Hello from Madrid! It’s been a couple of weeks since I finally made it to the city and it still feels surreal. The first couple of days, I was running all over the place trying to buy room necessities and all the basic items that I didn’t think about when packing. Getting my room set up definitely helped me feel more settled and made it feel more real that I was living here for four months rather than just staying a couple weeks for vacation. It has been super fun exploring new cuisines, restaurants, and neighborhoods with fellow Aggies because we are all experiencing this for the first time and are in awe together. Luckily, I have not experienced major culture shock because Spanish culture feels very similar to my Mexican culture because of the common language (although the slang and accent has taken time to get used to), and both have friendly people.
The biggest adjustment has been the school system because of their less rigorous structure. At A&M, it is normal to have homework after each class, big lecture halls where only the professor speaks and professors expect you to memorize every minor detail on all slides for exams. At UC3M, there is very minimal (if not any, depending on the class) homework, their large lecture rooms fit less than 100 people, the professors don’t like lecturing but make class interactive with discussions and group activities, and class is structured to understand big ideas and apply them to real situations rather than being expected to memorize and repeat information. After a short time here, I prefer this style of learning because it is more flexible and allows you to learn at your pace rather than memorize information for the sake of passing exams.
I’m super excited to continue to explore the city and meet new people along the way. I can’t wait to take my friends and family to my favorite local places when they come to visit and watch them fall in love with the city.
