A Birds-Eye View of Madrid: The Halfway Mark

Jamie Claros is a junior at Boston College, studying abroad in Madrid, Spain for the fall semester.  As an Eagle in a foreign country, she wanted to share with us her birds-eye view of the Spanish culture.  This series will chronicle her study abroad experience, detailing the food she tries, the people she meets, and the places she explores!

¡Hola mis fellow collegiettes™!  After two amazing months in Madrid, I’ve officially reached the halfway mark in my semester abroad.  As much as I miss Boston College, my family, and friends, realizing I only have two months left is very bittersweet.  Spain has become my home, and it’ll be heartbreaking to leave come December knowing the next time I’ll be back will be as a mere tourist.
 
So in honor of reaching the halfway mark, I thought I’d share a few things I miss about the United States right now, and a few things I’ll miss about Madrid when I leave.
 
What I miss now:

1.  Breakfast
I’ll be honest, I was never a fan of breakfast.  Maybe it’s because I’m not a morning person, but I always found a way to skip breakfast.  As soon as 11 am rolls around and fast food places start selling lunch, it’s automatically lunchtime to me.  But being in Madrid, where breakfast is anything but the most important meal of the day, has made me miss Hillside scramlettes and those delicious ham and cheese croissants from Lower.  Breakfast here— if you even eat any— is a slice of bread with butter or jelly and maybe some stale week-old cereal. Seriously.

2.  Ice water
Besides their non-belief in breakfast, madrileños also seem to not believe in ice water.  Or any cold drinks, for that matter.  No matter how much water I down here, I constantly feel thirsty.  Room temperature water just doesn’t do the trick for me.  Even when you order ice water at restaurants (yes, you actually have to ask for the ice), you’ll be lucky if you get more than one cube.  The other day a waiter gave my roommates and I a pitcher of water filled halfway with ice and we almost broke into a celebratory dance.  It was that good.

These clearly don’t exist in Spain.

3.  Condiments
Last food complaint, I promise!  Some things are just better with ketchup… fries, burgers, and eggs to name a few.  But you’d be hard pressed to find ketchup or any other type of condiment served with your meal here.  Unlike BC, where you can fill up as many of those little plastic containers with as much ketchup as you want, at university here two small packets of ketchup cost 25 cents.  Really?  Shouldn’t that just automatically come with the meal?  Also, I don’t know about you guys, but I have an intense love for hot sauce and all things flavorful.  In my two months here, I have yet to see one bottle of hot sauce… anywhere.  So the next time you’re at Lower, please steal me one of those Cholula bottles and ship it on over.

Everything tastes better with hot sauce.

4.  TV shows & Movies
I won’t lie; despite the fact that we have no TV in our room (tough, I know), I’ve definitely been keeping up with all my favorite TV shows while here.  With all these Internet streaming sites nowadays, it’d be hard not to.  But searching for shows online and waiting for them to load is definitely not the same as sitting in bed and watching them on a TV.  I feel so disconnected from everything that is happening in the media- from new movies to new TV shows to new songs­- that have come out in the past few months.
 
5.  Fast Walkers
I may not be from Manhattan, but living eight miles away from New York has definitely influenced my lifestyle.  I’m used to people who walk fast, talk fast, and work fast.  The people of Madrid do none of these things… except maybe the talking part.  Aside from that, everybody walks and works at their own leisurely pace, with no regard to the people who are stuck behind them or are waiting for their food order.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve missed the metro because there was a huge group of people in front of me that was walking like they had all the time in the world.
 
What I will miss:

1.  Siesta Time:  As much as I just chewed out the slow-paced lifestyle of Madrid, there’s one huge upside to living on your own time: siestas.  If you know me personally, you know one of my favorite pastimes is napping.  Any time I have a free hour or two, you can be sure I’ll be knocked out in my bed.  Frowned upon at home… totally normal here.  In fact, many people use their downtime in the afternoon to squeeze in a nap before dinner.  My kind of lifestyle.
 
2.  The History & Architecture
There’s not much in the US that can compare to the beauty of Spain (though the newly renovated Gasson might come close).  Every street is filled with the most beautiful buildings and monuments and everything is rich with history.  Every day on my walk to school, I’m continually amazed by the beauty of the city I live in.  You’re beautiful, BC, but Madrid wins this one.

What I pass on my walk to school every day.

3.  The Metro
I’m not quite sure how I’ll ever get used to the slow-running, constantly stopping Boston T again.  The metro system here is literally the most efficient and simple public transportation system I’ve ever used.  No matter where you want to go, you can easily find your way using the Metro and make your destination in good time.  I’m absolutely terrible with directions (no, but really, terrible is an understatement), and I can still navigate my way all throughout Madrid using the metro.  MBTA could learn a thing or two.
 
4.  The Weather
I thought the recent decrease to the mid-60s was a drastic drop until my dad sent me a picture of the first snow over there.  While everyone has long since broken out their North Faces and Uggs, I enjoyed two months straight of 87 degrees and sunny.  Not one single day of rain, and not a cloud in the sky.  I went to the beach about two or three weeks ago and sat out and tanned and thought about how lucky I was.  Though the temperature has now dropped a bit and we’ve had a few days of rain this past week, I much prefer an umbrella and a light jacket to snow boots and a coat.
 
5.  The Nightlife
While the Mods, the Gate, and off-campus will always have a special place in my heart, nothing will ever compare to the nightlife of Madrid.  With countless bars and clubs all within walking distance or max 20 minutes, there’s never a shortage of things to do or places to go.  There’s a place for anyone, whether you like Irish pubs, sports bars, salsa clubs, or house music.  El Tigre, a small bar that serves a free, fully-loaded plate of tapas with each drink, is a favorite to start off the night.  One club, Kapital, has seven floors, each with different music, for the person who constantly wants something different.  My first time at Kapital was a little overwhelming to say the least, but completely worth it.  There are also a million events for students, Spaniards and internationals alike, at some of the most exclusive clubs or popular bars.  People start their nights later (we got to a club once at 2 am) and get back with the sunrise, with no RAs or campus security to stop the fun.

Kapital on a Thursday.

All in all, the past two months have been some of the best months of my life.  Knowing I only have a short time left just motivates me more to find out every last thing about this city that I’ve come to know as my home.  And as I continue exploring, I’ll stay keeping you guys informed.  Until then, ¡adios and ole mis collegiettes™!
 
Photo Sources:
http://www.colourbox.com/preview/2346868-234849-a-blue-plastic-ice-cube-…
http://thekrazycouponlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Cholula-Hot-Sau…
http://mapmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/kapital.jpg