Tuesday night was a little hectic. Okay, I was swamped. With an essay and project for my Festivals class, on top of a Biology lab exam to study for and a journal due the next day, I knew that it'd be a busy night. (Don't worry, mom. This just builds duress for the readers before explaining the next part. I passed all the assignments with flying colors!) However, I saw the opportunity to take part in a language exchange at the Castle of Alaquas on Tuesday evening... I'm sorry, but how do you refuse that? ("I passed all the assignments with flying colors!")
The bus dropped us off at the curb closest to the castle in Alaquas. If we are being honest here, I had never heard of Alaquas prior to this little excursion. The castle was tucked away in a plaza behind a few alley ways. It appeared small on the outside; not much to it other than the typical castle design. When we entered, however, a different story was told. The castle had been renovated and given a few modern enhancements. It was certainly not as bland as it appeared to be coming from the outside.
This and more was explained to us in presentations given by Spanish students learning to speak English. Of course, they struggled in certain aspects, but then again, how different are we from them when it comes to speaking Spanish? I was reminded that American students were not the only ones who struggled with communication, and that Spaniards can be just as nervous to speak to us as we are to speak to them. Even with their nervousness, though, they do manage to show that Spaniards are significantly better at speaking English than Americans are at speaking Spanish. (Trust me, this is the same case with just about any other language in any other country.)
After our grand tour of the older rooms with various geometric ceilings and preserved tiles, we moved towards the more modern, renovated portion of the castle. At this point, I was still surprised by how much we had yet to see. Our guide explained many new walls were added and/or reinforced to meet safety precautions. So of course, why not make it look awesome? We reached the rooftop of the castle and were captured by the quaintness and the beautiful simplicity of the lighting and architecture.
It was here that a man named Javier gave a speech about the impact of the English-school he was attending within the Castle of Alaquas on his life. As he spoke, his hands trembled. Javier's speech was very well written and I was thoroughly impressed with how well the components of his speech were tied together; I could have sworn he was a writer. Afterwards, we were taken into one of the classrooms and partook in our intercambio (language exchange). I was fortunate enough to get to sit and talk with Javier. To my surprise he wasn't a writer, but working on his engineering degree. He stressed the importance of learning English for an engineer and that he was taking his English classes very seriously. Javier and I became good friends, and I was beyond delighted that I came, despite the horrid mountain of work that waited for me on my desk at home.
The moral of the story is this: your inability to speak another language should not discourage you from trying to interact and learn about someone else's culture. Oh, and if someone offers to take you to a castle, you better do it. No questions asked.
'Til our roads meet,
Christian Camacho
The Traveling 'Nole
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