Adjusting to Spanish Lifestyle & Finding Home Abroad

Words and photos by Gaby McSweeney, studied abroad with ASA in Sevilla during the spring semester of 2026.

Adjusting to the Spanish lifestyle was hard at first, but now I feel like I actually prefer it over my lifestyle in the United States. Over the course of this spring semester, I've turned into a more laid-back, positive, and more spontaneous version of myself.

A few things I had to adjust to: 

SPONTANEITY. Something that was a hard adjustment for me was the spontaneity of plans. Back home, I make plans a week ahead. Here, every day there's a different spontaneous plan or hangout. As someone who considers themselves “Type A” this was a big change for me.

LANGUAGE. Another adjustment was the Spanish vocabulary and slang. I am pretty fluent in Spanish because I grew up in a bilingual household. But here, in Spain, the Spanish is different. A word that has integrated itself into my vocabulary is “vale” which means “okay”. I've also tried to incorporate some popular Andalusian filler words like, “en plan”. I've learned other slang from the students I teach English to as part of one of my classes, and my friends Tandem partner, Pepe.

COMMUNITY VIBES. Recently, I went to get a coffee from a place near my residence that I go to a lot. The employee gave me a VIP card that gives me a 5% discount on all my orders, because he had seen me there so much. In the States, I can't really picture something like that happening at my local Dunkin or Starbucks.

Spain and Europe as a whole has more of a homey and community based feel in my opinion, and that is one of the things I love about studying abroad. We get to experience new cultures, and feel at home, even with a different zip code.  

Thanks, Gaby!