Sophomore Heather Hunter-Nickels has lived years in countries that many may never have an opportunity to go to. She spent five years of her childhood living in El Salvador and recently spent the summer in Spain where she went out on “adventures”, seeking to see the world.
“I spent five years in El Salvador when I was little. My parents were missionaries and wanted to do it while I was young, before it got too complicated with school and all of that,” Hunter-Nickels said.
According to Hunter-Nickels, English was her first language however she spoke Spanish fluently.
“We spoke English in the house, and obviously, Spanish when we went out,” Hunter-Nickels said.
Hunter-Nickels also learned some lessons while living in El Salvador, lessons that she holds with her today.
“Everyone was poor. Gang violence was really bad and you had to be extra-careful. It opened my eyes to how some people live in the world,” Hunter-Nickels said.
Upon returning to America, Hunter-Nickels lost most of the Spanish that she had learned, something that would become an obstacle during her trip to Spain.
“I didn’t want to speak Spanish with my parents. It felt weird to speak it in the house, so I forgot a lot of it. When I took Spanish Native Speakers 1, I began to remember,” Hunter-Nickels said.
Over the summer, Hunter-Nickels traveled to Spain with her family through JMU.
“My mom works for JMU and she signed up for a program. They picked her to teach for six weeks in Spain,” Hunter-Nickels said.
The short duration of her visit posed a threat to her social life overseas.
“We had a great time, but it wasn’t easy to meet people. We weren’t there long enough to meet people or make friends and we lived in an apartment,” said Hunter-Nickels.
According to Hunter-Nickels, the trip was not without drama.
“We traveled to Barcelona with a group of JMU students and an art historian who took us to Madrid. We saw a lot of famous art works such as Picasso’s. At the cathedral in Madrid, we lost my sister and actually left her,” Hunter-Nickels said.
They recovered her sister safe.
Spain was not the extent of Hunter Nickels’ travels, however. She also traveled to France and Switzerland. While in Geneva, Switzerland she stayed with some friends of the family.
“There was a guy across the street who was really shy. He would come over, but we couldn’t communicate. We couldn’t understand anything he was saying and it was like a game of charades,” Hunter-Nickels said.
The trip to Europe also brought about some “interesting” experiences for the Hunter-Nickels family.
“We were walking and ended up in the Red Light District where there were a ton of prostitutes. Many of them were signaling for my dad,” Hunter-Nickels said.
“I had great time at both places. I’m lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to go,” Hunter-Nickels said. “I will always remember both places and hopefully I will remember the lessons that I learned about how tough some in other places of the world have it.”
