Hola!
I have been in Madrid for four days now on the USF in Spain program, and I am loving it! Pictures of Madrid do not do any justice to the real thing. I have explored every day and found new places, each one more amazing than the other. There is so much to offer here in Madrid. You will never run out of things to do. Before coming here, I was worried about getting lost because I do not have a great sense of direction. On Sunday, I decided to go to El Corte Ingles, which is a huge department/grocery store. I looked up online which metro train to take and what stop to get off. It was a little trouble finding the metro station because I couldn’t find any street signs! I looked everywhere and after a while I realized they put the street signs on the sides of the buildings. Once I noticed that, I quickly found my stop and rode the metro my destination. It was very easy. Their subway system makes sense and is very easy to figure out.
Yesterday, I went to the Temple Debod. The temple sits on top of a very tall hill and over looks Madrid. Climbing it was very hard, but the view at the top was quite amazing. The park surrounding the temple was filled with Spaniards taking their siesta in the shade or having a picnic with friends. It was such a gorgeous environment.
Although I am at a level of maybe a Spanish kindergartner, I try my best to talk in Spanish to all the people I encounter. Being immersed in the language really is the best way to learn it. I’ve learned more these four days than two weeks of Spanish class. Not many people speaks English in the less tourist-y places so you have to know how to speak to them. I can’t wait to see how much Spanish I know by the end of this trip!
Here are some pictures from my trip so far!
USF Going Places Blog 