University of Richmond Athletics
Wo Men's Lacrosse: Summer Adventure Series No. 4
08/21/2013 | Women's Lacrosse
The Richmond women's lacrosse team has been very active this summer not only on the field but off the field as well. Throughout the next several weeks the squad will be sharing their summer adventures to let you know what they have been up to this summer.
Summer Spider Adventures: A series detailing some of the Spiders' summer adventures. Follow these posts to learn more about a few Spiders and what they have been up to this summer!
Summer Spider Adventures 4: Rising junior Makenna Pohle, a Spanish and Leadership dual major, was selected to participate in “Summer in Seville,” an advanced level summer study abroad program through the University of Richmond.
Students live with Spanish families for the entirety of the 5-week program, while taking advanced level Spanish courses that are taught exclusively in Spanish by experienced faculty from varying institutions. The program also includes several activities and excursions for exploring the country including guided tours to historical sites in Seville, visits to a local beach and a three-night excursion to Toledo and Madrid to visit popular museums and cultural attractions. Hear more about Makenna's time in Spain in her own words below…
“Es españa su destino final?” These are the first words that were spoken to me when I was passing through customs in the Madrid airport, and it was the first time that I realized, “Wow... I am going to be living in Spain for the next five weeks and the only language they speak is Spanish.” At first this scared me a little, but then seconds later I realized that embarking on this study abroad trip was one of the best decisions I had ever made.
Over the course of five weeks, I took two intensive Spanish classes that transfer towards my dual major in Spanish and Leadership. Throughout these classes I learned all about Spanish literature and culture while improving my Spanish speaking skills at the same time. I lived with a host family that spoke only Spanish, along with a roommate who also attends the University of Richmond. There were about 20 other students on the trip and a little less than half were athletes. I barely knew anyone at the beginning of the trip, but they quickly became some of my best friends and I was thankful to be able to roam the streets of Seville with them!
The most amazing part about this trip was that we had the freedom to completely immerse ourselves in the culture and truly live the Spanish life. While we were there, we attended a bullfight, which I'm quite certain was not my favorite event I have ever seen. If you don't know how sad a bullfight actually is, then I suggest looking it up before going to see one in person! Regardless of the bullfight being different than anticipated, it will still be an experience that I will never forget. I also was lucky enough to see Spain's beautiful architecture every day. While exploring Spain we would often pass by the gorgeous river on Calle Betis, La Catedral, and then a more modern Spanish building, Las Cetas. Usually on these excursions through the city we were scoping out places to indulge ourselves with tapas. My favorite place by far was a little restaurant called Las Golandrinas, where I had the best salmon, mushrooms, and jamón any human being has ever tasted. I will forever dream about those tapas.
While I was in Seville it was extremely easy for us to travel to other places nearby. One weekend, a few of us decided to go to Portugal and I can honestly say I don't think I have ever experienced a beach weekend as beautiful as this! The beaches were extremely unique with their intricate rock sculptures. I was even able to surf off the coast of Portugal! We also traveled to Cordoba, Granada, Toledo, and Madrid where we were given private tours by our professors and experienced hands-on learning. Out of all the places we traveled, Seville was by far my favorite. This journey truly allowed me to develop my passion for the language and helped me realize that Spanish is definitely something that I want to pursue in the future. I will never forget the amazing memories and people that I met on this trip. It was undeniably the trip of a lifetime!
