Kacee Hamor (right) with her friend, Laura Fernandez-Garcia. -Photos provided

For graduation, Kacee Hamor received a very special gift, a month long vacation to Spain. Hamor’s family hosted international student Laura Fernandez-Garcia, who is from Spain, at South Tama during the 2016-17 school year. The two girls had not seen each other since Fernandez-Garcia’s departure from the States in June of 2017. The two reunited in Madrid, Laura’s home city, over June and July this summer.

While in Spain, Hamor saw a world that was quite different from her own. Everything was different; from how people live in flats as opposed to houses, to the old and intricate architecture, and even TV commercials that were not the same.

With Fernandez-Garcia as her guide, Hamor saw all the sights including the famous bull fighting ring at Plaza de Toros Las Ventas, the Museo Reina Sofia where several of Pablo Picaso’s paintings are on display, El Retiro Park, Restro, Temple of Debod, and Segovia, an old Roman town that still has a standing aqueduct.

The two also saw Madrid Pride Week that ended with a big parade to celebrate the LGBTQ community in Madrid. The girls also spent lots of time with Laura’s friends.

An average day had the girls rising at noon to eat breakfast, lunch around 2 or 3 p.m. and then they would head out to meet friends. Hamor said they did a lot of walking. She described the sidewalks as wider, but the streets more narrow than in the States. There are no trucks on the roads and nearly everyone drives a stick shift. Laura however did not drive, as teens are not allowed to drive until they are 18.

While in Spain, Kacee stayed with Laura’s family which consisted of her parents, older brother, and twin brother. She ate palaya 3-4 times during her visit. It’s a dish that is usually shared when extended family is visiting and consists of white rice with a sauce, muscles and shrimp. They also ate tortilla de potato which was like a thicker omelet with potato. She also had some American food while overseas. Two American restaurants in Spain were Vips and Fosters Hollywood. They had menus similar to Applebee’s. Hamor’s go-to Applebees dish is Cavitapi but it wasn’t quite the same in Spain reporting that it had a spicier, more barbeque taste.

Spain was sunny and 95 every day during the trip, with a dry heat like that of Arizona. Hamor said it rained all of 10 minutes during her month long stay. It would stay light out until 10 p.m. and was not uncommon for people to be out and about until midnight. Hamor described the people as relaxed and not so concerned with time. She did say that people tended to drive crazy which she attributed to the smaller streets. Upon her arrival she was greeted by Laura’s family with a kiss on each cheek, which was another cultural adjustment for her to make.

Getting to see Laura was the favorite part of her trip. “It was a really good experience to see and be able to live in a different culture and understand why they do the things they do,” said Hamor. Laura and Kacee will both be starting college in the fall. Kacee will be attending the University of Iowa and Laura a college just outside of Madrid where she will make an hour and half long commute from home to school. Laura will remain living with her parents while she attends college. In Spain it is more common for young people to continue living with their parents past their teenage years, often until around age 25. As for Kacee and Laura, the pair enjoyed having some extra time together as neither of them know when they will see each other next. For now, online communication and Snapchat stories will keep them connected.