Katarina writes us from Spain.
I have always been interested in Spanish culture, language, people, art. When I first went to Spain as a tourist I was amazed at how warm, relaxed and cheerful people are, and how much they know how to enjoy everyday activities. I loved the atmosphere there, as well as the language, and decided to come back again.
When I saw the ad for the program “Meet Spain” and heard the positive experiences of friends who went to the cultural exchange program, I decided to get out of the comfort zone and replace the regular 10-day vacation at sea with something new and different!
I spent a month with a family of four in the city of Tarrega, Catalonia. It is a small, quiet town, where there is no exciting nightlife and entertainment. However, the location itself is great because it is located in the central part of Catalonia and is an hour’s drive from Barcelona, an hour from the mountains, an hour from the beach. The family I was in was wonderful, and they took me on a tour of all of the above, so in 4 weeks I visited all 4 regions in Catalonia, saw the Pyrenees, visited the Costa Brava and was in Barcelona several times. I also perfected my English, and started learning Spanish (even Catalan ☺). Now that I continue to summarize my impressions, I can say that it was probably the best month I spent over the summer.
I fit in very quickly and the kids immediately accepted me as a new family member, so I had absolutely no problems. I think the most important thing is to be flexible and quickly get used to the new environment and new people. I met a lot of new people, I stayed in touch with my family, I tried a lot of Spanish specialties, and I created a million memories that I will remember.