So far Madrid has exceeded my expectations. Everything has been absolutely perfect and to say I am enjoying my experience so far would be an understatement. My goal for my study abroad was to have a healthy balance between traveling around the country and continent with other international students while also meeting many locals and integrating myself into the Spanish country as much as possible.
My host family: The first thing I did to achieve this balance was choosing to live with a host family. For me, this was the best decision I could have made on my exchange. My host parents are extremely helpful and kind and go out of their way to make sure I am comfortable living with them and fully enjoying my experience. My favorite part about living with them though is that they don?t speak English, so I am forced to speak Spanish with them. This has improved my Spanish skills quite a bit this first month and they will only continue to improve. I also have a host sister that speaks Spanish to me and has shown me around the city quite a bit. She has introduced me to some of her friends and some very local markets and hidden gems in the city. Because my family and I get along so well, I?ve recently started deciding to stay home rather than going out for some tapas with international students because I often now prefer having a home cooked meal with my family, practicing my Spanish, and spending time with them.
Traveling: Like I said, I?ve been trying to have sort of a balance between traveling on the weekend and staying in the city to experience more of what Madrid offers. What helps my situation is that I have traveled quite extensively around Europe in the past before, so I am not urging to leave Spain as much as other students are. So far in the past 4 weekends I have been here, I have been out two full weekends traveling, one weekend to Paris with some friends from A&M that were traveling around Europe and I decided to meet up with, and to Barcelona with some other international students I have met from my school. I have done a couple day trips too, but only to surrounding little cities near Madrid. My goal is to see more of Spain rather than more of Europe while I?m here and I believe even if I am still leaving Madrid for a couple days, as long as I am staying within the country and surrounding area I am still experiencing the Spanish culture.
School: School has been great. My schedule is honestly ideal. I have a full day of classes Monday and Wednesday and class on Thursday from 11:00am ? 2:00 pm. Which means I don?t have classes on Tuesday and Friday. I actually really enjoy going to school because class isn?t too rigorous to where it’s distracting me from enjoying myself on my exchange and also because I use the opportunity to meet many more new people. I have met some great Spanish people in my classes, and I have recently started hanging out more and more with them which is what I enjoy. My goal is to hang out with them more and more as time goes on because I believe having a good group of local friends will help you learn the language and integrate yourself in the culture quicker than any other way. I love my friends?Spanish and international, and I couldn?t be happier with where my exchange is at this moment.
I am still very grateful and blessed to be here in Spain. I often pause and try to remind myself how lucky I am for this experience I have been given. This first month has been amazing, but I am still trying to improve these areas of my study abroad to have an even better upcoming months ahead.
Toledo, Spain
Paris, France
Granada, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
