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Ever since I took Spanish II in tenth grade, I discovered my love for Spanish and decided that I wanted to study abroad in Montevideo. As soon as I could, I applied for study abroad and requested a grant from the Honors College, which I graciously received. This grant helped enable me to experience a new country and learn about and from a new culture. I set out to Montevideo with three goals in mind: to learn how Christians in other countries worship together, to experience other cultures different from my own, and to improve my Spanish by being in a community with native speakers.<\/span><\/p>\n While on this journey, I experienced many new things that impacted my life greatly. We went on several trips to different countries throughout South America. These trips forced me to expand my comfort zone and be more independent. During my adventures, I tried new things, spoke more confidently in Spanish to strangers, and visited new churches. We visited a church in every new city to which we would go, and I got to see how different cultures worshiped God. In Buenos Aires, we went to a church that did not look like much from the outside. It had a huge, metal gate surrounding the campus which consisted of a few buildings and a sort of pavilion standing over a cheap basketball court. However, the congregation was so genuine and had a beautiful passion for God. While there, we were blessed enough to watch a young adult get baptized and devote her life to Christ. It was incredible to witness this celebration and congratulate her on the most important decision of her life. While at home in Montevideo, I attended the only Church of Christ in the city. The congregation there is so fierce in their love for God, and they welcomed me every Sunday with open arms. Worshiping with churches throughout South America was an eye-opening and encouraging experience for me.<\/span><\/p>\n While in South America, I learned about other cultures and practiced my Spanish with the native speakers at church, in the classroom, and in the house. When we visited Buenos Aires, I ventured out with my friends to explore the city, and by happy accident, we got to watch a cultural dance performed by people of the community. Before we left for study abroad, we were told to find opportunities to get \u201cblissfully lost,\u201d which basically means to get out of your comfort zone and wander around a new place with an open mind and heart. We went out into Buenos Aires with no specific destination in mind and found ourselves watching another culture\u2019s self-expression. Throughout the semester, I got the incredible opportunity to speak Spanish every day with the sole purpose of improvement, and it paid off. Every Friday, everybody in the house spoke in Spanish not just in class, but to each other throughout the day. The culture and Spanish have affected me greatly. I feel as though my knowledge of other cultures and peoples has grown exponentially. My fluency and vocabulary in Spanish have also grown, so much so that now I can speak and understand comfortably with a native speaker. Because of this journey, I am not the same person as I was before I left.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.9.2″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/01\/Pamplin_Fall19_4.jpg” title_text=”Pamplin_Fall19_4″ _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|||1px||” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/01\/Pamplin_Fall19_3.jpg” title_text=”Pamplin_Fall19_3″ _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.9.2″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”180.7px” custom_padding=”||0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.9.2″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/01\/Pamplin_Fall19_2.jpg” title_text=”Pamplin_Fall19_2″ _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” custom_margin=”|-14px|2px|||” custom_padding=”|4px|0px|||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.9.2″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/01\/Pamplin_Fall19_5.jpg” title_text=”Pamplin_Fall19_5″ _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_margin=”||-5px|||” min_height=”304px” width=”100%”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ever since I took Spanish II in tenth grade, I discovered my love for Spanish and decided that I wanted to study abroad in Montevideo. As soon as I could, I applied for study abroad and requested a grant from the Honors College, which I graciously received. This grant helped enable me to experience a new country and learn about and from a new culture. I set out to Montevideo with three goals in mind: to learn how Christians in other countries worship together, to experience other cultures different from my own, and to improve my Spanish by being in a community with native speakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18033,"featured_media":5445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1382,496,20979],"class_list":["post-5440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-montevideo","tag-study-abroad","tag-uruguay"],"yoast_head":"\n