Madrid. The city that never sleeps in the country that never sleeps. Home to the Prado museum, the Spanish royal family, fantastic flamenco performances and countless tapas bars. Despite all this, I am well-rested. In my closet lie three guide books filled with activities to do in Madrid, in Spain, and throughout Europe in general. Yet since I’ve been here, I’ve experienced boredom. Madrid, as romantic and glorious as it sounds, is just a city.
Is this culture shock?
I have lived here for a full month. I’ve been scolded at the grocery store for not knowing how to handle the vegetables—with gloves, and wait for an attendant, please; met students from countries in almost every continent; played the part of a tourist taking photos with famous monuments; and played the part of a native, shaking my head at those shameless tourists. At the end of each day, I don’t sleep on clouds; just on a mattress, and just like I did at Pomona.
I can’t presume most girls experience this while studying abroad but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. The semester or year abroad is a fantastic opportunity about half of Pomona students take advantage of. This semester had an unusually high amount of students choose to go abroad. I imagine many of them are getting used to life in a foreign place, though I know others are literally just beginning their adventures. The students studying in Cordoba, Spain, for example, began their semester today. The boredom, the homework, the frustrations all come. Now I work to keep appreciating this city and to delve deeper into it. As I delve, I’ll share what I find with you.
This semester, in addition to taking classes, I’m interning at a women’s organization called Fundación Mujeres. I’ll have an inside look into the lives of Spanish women. You can look forward to posts about women’s issues in Spain, including employment and domestic violence, and lighter topics, like fashion, futbol players and stories of my own adventuring around the city and continent. The adventures, I hope, are great and many because after all, I’m in Madrid.
Are you studying abroad? Would you like to blog about your experience on Her Campus Pomona? Email Savina at savinavelkova@hercampus.com and become a contributor for the Study Abroad Diaries