Mad About Madrid

Steph Caraballo

Madrid, Fall 2010

“Everyone was like YOU HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING. That didn’t work”

What made you decide to go abroad?

I wanted to better my skills in the Spanish language by immersing myself in the culture. I also wanted to get a sense of how independent I could be and throw myself into a situation where I had to rely on myself and force myself to grow up

What is the first thing you did after you decided you wanted to study abroad?

I talked to all of my close friends about it and asked for their opinions, got mixed feedback, talked to people who had been abroad, people who I knew definitely weren’t going abroad, and asked my really close friends about what they thought of it

What helped you pick your program? How did you decide?

I always knew I wanted to go to Spain. In high school I went to Spain for 10 days with 20 students and when I was there I fell in love with the country, and knew I really wanted to study here in college, but I thought that’s in four years… (Which comes faster than you think!)

I also wanted to be fluent in Spanish, and that’s the only way I thought I could accomplish that.

Do you feel that you were prepared when you left?
Not at all. Oh my gosh I was so scared. When I took a van to JFK I was so upset and so not ready. I knew the kids in my group from meetings, but I wasn’t really friends with them. I was scared to be away from my family, my friends and everything I knew. The other students were a little intimidating because a lot of them knew each other already, and I was pretty much on my own even though I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going.

How could the abroad office have made your preparations easier?

I feel like some of the stuff they did with us in those meetings was really useless but other stuff wasn’t discussed enough, like the procedure of what exactly was going to happen when you got to the airport. When I talked to the people in my group after we had became better friends, I found out that they were feeling the exact same way. We ended up becoming like a family by the end. Everyone had been just as nervous, and everyone felt they could have been better prepared. There was no emergency procedures, either, which had me nervous and none of us had internet, so at times it was really difficult. There was this one meeting, though, where someone who had gone abroad to Madrid who talked to us for an hour and it helped me more than any of the meetings we had already had. When my group realized how helpful that one person was, we decided we were going to do the same for the next group of people going to Madrid as well.

Is there anything you wish they could have told you?

I wish they had more people come in who had been there the semester before, like the student did from the semester before us. The group we talked to who were preparing to leave for this semester trusted us more because we had already been there, and I really feel like they got a lot out of it.

Once you got there…

What did you think of the classes there? Was there an orientation or anything that helped ease your nerves before your first class?

Each class was presented to us by the professor during orientation week. We got to choose which classes we wanted to take from that presentation. I wish the abroad office made it more clear what classes on Marist campus are equivalent to that in Madrid. We got to see a classroom and hear from the professor you’d take the class from so you can tell if you’ll be able to understand their Spanish, which was really helpful.

How different were your expectations from the real thing? If very different, did that stress you out? And how did you relieve that stress?

Living with a host family was different. At first, I was like, Oh. My. God. The first two weeks were horrible and I was really upset. I didn’t feel comfortable in the house and just wanted to sit alone in my room, but then I got more comfortable as I got closer with the kids in my group and with my Señora. But at first it was very stressful. I think time really helps; it’s just like when I moved back here with a house full of 7 seniors who I had never met before. It was exactly the same as when I got to Spain, I was thrown into a situation where everyone was already friends and I just felt uncomfortable but time helped everything move along. You can’t make yourself automatically feel comfortable in a completely new situation. You need to be open to everything. In some sense, being abroad can almost be overrated. You have those people who specifically talk about “their place” but there are different places for different people. I had a great time and it was a great 4 months of my life, but I wouldn’t call it top of the line, THE best time of my life, but it’s not the end all, better than everything sense.

While you’re abroad, you are trying to feel everything that people tell you, and you’re like “Wow, I can’t wait to feel like that.” But then, the first few weeks I was like, “Why am I not feeling that way?”

We received a packet about culture shock and I quickly realized I was actually feeling all of the things it was describing. I think the amount of fun you have abroad is how quickly you come out of that feeling of culture shock, and if you don’t, you’re basically still living in America and you won’t have as great of an experience. You need to think; when else will I be in Spain for 4 months?

Your favorite place to eat?

My Señora was a fabulous cook, but I’d say Museo Del Jamon and Cien Mondaditos.

Food or drink you MUST try?

I tried everything I could. They’ve very big on seafood, but they don’t consider it fresh unless there’s bones in it, something to keep in mind. And be prepared because ham in Madrid is real ham- they have hanging pig legs and just cut slices off of it in front of you! I also tried escargot in Paris; I felt it was something I had to do.

Favorite place to go out with friends?

La Solera. We’d always meet at Sol, the city center, that has a statue of a bear on a tree “el oso” and we’d just be like, okay, meet at the bear. And we’d just figure out where we wanted to go from there. We just stumbled upon it one night. They have the best sangria in all of Madrid. We would all get “jarras,” pitchers, and share them. They also have great mojitos and you get a free “tapa,” or appetizer with it. We’d go in huge groups and just hang there all night.

Another place was the Fontana de Oro. They had live music on Fridays and had all these screens that would play American music videos like Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson and had a bunch of types of beer from all over Europe. There are lots of places all around the city center. El Tigre was also another great place to check out.

Place students MUST visit?

Well, I thought he Prado museum was kind of boring, but you go to say you’ve been there since it is so well known. I personally think the better museum with more modern and colorful art more contemporary art and photography is Reina Sofia, which is kind of like MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) whereas the Prado might be compared more to like, the Met.

Retiro Park was also gorgeous. You can row in a boat around the manmade pond, there’s a rose garden and botanical gardens where you can sit and have a drink or exercise.

There’s also an outdoor sculpture museum underneath a bridge that I would have never gone to if it weren’t for my art class. You can walk through and look at all the art. Some pieces incorporate water, some are hanging, and they have little stories about how and why they were donated, and it’s free because it’s outside! It’s a place you might walk by and never notice.

Best place to get souvenirs or the best deals?

NOT in the touristy areas. My friend and I found a coffee place near a subway station that we’d take to get to school and it was INFINITELY cheaper because it was further from the city center. You just have to find stuff outside of there.

What is the best piece of advice you can give others going abroad?

Be independent. If you set your mind to the things you want to see or do, don’t let others hold you back. Everything I wanted to do, I did, but I know people who HAD to go with a friend and because of this, may have not gotten a chance to go where they wanted to go. Once you get the hang of Europe, you can do everything by yourself. I would research places and go and find them on my own. Everyone would be like, who are you going with? And I’d say, just me, because I want to go. It’s dumb to hold back because someone won’t go with you. You’re only here for a short time so try to do everything you can!