As an engineering student, history class was never really my thing. Reading page after page of a textbook about the Renaissance was such a chore. But learning history from a piece of paper verses actually walking through it is completely different. Spain is a country rich with memories of the past. The school that i am staying at is located in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It is about 50 km outside of Madrid. This town is known for it’s giant monastery built for the family of the king and to demonstrate the presence of the catholic church in Spain. The monastery looms over the town and can be seen from many miles away. It is a treasure trove full of tales of the past and would make any history buff go crazy. One of the classes I am taking towards my Spanish minor is called Art and Museums. Instead of taking notes from a PowerPoint in class, each day we get to tour new parts of the monastery and the surrounding historical sites. Besides the hands on learning, we also get access to places that are off limits to tourists. Last week, we got to climb one of the tall towers which sit in each of the four corners. The views were amazing from up there. We could see the entire town and the beautiful mountains in the background. Because I am actually experiencing the history, it keeps me excited and wanting to learn more. Each day is a new adventure, and I never know what I will learn in that class. I am already, excited to go back to class.
standing in front of the monastery