Capítulo Trece: Reflections

"Oh sure, the past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it, or...learn from it!"
- Rafiki, The Lion King

I have nothing to update with, other than I obviously won't be here for the next few days because I'll be in La Rioja. So no updates until next week sometime. But given that I've been here for more or less a month (a month as of Friday or Saturday), I figured I'd reflect on some of my likes and dislikes of my time and life in Madrid thus far.

Likes:
- Art (and sight seeing). The entire city seems to be based around this, and that makes it one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen or been to. Pictures don't even tell half the story sometimes.
- Discotecas. So much fun. So many people and so much dancing. I never thought I'd enjoy something like this as much as I have.
- Night life. This gets its own separate category, because night life isn't limited to just discotecas, because there are bars, parties everywhere, futbol games, or you can just chill. It's diverse, what can I say? Seriously, US, you need to learn how to have a proper night life.
- Food. Okay, I like all foods pretty much, so this one might not be fair, but I've found some good stuff here, like um, CHURROS Y CHOCOLATE!
- The metro. I find it an extremely convenient mode of transportation. It's a lot like DC's.
- Siesta. It's every college student's dream. Do you know how much easier classes would be if we just got a short nap everyday?!
- Certain CIEE Orientation Events and Excursions. I liked all the restaurants we went to and a lot of the places we went to, like Aranjuez. They've been really nice places to see and get out. The other thing I really appreciated was how they taught us how to use the Metro system and taught us the lay of the land. Really, I don't think I would have learned to navigate this city as fast had they not helped us out with this.
- La Universidad Carlos III. I really like how small the campus is, and most people seem nice. Can't complain about classes or my schedule, either.
- Mi anfitriona. She's so sweet, and she cooks for me! And we've had some good conversations. She's helped me adjust, and didn't make the entire 'living with a host' thing awkward.
- The 'Personal' Spanish life. This is something I've noticed about Spaniards and is very different from US culture: Spaniards have a much more personal bond, especially in terms of family. Let me put it this way: The US is a very individualistic society; it's about your personal happiness, your personal success, your life (you can be anything you want to be). Spain isn't quite as enthusiastic about this -- they're about helping each other, particularly the people close to you. And I really respect that. I'm not saying that people in the US don't do or support this, nor am saying that I prefer this closer-bonding lifestyle over the individual US, but I do respect this way of living a lot.
- Friends. I've met some awesome people here, and we've had good times and conversations. Having Robby here has also been really nice.

Dislikes:
- Smoking. I hate smoking everywhere, but it is pretty bad here. Since I have asthma and allergies, me breathing in smoke is not so nice.
- Parts of the 'city life'. People wizzing in the street. Dog poop everywhere. Hundreds of people in a huge place that seems too small for that large of a population. Sewage smell. Yeah, these are just some of the reasons why I don't want to live in the city when I'm on my own.
- The USD to Euro Exchange rate. Ouch. I haven't withdrawn anything yet, but many people in my group have, and even before I came here, I got a bunch of Euros. Yeah. Ouch.
- CIEE's nasty habit of not telling us things we need/would like to know. There's a pretty long list of things that I wish they had told me, like certain expenses (phone, metro pass) and small pieces of information (classes), and there are some situations that they haven't handled very well. This program has been nice, but color me unimpressed with certain things.
- Cat Calling. Okay you know what? I'll be honest: I don't exactly dislike this. In fact, I find myself more often than not flattered when a man compliments my appearance; however, they will sometimes say some what I would consider to be inappropriate comments, or sometimes, they're just plain obnoxious, and that's when I just get really annoyed and aggravated with it.

I could probably think of more on both lists, but I think this is good enough for now. Also have to head out to Wine Country now! Hopin' to taste some of Spain's finest!

Hasta Luego.

~ LSquared