Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Eduardo T Otero | 190911-N-KH151-0155 NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (September 11, 2019) Naval Station...... read more read more
The first weekend in October this year is the annual celebration for the Virgen del Rosario, the patron saint and honorary mayoress of Rota. Throughout the weekend, there will be many events to celebrate and honor the patron saint including the coronation ceremony, procession religious, and a parade.
The events include young ladies who are “damas” selected to represent their associations, clubs and organizations. Damas are required to attend several municipal and social events leading up to the festival weekend as well as throughout the remainder of the year.
For more than 40 years, an American teen has been selected to participate in the events as the dama representing the U.S. community highlighting the cooperation and engagement between the U.S. personnel and the local Spanish community. The dama is selected from several applicants who go through an interview process before being selected by Naval Station Rota commanding officer. This year’s dama is Emma Bond, a senior at David Glasgow Farragut (DGF) High School.
“It is such an honor to have been selected to represent the American naval community,” said Bond. “Being able to reinforce the strong relationship between America and our host country is rewarding.”
This year and for the first time, an American will also represent the Base Naval de Rota, which is typically held by a child of the Spanish military. This year’s dama is Shelby Swafford, a senior at DGF High School.
“This is truly a rare and unique opportunity,” explained Swafford. “There has never been an American representing the Base Naval de Rota and I am so thankful for the Spanish Admiral allowing me to have this opportunity.”
This year, there are 29 damas and they have been learning the history of Rota and visiting various important municipal and religious sites in the months leading up to the festivities. They learned the importance of the “corrales” near the edge of Rota, toured the mayeteria, and met with government officials and attended social events.
Bond was surprised by the interesting facts she has learned while touring with the damas.
“Even though I have lived in Rota for nearly a decade, I am seeing and experiencing parts of the city I have never been to,” said Bond.
Recently the damas toured the base visiting both the Spanish and American sides, Sept. 11, 2019.
“We learned about the Spanish and American navies and we toured their ships and aircraft,” said Swafford. “We also visited my high school where Emma and I gave them a tour of what an American high school is like. We ended with a lunch with the Mayor of Rota, Spanish admiral, Capt. Baird and other officials.”
Both Bond and Swafford are fluent in Spanish but this experience have developed their language skills even more. Bond describes that her “confidence and fluency have increased immensely” during her time as a dama. Swafford said while she’s been speaking Spanish for over five years, she’s feels that in the past few months, Spanish has gotten so much “easier and natural” for her.
Both girls have also been anxiously preparing for the coronation ceremony. All damas will be wearing a special dress designed specifically for this event which has required several fittings with the designer. At the coronation ceremony, the damas are presented to the Rota community and the queen, or dama mayor, will be announced.
But for both girls, it’s about the journey not the final weekend.
“Being immersed in the culture has taught me so much and I have grown in so many ways, not just in my Spanish linguistic abilities,” said Bond.
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.02.2019 08:58 |
| Story ID: | 345254 |
| Location: | ROTA, ES |
| Web Views: | 383 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Rota’s American Damas: Emma Bond and Shelby Swafford, by Courtney Pollock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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