Testimonial from Spain

August 14th, 2007 by: Pete

This is an email I just received from a student from our Spain Teen Study Abroad Program. His name has been changed for security purposes. I am so glad that he (John) took the time to write. I personally know that Spain can change your life–It changed mine. The country and experience can be magical. I am so glad John took the time to write so I can share his thoughts about the program with others!

Hello, my name is John. This summer, I was one of several teens to attend the internal drive-Spain program, and I just had to send an email to you to show my thanks and gratitude that this program exists. First of all, let me start off by saying, that I love to travel. Living where I do in a small southern town, its the only thing that keeps me sane is to get out and see the world, and I’ve been to many amazing places: America’s biggest cities, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Jamaica, and so on……..but nothing can compare to my experience this summer in Spain. I found the program link one day on google I think and signed up thinking that it was just gonna be a fun thing to do this summer. I came not expecting much and….well….I was blown away. Everything about the program was perfect. The people, the school, the living situations, the freedom, and our instructors Kevin and Kendra were awesome. At first I was a little nervous considering I was being thrust into an entire different world with people that I didn’t even know, but by the third day there, those people had become my best friends and the city of Cadiz felt more like my home than anything else. The vibrant background of the city of Cadiz was amazing, it was the perfect place to be set free and it really felt like for the first time that we were trusted with complete freedom to do whatever we wanted, which was nice. Mundolengua was a great place to go to class everyday and everyone there was absolutely great. Kevin and Kendra were a blast to be with and usually you would think that they were chaperons of sorts, but really they were just amazing people that were a lot of fun to hang out with and the program wouldn’t have been the same without them. The excursions and cultural experiences that were planned were all exciting and always grabbed and kept my attention. Cadiz was a wonderful spot for this program. My Spanish host family was also very nice and I even find myself missing them as well. My time in Spain felt like years, by the end of it all of us had felt like we’d been living there all our lives and we were definitely not excited to be leaving at all. By the time I was back in JFK airport in NYC I already felt like I didn’t belong here. The attitudes of Americans and the busy lifestyle that surrounds them seemed so alien and weird to me and I wondered to myself, “wow, is that how I really use to act…..” From the moment the eleven of us hugged good bye as we all went to separate gates to go home, I had to sit and watch as everyone left for I was the only one whose flight left the next day. One by one I felt like I was losing the most important people in my life, like everything that I had experienced was being ripped from me, but then a few hours later sitting alone for the first time in my hotel room I began to change my mind. This one program, had brought me so much: A better understanding of the Spanish culture and language, Closer to my dreams of becoming a professional move director, and because of it i now had so many new friends that were sprawled across America and I just sat there amazed that this one experience had changed my life forever. It has been ten days since I’ve been home and theres not one day that goes by that I don’t think about Spain. Every day I use myspace, facebook, email, and texting to talk to my new friends just as if they were still here beside me, and I feel proud and excited that I have great friends in New York, California, and many other states, and I’m actually in the works of planning a flight to Long Island, NY to stay up with my roommate from Spain. Spain has also inspired me to continue with trying to learn to speak Spanish and everyday for an hour I use audio CDs and workbooks so that I don’t let my new found knowledge leave me. Most of all though, the fact that I have my own homemade documentary to forever keep and remember Spain is beyond me. I’ve watched and re watched it to many times to remember and each time, it brings a huge smile to my face as a rush of memories come flooding back. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that, well, this program had completely changed my life, and I really felt obligated to find whoever was responsible for it and tell them that it was absolutely one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me in my lifetime. I’ve taken so much from it and might even do the program again just to be back in my home across the sea. So thank you, THANK YOU, so much for this chance and I throw my hat off to you, for one great program……..It really works!

To find out more about the Spain program, click here.

August 14th, 2007

Posted in: Locations