It was a beautiful day in the mountains outside of Madrid, Spain: the sun was bright, the sky cloudless, and the breeze faint but just cool enough. As I stepped off the bus and looked around, taking in the fresh mountain air and the beautiful view, I remembered exactly why I wanted to study abroad in the first place. And then, I took a deep breath and headed to the nearby ranch, because the other ten people on my program and I were about to ride burros – that is, donkeys. We had traveled fifty miles out of the city to take a mountain tour on donkey-back. Talk about trying new things; I had never expected to find myself riding a burro along Spanish mountain trails, but that’s the thing about studying abroad. Every day is a new adventure.
I have only been in Spain for about three weeks, but it feels like an entire lifetime. As a student at La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, I take the train four days a week to the outskirts of the city, where I study Spanish cinema, theater, communication, and literature. My classes, all taught by brilliant and fascinating UAM professors, are both culturally and academically enriching. But the city itself has so much to offer, I would venture to say I learn even more outside of the classroom.
So far, I have visited the famous Prado and Reina Sophia museums, spent a lazy afternoon in the sprawling greens of Retiro Park, and attended performances of flamenco and ballet. I’ve also visited the Royal Palace and El Escorial, a stunning village nestled about an hour outside of Madrid, home to both a historical monastery and castle. And, of course, I participated in the now-infamous burro excursion.
But it seems impossible to talk about living in Madrid without mentioning the nightlife. In a city where there are a special group of clubs that open at 6:00 a.m. on the weekends to accommodate those who want to continue the night when regular night clubs close, it’s no surprise that going out nearly every night and very often all night is a main tenet of the culture. Case in point: my host mother, Pimpi, is a mother and grandmother, and presumably at least eighty years old. She’s fantastic: wise, kind, generous, and an amazing cook. She also came home at 3:30 a.m. on Friday night. And in Madrid, that’s totally normal, just like seeing young kids and babies in strollers out and about with their parents until midnight on school nights.
The best thing about nightlife in Madrid is that it isn’t all about bars and clubs. Theater, concerts, and other cultural events are plentiful. Last week, for example, I was lucky enough to attend Madrid’s Fashion Night Out, a star-studded annual event sponsored by Vogue España. For a certain radius outside of Spain’s version of New York’s Fifth Avenue, stores stay open late into the night, offering incredible sales and plenty of free goodies. Visitors carrying complimentary balloons, door prizes, and cocktails (most notably ginormous “gin tonics,” a trendy favorite cocktail in Madrid) packed the streets, venturing from Zara to Guess to Juicy Couture to get their shopping fix. For me, the highlight of the night wasn’t the shopping, but when a well-known Spanish pop star appeared in the storefront window of a shop called Cortefiel and performed an acoustic concert on the spot.
Honestly, though, making the leap to living abroad isn’t all sightseeing and nights out. Culture shock can be tough; I’m still adapting, every day. From the second I stepped off my flight to Madrid, I’ve had to take things as they come, from navigating my way through the huge airport with a hundred pounds of luggage to overcoming my fear of speaking Spanish to native speakers at the risk of babbling nonsense. I learned a new Metro system (sorry, I still prefer the Metro in DC), Spanish table manners (use a fork and knife for everything), the etiquette of greetings (a kiss on each cheek whenever you meet someone new), and even how to explain Obamacare to people at dinner parties, in Spanish (not kidding – I have no idea why, but people constantly want to talk about American politics…it’s almost like being at parties at GW).
By the time I found myself about to climb aboard a burro, I’d had a lot of practice being fearless in the face of new adventures. I was terrified, sure – Are donkeys aggressive? What if I fall off? – but I was also excited. Coming into study abroad, I had made a clichéd promise to myself: that I would do one thing every day that scares me. So I took a deep breath, grabbed the reins, and hopped into the saddle.
As a friend pointed out to me, YOISO…you’re only in Spain once! And before I know it, I’ll be back at GW, all of my Spanish adventures behind me. (Although I’m sure the Obamacare conversations will continue. Only in English, and where’s the fun in that?)