5 Things I Learned While Living in Spain

I spent this past school year as an English language assistant living in Spain, and I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp now on my travel style, Spanish level and work ethic. Living abroad is not for the faint of heart and pushes you to become the best version of yourself. I’ve gone through ups and downs, but here are my big five takeaways from this past year.

1. Slow travel is more my vibe

I was so overcome with excitement to be in Europe with three-day weekends that I jumped at every opportunity to travel. Mallorca next weekend? Sure thing, RyanAir is cheap. Edinburgh right before our Morocco trip? You got it. I happily went through my college and summer savings because well, I had saved up so much! 

But when I realized too little too late that I had blown through too much money because you know, travel adds up, it was time for some serious reflection. The budgeting, or lack thereof, was one issue but the way I had traveled started to bug me. 

Why had I only spent a day and a half in magical Edinburgh? Why did I trouble myself to visit four different countries in the span of two weeks when I only got two days in two of them? I had gone broke but I had very short-lived experiences to look back on. 

But to be clear, I don’t regret any of it. I do wish I had budgeted way earlier but I still have experiences filled with so many precious memories and photos to look back on with fondness. I still got to experience different cultures and try new food, wander streets and gaze up at historic architecture, be a little adventurous. 

But what I learned is that after 9 months of hopping around this way and that, I would much rather save up for bigger trips with more time, where I can have some slow days and really get to know a place. That doesn’t mean I’ll have weeks to spare, but at least more than three days. I’ll reserve the weekend trips for Spain, for a much cheaper trip but just as fun and interesting. I still haven’t even been to Madrid or Barcelona. 

So moving forward, I won’t be traveling with the eagerness and excitement of a college freshman first stepping foot in a bar after using their bad fake I.D. I have grown and learned more, discovering along the way that I just need more time. 

2. Speaking and hearing Spanish is the best way to learn

As someone who took classroom Spanish for years, I was humbled when I first stepped foot in Spain during a three week immersion program in high school. 

Culture shock is very real, and a big part of it is being in a country where the main language is not your native language. That’s not to say you can’t get around, but your entire environment is completely flipped when you realize you can’t read the road signs, grocery shopping takes twice as long, and boring, mundane things get trickier. 

I’ve made the mistake more than once of simply downloading an app and mindlessly clicking through vocab words, some of which I already knew. That’s not to say that these apps are not resourceful, but they definitely didn’t prepare me enough for Spain. At the level I’m at, I really needed speaking and listening practice that challenged me.

Since being home, I’ve decided that to do a practice that I don’t dread, I’m trying out watching Spanish television and movies with Spanish subtitles where I’d normally have English ones. This way, it forces me to become invested in what’s happening but I can always pause and look up words if needed. 

And unlike classroom Spanish (which is still essential to learning grammar and other basics in my opinion), I can pick up on slang and informal sayings that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. 

3. I can’t follow Spanish eating times, but I will for eating out

I came into Spain for the second time already knowing how opposite their eating schedule is to that of the U.S. That didn’t surprise me. I respect that it’s a different culture and lifestyle, better in a lot of ways, and it works for many people. 

For those who aren’t aware, in Spain it is very typical to eat a lighter breakfast, sometimes two since at school the “lunch” break was actually a second breakfast where they ate fruit, pastries, yogurt or something light, despite it being 12:30 p.m. Lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day and after 2 p.m. 

Dinner is eaten after 8 p.m., usually restaurants peak at 9:30 p.m. Food in Spain really varies by region but having shareable plates is a very common way of eating.

Dessert is on the lighter side, and besides the dinner time, is probably one of the biggest differences I noticed from American culture. Exhibit A being our lengthy ice cream aisle and overwhelming cookie and cake selection. Typically, something like churros, is not actually a dessert but actually a pre-dinner snack that is eaten in the afternoon.

I went into this past year knowing that my body could only follow this schedule for eating out. I loved going out with friends to a tapas restaurant and ordering multiple things to split, even if it was at the time I normally ate my dessert before settling into bed. I’ll sacrifice some sleep if it means enjoying a dinner out in Spain. 

But I don’t like having something sweet and light for breakfast and when I eat at home, I almost always eat before 8 p.m. I really dislike going to bed right after I’ve eaten and without a yummy treat. This is one of the perks of living with roommates and not with a host family, I can eat whenever and whatever I like. 

4. A long commute will feel even longer if you’re not looking forward to the day

An unfortunate fact that I had to come to terms with is that a long commute will drag on even longer if you don’t have motivation for the day. While I loved my experience as a language assistant in Spain, by the end of the year I was more than ready to leave my school. 

As much as I loved the kids and a few of the teachers I had, poor organization, a lack of respect and hospitality and the cherry on top — a long commute — made it hard to get excited for my job. I had a good friend and roommate who commuted the same distance and was in the same town at a different school, and her experience was entirely different. 

She always looked forward to her day and even came to school or stayed late for events when she didn’t need to. She had a special connection with her teachers and the dynamic was a stark contrast to that of my school. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone and my aux partner at my school made a world of a difference for me. 

5. Spain is unique in that every region is so different

I don’t think people realize that Spain is incredibly unique, especially given its size. Unlike other Spanish-speaking countries and even European countries, every region in Spain has its own food, dialect and history. Five out of the 19 regions actually have another co-official language besides classic Castellano Spanish. 

The region that I lived in for my first year, Andalucía, has a dialect that is incredibly difficult to understand due to the accent being thick, fast and with certain letters dropped. It’s essentially the Scottish of the Spanish dialects (confirmed by a kid I tutored). 

But in the region of Valencia, where I will be for the 2024-2025 school year, they speak Catalan, another language that not even Spaniards from other regions can understand. It’s that different from the most common Castellano Spanish. 

When I lived in Galicia, the most northwestern region of Spain that sits above Portugal, I found out they actually speak the Gallego dialect. My friend and former roommate will be living in San Sebastian, also in the north of Spain but in the Basque Country. It has its own dialect, euskara, and is known for its pinxtos, the Basque version of tapas. 

So I’m more than excited to explore what Spain has to offer in the years to come, with the hope to eventually visit every region. 

Want to read more about Spain? Check out these articles:

• 10 Things to Know Before Traveling to Seville
• A Guide to Visiting the Alhambra in Granada, Spain

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