Alexandra Goodin, ’25, is a Psychology major and Spanish minor studying at Nebrija University this Fall 2023.
Good morning! It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning in Madrid, and we are getting ready to go to school. My university here doesn´t have class on Fridays, and Thursday this week was a holiday, so it was the last day of classes for the week! On Wednesdays, my first class of the day is at 10:30am, so I wake up by 9. My roommate and I eat breakfast, get ready, and head out the door usually around 9:50.
We have a metro stop right around the corner from our apartment, and one of the lines brings us relatively close to Nebrija’s VH (“Vallehermoso”) building, where we both start the day. My first class of the day is “Conversación y Composición” (yes, conversation and composition, as you probably guessed) for two hours. At my university, each of your classes meets once a week for two hours and once a week for just one hour. We spent most of the class discussing a short film we had watched in our previous class and the relevant themes that appeared within it. We got a short homework assignment for the long weekend, and then we were off!
After my first class I had an hour break, so my friend and I went to a nearby park to do some homework and eat lunch. While in Spain, I’m staying in what’s called a half-board homestay, which basically means that breakfasts and dinners are provided by my host mom, but that we’re on our own for lunch. I eat out sometimes, but since my roommate and I have access to a fridge and microwave, I also try to make sandwiches or other easy lunches at home to bring with me, which is what I did this day! This is a great tip to save money when studying abroad, because eating out at restaurants every day can really add up.
Next up was an hour of España Contemporánea (Contemporary Spain), which is a class mainly about the history of Spain’s government. We continued our discussion of the reign of Isabel II.
My final class of the day was an hour of El Español en los Medios de Comunicación de Masas (Spanish in Mass Media, essentially), during which we discussed our recent visit to Madrid’s Museum of Telecommunications and performed a communication exercise where we had to have conversations first with our eyes closed, and then without moving our bodies in any way. This was definitely a challenge, but also a really cool way to reflect on how we communicate with more than just our words!
After my classes ended, I rushed home to finish packing up my things and head out the door. A few friends and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend to do a trip to Valencia and Peñíscola, both on the Eastern coast of Spain. We hopped on a train around 5:15pm, and were in Valencia just after 7pm! We checked into our air bnb and had dinner at a local restaurant, then headed back and got ready for bed. We had an early morning the next day, but if you want to hear more about why, be sure to stay tuned for my next post! 🙂
So, I hope you enjoyed this day in my life studying abroad in Madrid! Although I’m obviously not getting on a train to go to a coastal city everyday, I would say this is a pretty accurate representation of my study abroad experience so far. See you next time!
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