By jcapobia
I haven’t done a “day-in-the-life” post yet so for those wondering what I do between writing these scintillating blogs, this posts for you. I’ll break up my days into three different categories: Monday/Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday, and weekend. They mostly vary based off my class schedule, but overall all are quite similar.
Monday/Wednesday:
- 6:45: Wake Up and eat breakfast. 7:20 leave for train; a fifteen minute walk (at New Yorker speed) from my house.
- 8:00-9:00: Arrive at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid gym.
- 9:30-11: Class 1: Advanced Oral Communication: A class that examines stereotypes, linguistic, and cross-cultural differences between the U.S. and Spain, focusing on communication techniques and differences in expression
- 11:30-1: Class 2: Camino de Santiago: A class that studies the Camino de Santiago and prepares us for our trip along the Camino in May.
- 1-3: Take the train back home and arrive at home for La Comida 2:15. I usually eat with my host mother and one or more of my host brothers. We discuss our days or talk about random topics. Great for practicing Spanish as I make sure I use a new word or phrase everyday. Practicing with native speakers everyday is an incredible support to my language learning.
- 3-5: Siesta: I actually do take a siesta Monday and Wednesday. While the siesta doesn’t exist “officially” in Spain, as many stereotypes hold, there's definitely a noticeable drop in activity both at school and in my house during the late afternoon.
- 5-8: I grab the train (45min ride) to the center of the city where my Flamenco class is held. During class we prepare for our May performance by rehearsing the Flamenco style dance Las Sevillanas. Take train back
- 8- End of day: Either I will go back home and eat with the family for La Cena or if it's Wednesday, usually the GW Madrid program sponsors some type of cultural activity for us, whether it be a play or a Flamenco show.
Tuesday/ Thursday: This day usually has more dead time, so I usually spend today doing any homework I have.
- 7:30: Wake Up and eat breakfast. 8 leave for train
- 8:15-10: Gym. Shower.
- 11:00-12:30: History of Europe in the 20th century. Pretty straight forward class that teaches history from a Europe centric point of view. The teacher, a very friendly Spaniard, invites us to weekly expositions in the Reina Sofia museum to both learn and meet students from his other classes.
- 12:30-3: Lunch and homework. The school has plenty of places to do homework and eat quietly if I ever need to get something done. Lunch usually consists of three sandwiches and an apple. Not as good as eating at home, but my host mother makes sure to fill me up.
- 3-5: Spanish Cine. A class in which we study and analyze Spanish films and their reflection on Spanish life.
- 5-End of day: Homework, or if none, I may go to the Retiro to read or a museum. Dinner at 8:30.
Weekends: Weekends are very fluid. Since they vary week to week, I’ll describe some of the common things I do on weekends (when not traveling).
- Usually if I have a free day I’ll take a day trip somewhere to a city around Madrid. Since you only need to pay 20 Euros a month to travel unlimited within the community of Madrid, its good to take advantage of the mobility and visit some of the great places around Madrid like Toledo or Segovia. Other things to do could include Museums or walks in new neighborhoods or going to one of the hundreds of parks in Madrid. Since the homework load is never to bad, I usually can spend a lot of my weekend time doing things in Madrid.
- At home during the weekends, family members usually hang out and watch TV or talk together. La Comidas are also usually much larger with most of the extended family members coming over.
I hope this gives you a good idea of what it's like to study abroad in Madrid with GW Madrid. It's as busy or as relaxing as you want to be. There's usually a ton of free time and it's hard to take advantage of it all, but Madrid sure makes sure you're never bored if you don’t want to be!
