Life In Madrid
Hello to all!
I know it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been able to post about what I’ve been up to! I have been really busy with school and looking for an apartment, which I was luckily able to find just 3 days ago!
Right now I am doing a program through the UC system called the Intensive Language Program, ILP. All of the students that I live with in the Colegio are UC students also attending the ILP. On a typical day we get up at 7, have breakfast and leave by 8. We walk about a mile or two to the Moncloa part of the campus and then take a bus to the Somosaguas part which is out in the suburbs of Madrid. Grammer class starts at 9, followed by Conversation. After a 20 minute break we have Literature and then History. All the classes are pretty interesting, especially History. At the beginning of the course we all took a placement exam to sort us into different levels. There are 5 levels of grammer and conversation and 3 of history and literature, it’s definitely productive to be in classes with people who understand and speak at the same level. Each class is taught be a different professor, I think I am really lucky - I really like all of mine! After class ends at 2 we take the bus to Moncloa and then walk back to the Colegio in time for lunch, the big meal of the day. My roommate and I usually try and take a siesta around 4 until about 5 or 6ish, depending on what we need to do that day. At around 5 the stores begin to open up again and we can take care of errands or enjoy parts of the city. We only have class on Monday through Thursday to give us enough time to look for an apartment.
The best ways to look for an apartment in Madrid is by reading the Segunda Mano, a newspaper with tons of listings, or to read the listings posted around the university. My roommate Sarah and I spent several unsuccessful days sifting through the Segunda Mano and wandering around campus, until we found our piso! We live on Calle Princesa, a busy (but not too busy), street near campus. Our apartment is on the 6th (top) floor, with a terrace overlooking the city. We will be living with 3 Brazilians, 1 American girl, and 2 girls from Georgia (the country), so 8 total. Some are students and some work, so it should be a pretty fun mix of people. Sarah and I will be sharing a room (and all 8 of us will be sharing a bathroom! Eek!) :) The apartment is on the older and smaller side, but the location couldn’t be more perfect. When you walk out the front door, there is a metro stop, which will take us anywhere in the city and to campus. Also, calle Princessa turns into the Gran Via, after about a 8 minute walk down the street, which might be considered the NY Times Square of Spain. At any given moment there are thousands of people on the street, it’s crazy, so full of life. I will have to take some pictures of the area and the apartment and post them soon.
Today a friend and I are going to head to IKEA to have a look around and Spanish IKEA. Sarah and I might spruce up our room a little bit, maybe a new rug and some paint.
Twice a week we also attend a class solely about Madrid. On Tuesdays we go over the history of specific areas and then on Thursdays we actually go through those areas of Madrid, it’s as if we are physically traveling through history! I love our professor, it’s obvious how much she loves this city. It’s also so unusual because thanks to the metro I have been almost everywhere in the city, yet when we end up in some of those same places for the Madrid class, it all has so much more significance to me. You really appreciate things more when you know the history behind them. It makes me proud to live here - and I’m not even Spanish!
I know it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been able to post about what I’ve been up to! I have been really busy with school and looking for an apartment, which I was luckily able to find just 3 days ago!
Right now I am doing a program through the UC system called the Intensive Language Program, ILP. All of the students that I live with in the Colegio are UC students also attending the ILP. On a typical day we get up at 7, have breakfast and leave by 8. We walk about a mile or two to the Moncloa part of the campus and then take a bus to the Somosaguas part which is out in the suburbs of Madrid. Grammer class starts at 9, followed by Conversation. After a 20 minute break we have Literature and then History. All the classes are pretty interesting, especially History. At the beginning of the course we all took a placement exam to sort us into different levels. There are 5 levels of grammer and conversation and 3 of history and literature, it’s definitely productive to be in classes with people who understand and speak at the same level. Each class is taught be a different professor, I think I am really lucky - I really like all of mine! After class ends at 2 we take the bus to Moncloa and then walk back to the Colegio in time for lunch, the big meal of the day. My roommate and I usually try and take a siesta around 4 until about 5 or 6ish, depending on what we need to do that day. At around 5 the stores begin to open up again and we can take care of errands or enjoy parts of the city. We only have class on Monday through Thursday to give us enough time to look for an apartment.
The best ways to look for an apartment in Madrid is by reading the Segunda Mano, a newspaper with tons of listings, or to read the listings posted around the university. My roommate Sarah and I spent several unsuccessful days sifting through the Segunda Mano and wandering around campus, until we found our piso! We live on Calle Princesa, a busy (but not too busy), street near campus. Our apartment is on the 6th (top) floor, with a terrace overlooking the city. We will be living with 3 Brazilians, 1 American girl, and 2 girls from Georgia (the country), so 8 total. Some are students and some work, so it should be a pretty fun mix of people. Sarah and I will be sharing a room (and all 8 of us will be sharing a bathroom! Eek!) :) The apartment is on the older and smaller side, but the location couldn’t be more perfect. When you walk out the front door, there is a metro stop, which will take us anywhere in the city and to campus. Also, calle Princessa turns into the Gran Via, after about a 8 minute walk down the street, which might be considered the NY Times Square of Spain. At any given moment there are thousands of people on the street, it’s crazy, so full of life. I will have to take some pictures of the area and the apartment and post them soon.
Today a friend and I are going to head to IKEA to have a look around and Spanish IKEA. Sarah and I might spruce up our room a little bit, maybe a new rug and some paint.
Twice a week we also attend a class solely about Madrid. On Tuesdays we go over the history of specific areas and then on Thursdays we actually go through those areas of Madrid, it’s as if we are physically traveling through history! I love our professor, it’s obvious how much she loves this city. It’s also so unusual because thanks to the metro I have been almost everywhere in the city, yet when we end up in some of those same places for the Madrid class, it all has so much more significance to me. You really appreciate things more when you know the history behind them. It makes me proud to live here - and I’m not even Spanish!