The man looked at me and knew I was new to all of this. With a smile on his face, he told me to follow him. Instead of asking me to move aside and let the ever-growing line behind me check out, he took the time to walk me back to the produce section and show me how to use the label machine. He didn’t laugh at me or scold me, he simply smiled. I know this may not seem like a big deal, but his gesture meant so much to me. Every time I return to the supermarket for groceries, he’s there. And every single time, he smiles and waves at me.
I've watched soccer games, shopped at the local clothing stores and cooked local Spanish dishes, but my favorite thing to do in my community is volunteer. I volunteer each week with a program called Caritas. It is an afterschool program for children that is strategically placed in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Valencia. Many of the kids in this neighborhood are children of immigrants from all over the world: Syria, North Africa, India, etc. Others come from families with a history of violence and broken homes. I have the unique opportunity to love hese kids, empower them, and show them that they are more than the situations that they are in. They make me feel like I truly belong. We play games, do homework, and practice English together every Tuesday and Thursday!
The selfless actions and attitudes of the people here in Valencia have clearly impacted me. These people have adopted me into their families and made me one of their own. They’ve made a small-town Alabama girl feel at home while she's far away on the other side of the world.
