Over the course of the semester each Spanish class was assigned to do a trabajo de campo, basically a research project outside of class. At first, I won’t lie I was overwhelmed by the amount of work and upset our program would give us such a big project abroad but finishing the final presentation and learning about Madrid was one of the most rewarding experiences of the semester
I completed the project with my two best friends in my Spanish class, Alexis and Leah. We decided to do our project on immigration in Spain, more specifically if Spain was the new melting pot of Europe. We discovered Spain was on the fast track to becoming the new melting pot during the 90’s and early 2000’s but once the economic crisis began in 2008, immigration also began to plummet.
Today the employment situation in Spain is very tough especially if you’re young, even more so if you’re an immigrant. This has led to countless people living in Spain to leave in search for better work and pay, converting Spain into more of an emigration county as of late.
As part of the project we were required to interview 10 Spaniards and what I found extremely interesting, is while most older people were unaccepting of immigrants, the youth were all accepting and progressive in their ideals that everyone should be treated equal in regards to healthcare, education, and employment.
This project opened my eyes to the current state of Spain and the different ideals everyone has going into the upcoming elections. Without a doubt I learned the most about Spain this semester from this one project. I made great relationships along the way and completing the final presentation was as rewarding as it gets!
Cristian Gutierrez
<p>Born and raised under the bright lights of Chicago, I was under the influence that I had seen it all. After my first trip abroad I was hooked, and I realized I couldn’t of been more wrong. With a thirst for adventure I’ve set out to explore the unknown during my summers off from school. My travels have taken me from ancient pyramids in Mexico to remote rainforests in Costa Rica, and now Spain is next up on the destination list. I can’t wait for my time abroad and here I plan to document all valuable experiences and insights about my journey in Spain. Hala Madrid! </p>