Experience & Adjustment
So far the experience has been truly incredible. Leaving the US to move to Spain for the next four months was daunting, but the excitement set in once we touched down at the Madrid airport. It really helps that I have such a great group of Fairfield girls with me, Megan Lux, Megan O'Brien, and Caity Roder. They have absolutely made the adjustment easier and we have so much fun exploring Spain and traveling together! We have a great living situation as well. An 8-person apartment- we each have our own bedroom which has been really nice. The apartment is in a great area in Chamberí in the Vallehermoso area. The metro here is AMAZING, so easy to use, and very clean. From our area, traveling around is pretty easy and there are so many fun restaurants and bars that we can walk to, or take the metro easily. In general, Spain is so much cheaper than the US which has been a nice surprise. Wine for 1 euro. A whole breakfast for 5 euros! Food, clothes, public transportation, activities, and traveling are all much cheaper than at home- still dropping way too much money but hey at least it's all cheaper here.
Moving to a new country with a language I barely knew was SCARY but the fear sort of disappears when you realize how incredible everything you are experiencing is. Moving here, I knew very little Spanish beforehand, but I’ve been able to grow my language knowledge and communication skills a lot since being here! It's such an amazing and very different experience living in a community surrounded by a new language and culture. It has also been SO fun meeting other international students which have helped make the adjustment go so well!
Exploring Madrid, meeting new people & getting even closer with the girls I’m with, & being able to travel to a new country every weekend or a new city in Spain have all helped me get adjusted. I guess you’re moving around so much that it's sort of like a constant period of adjustment over here but you almost get used to that feeling and it becomes a constant state of excitement regardless of what we’re doing. There are moments when we are SO exhausted, but the lack of sleep is worth it (and we always find the time to catch up on it at some point).
Classes
The coolest part about classes here is that you are sitting in a room with people from all over the world. I have classes with students from Australia, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, Canada, France, Argentina, Spain, Austria, etc. It really is so international which is so cool because you get to learn about people’s experiences from all over. My favorite class here is Intercultural Communication because it's especially interesting to work directly with my international peers and see our different styles of communication and learn about each other's different experiences with education, language, and communication in our home countries. The Spanish students here are also so nice, our university (Comillas) offered a buddy program where a Spanish student could be paired up with an international student to make the transition easier. My buddy is so nice & fun, & has been super helpful!
Our peers and the teachers here are all awesome. But what has been an adjustment is the commute. Our school’s campus is outside of the city so we have to take 3 trains to get there (2 metro lines and then we get on the suburban railway). Again, using the metro is super easy! But it's roughly an hour commute which has been an adjustment for sure. I also have an 8:30 AM Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday so that early morning rally is tough but we make it work. Classes here are also ALL 2 hours long and happen twice a week (except language classes which are only 1.5 hours) so that's also been an adjustment. The commute & length of classes may be a lot, but again the students & teachers are all really cool & the commute is pretty so it balances out. But the school days are looong which leaves us pretty tired after, so we have long periods of rest (we call it “enclosure time”) before rally time at night (nightlife here doesn’t START until 12 AM at the earliest -unless you're out at dinner- and it ends around 4-6 AM).
Favorite things to do
In Madrid:
- Taking the metro to new areas, Madrid is huge and there are so many different sections of Madrid it's fun to explore
- Trying new food & restaurants (I love the food here in Spain)
- The nightlife is so fun and a different experience than the US!
- Exploring on my own! As much as I LOVE exploring with the girls and our new friends, it’s a really cool experience getting to do things on your own in a new country too. On Thursday my school day ends at 10:30 AM so I like getting to go explore - on my own- check out museums, new cafes, shopping, etc.
- Go to El Retiro park
- Trying new food & restaurants (I love the food here in Spain)
- The nightlife is so fun and a different experience than the US!
- Exploring on my own! As much as I LOVE exploring with the girls and our new friends, it’s a really cool experience getting to do things on your own in a new country too. On Thursday my school day ends at 10:30 AM so I like getting to go explore - on my own- check out museums, new cafes, shopping, etc.
- Go to El Retiro park
Travel
One of the best parts about being in Europe is how accessible travel is. It's cheaper and everything is way closer. We have been to El Escorial & Segovia & Toledo (cities in Spain, 1/1.5-hour bus ride), Morocco (1.4-hour flight), Barcelona (2-hour train ride), and Paris (2-hour flight). And we have SO many weekends of travel coming up. Off to Florence this weekend! Traveling is really one of the best, if not THE best part about being here. I absolutely love getting to see new places in Spain and love how easy it is to travel to a new country for the weekend! It's an experience unlike any other.
