Senora Maria Victoria

She is intelligent, bold and kind hearted; her striped skirts never match the wacky patterns that she sports on her blouses, or the polka dotted shoes that she scurries around in; her volume is a bit on the loud side and she never seems to sit down. But Senora Maria Victoria is the woman whom I hold partly responsible for my recent love affair with Spanish culture.

I remember meeting the woman that I would be living with for the next year on pick up day at the Suffolk Madrid Campus and I am not sure exactly what I had in mind when I pictured my senora; but Victoria’s big smile, round face, and easy going demeanor put all my nerves at ease the moment I laid eyes on her. I remember her energetically greeting us with the customary two kisses and then being bombarded by every word in the Spanish language except for the ones that I knew of. For about two full weeks I responded to everything she said with an unsure smile and the words "si" or "vale." At first I had absolutely no clue what she was saying to me but each day I naturally picked up on more vocabulary and became more confidant in responding to my senora with more in depth answers. Victoria quickly became a friend, mentor and cultural guide to my roommates and I. We often laughed with her until we cried and spent countless nights at Maria Victoria’s small dinner table trading stories, trying new foods and practicing our Spanish. She took us to "el Rastro" (Madrid’s flea market ) for the first time, brought me to the country side to horseback ride and treated us as family while we lived under her roof on Avenida de America. Victoria taught me her secret culinary tricks and we introduced her to peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie dough.

I am no longer living with Senora Maria Victoria but I still see her sporadically and I greatly value my time spent with her. This year a new group of American girls will get to grow and learn from Victoria’s crazy and wonderful ways. I now live with three of my best friends in a spacious school sponsored apartment that is in walking distance to all of Madrid’s best attractions. My experience abroad will certainly be a different one this year without having Victoria's gracious presence to come home to each night. Living on my own for the first time is an exciting transition that will certainly have its perks and bring along new challenges; nonetheless it is a chapter in my life that I am sure I will grow from just the same.