Student Bloggers

I’ve traveled to many beaches in my lifetime from the east coast to the west coast in the U.S. with my family. These trips have consisted of 8-hour road trips (or longer), spilled drinks on the car floor, fresh fruit my mom packs for a healthy snack, and stopping at random towns in the middle of nowhere in the hope of being able to find a usable restroom. Once we arrive to the beach, my family loves to lay out in the sun all day, swim, and eat tortas de jamon that we packed from home. I love spending time with my family but really dislike the time spent with them at the beach. There’s sand everywhere, it’s hot, and my skin feels like it’s melting. I could confidently say that I did not like the beach. But, this all changed when I visited Burriana Beach in Nerja, Spain.

Our group traveled to Frigiliana and Nerja to visit the tropical coast and similar to my family road trips, this 1-hour road trip started with a tropical fruit breakfast. Tasting the fruits and learning about the history of these crops was very refreshing. Upon arriving to the beach with the Arcadia in Granada group, we immediately went to a beach restaurant that serves all-you-can-eat paella. It was my first time having authentic paella and it lived up to the hype. I mean, how could you not like seasoned rice with delicious seafood? I also had a delicious flan for dessert and started to dread that our lunch time was coming to an end. Afterwards, it was time to head to the beach. I really had no desire to set foot on the sand and I had already mentioned to the group my opinion about the beach but told them that I would try my best to be more optimistic and open-minded. To my surprise, I didn’t mind the sand between my toes and the sun rays glistening on my skin. The sand wasn’t like the sand I was used to, grainy and small, it was almost like a rocky texture which rubbed off my skin effortlessly. Even though it was hot, it didn’t feel like my skin was melting. I was very content. I had never been at a beach with the mountains so near and where it was so quiet that I could hear the waves crashing. I was in shock that I actually wanted to stay a little longer. I dipped my toe in the freezing water and we left shortly after.

A group of us decided to stay another night in Nerja and booked an Airbnb earlier that week. We weren’t sure where to have dinner but a few voiced that they wanted the restaurant to have a view of the ocean to watch the sunset. We didn’t exactly make it in time to see the sunset, but the view was still amazing. We were overlooking the beach and I felt like I was entranced by the beautiful view. I think that’s the exact moment when I asked myself, “Why did I always say I didn’t like the beach?” 

The next morning, we had a few hours before we had to get on the bus to Granada and we decided to have breakfast at the beach and chill there. I was surprised when I encouraged this idea and actually enjoyed it. I was eating a mini chocolate croissant at the beach that morning when all of a sudden it hit me that I was really in Spain studying abroad. I never knew that I would actually be on this journey by myself while experiencing something as small as finally learning to like the beach. It might be too early to say that studying abroad really is a life-changing experience but, I’ll say it anyways. I hope that by the end of this trip, I like something else that I’ve grown to dislike…eggs. But, that’s a story for another day.