Experiencing a Different Culture

Meredith Branch is a senior in hotel and restaurant management. Though she has never studied Spanish, she participated in Auburn University’s study abroad program to Salamanca, Spain.

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“Before we left, I was very nervous about living in a foreign country where I knew nothing about the people and about two words of the language,” said Branch. “Luckily, the Spanish people were very nice and helpful, and the language barrier was not a big problem.”

“The summer program lasted a month, which in my opinion, is not long enough. We were in Salamanca the majority of the time, and we lived in dorms that were walking distance to campus,” said Branch.

“We went on two planned weekend trips. One weekend we went to Madrid and the other weekend we went to Portugal. Portugal was one of my favorite weekends because it was beautiful, and we went to the beach,” said Branch.

“We had two free weekends, and a travel agent helped us plan trips to Sevilla, Grenada and Cadiz. We also went on two day trips. The first was to a bull fight, which was very interesting. The second was to a wine tasting,” said Branch.

“The wine tasting was my favorite day of the entire trip. They gave us a tour of the vineyard and showed us the process of making wine. We also got to try their house wine, and they told us a lot about wine tasting, in general, said Branch.”

“I loved the trip because every day was a new learning experience. Not only were we learning Spanish in the classroom, but I learned new things about the culture and the people everywhere I went,” said Branch.

“One thing that was hard for me was trying all the new foods. I could not read the menus so a lot of the time I was not sure what I was ordering.”

“I had to tell myself that this is a once in a lifetime experience, and I have to make the most of everything, even the food. Thankfully, I ended up loving most of the food, especially the tapas with chicken,” said Branch.

“Overall, my trip was an amazing experience. I am glad I went because it definitely took me out of my comfort zone and immersed me into a different culture.”

“It is my favorite thing I have done while in college, and I recommend it to anyone who is considering studying abroad. If I had the opportunity to go back I would be there in a heartbeat” said Branch.