School entrance
My building
Huge park next to the university
Antonio de Nebrija was the first man to publish a Spanish language grammar book. So it seems fitting that this school would offer classes to improve Spanish skills.
Because I am not even receiving credits for my classes now, I do not believe that they will be that difficult. I've only had three days of classes, but my homework has only taken about 20 minutes each night, which is unheard of in the engineering world of studies. Also, my class has eight students, which is also unheard of at Virginia Tech. I definitely receive a lot of attention.
In some ways, having so much attention from a professor is not the best thing because in Spain, classes are supposed to be much more respectful to professors. Not only does everyone dress nice to class, but it is considered bad etiquette to stretch or yawn, which can get very hard in an hour and twenty minute class. They do not permit eating in class at all, but it is somewhat acceptable to drink water. Just about all of this is contrary to American schools where the mentality is that we are paying to be in school so we are much more relaxed. That, and in a 100 person lecture hall, how is the professor going to see you eating a bagel in the back row?
In that same mindset, you do not see people on the metro or walking to work drinking coffee or eating on the run. Which is basically all that you see in America. I am certainly not used to this. I have about an hour commute, where I'm just standing around. In America, without hesitation, I would be eating breakfast and chugging water. But not here. It simply is not done. Starbucks must make a lot less money here.
Due to the one hour commute, and the need to eat breakfast beforehand, I end up waking up quite early round 6:45 am for an 8:30 am class, and so that is different that my normal day where I wake up 15 minutes before class. Also, they only give us 20 minutes for lunch in the middle of the day so you really cannot eat very much until around 2 pm in the afternoon. Basically I am always starving. Between the constant hunger and the apparent exhaustion I have been sleeping unreal amounts of sleep. Almost 12 hours a day. But yesterday (January 13) unfortunately, I ended up running a temperature over 101, so I know now that I am not just tired.
I actually got sick when I first arrived, so fortunately I had a host mother who could speak with the pharmacist for me after I struggled to explain the problems in Spanish to her. One interesting thing in Spain is that you do not necessarily need a prescription to buy medicines. The pharmacists go to school much longer here than in the United States so they are almost doctors themselves, and can speak with you to decide what you need. There are so many "farmacias" underneath the apartment buildings near me. They are all small and locally owned. Also, instead of a red cross or whatever that weird symbol we use for a pharmacy, they use a green cross.
I actually got sick when I first arrived, so fortunately I had a host mother who could speak with the pharmacist for me after I struggled to explain the problems in Spanish to her. One interesting thing in Spain is that you do not necessarily need a prescription to buy medicines. The pharmacists go to school much longer here than in the United States so they are almost doctors themselves, and can speak with you to decide what you need. There are so many "farmacias" underneath the apartment buildings near me. They are all small and locally owned. Also, instead of a red cross or whatever that weird symbol we use for a pharmacy, they use a green cross.
Typical pharmacy
In order to pay for everything here, you obviously need to use Euros. To me, the euros appear to look like children's play money, but it's probably just because I am not used to bills with so many colors. What they do not tell you before going abroad is how hard it can be to access your American money. My friend Sam brought several traveler's checks, as many people will tell you to do. Do NOT do this. This is apparently a dying fad, and we walked around for over an hour going to several banks who not only would not exchange them but couldn't even think of a bank that would do so. That could be something you find annoying should you go to Europe. Everyone tells you that travelers checks are the way to go, but the Europeans no longer use them.
Also, with credit cards you are required to enter a pin to use them here. Actually, all the Spaniards cannot comprehend that we just swipe our cards and it works just like that. I honestly question it myself, just because the point of the pin is to prevent anyone else from using it. In the states, if you steal someone's credit card, you can shop online with nothing but the card. You often need no previous knowledge of the person. Fortunately I opened a checking account with Charles Swabb which is an investment company that reimburses me for any ATM fees and doesn't have any conversion fees. So this saves me the hassle of having to withdraw obscene amounts of cash at one time.
Euros (the bills are smaller than dollars)
Going along with money, living in Madrid is very expensive. Well, at least if you are not smart about it. I'm determined to find out where the locals eat and shop, because obviously the touristy areas around Sol are to be avoided. I will admit that the stereotype (as well as the majority) of students who study abroad are incredibly wealthy children who have parents that are paying for everything and the more they spend, the more their parents will give them. I'm sure if I get myself into a deep hole, my parents will help me out, but mostly I intend to pay for this trip entirely on my own and so its beyond crucial that I save money in every way possible. I do not mind going without a nice lunch if it means that I get to visit Morocco for a weekend. Because of this I am determined to sort out which areas are cheap and which are expensive. And as other students have told me before, I'm going to try and pack a lunch everyday as well as stay in many nights as I cannot afford to go out four nights a week and still backpack Europe at the end of this semester. Paying to study abroad on your own means you have got to be incredibly money conscious That is, unless your parents don't mind giving your thousands of dollars to blow in a few months.
Typical shop scene in Madrid
Going along with shopping smart, I looked at a plug converter at a large store downtown near Sol and it cost €10 (10 euro) but then I decided to look around my local neighborhood in the smaller electronics stores and I found the exact same type of plug converter for €1.95, less than 1/5 of the other price. This is why I am money conscious because you can always find a better deal here. And by better deal, it can mean large savings if you are smart.
With rebajas (huge sales) going on, I know that I do not actually need any winter clothing because it will be hot for the majority of my stay here and also because winter clothes will just add weight and volume to my luggage on the flight home. The only clothing purchases that I have made were two summer dresses from Lefties, which is the store that sells Zara clothing that was on the shelf for more than two weeks.
Dress: €3.99 = $5.33
Dress and belt: €5.99 = $8.01
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