Washington & Lee University Women's Lacrosse: Wilton Megargel's Fall Term in Spain

Junior Wilton Megargel (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) is enjoying her semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain. We caught up with her to find out just how much she's liking it and what she's up to over there:

1.)What made you choose Sevilla as your study abroad location?
Wilton: I chose Sevilla because I wanted to go to Spain and Madrid was too big of a city and in Barcelona they speak Catalan instead of the type of Spanish I have been learning in my classes. Also, I had friends from W&L who went last winter term to Seville and had a great time, so after talking to them, I was sold!

2.)Are you happy with your decision?
Wilton: I am really happy with my decision! I always knew I wanted to study abroad and being here and taking classes is better than I imagined! At first it was kind of a shock and the style of life here took a week or two to get used to. For example, everything closes here for siesta (yes that still goes on) from one o'clock to five o'clock in the afternoon so you can't run errands during that time and have to plan your day accordingly. This also means that if you forget something at the store for lunch, you can't run around the corner to the grocery store to pick it up. At first I found this really frustrating but now it's just normal. I really like that when I decide I want to go to the beach for the day randomly I can say, "Oh, I think I will spend the day on the beach in the south of Spain to catch some sun..." Sounds a little cooler than driving to Roanoke for chinese buffet (not that I don't love Red Palace).

3.)What is your living situation like there?
Wilton: I am living in an apartment with Katharine and two other girls from Colorado who are in the same program. We have a living room that feels small when filled with all four of us and our laundry rack (because they don't have dryers), a kitchen (complete with a clothes washer next to the sink), and two bedrooms and a bathroom. Oh and we have an air conditioner!!!! Which is pretty key seeing as it still gets into the 80s these days!

4.)Have you done a lot of traveling thus far / do you plan to travel more?
Wilton: I haven't packed all my weekends full of trips but I have done a good amount of traveling. Our program takes us on trips around Spain, so I have been able to visit Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba and Granada. It is fun seeing different parts of Spain because they are so different. Katharine and I traveled to Munich for our first "big trip" and loved it!! It has to be on my top five list of places I have been in my entire life. The city is so clean, the people are really nice and everyone there loves Americans AND everything is very efficient. Germany has got it going on! (SO jealous that Mere can communicate with the Germans...) I also got to spend a beach weekend in Lagos, Portugal (probably second to Munich on my list of great places...) which was really cool. Lagos is a small beach town on the southern, most western point of Portugal and it used to be thought of as the end of the world before Columbus! Tomorrow I leave to go to Morocco to see the Medina in Fez and then ride a camel to spend the night in the desert. The camel ride is by far the part that I am the most worried about. Katharine and I are also planning to make it to Rome and Paris for our December break.

5.)What's been the biggest adjustment or challenge you've faced living in Sevilla?

Wilton: It has been hard adjusting to the pace of life here. The Spaniards are not the most efficient people and really don't have a sense of urgency doing anything, especially when you are American. They walk really slowly on the street, are never in a rush, constantly sitting outside sipping coffee/wine and like to take long siestas. Sometimes things happen on time, and sometimes they don't - why get stressed? Also, it took us a while to realize what everything on the menu meant. The first night I almost ordered pig intestines because the picture looked like pasta and red sauce - yeeuck. And everything comes with the eyeballs still attached. But these are really small prices to pay when you are studying abroad. It just comes with being in a different culture. Oh yeah, and we have to cook for ourselves!!! Some nights this is a challenge. No madre/dhall/srat over here to make us hot meals! Katharine and I have had some wild experiences trying to cook a good dinner.

6.)What classes are you taking and are you enjoying them?
Wilton: I am taking four classes over here and they are all in Spanish - three literature and one writing. Our university here is at the total opposite end of the spectrum compared to W&L, being a huge public university. Again, everything just runs a little differently in Spain and it took me an hour to locate all my classrooms before the first day of school because the rooms aren't numbered in order and the building is huge!! I also learned the first week of school that when I went to a class and the professor never showed up, that I should not worry because it is totally normal here for a professor to skip a class - I just had to pick a different class to take (silly me!).

7.)Have you come across any familiar faces in Europe?
Wilton: In Munich at Oktoberfest, Katharine and I saw some friends from W&L who are in our class and also studying abroad which was really fun. We have also had some of Katharine's friends from high school visit and Kathy Brown is going to be appearing in Spain for a week before she heads back to the US!!!!!! Can't wait!