stress and disappointment. It’s the off-the-beaten-path town, the unplanned excursion, and the spontaneous outing that will really surprise you. I had never heard of San Sebastián, Spain, nor had I ever planned to go there, but that didn’t stop me from being swept away by its beauty. I’m sure that it will be in my memory for years to come. It’s always the unexpected night, when your friends unwillingly drag you away from Netflix, that you end up in a dance contest on stage at a nightclub a few hours later. I couldn’t relive a night like that even if I tried, which is why overplanning is overrated.
6. Sometimes Responsibilities Shouldn’t Be Priorities:
Shayna: One of my greatest challenges towards the beginning of the semester was getting my schoolwork done while surrounded by such natural beauty, interesting people, and a plethora of opportunities. However, towards the end of the semester I found it was better to stop stressing over schoolwork, and to indulge in the experiences I was offered, or make some for myself. Sometimes dock jumps, night snorkels, songwriting sessions, and late night spontaneous decisions with your friends are more important, teach you more, and mean more in the long run, than lab reports and tests.
7. Some Things Don’t Require Translation:
Megan: Learning a foreign language is an exciting process that opens up many doors, but mastering a language isn’t necessary to communicate and form great friendships and relationships across cultures. Some of the best moments I had with my angsty, Avril Lavigne-loving, expelled 15-year-old host sister were about the kind of music we liked. One of the easier concepts to learn in another lanuage in another country is the unique sense of humor, which, in the case of Spaniards, is pretty dry and self-depricating. Laughter and music are understood across boundaries of language and cultural differences, just like when a friend of mine asked for a ‘coño’ of ice cream instead of a ‘cono’ at a shop in Madrid, which unfortunately refers to a female body part instead of a cone.