I'm in Spain! I have so many different thoughts about studying abroad so far, and I'm not sure that there's a way to translate every sensation here.
First, I arrived in Madrid. We stayed in a hotel downtown, in the middle of everything, for five days, and it was completely overwhelming. When I landed and exited the plane, I felt so out of control; it was as if everything was being thrown at me simultaneously. I woke up early every morning in Madrid to a completely new place. First, the sight of the city itself was a brand new and the sounds of the city, the people and the language followed close after. It's crazy to be in a place with a completely different culture. From the beginning of the trip I have been watching people, their mannerisms and the way that they show each other love (both so different from where I live); their eye contact, too, and the openness and the way that people express themselves. Madrid is nothing like New York, the people are noticeably more relaxed and never appear to be in a rush; and the air is lighter and more clean, even with the smell of cigarette smoke that follows close behind you.
Drinking is different, too. In Spain, you can find alcohol anywhere-- at mcdonalds, at the icecream shop, at the bakery; every restaurant that I've seen has had a full bar. Spanish people drink casually, at any time of the day, and normally with every meal, and as far as I've seen and heard, they're not fans of getting drunk like Americans. I've been out a number of times now, and it's been an entirely new experience for me, because I can't go out in the U.S. It's incredibly fun to go to a bar or a club in a different country and dance to good music, get dressed up late at night and order as many drinks as you want. Maybe it will get old once I'm 21, but the spontaneity and newness of it is liberating.
The friends that I've made here are those that I'd love to keep close to me for the rest of my life. All of us have an equal passion for traveling and a desire to get something out of this. I'm incredibly proud of myself for finding my way around, memorizing the location of the beach and the school and the tram station. Considering how directionally challenged I am, this is crazy for me. This is the first place where I've been alone, and I'm completely acclimated and even comfortable now, in more than one sense. I actively speak Spanish every day and I've improved both my speaking and listening skills tremendously since I've arrived. More importantly, I've learned about trusting myself, and relying on myself here. I'm used to asking for advice from others or having someone close who can be there for me, but on this trip I have to be completely responsible for myself. I am here for myself and no one else, and the fact that I had an idea to do something (crazy, in my mind) like this years ago, and then continued to go through with it, tells me that I can accomplish anything in the world after this.
We fit so many things into the five days that we visited Madrid that I cannot describe them all. The first five days were filled with my wide eyes and late, late nights, new food, new flavors of icecream, walking everywhere in the city and exposure to an immense amount of history.