8AM – I leisurely eat a small breakfast of toast with olive oil and salt with my host mom as I describe the “meet-and-greet” event I went to the night before with other students studying abroad in Madrid. She warns me about the Greek boys, describing the heartbreak endured by a previous girl staying in her home. “Él tenía una novia.” Ah, girl liked boy, boy had girlfriend. We continue to talk for a while after eating, a Spanish habit known as “la sobremesa” which literally translates to “over the table.” My host mom continues with a story about her daughter and an overly infatuated Chinese boy who studying abroad together in Orlando, Florida years ago.
8:45 - I grab my bag and say “hasta luego” to my host mom. Downstairs the doorman says both “hola” and “buenos dias” each morning before I walk out to the metro stop directly outside the door. Although it’s extremely convenient, I admittedly really miss jaywalking to class in D.C.
8:50 – After walking briskly through the small, but busy station, I wait for the next train coming in 5 minutes. Unlike in Washington, or most cities in the U.S., there’s a fair amount of eye contact and prolonged stares exchanged between waiting. I could be sporting churchgoing attire and still be stared at by a middle-aged woman as if I was wearing revealing short shorts, which seem to be undoubtedly trendy here.
9:00 – I arrive at Nuevos Ministerios, my transfer station to take the Cercanía train, which travels to areas more outside of Madrid. The platform is packed with other students from la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, many wearing the aforementioned short shorts and huddled in groups, chatting loudly. Very few wear headphones or stand by themselves.
9:05 – The train pulls in slowly and I most likely forget to press the button to open the door so if it wasn’t clear that I’m a foreigner, it is now. We all shuffle in and students maintain their huddled shapes as I grab a seat. I pull out a reading for Spanish Literature class and the man next to me reads some of it too over my shoulder. The train passes slowly out of the Madrid and the empty dry land looks like southern California. Another GW Madrid student gets on at the next stop and we chat about the “meet-and-greet” too and I reference the prior warning about Greek boys.
9:25 – Since the train stops right on campus, we walk among the other students to class after stopping for a quick espresso at the university cafeteria. Then it’s all “vale, vale, vamos” from there.