Two months ago, I was sitting in Ellis Library, avoiding my Spanish homework with the help of Google Maps. I dragged the little street view man 4,000 miles away from my home and dropped him in the middle of Alicante, Spain. I dragged him around, looking at the buildings and the street signs and the beautiful beaches. Seeing blurry photos of the city is a lot different from actually being here. I arrived in Alicante four weeks ago and let me tell you, Google Maps did NOT do it justice. It could not capture how kind the people are, or how fresh and fulfilling the pastries taste, or how the soft wind feels in the sunlight. Alicante is the perfect city for all of these pieces and more.

The one thing I would change about Alicante, given the chance, would be the smoking. Cigarettes are a pretty common stereotype of Europeans, but it was not one of the things I was expecting to be so important to my experiences here. Walking down the street, almost 50% of people hold a lit cigarette between their fingers or hit their vape while waiting at the crosswalk. The smoke could never detract from the beauty of the city. However, it could certainly detract from the health of my lungs. I came to Alicante with what I though was a recovering cold. After a few days of smoke and exhaustion and excitement, my recovering cold revealed itself to be pneumonia and my ribs started to hurt from coughing. Thank you Mizzou for making me enroll in a travel health insurance plan. I have visited the private hospital twice now, and have learned a lot about the health care system in Spain. For example, it is not very common for people to have their doctor that they see every year. Because of this, many people end up going to urgent care for common things like sniffles and aches. The biggest difference from the USA is that public health care is free for citizens of Spain. Anybody can walk into the public hospital and get treated for any ailment, free of charge! In my case, my health insurance covered a visit to the private hospital’s urgent care. Spanish citizens can choose to go to the private hospital and pay for their care — which may be more specialized and personalized. However, even the private hospital is so much cheaper than any hospital in the U.S.!

After visiting the hospital, I went to the pharmacy to pick up medications. In Spain, you can’t just buy medication at any grocery store like you can in the U.S. Most medications — even ibuprofen and Tylenol — are kept behind the counter and you need to ask a pharmacist for them. These medications are also sold in smaller batches — no giant bottles of extra-strength ibuprofen. Medicine is more regulated here in Spain, but it is not hard to get what you need. There are pharmacies on every street corner and there is at least one 24-hour pharmacy in every area. Thanks to health insurance, the help of ALI Abroad and a whole slew of medications, I am now feeling a lot better. While the circumstances were not ideal, I am very grateful to have learned more about health care in Spain (especially because I want to work in the health care field). Out of Google Maps and into the real city, I have learned so much about Spain and myself in a very short period. January has been truly sickening and I am excited for four more months abroad!

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