City Hall of Madrid
When I first arrived to Madrid, Spain, the first thing that caught my eye in the city was this large white banner over the City Hall that said "Refugees Welcome" in black, bold letters. With the tense refugee situation in 2016 due to recent Isis terrorist attacks, I was blown away by the city's boldness in their stance on the matter. So, when I saw that we were going to meet with the Government Communications department at the City Hall, I was beyond excited. Speaking with these officials on how communications, my major, was applied to government was enlightening to me. The simple banner over the building was such a huge statement to the country and the world.
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La Mezquita
In my trip, I learned that with history comes a history of conflict. Spain is full of history, having been the home to various different cultures. This one particular building that got my attention was La Mezquita. This religious building was a mosque built atop the ruins of a Roman cathedral. The mosque was grand in size, and was built with many arches that strategically filtered in light to the rest of the building. Our tour guide had showed us that, under the mosque, you can still see some of the ruins of the Roman cathedral it was built upon.
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Professional Experience Gained
- Mahatma Gandhi -
"A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people."
Study Abroad
Spain
Morocco
Chefchaouen
Arriving to a completely different country from a measly one-hour ferry ride was a shocking reality to me. After in our arrival in Tangier, we took a bus ride to Chefchaouen, or the Blue City. The city was full of life and buildings of a light blue color. Our tour guide had explained that people would buy blue dye when they had money to paint their homes. This was done to indicate high class and the ability to afford the dye. The buildings seemingly meshed with the sky, making the city look absolutely magical. As we walked though the city with our tour guide, the conversation about the religion of Islam took place. At this point he was taking question on any curiosities that people had about Islam.
It communicated a fearlessness in opinion and open arms to those in need. In the meeting, we also discussed communication theory in government. We discussed methods of persuasion in getting the citizens to get involved in their communities, conflict management when there was a controversial issue affecting the citizens, and modes of encouraging the citizens to maintain a clean and healthy city. I was very satisfied with this meeting as it helped me see how my studies can be applied in another country's political system.
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Personal Experience Gained
Casa de Sefarad
Casa de Sefarad focused on the Jewish influence in the city of Cordoba and Spain as a whole. Our guide for this visit went over the important garbs that Jewish people wore at the time. One of the main things that caught my eye during this visit was his explanation of the important role that women played in Jewish society in the history of Spain. First, they were in charge of making the important garbs that were mentioned before. Second, during The Inquisition, women were essential in maintaining the life of Judaism. Because learning about any religion other than Christianity was prohibited by law and punishable with death, the women were in charge of passing on the teachings and traditions of the religion. Thirdly, their relentlessness to continue their faith, to write about it, and to sing about it was such an act of bravery. Even after the Inquisition, these women did not let an unjust system stop them from their pursuits. Such is an admirable quality that inspired me as a woman, myself.
Heineken
In the City of Sevilla, we were scheduled to meet with Heineken officials to speak about the company's marketing tactics, lineage and history, and development of the company's goal over time. It was very interesting to hear them speak about the company's changing marketing tactics over time. They outlined how they would make the changes to add advertisements to newspapers, radio, television and eventually social media. They explained that,
originally, the company was based on creating the highest quality product. Eventually, they based their advancements on becoming well-known internationally. More recently, they have been focused on community outreach now that they are an established company. They mentioned the growing importance of companies taking a stand on global issues. Personally, I found this mentality to line up with my own aspiration to work for the good of the people.
What really caught my eye of the whole story of La Mezquita was the installations from the Christians when they invaded the city. Within the building, there were these closed-off areas along the left and right walls. As the tour guide explained, the Christians blocked off these prayer rooms and turned them into chapels sponsored by the nobles of the society. As we walked throughout the spacious building, we arrived to the very middle. It had be converted into a cathedral. The tour guide explained that the cathedral was Gothic in style, marked by the room's cross-shape. This building was indeed a sight to behold. The amount of conflict that resounded in its history was incredibly captivating to me.
A statement that stuck with me from our tour guide was when he turned around to face the group, his arms outstretched in a welcoming manner and saying,"The people of Islam are kind people we enjoy having visitors in our city. This city thrives on it." He then lowered his arms and said,"Those other people killing others and claiming to be Muslim are not Muslim." I had already understood that violent extremists of a religion do not represent the entirety of populations that practice said religion. But, seeing this man's passion in proving that stayed with me and reaffirmed this truth. After we shared a moment of understanding silent nods, he proceeded to show us the rest of the city. The city was full of winding roads and alleyways, steep ramps and seemingly endless steps that made our tour group exhausted. Although the experience
was tiresome, it did no take away from the beautiful sites of the city. Before we left the city our tour guide explained that a common past-time in the bizarre was haggling with shopkeepers. This was a new experience for some of us and we were able to buy beautiful and useful products from the shopkeepers.