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Pickelsimer
Wilson Pickelsimer
Fountain Frolicking
In eighth grade I realized the importance of knowing other
languages. I cannot remember a time when I didnt think they were
important, but close to the summer of eighth grade, knowing other
languages proved essential.
In my Spanish 2 class, we prepared the whole year for a trip to
Spain as an immersion experience. We would stay with a host family in
Barcelona for a week, then hop to other Spanish cities for the week
after. I and a few other classmates took that year quite seriously, but
most of the class was just trying to pass and rely on the teachers to
communicate in Spain. That year, we learned all about culture. We
learned about the food, customs, and airport vocabulary. We learned
just enough to get us by, but I wanted to learn a bit more. I wanted to
immerse myself in Spanish before going to Spain.
I would go to the local Mexican restaurant in my hometown on
the weekends and talk for hours with the employees about their
families, their work days, and sometimes theyd even help me on my
homework. I grew up listening to Spanish music called Raggaeton and
Bachata, and I continued to listen to that every day. On my hour-long
commute to school, I would listen to a Spanish talk radio station with
my cup of coffee. I texted my friends in Spanish and at one point
developed an accent to where people who didnt know me well enough

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thought I was a foreigner. I watched Spanish TV shows and read
Spanish magazines. The only parts of their culture that I felt I couldnt
immerse myself in yet was their stunning architecture and their
delicious culinary cuisine. I was in love with Spain before I even
arrived.
The end of the school year inched closer and we were gearing up
for the big trip. We wanted to blend in and not look like tourists so the
majority of the clothes we brought did not have labels, just neutrals
and vibrant colors of red, orange, green, and blue. I didnt pack much
because I knew Id be coming home with a lot of souvenirs. I met the
rest of my class at the school at 7:15 AM. Once everybody was there,
we piled onto a bus and drove to the airport. We all had our plush neck
pillows for the flight over and were shaking from excitement. We
boarded the plane, put our pillows around our neck, put our
headphones on, and took off.
Upon landing in Barcelona, we played the palm tree game out
the window to see who could see the first palm tree. I couldnt play
very well because I fell asleep on the flight and my contacts shriveled
up so I couldnt see. But not even blindness could suppress my
excitement to be in Spain. We bolted off the airplane, hurried through
customs, and finally got outside to feel the morning breeze. The feeling
of being in a foreign country with my best friends was unforgettable.
We managed to get a bus to a school in the city where we would meet

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our host families. Once at the school, we got on Facebook and sent a
message to our families telling them hey and that we were there
safely. The host families arrived to pick us up. The mother of the
family, Montse, came to bring me and my roommate, Thomas, back to
her house.
I could not have been any luckier with the host family that I got. I
had a host mom, Montse, a host dad, Oscar, and three host brothers,
twins my age, Marc and Alex, and another brother 3 years older named
Oscar. Every morning Montse and Oscar would make a delicious
breakfast for us. Usually the meal would be patatas bravas or an
omelette with orange juice and coffee. Their refrigerator was stock full
of Fanta Naranja (orange). In the evenings, once back from our day of
activities, we would all go play soccer in the back yard. We lived in the
same apartment complex as the F.C. Barcelona soccer team because it
was across the street from the training complex. I had the opportunity
of meeting a few of the players in our garage one evening. I was the
luckiest guy in the world.
After an incredible week in Barcelona, we journeyed on to
Cadaqus, Madrid, Granada, and finished in Segovia. Segovia was
known for their massive aqueducts and their quaint, small town-feel.
The streets are cobblestone and the community is close knit. Our
teachers had instructed us to pack our bathing suits for the trip. We
were in our last city of the tour and still had not seen a single public

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pool. The group was ready for a dip. One evening we went to town and
came across a toy store. The toy store sold everything from chupa
chups lollipops to kiddie pools. We bought both. We bought a giant
plastic lollipop that held about one hundred real lollipops and a king
size kiddie pool. The next morning was the last day before our flight
back to the U.S. so we made the most of it. About a block from our
hotel was a small park with a massive fountain at the center. We
changed into our bathing suits, grabbed our chupa chups and kiddie
pool, and headed towards the fountain. There were a few people
sunbathing on towels in the grass, but besides them the park was
empty. One of the craziest in our bunch, Zander, sprinted towards the
fountain and immediately hopped in the bottom tier. Once three people
hopped in we soon realized that we all couldnt fit in the fountain. We
then decided to use the giant chupa chups plastic lid as a bowl to
scoop the water from the fountain and transfer it into the kiddie pool.
We scooped in shifts, changing people every five minutes to give our
arms a break. Finally, after about two hours of scooping, the kiddie
pool was filled and the fountain was almost empty. We all piled in and
splashed around, slinging water at each other and breaking our bums
by doing cannonballs into the shallow water. This fun lasted about
thirty minutes until we saw blue and red flashing lights in the distance.
Four police on loud motorcycles appear and start mumbling
Spanish that nobody could understand. Two people in our group fled

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the scene at the sight of the lights. The rest of us just stood in shock
and didnt know what to do. I couldnt figure out why, but the
policemen approached me and started to question me. They spoke
faster than anything I had heard so I asked if they could please slow
down and they did. They asked what we were doing and I told them it
is just as it appears. We hadnt seen water this whole trip and that we
were simply a bunch of American tourists that were promised a swim.
The policemen nodded their heads and asked to speak to a supervisor.
I ran to the hotel, two of the three were sleeping. The two sleeping
happened to be the Spanish teachers. The third supervisor happened
to be our substitute teacher that didnt speak a lick of Spanish. I
informed him on what was going on at the park and we both ran back
to them. Back at the park, I had to translate for the supervisor what he
wanted to say. He had me tell them that they are just kids and that
they didnt know this was against the law and had me apologize
multiple times. The policemen after much thought decided to let us
pack up and go. Thankful that we werent in handcuffs, we picked up
the kiddie pool, poured the water back in the fountain, grabbed the
chupa chups, and went back to the hotel to shower off.
Later that night, the teachers made their rounds and came to
talk to each of us. They thanked me for being such a dedicated student
and for saving the group from being locked up. This trip assured me
that it is better to be prepared no matter what you are doing because

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you never know what is coming. I will never travel to a foreign country
again without knowing the basics of their language.