My name is Anya, and I’ve lived my teenage years inside my comfort zone– going through the daily motions of school, work, and going out. Every day, I would postpone my “dream planning” for tomorrow (which really means never). I operated assuming that tomorrow was guaranteed to be there, and I ignored the passage of time as I procrastinated on my life. After traveling with SPC to Spain and Portugal– two countries rich with history and culture– my paradigm shifted.

I went on this trip excited to learn more about the history of Spain and Portugal. These countries were once the big dogs of Europe, and I was eager to see the cathedrals, cultural sights, and remnants of the people who came before us. As you may have guessed, I’m a history nerd. I already knew a bit about ancient history and Iberian history, so I was thrilled at the prospect of walking in the footsteps of the past and watching the stories from my books come to life.

While visiting a Chapel, an unexpected epiphany struck me on this trip– and I’ve yet to shake it off: Our ancestors were close with death– and I’m not just saying that because they are dead now– I’m saying that because they thought about it much more than we do. It’s present everywhere in Spain and Portugal. From the statues and paintings honoring dead people, to the remarkable edifices that dead people constructed– death is subliminally everywhere in Europe. Their relationship with death even seeps into how they live now– with their slow-paced and “live-in-the-moment” culture. Of course, it was a lot easier to die back then, but death is not any less inevitable now as it was centuries ago. Compared to us, death was much higher up on their list of things to zone out about.

I’ve spent my entire life cowering from my fear of death. I think we all do. The infinite darkness. The last goodbye. The sun exploding in 5 billion years. I avoid thinking about it at all to avoid pointlessly panicking. It’s not productive to freak out about something I have no control over and is 100% bound to happen if I don’t meet a cute vampire anytime soon. The only way I can get the answers is by dying, and by that point, I won’t be able to think at all. It’s a lose-lose. Well, one destination floored me and forced me to finally face my fear. That destination is floor-to-ceiling with death: The Chapel of Bones.

The Chapel of Bones in Évora is an unforgettable sight. You’re in the presence of 500 skeletons– all of whose bones know stories we’ll never hear. Five centuries ago, some monks had an epiphany on life and dug up a graveyard to create a chapel lined on the inside with bones and skulls. They created a space to reflect on the inevitable nature of mortality, which reminded them to be more present in life. My youthful and naïve sense of immortality totally shrank when confronted by this imposing and eerie scene. In this fast-paced world, we focus more on the now than what comes next: We create cheap infrastructure that barely lasts 30 years, while old Roman concrete is stronger now than when it was first paved thousands of years ago; We drain our Earth of resources and neglect thinking of the consequences for our future generations to endure, while our ancestors erected immortal cathedrals and cities for us to inherit. Why do we have a different attitude towards the future?
– Anya, SPC Spain and Portugal (High School) Study Abroad Program, March 2025