Through My Eyes, In My Words:

Choral Music as a Window to Culture: Spain and Portugal

Taught by Nina Gilbert, director of choral activities, and Katherine Furlong, access services librarian

Dan Massa of Carlisle, Pa., a biochemistry major, is president of Soulfege, a coed a cappella group, and a member of three other vocal ensembles, the Chorduroys (all-male a cappella), Lafayette Choir, and Madrigal Singers. He also a member of the Experience Lafayette Committee, which organizes and runs an open house day designed to give prospective first-year students a better idea of what the Lafayette community has to offer.

I have studied the Spanish language for six-and a half years, ranging from my first Spanish course in seventh grade all the way through AP Spanish Five in high school and one semester of intermediate Spanish here at Lafayette. I was extremely excited when I heard that the choir trip was going to Spain and Portugal, because I could not wait to test my Spanish-speaking skills in a fully immersed setting. I wanted to prove to myself that all those years studying Spanish had not gone to waste. It was very interesting for me to go from not knowing the language at all in Portugal, to being nearly fluent in Spain.

It was eight o’clock in the morning when we arrived at the downtown square in Lisbon, the very first stop on our tour. Since I was unable to get any significant sleep on the plane, I had been awake for about 20 hours by that point, and, needless to say, my mental abilities were not the sharpest. Nevertheless, I was hungry, so I followed a few members of the group into a nice-looking pastry/coffee shop just down the street from our bus. It was then that a realization that hit me like a freight train – I had no clue how to communicate with the Portuguese people! I managed to order a sausage wrapped in a pastry simply by pointing to it, and guessed that “cafe” meant coffee in Portuguese, although I did not know how to ask for it black, so I just smiled and nodded when the man behind the counter put milk in it. The real difficulty came in paying for the food. This particular restaurant happened to be very confusing for non-regulars, because each customer was supposed to order and pay at a separate register before even approaching the counter with all of the pastries on display. I tried to ask the man behind the counter how much I needed to pay, and he replied in Portuguese. I felt like a deer in headlights, and it took me several seconds to realize that he was pointing to that separate register. Embarrassed, I sheepishly plodded over to the register, paid, and ate my breakfast in solitude, feeling like all of the Portuguese customers were eyeing me with contempt.

Although I ultimately had a wonderful time in Portugal, despite my inability to speak the language, I was extremely excited when we finally made it to Spain, where I could actually communicate with people. Even though I felt like I knew Spanish very well, it was still a whole lot more difficult than I expected. I had a very tough time understanding the Spaniards when they spoke to me because they spoke very rapidly and unclearly. For example, I had always learned that in Spain they pronounce “s” with a lisp, but in Seville and Cordoba they just left “s” out entirely. It took me several days to catch on to that.

Even though it was difficult for me, I think my absolute favorite aspect of the entire trip was speaking in Spanish. It was fun being able to talk with store clerks and bartenders, but the best part was spending a significant amount of time with a few members of a choir from Cordoba, made up of mostly college-aged men and women. They were all very friendly, and fun to joke around with. The simple fact that I had the ability to joke around with people speaking Spanish thoroughly amazed me. When our Spanish friends took a few of us out to the bars, I spent almost the entire time sitting at a table, talking with them. It was definitely difficult at times, and there were instances when no matter how many times I asked them to slow down and pronounce a word more clearly, I just could not understand what they were saying. However, those times were definitely outweighed by all of the times that I did understand them, and they understood me as well. Speaking in Spanish with Spanish people, and even having them compliment me on my grammar and pronunciation, produced some of the most satisfying feelings I have ever experienced.

If someone were to ask me which country I liked the most, I would have a very difficult time answering. Before the trip, I thought that I was going to have a lot more fun in Spain, simply because I could speak the language. And yes, the ultimate highlight of my trip was most definitely speaking Spanish in Spain. On the other hand, I will never forget all of the great times I had in Portugal (and there were multitudes of them), despite not being able to speak the language. It was a complete 180-degree reversal going from being basically incompetent in Portugal to being almost fluent in Spain, and I think that dramatic shift really broadened my overall experience in Europe. I was able to experience being abroad from two totally different points of view.