Rachel H. - Madrid, Spain - Spring 2013

¡Hola! It is hard to believe that is has already been over a month that I have been studying abroad!  It flies by so fast I promise you! I cannot say how life changing, beneficial, and inspiring it is to study abroad; it is hard to put in words. But once you get the chance to have the experience, you will understand! I am studying abroad in Madrid, Spain through a program called IES and loving every minute of it.  I live in an apartment with 5 amazing girls in the heart of the city.  I know many people from my program that live in homestays, dorms, and apartments but after hearing all the stories of their experiences in comparison with mine, I would highly recommend living in an apartment if you get a chance.  However, if you are not planning on becoming much of a cook, homestays WITH meals or dorm living might be more your thing.  Our companera (like an RA) speaks only Spanish, which also helps in the cultural and language immersion. When I first arrived in Madrid, it was a bit of a challenge for me to overcome the obvious absence of English.  I felt, and still feel at times, like I am living in a full time Spanish class.  But if you are planning on enhancing your language (Spanish, German, etc), studying abroad is the BEST way to do it, nothing will prepare you more.  The first thing I had trouble adjusting with was the way they tell time.  For instance, 3 PM is 15:00 here (take 12 o’clock and add 3).  That often left me struggling to keep up with the schedule of Madrid, but with practice, it has become second nature.  Another lifestyle difference that caught me off guard was the “siesta” time of Spain.  Between 2-6 PM every day almost everything closes down for people to go home, relax, and eat lunch.  At times, it can be a struggle to work around the siesta but all in all, it gives a great break and reason to relax!

The time for meals here and the time difference were also a huge change coming from the states.  People here eat lunch between 14:00-15:00 (2-3 PM) and dinner between 21:00-22:00 (9-10PM).  Getting used to the meal times took a lot of practice and patience! Madrid time is 7 hours ahead, which can make communication with people back home interesting.  Often times, I forget that my mom probably isn’t up at 4 am when I call her at 13:00 here…woops.  Make sure to create a time schedule or have an idea of what times work best for your people back home! It makes communication a heck of a lot easier! Also, I would recommend (if you have an iphone) using Viber in WIFI areas. It has great reception for calls, sending pictures and text messages! Also, finding land lines wherever you study abroad will be a struggle.  I just learned about a week or so again that you can put 10.00 dollars of credit on Skype and it can be used as a land line, which will come in handy believe it or not! The 10.00 dollars will last forever too.

Spending money has also become quite a religious hobby for me between groceries, shopping, clubs, and traveling. For me, I often forget the exchange rate and think I am getting a great deal when really… Make sure to always have cash on you, because many places in Europe don’t always take credit/debit cards.  Also be careful with ATMS, one of the ATMS ate my debit card and I had to cancel my card.  Luckily, I had brought an extra debit card just in case a situation occurred.  I would recommend having at least one credit card, and at least 2 debit cards.  From the people in my program, I would say at least 15-20 of them have already been pickpocketed.  Make sure to listen to Alice, she knows what she is talking about and remember to always watch your things! 

A great piece of advice I can offer you is to remember that customs everywhere you go are different, not wrong.  I never really experienced culture shock at all, but there were a few customs that caught me off guard and took some getting used to. For instance, couples in Spain have no trouble expressing their affection in public, which is quite different from the states.  Fashion also is a huge difference here. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has amazing fashion.  I have yet to see one person in sweat pants. It is crazy!!

Overall, my first month is Madrid has been amazing. I have traveled within Spain to Barcelona, Segovia, Toledo, and Granada.  Each place is unique and cultural! Make sure to always take time to not only know your city or town but to travel around.  I have booked flights to Morocco, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence, Athens, Lisbon, Paris and other places!

Hope this helps you out a little in your study abroad process! I promise all the hard work will pay off in every way. This truly is a once in a life time experience and make sure you make the best of it. If you have any questions ask Alice for my email address and feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions! Good luck and get excited, you are studying abroad!