"In life, there are bad things. There's war. There's starvation. But amidst that, there is also music. There's dancing. There are loved ones that give life meaning. There is The Good."
So my host mother explained in Madrid as we sipped sweet Andalusian sherry on a sunny Sunday afternoon. That outlook was why Spaniards managed to maintain their infectious enthusiasm for life even after suffering a brutal civil war and four decades of Fascist totalitarianism.
Through such daily conversations, my host family in Madrid described Spanish culture more deeply and comprehensively than any textbook or lecture ever could. As a result, my study-abroad experience was more than a swirl of drunken nights and cheap flights on low-cost airlines. It was a profound philosophical experience that changed forever the way I viewed myself, the world we live in, and the human condition.
My experience was not unique because I am particularly brilliant or because my host family was a particularly introspective lot. Nor was it because I sat at home all weekend talking, reflecting and thinking (I, too, share an affinity for beer and cheap flights). My experience was special because living in a homestay provides students with insights into another culture's outlook on life that simply cannot be experienced by reading a book or sitting in class.
This isn't to say, of course, that living with a host family doesn't require adjustments. You and the family must adapt to one another's culinary preferences. Spaniards, for example, eat ham and sausage products with a frequency that I find revolting. Laundry cycles might be different in your host country than at home. Because most Spanish homes lack drying machines, it could take two days instead of two hours for your clothes to be washed.
However, Carolyn Phenicie forgot several significant points when writing her recent tirade against homestays. First, these minor inconveniences are just that: slight, trivial and insignificant. Second, living and immersing yourself in a foreign culture inherently involves a dose of frustrating miscommunications and awkward situations. Third, by junior year of college, students ought to be grown up enough to realize that with a dash of maturity and a pinch of tact, these problems are easy to resolve. If you don't like to eat cured Iberian ham every night for dinner, say so. If your host mother somehow failed to realize the importance of ironing your "stylishly" torn, faded Abercrombie T-shirt, ask her where she keeps the ironing board.
Finally, anytime a student experiences a "horror story" situation, the amazing AU staff in Madrid immediately removes that student from the home and takes him to a new one. If the student is still uncomfortable in the new home, he is provided option after option until he is content. There is therefore absolutely no need for a student in a homestay to put up with an uncomfortable or unsatisfying living environment.
Homestays, in conclusion, might not be perfect. But every time I have lunch with my old host family on Sunday afternoons, every time my host family and my American family mail each other gifts during Christmas, and every time my old host mother affectionately introduces me to a friend as "mi hijo" ("my son"), I grow more confident of one fact: My homestay made my abroad experience.
Jeff Ruff SPA alumnus, 2007
1. Elizabeth Turner, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 2. Lauren G. Fox, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 3. Heather Botter, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 4. Margaret Allen, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 5. Leslie Norber, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 6. Meagan Reider, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 7. Theresa Garcia de Quevedo, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 8. Michael Scher, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 9. Alicia Arnold, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 10. Rachel Weizman, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 11. Jennifer Harvey, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2007. 12. Sarah Bishop, spring 2006. 13. Evan King, spring 2007. 14. Natasha Kaliski, spring 2007. 15. Erin Lapham, spring 2007. 16. Daniel Martinez, spring 2007. 17. Lauren Suseck, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 18. Gia DiMarco, spring 2006. 19. Stephanie Mitola, spring 2007. 20. Jeff Weiser, spring 2006. 21. Stephanie Fair, spring 2006. 22. Mary Beth Whyel, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 23. Katie Moser, spring 2007. 24. Erin Coutts, spring 2006. 25. Linnea Haley, summer 2007. 26. Ivonne Ramirez, spring 2007. 27. Erin Kelley, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005. 28. Sarah Nixon, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2004. 29. Benjamin Turner, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2004. 30. Erin Pesut, Granada summer 2007. 31. Amelia Schmidt, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2006. 32. Zachary Huey, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2007, spring 2008. 33. Nicole Barber, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005. 34. Dyane Jean Fran?ois Fils, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005. 35. Chelsey Fekishazy, Granada, summer 2007. 36. Jennifer Harvey, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2007. 37. Lana Ciaramella, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005. 38. Jocelyn Burston, summer 2007. 39. Shermeen Ahmad, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005. 40. Alfia Agish, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005. 41. Kate Barry, spring 2006. 42. Elizabeth Sanders, spring 2006. 43. Paul Perry, spring 2006. 44. Emily Rudy, spring 2007. 45. Emily Thomas, spring 2006. 46. Casey Pallenik, summer 2007. 47. Joanna Blatchy, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2007. 48. Ariella Brodecky, Granada, summer 2007. 49. Mark Barber, Madrid, summer 2008 50. Joy MacFarland, spring 2001, Mediterranean 2001 51. Brandon Schantz, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2004 52. Michael Haslett, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2004 53. Justin Kraeger, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2004 54. Josh Sabato, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2004 55. Jessica Cochran, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005 56. Elijah Hartman, Madrid, spring 2006 57. Peter Drummond, Madrid and the Mediterranean, fall 2005
