This was NOT what I expected out of a Spanish study abroad experience. Fiestas, siestas, bull fights and even mullets. All of these typical Spanish things I was expecting out of these six months in Murcia, Spain. But this, well, this was unexpected.
I’ve gone to great lengths to break out of the international student stereotype and make Spanish friends this semester. But this was a new horizon, even for me. The scene: 10 p.m. on a weeknight in a suburban pool near Murcia. I find myself in a room with 25 burly Spanish men in Speedos and bathing caps. Melanie Lidman, junior, Taurus, non-smoker, and newest member of the University of Murcia water polo team?
Travel is a funny thing. Exploring new corners of the world reminds you of the similarities we all share, regardless of skin color or traditions or other cultural clich̩s. But sometimes travel can make you more aware of boundaries Рphysical boundaries, language boundaries, cultural boundaries.
Wherever you travel, you will always be an outsider. Sometimes this minority status is a positive thing, as outsiders inevitably bond together, creating unions against loneliness as strangers in a strange land. I’ve met some incredible international students during my travels in Spain. As the “outsiders,” we become fast friends, going on outrageous adventures – such as taking a 14-hour train ride to Barcelona for 20 hours to see The Killers – adventures on which Spaniards would never embark because they don’t have a six-month deadline to see the whole country.
I’ve also met Americans who will pass their entire semester abroad without making a single Spanish friend. They’ll have a great time, come home with amazing pictures and even better stories. They’ll think back fondly on their four months in Spain, perking up at the mention of their city, and waxing nostalgic on their nocturnal adventures through the narrow Spanish alleyways.
But there’s something special about knowing that in some corner of the world, there are people who are thinking about you and will miss you when you’re gone. There’s no doubt that I’ve seen amazing things during my three months here. But the stories I tell over and over again, that show up in my journals and e-mails home, are more about the people I meet along the way than the regular tourist sights and sounds. The mountain bikers from Madrid or the artist from Chile that we met on the Camino de Santiago, or the bartenders in Granada who showed us where to see the best gypsy flamenco music, or my roommates, who provide running sarcastic commentary on daily life in Murcia – the friends I’ve made thus far are the memories I’ll hold closer than any gothic cathedral or sun-filled plaza.
But making these friends is sometimes a bit difficult because Murcians already have their lives set up and I’m just here for a few months. That was the main reason for my seemingly unfounded acceptance of the offer to train with the water polo team, just one of my many creative attempts at making friends. My water polo knowledge is even less than my futbol sala knowledge. Futbol sala, indoor soccer on a basketball court, was another friend-making endeavor, until they kicked me off the team because I wasn’t good enough. Hey, I was on the University of Maryland’s intramural women’s champion soccer team, OK?
I’m also part of the Honors Law Student Government club, which is amusing because I’m not an honors or a law student, and my interest in student government is the same as my knowledge of water polo. But a Spanish friend is a Spanish friend, and beggars can’t be choosers.
Other Spaniards I count among my bosom friends here: The guy who hands me my free newspaper every morning as I’m running late to class and the information woman on the second floor of the humanities building who thought it was hilarious that during my first month of school I only managed to attend an average of one class successfully per week (I was trying!). There’s the girl I always sit next to in my poetry class and ask to translate the hard words – I’m sure one of these days she’ll tell me her name along with the definition.
I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to continue with the water polo team, even though it would increase the number of my Spanish friends by hundredfold. I guess it also depends: does this Speedo make my butt look fat?
Melanie Lidman is a junior journalism and Spanish double major. She is studying in Sevilla and Murcia, Spain, through the ISA Direct program and will be writing about her experiences through the semester. She can be reached at mlidman@umd.edu.
