Though I have mentioned my host mom in several anecdotes since I started blogging, I really want to dedicate this post to the host families of GW Madrid (and especially my own host mom).
Staying with a host family is one of, if not THE most important cultural aspects of studying abroad. I chose the GW Madrid program largely because of the homestay experience because I wanted to fully immerse myself in the lifestyle of my new country. I have met people in Madrid studying abroad here from other universities in the United States and Europe who stay in apartments in the city by themselves or with roommates instead of staying with host families. I may be biased, but I don’t think those people are getting the real, authentic Madrid experience (and they’re certainly not as well taken care of as we are!).
Every homestay in the program is unique. Some of my friends live with whole families, including two parents and siblings. Some are have other students in the house, like me, and others are alone. Some consist of one host mother, a single señora, who is usually either widowed or divorced, which is my situation. My host mom, Georgina, is in her mid-sixties and lives alone in an apartment building in the northern part of the city. She has three children, one daughter who lives in Madrid with her husband and two daughters, one daughter who lives in Argentina with her husband and son and daughter, and one son who lives near Barcelona with his wife and newborn daughter.
I don’t know if I can describe Georgina in just one word, but if I had to pick one, I would say “amazing” wraps her up pretty nicely. She is probably the best cook in all of Madrid (I usually choose not to go out to eat because her cooking is better than the best restaurant food), she is conscientious and caring, and she and I share a multitude of similar interests. I have played piano for 14 years, and when she found this out she told me of her love for classical music, introduced me to her vast collection of concertos and symphonies on tape, and even took my roommate and I to a wonderful Madrid Symphonic Orchestra concert at the National Auditorium of Music. When I’m doing my homework in the living room, she’ll sit with me and read while we both listen to Tchaikovsky or Chopin. It’s almost like music is another language that she and I can connect with, since she doesn’t speak any English and my Spanish is still a work in progress.
Georgina is also one of the strongest women I have ever met. Without getting too much into her personal life, she decided to get a divorce against the wishes of her parents (and much of the rest of the country at the time) because she was extremely unhappy in her marriage, and she wanted to do something about it. As she likes to say often, when divorce finally became legal in Spain in 1981, she was “the first person at the courthouse.” She actually did get the third divorce in the country, which is something she looks at with pride rather than embarrassment. She is also extremely feminist for a Spaniard of her age – she likes to remind my roommate and I all the time that we should enjoy our unmarried lives right now, marry only when we’re absolutely sure, and never let a man take our money or our livelihood. She’s been through a lot in her life, which I learn gradually through our many conversations, and she likes to share what she’s learned and pass her wisdom on to us. I admire her greatly and I know she will be a role model for me for the rest of my life, even after I leave here next month.
Of course, when you put juniors in college back into a home life where they’re constantly monitored, especially with host moms who are very concerned about taking care of them, some funny things can happen. We have learned to never tell our host moms things we like to eat, because they tend to go out and buy them in extremely large quantities. One of my friends told his host mom he liked pretzels, so she went out and bought him twelve bags of different varieties of pretzels for him to eat. He is now so sick of pretzels that he sits in his room and throws them out the window to make it look like he’s eating them. Also, when some of my friends get back at 7am on the weekends after a night out, the host moms are usually already awake, and that’s always an awkward encounter. But most of them have had students for years and they know that’s the lifestyle, and they usually think it’s funny. They’re more concerned for your safety than anything else, and they really do treat you like their own children. For someone like me who’s always been a mommy’s girl, it’s actually been very nice to be watched over and taken care of. I’m taking full advantage of it since it’ll be coming to an end very soon! Though Georgina won’t be able to read this because it’s in English, she will definitely be getting a long thank-you letter expressing all of my gratitude for her in Spanish when the program is over.
I’m writing this blog post a little earlier than usual this week because I am going to Casablanca, Morocco tomorrow for the weekend! I’m still pinching myself at the fact that I’m going to AFRICA for the first time (and for less than $200 round trip!). I’ll be sure to write about my experience there next week. Hasta luego!