Spotlight
Name: Everett Elam
Age: 28
Profession/Area of Study: Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies
at University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Study Abroad Destination: Salamanca, Spain
Description of disability: Visually Impaired
What resources were useful for you?
The chair of the Spanish department served as a sort of liaison
between me and the University of Salamanca. There is no ADA in
Spain and it was a big challenge getting my textbooks translated
into Braille in Salamanca. It didn‟t ever happen. The chair of the
department and I spoke to the University of Salamanca in Spain,
which has been around since 1218. They said “we don‟t have
accommodations,” and her response was “well, you better get
them ready.” It was a bit more diplomatic than that, but the point
was made that I needed my materials in an accessible format. I
also asked for a tutor who could take notes for me in class. Not a
lot of blind people study in Spain, so they were completely taken
aback.
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They hired a social worker about my age to be my note-taker and
she was very helpful and made the difference for me. We were
about to kill each other sometimes but my time learning Spanish
from her and in turn teaching her how to help someone with a
disability was one of the defining aspects of my time in Spain. I
had to explain all my needs to her in Spanish. I remember the first
time we met; I was showing her how my computer talked to me,
how to scan a document so that I could read it with my phone, etc.
etc. I realized that I was in Spain advocating for myself in Spanish,
and they understood me. I also came to understand the value of
keeping my phrases brief and exact. I ramble a lot, ya know? I
think I confused her at least a million times. *smile*
Feelings about accessibility while traveling abroad:
You are fighting for your educational well-being in this place
where you don‟t get to go home at the end of the day to mommy
and daddy, you better get it right the first time.
One thing about traveling in Europe was, even though my
schooling wasn‟t accessible other things were. You can tell the
money apart because the coins all sound different. All of the
medicine in the pharmacies we visited is brailed. The lottery is
the main avenue through which folks with disabilities are
employed and helped in Spain. Many people in Spain suffered
from orthopedic issues, possibly due to walking on the
cobblestones all day. One day I was walking down those streets
and, jokingly to my girlfriend, I said you would need tank tracks
on your wheelchair to get around here.
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Sometimes it was like being in Hogwarts, massive castle-type
buildings, all from the 15th/16th centuries with doors on the
outside for a horse and wagon, and little doors for people, and
gorgeous wooden banisters. You are going to trip and stumble
around more in Salamanca because everything is designed much
differently from the more formulaic way we do things in the US.
Any difficult times or challenges while you were abroad?
I love playing music but even though it‟s where my heart is it
doesn‟t always pay the bills. What I want to do besides that is
advocate and teach people who are disabled and, though it was
tough, being abroad with a disability is what made the experience
for me.
Do you have any suggestions for other students who
wish to study abroad?
I‟d tell them to go for it! Make a list of your needs, draw up a game
plan for getting those needs met in another country, plan your
trip, find a way to fund it, and talk to other people who have
studied abroad. The opportunity is out there, so take it!
What were your most enjoyable experiences abroad?
My girlfriend and I actually started the trip early with a trip to
Italy to see some friends. After that we went to France. After
hanging around Avignon and the Palace of the Popes, my
girlfriend and I, who are fiddle players, played outside of an ice
cream shop. We ended up making about 50 Euros and were able
to get some ice cream, not to mention our meals for the next week
or so!
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Another time, after my girlfriend and I finished our massive piles
of homework, siesta‟d and, ate dinner, we were playing on a bench
outside and this lady came up to us. “Blah blah blah,” what was
she saying? We stopped playing and she said in Spanish, “puedes
a tocar in mi boda?” She was asking if we would play at her
wedding and we, being poor students, said yeah. We ended up
playing in the Castillo de Buen Amor. We played and then stayed
up late with the wedding party, enjoying the duck and wine and
„crema de melon,‟ a drink with watermelon and milk.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
For our last week in Spain my girlfriend and I stayed an extra
week at a fiddle camp in Burgos, Crisol de Cuerda. It was a folk
music camp. We studied under some of the most monstrously
talented musicians I have come into contact with. One guy had
played on the soundtrack for Titanic and the Last of the
Mohicans, people from Galicia, Basque, France, all over…it really
cemented for me that music is not this guitar hero show off but
something you share with people. They would play notes and we
would play back, people dancing and clapping until 4:30 in the
morning, it was definitely not Kansas anymore, there was this
unique sense of community and I‟ll never forget it!