Cristian Laurent Espinosa, a MiraCosta College student majoring in Architecture, studied abroad in
Salamanca Spain for the spring 2015 semester. His advice to fellow students interested in studying
aborad:
"Students that want to study abroad should study in a country or program that will help achieve
or fulfill personal, academic or career goals. Studying abroad at Mira Costa is a good
experience, however studying abroad is a big choice and it should be up to the student to decide.
For me, studying abroad through MiraCosta College was a great choice because of the
scholarship opportunities and the program that heavily related to my career and academic
goals. If you want to learn a foreign language and study about other cultures, studying abroad is
one of the best ways possible. Immersing yourself in a culture is an experience that will help you
to grow spiritually, mentally and see the world in a different perspective. I recommend that if
students want to study abroad, start saving money now, and look for the best country you would
want to study in and make it a goal to accomplish during your educational journey."
Below are emails and pictures Cris shared about his study abroad experience:
Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 9:43 AM, Cris Espinosa wrote:
Approx. 11 hours from now my flight to Spain will have taken off from LAX and head towards Europe.
I am creating this email for all those who have helped me and helped prepare me for this journey. I hope
that the documentation of my experience will show my growth in a positive way.
I have already started my journey... in regards to the weeks of preparation and research... but leaving
home was surreal. Two days ago I left home and traveled north from San Diego towards Los Angeles. A
good friend of mine, who is a talented young script writer, let me stay at his house prior to departure. In
these two days I have visited Los Angeles and reminded myself of the city life. Well my next post will
be in Madrid hopefully tomorrow. Chao
Arrival Fri 2/20/2015 1:23 PM
My ten hour flight from LAX to London felt like ten days...however the British kept me awake and
active with conversation...upon arrival in London-town I felt like a zombie...yet I was very impressed
with London Heathrow Airport and its architecture...flying to Madrid was the least of my worries, this
flight was around an hour and 45 minutes. When arriving at Madrid-Barajas Airport I was blown away
by the amazing architecture this airport displayed. Becoming more immersed with Spain and Spaniards I
am appreciating the language more and embracing the challenge of teaching myself and learning
something new each day. The bus ride from Madrid airport to the hotel was amazing! Driving through
the streets of Madrid along the Gran Via and the many streets that passed by, I was reminded of the
cosmopolitan feel of city life. As of now, I am in my hotel room, tired and ready to go to sleep...yet
ready to awake...tomorrow I depart for Salamanca and my challenges become even more great, but I am
ready. I will try to write each week and update photos. Tomorrow I will update photos
The Night and morning in Madrid was a true testament of city living...on the first night arriving into
Madrid form the airport I was blown away by the city, so I decided to take a walk when I was at the
hotel. The hotel was located on the Gran Via, a street very similar to Broadway or 5th Avenue in
Manhattan...so I started walking around midnight - 1 a.m. by myself because I was incredibly
hungry...this was a daring move. I began walking around this time late into the night and in Madrid this
time, around 1 or 2 a.m. is the prime of night activity ... as I walked up the street there were people
everywhere, very similar to midtown Manhattan
Mon 2/23/2015 4:23 PM
my night in Madrid was not over... this choice for me was important to make, to be on my own, and to
feel more comfortable and strangely enough I felt more comfortable while walking alone in Madrid
amongst the Spaniards, it was an amazing experience hearing the beautiful tongue of Castellano being
spoken around me with rapid pace and a beautiful accent. A few blocks uptown a finally found a
McDonald’s and ordered food...I went outside by the stairs to the subway, began eating, leaned against
the ledge of the staircase and soaked in the entity of Madrid and its beauty
Tue 2/24/2015 4:05 AM
After that night... I was incredibly tired so I went to bed around 3a but the city was still very much alive.
On the way to Salamanca the next morning we left Madrid in two buses. These buses had tinted
windows and we could see the city and its entity, and its skyline...leaving Madrid we began to climb the
local mountains towards Salamanca. These mountains had beautiful trees and clouds...huge eagles
soared overhead as we passed through the range. We finally made it to the countryside of Spain where I
saw for hundreds of miles of open land, bulls, horses, eagles, old towns and castles while approaching
Salamanca. While in the city so far I have encountered many experiences that have only been in four,
five days’ time, however I feel at home in Spain and I felt like I have been here for a long time now...in
my opinion, my biggest challenge here is learning Spanish, learning more than what I already know, so
that I can talk with the Spaniards with good diction and dive into conversations of life. My accent is
fine, however, my intelligence of vocabulary is still around preschool level but I am working on it...I
start Spanish class today so let’s see how it goes!
Salamanca is an amazing city and it reminds me of city life. I will try to upload a folder of photos so far
in a separate email sometime soon, life here for me is very challenging in every aspect but the most
positive challenge I have ever had.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
3/3/15
One week has passed, and it feels like I have lived here forever...yet I am still trying to adjust in many
ways. Physically, I have finally rested enough. I have finally attained a few nights of 8-hour sleep, and
my body and immune system has adjusted to the cold and I don't cough as much. However I still feel
very physically exhausted everyday...but I will catch up. Mentally and spiritually I am fine, I am getting
stronger each day in these areas because of the challenges I face on a daily basis, and I am learning so
much each day about the culture here, my friends, in my classes, and about the world and my purpose
here...yet my purpose is a journey in itself that I must figure out.
The language for me is getting better, I’m starting to pick some of it up, and the class is helping me,
however I still have a long way to go, but I’m not worried about it, in time I will learn and evolve.
The food is amazing here, the Tapas come in many forms and sizes. The food here is a little cheaper, the
city here is old but new...and it’s always alive, filled with all types of people. The Don Quijote school is
old yet modern at the same time...I’m very much in awe still at the knowledge in this city and what is at
my grasp. Last week I went into the old cathedral, casa de los conches (the house of shells/the public
library) and some other places, I will try to update some pictures of this experience soon...more
importantly I went to Madrid this weekend and I was blown away when I went to this city! Madrid is
HUGE! very much like New York or Chicago, Madrid is huge with everything to do...when arriving to
Madrid again we first went to Plaza de Espana, where a huge monument in honor of the literature and
intellect of Spain was present along with a fountain... this monument was around 80 feet tall, similar to
the Washington monument, yet more wide and with numerous sculptures on it. After leaving this
monument, we walked to the Royal Palace of Madrid...when arriving here I was in awe at the grand
magnitude of this place, the architecture and its entity... a monument similar to the us capitol
building...this monument was much different and carried more elegance and prestige as it stretched for
many city blocks...the palace had a grand open square, probably 2 1/2 football fields long and 1-1 1/2
wide...when walking to the main entrance of the palace, I was very impressed with the hundreds of
architectural details that this building has to offer for the human eye. Arches and marble, staircases and
glass ceilings, I was awe struck. this palace has around 2,500 rooms or something of that nature, very
big...I probably only went into 25 rooms and I was blown away at the art in each room...more impressive
than any other place I have seen in regards to museums or palaces...this palace is still temporarily used
by the king of Spain, Felipe for important events...the tour was a long time, maybe an hour, and we were
allowed free time...so I adventured a little bit...I witness an alternate room in the palace on the far side of
the square which carried the weapons and armor of the conquistadors and the armies of Spain...I was in
awe yet saddened by this because these weapons have wiped out and conquered many indigenous
cultures...after this I went to the west end of the square...and was offered a great view of Madrid and
Spain...looking out I could see mountains covered with snow, great valleys and the southern end of
Madrid...it was quite a surreal sight!
When leaving the palace we walked the streets of Madrid until reaching the old market of Madrid and
the Plaza Mayor... the streets, the market and the plaza were filled with hundreds of people and it was
very busy...the market had so many types of foods I had no time to see it all or taste the smell of each
stand. The Plaza Mayor in Madrid is different than of Salamanca's, more people, vendors, entertainers
and more of a city feel, whereas Salamanca's Plaza is more family oriented no vendors or entertainers
and is the Main and classic Plaza Mayor of Spain...after having Spaniard style pizza with some friends,
we gathered in the plaza and walked a long while to the museum called EL PRADO...yet walking the
streets I was surrounded by thousands of Spaniards and immersed into the city life of Madrid...
when arriving at the museum we took a brief break and went inside...this museum truly had no other
type of artwork that I have never seen before, primarily old paintings that were unbelievable, however I
wasn't allowed to take pictures of any of the works...my favorite pieces were that of Velasquez as here
painted with extreme detail and created many positive aspects in art...this museum also carried
thousands of paintings on its walls, yet I only probably got to see around 200 of them...and the whole
time I was tired and fighting my sleep...some of these paintings were incredibly small and others
absolutely huge!!!! after the museum some of us went to a park called the RETIRO which is very
famous...this park is huge and we were on a schedule but we walked to the lake and took a break,
admiring the crowd, musicians, and the life of Madrid....when leaving this great city I was incredibly
tired...yet I stayed awake just long enough to see the mountains of snow and the eagles that guarded
them while on the bus ride back to Salamanca...
Today is Tuesday and I am waiting to go to Spanish class... all of my experiences so far have changed
me, and my life has been changed forever...I see the world much differently, and I am growing with
each breath I am given.
Miguel Bose and some other singers keep me company as I have abandoned as much of the American
lifestyle and culture I know...in my opinion I fit with this culture here, my roommates yet are very
American and don't quite take the situation as seriously as I have, and draw lots of attention to
themselves when we walk to school, and don't seem to realize this...and I would appreciate if they could
try to fit into this culture more, but they are all good people who I am learning from as well...this week I
plan to start drawing the buildings here in my sketch book, hopefully I get good at drawing them...on
Thursday I leave for Africa, to the country of Morocco to stay for three days. I am nervous but excited
for this...but let’s see how this goes. Well I will email again sometime before I leave. Hasta Luego!
Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 3:18 PM, cris espinosa wrote:
To all of my friends, family and educators, I am sorry for not sending out an email sooner, it has been a
long time and I have been very busy with school and travel. In these past weeks my time has been going
by fast and I have been on a track without breaks...but I have been learning and trying to keep up with
school. In these past weeks I have traveled to Morocco, Barcelona, Madrid, and other places. I have
been traveling a lot and plan on traveling to Portugal, France, possibly Germany, Italy and definitely
Barcelona again. Traveling to these places have and will continue to give me knowledge about the world
and the cultures of the human race. I have continued to study Spanish and sometimes, if I have time, go
to the language exchanges in Salamanca to practice and meet new Spaniards. Last week I also went to a
place called "valle de jerte" a place that had white cherry blossoms and nature that you can only find in
Spain. Now it is semana santa here, holy week, and they are having processions every day, it’s truly
amazing. I hear that photos are worth more than words, so I will leave more photos this time and will
keep emailing constantly until my return.....now I am waiting to sleep. Tomorrow I will be going on
a group trip to the cities of Segovia and Avila, two amazing cities in the country of Spain...on Saturday I
will return to watch a match between Real Madrid and some team. This opportunity was recently offered
through the program...and I’ve never attend a match so this seemed a great idea, even though I’m not a
fan of Real Madrid, I still appreciate the game, the athletes and another grand stadium in Europe,
Santiago Bernadeau, 80,000 seats, 10,000 less than the biggest in Europe, 90,000 stadium Camp Nou
which I recently visited, this stadium of Real Madrid is still a sight to behold. I will stay in Madrid for 2
days and 1 night....then I will return to Salamanca, I have almost little more than 1 month left, and I still
have goals to accomplish and new things to learn... and I will achieve many of them...Paris is waiting for
me next weekend then Portugal, but let’s see where the adventure leads me....