Living here in Alicante has been a pretty big change for me in many aspects of my life. One of the most obvious differences has been public transportation. Now, depending on where you live in the United States, you may or may not have used public transportation before; for me, the answer was no. I am from Lee’s Summit, a city with no real public transportation system, as there is a bus to and from Kansas City, but that’s it, nothing else. If you want to go somewhere, you either drive or find someone to drive you. However, it is not like that here in Alicante.

Throughout the city, there is a robust system of buses, trams, and trains. I personally use the tram every day to get to and from university, as well as other places. It is very convenient to have a set schedule for the trams, which run with very little deviation. The buses generally are looser with time but go to more places around the city. Instead of dealing with car traffic, the problem now is the crowding inside the tram. It is weird to share a space with people on the way to places or need to stand (sometimes too close) next to people because there are no seats. However, I’m not complaining since I was able to get a youth card, making tram and bus rides free. I do miss the personal nature of being in my own car, but not having to pay for gas is a plus. It is also easier to relax on the ride since I am never the one driving and I don’t have to worry about being vigilant all the time.

This is something of a personal anecdote that is related to the tram but is also an interesting cultural difference I have found. One morning, I was riding the tram to university when it had to stop due to a car stuck in the mud. Many people went out to look, and we were stuck there for about half an hour before the tram could move again. I was telling the story to my host family and was wondering why we couldn’t have just pushed it out since it would have been easier and faster. However, they told me that it can be a huge liability because of injuries. I found this weird and confusing because back home, people push cars out of mud and snow all the time and if you get injured it’s your own fault. It’s not something big, but what surprised me was the total difference in our ways of thinking. Anyways, I find public transportation super useful, and I wish we could implement it more in the States.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: ALI Abroad: University of Alicante