Hello everyone!
Welcome to my second blog post. It’s crazy to think that I’m writing this at the two week mark because it feels like I’ve only just gotten here while at the same time I feel like I’ve lived in Madrid for an entire year. To say that my first two weeks in Madrid have been amazing would be an understatement. Ive started classes, gotten to know my host family, met an incredible group of friends, and started to feel at home in this exciting city.
My first week in Madrid was one big learning curve, and I quickly learned two very important things: the world around you is often a lot less organized than you think it is, and you are often a lot stronger than you think you are. For starters, I didn’t find out about my host family until the day before I flew out to Madrid because I’m learning that Nebrija is known for its disorganization and last-minute thinking. For anyone looking at the Nebrija or Madrid-university program, the biggest word of advice I can give you is to reach out to a former SLA recipient for help. I wouldn’t change my SLA experience for the world, but it helps to have some guidance along the way. I learned once I got to Madrid that everyone here is at Nebrija through their university’s study abroad program, which provides them with a program director to support them as they navigate placement tests, housing, getting a student metro card, and so much more. I had to do all of this on my own, which taught me that I’m really a lot stronger than I thought I was.
Being one of the only independent students at Nebrija this summer has made me quite the special case with the university’s administration. At this point every admin or professor knows my name, responding with a look of stress and curiosity when I tell them I’m Eva Marie (I’ve decided to go by my full name here). At the end of my first week I learned of an incident surrounding my class schedule that I’m lucky I wasn’t there to witness. The academics director had put my classes in the system as Teatro Española and B2.2 Language, when instead we had discussed putting me in Literatura Española and B2.2 Language. Because of this error I was locked out of my virtual campus for the first week. The first weekend I was out with some friends and my friend Ceci who is in the Teatro Española class told me that a Nebrija admin stormed into the Teatro Española classroom shouting “¡¿Dónde está Eva Marie!? ¡¿Dónde está Eva Marie!? La he buscado por todas partes. ¡No sé dónde se supone que debe estar y el problema es que tampoco creo que sepa dónde se supone que debe estar!” in other words, I’ve looked everywhere for her and I don’t know where she is supposed to be, and the problem is I don’t think she knows where she’s supposed to be either. The truth is, I was in my language class with absolutely no idea that the Teatro Española class was listening to the Nebrija admin shout my name. Luckily for me, my literature professor Ramón also teaches the theater class. Ramón, according to my friend Ceci, stood up for me and assured the admin that I had been to every literature class and that they had nothing to worry about.
When Ceci told me about this I was honestly in shock. I honestly can’t imagine a Notre Dame admin ever storming into a classroom and shouting at the teacher that a student is not where she is supposed to be. Truthfully, I’m glad I wasn’t there when she came looking for me. Looking back a week later, it’s really pretty funny. Ceci and I had a good laugh about it because we both knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong, and it was heartwarming to hear that my professor would stand up for me in front of a member of administration. It also made me realize how important it is for me to let go of my expectations for how the world should work based on what I’ve always known. Just because this would not be expected at Notre Dame doesn’t mean it’s not considered normal here. I’ve found the Nebrija admin and professors to be incredibly kind, welcoming, and accommodating of my unique situation. However, it does seem to be normal here to be expressive with every emotion– including frustration. This is a cultural difference that I will have to get used to. I won’t lie and say it didn’t hurt my feelings to hear that my name had been thrown around to a classroom of my peers. However, I realize now that I can learn to handle situations like this by viewing them with an open mind and understanding that different cultures learn to express themselves differently.
Now, enough with the bad stuff. I have truly had such an incredible time in my first two weeks here. Coming in without knowing anyone, I was free to be whoever I wanted and connect with whoever I chose. I’ve found a great group of friends from the University of Florida, I’ve become friends with classmates from all over the United States, and I’ve grown close with my host sister Beatriz who lives with her mom in Madrid but was raised in the Canary Islands. I’ve been truly shocked by my Spanish abilities, too. I’m able to have complete, fulfilling, and hilarious conversations with my host mom and sister, and I’m learning a great deal in my two classes. On the first weekend I got a taste of Madrid nightlife, watched the FA cup final at a pub near Parque de el Retiro, went to last Real Madrid game of the season, and saw the Little Mermaid with Spanish subtitles. Oh and we ran into Alvaro Monte on the street, followed him for a while, ended up at the premiere for Tyler Rake 2 that he and Chris Hemsworth star in. Picture below. On my second weekend my cousin got married in Vigo, so I explored the Galicia region of Spain with my family and even went down to Portugal. I had no idea that there is so much Celtic influence in Galicia; we watched a Galician band perform with gaitas, which are Galician bagpipes! This weekend I’m off to Valencia to stay in a hostel with the friends I’ve made through Nebrija, and even Keira who is the other SLA recipient in studying in Madrid this summer! I can already feel myself falling in love with this city and its culture. Hard to believe in just 6 short weeks it will all be over.
¡Hasta luego!
Eva Marie