General Reflections

I chose this opportunity to study Spanish in Spain because I feel that it's important to be exposed to other ideas, cultures, and languages. Since I've been at Vanderbilt I haven't had the opportunity to take a foreign language class and I felt that it would be a good idea to refresh my Spanish skills. In my opinion, there's no better way to learn a language than actually being in a country that speaks the language with a host family, so that was part of my reasoning for choosing Spain. If this program had only been a Spanish class it would have been great program and I'm sure I would have enjoyed my time here but the opportunity to look at engineering issues in a global context really appealed to me as well. Being able to learn engineering vocabulary and how to communicate in an engineering mindset are tools that can be helpful to me no matter where I'm at and I'm glad that this program gave me the opportunity to learn this as well.

I learned so much about myself from being on this trip. One thing that might not seem like much but that I was really glad about was the fact that I can still remember Spanish after not taking it for a couple of years. There were a couple of times where I was in tough situations and really needed to be able to communicate with people, especially early on in my trip, and I was surprised that I was actually being understood. I also learned to be more willing to try things that I thought were weird and strange. I remember being eating dinner my hostess's host one night and she asked my roommate and I to try a blood sausage. It happened to be not so good and one of the few things she made that I really disliked but it brought all of us together so much because it sparked a conversation about foods we liked and didn't like here, foods in the U.S., our lives back home compared to Pamplona, etc.

I enjoyed my time so much in Spain that I really hope that back at Vanderbilt I will have opportunities to speak Spanish with people so that I don't get rusty. This experience has definitely made me want to explore renewable energies more and due to the flexibility that I have with my Engineering Science major I'm very hopeful that I will be able to take classes on this subject when I get back to Vandy. Some other goals that I have are to maybe go back to Pamplona next year and do this program again so that I can improve my Spanish even more.

Cool Spanish Cities

One of the beaches in San Sebastian with the

mountains in the background.

Antoni Gaudi's famous church La

Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

A picture of me at Parque Guell with some of

Gaudi's buildings and Barcelona in the background.

A video of the fountains at Mountjuic in Barcelona.

While Pamplona is an awesome city and probably my favorite city in Spain, it was also fun to visit some other cities in Spain. One of my first trips outside of Pamplona was to San Sebastian. It’s a city in northern Spain that’s located along the Atlantic Ocean with some of the prettiest beaches in the world. It’s a really beautiful place and fun place to relax with beaches and mountains as well. Another city that I really love in Spain is Barcelona. It is located on the north eastern side of Spain along the Mediterranean coast. Barcelona is a great city because there is so much history and so much to do there. My favorite building that I saw from my entire trip to Spain was the church of la Sagrada familia in Barcelona. It is a truly magnificent church designed by Antoni Gaudi which has still not been completed to this day. There is so much detail in every aspect of that church and I'm so grateful that I was able to see it. Another place in Barcelona that I really liked was Parque Guell. It’s a park that was also designed by Antoni Gaudi and has so many imaginative buildings in the park with lots of colors and curves that ordinary buildings do not have. This park also had one of the best views of Barcelona. Another cool thing to see in Barcelona are the fountains at Mountjuic. It’s a really amazing water fountain show set to music and lights with the National Palace in the background. Spain has so many cool cities with so much history and I'm glad I got to see some of them.

Delicious food in Pamplona

An eel soup pincho served inside of a sea urchin.

An octopus pincho.

Seafood Paella that my host mom made for

dinner one night.

Going into this trip I wasn't too sure about what to expect about the food in Spain. I really tried to prepare myself for anything and be willing to give everything a try. While I wasn't too sure about what I would be eating I kinda assumed that the time I would be eating would be relatively the same as in the U.S. or maybe just a tad later. Well I was definitely wrong about the time period of the meals in Spain and fortunately for me the food there was really amazing and I love all of it. Lunch for me was usually around 2 – 2:30 in the afternoon and lunch was the biggest meal of the day there. Lunch was usually three courses, a starter plate, entrée, and dessert and it was a long event. Lunch for us on average took about an hour to an hour and a half. It was not just a time to eat but to really enjoy the company of the people you were with. To help us make it to dinner around 7 o'clock we would sometimes go on a pinchos or tapas tour. Pinchos are basically small appetizers that can be found at every local bar. People in Spain usually get a pincho and a drink at one bar then go visit another bar and do the same thing. It’s a good way to get a snack before dinner and hang out with friends. Being in spain I tried some things that I wouldn't ordinarily try. One really interesting pincho that I had was an eel soup inside of a sea urchin. It's now one of my favorite pinchos but something that I probably would have never tried if I had been offered that in the U.S.. Another pincho that I really liked was boiled pulpo which is boiled Octopus. I usually ate dinner around 10 o'clock at night and it wasn't as big a meal as lunch. One of my favorite Spanish meals is tortilla de patata. It’s a dish that is made out of eggs and potatoes and can be filled with different meats, vegetables, and cheeses. Another dish that I really like is paella. Paella is a dish typical of southern Spain and the paella my host mom made consisted of rice, crawfish, chicken, shrimp, and peas all cooked in a scorching hot skillet on top of a stove.

School in Pamplona

My school that I attended for a month in Pamplona.

A picture of me with the rest of my class at the

school. My teacher Laura Mier is to my right.

My teacher Gemma and I at one of the parks

in Pamplona.

My actual program of study in Pamplona was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We didn't study at one of the universities in Pamplona but at the Pamplona Spanish Language Institute whose whole purpose was to teach and improve students Spanish Language skills. My roommate and I would take a 20 minute city bus ride to school everyday. Once at the school we would split up into different classes based on skill level. I was in the intermediate class and there were five other students in my class. We had class for 5 hours a day 5 days a week but it never really felt that long. I had three different teachers and all of were great and made class interesting while still teaching us. In the beginning the majority of our time was spent just learning Spanish and Spanish culture with only about an hour of engineering related Spanish. As each week progressed we spent less time on general Spanish and more time on engineering related Spanish. Most afternoons our program director from Auburn University took us on a number of field trips either engineering related or to learn more about Spanish culture.

Friendly People in Pamplona

A group shot of all the guys in the program with our

guide Dr. Lerga in the suit in their board of trust room.

The people of Pamplona consider their city a really small city where you know a good amount of people in the city even though the city has about 200,000 people. That being said, when a group of American students arrives in the city people take notice. I had a lot of time to interact with the people of Pamplona and almost every experience was great with the people being really friendly and giving us advice to help maximize our experience in Pamplona. The people there really made us feel welcome and there's one afternoon that really sticks out to me. After class one day a group of us spent some time in the old part of the city and went into a pasteleria, a pastry shop, to get a snack. The owner was working in the shop and when we came in she started to tell us how she had seen us around town and was hoping that we would come to her shop. She asked us what activities we had done and told us all these great places to go in Pamplona and things to do. After that she took out this huge box and filled up with every pastry she had in the shop and refused to let us pay for anything. Another example of their hospitality occurred one day after a meeting we had at the Universidad de Navarra on medical research. We had some extra time after the meeting so we decided to explore the university since we had never been there before. We walked into one of the administration buildings and literally bumped into a retired professor who currently works in the administration as he was leaving the building. After realizing that we were engineers from the U.S. he gave us a guided tour of the university with entrance to many rooms that are usually off limit to the public and even students. He also gave us hats and t-shirts from the university. These are just two of many examples of Spanish hospitality. I think that all of these experiences show how friendly the people of Pamplona are especially to international visitors.

San Fermin and the Encierro

A stained glass picture of Saint Fermin located

in a hidden room in Pamplona's City Hall.

The bulls entrance to the Plaza del Toros, the

bull fighting stadium, which also marks the end

of the Running of the Bulls.

A mural of a bull chasing a crowd of runners

found on one side of the Plaza del Toros.

The festival of San Fermin is the biggest event held in Pamplona and is one of the biggest, if not biggest festival in all of Spain. Approximately one million people from all over the world descend on Pamplona for San Fermin. Ernest Hemingway helped popularize this festival after writing his book The Sun Also Rises. This festival is held every year from the sixth of July until the fourteenth of July in honor of one of the Patron Saints of Navarra, Saint Fermin. The official colors for San Fermin are white and red which symbolize martyrdom by Saint Fermin who was beheaded. There are a variety of activities that go on during San Fermin including fireworks, parades, and singing but the biggest event is the Encierro or the running of the bulls. The run is about a quarter of a mile and takes place in the old city. Six bulls and six steers chase participants to the bull fighting stadium where the bulls fights will take place later in the day. San Fermin is a really cool festival and one that the whole city really embraces and loves.

Renewable Energy in Pamplona and Navarra

My friend Chris outside of the Biomass plant

in Navarra.

Three of the many solar panels in a solar field

outside of Pamplona.

Some of the windmills from the wind farm

outside of Pamplona.

A video where you can kind of see how loud

and powerful the windmills are.

Since my program consisted of all engineers we spent a lot of time learning about engineering issues related to Spain. Renewable energy is one of the topics we learned about and while it is not unique to Spain, Spain and especially Navarra Spain, have shown leadership in this area. Outside of Pamplona is the largest biomass energy plant in southern Europe. We got the opportunity to visit this plant and it was fun to see. This plant takes straw/hay and burns them to create heat that can turn turbines and create electricity. They also have a number of solar fields that can take advantage of energy from the sun to provide electricity. One of the coolest things that I did in Spain was being able to go to a wind farm. Windmills are found throughout Spain and they are really a sight to see. The windmills can vary in size from 60 to 100 ft in height and provide a large amount of energy for the city. Being in Spain, it was really cool to be in a place that really cares about the environment and doesn't limit itself to just one energy source but is open to a variety of energy sources in addition to fossil fuels.