I hadn’t been this excited in a long time. I had been waiting for this opportunity to study abroad in Spain for nearly a year now and it had finally come. I knew that I was in for totally new experiences that would shape me for a lifetime, but I could never have prepared myself for just how different the experience was going to be. Within the first hour or two after landing in Madrid, I could already start to see the stark differences in cultural that I was in for. There was definitely an initial culture shock that I went through during the first day or so of trying to learn the city. I was so confused at why people ate dinner at 10 p.m. here and just how vastly different the daily schedule is here. Instead of going to an HEB once a week and stocking up, I am going to the grocery store once a day it seems like and just taking home what I need for the immediate future. While I have only been here a short time, I feel like I have already experienced many of the great things that Madrid has to offer. The current highlight of my trip was a tour of the Santiago Bernabeu. I would have never guessed that spending nearly 2 hours inside of a soccer stadium would have been such an amazing experience. I have started to figure out just how amazing public transportation can be and how much more accessible it makes a big city feel as I learn it better. Overall, the experience has been everything I could have hoped for and more so far, and I look forward to exploring more of Madrid, Spain, and the surrounding countries in Europe over the coming weeks and months.
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