Fiestas, friends and adapting




My second week in Madrid has just come to an end and it feels like it's been non-stop busy. This week kicked off with a few mental breakdowns - a cheerful start. I was really stressed about organising my classes and my timetable, because it isn't at all what I expected and trying to maintain the balance between having free time, doing things I enjoy and avoiding clashes was really challenging.

I also noticed that things which would not normally bother me were really making me a bit nutty. I got all the way to campus one afternoon only to find out that my French class wasn't on and usually, being the lazy sloth that I am, I would've happily skipped back to an afternoon of napping. But instead I found myself ranting and raving on the phone to my mum on campus with several confused Spaniards watching me. By about Wednesday, although my classes had actually been really enjoyable, I felt run down, demotivated and I was longing for a bit of my own culture back.

Finally on Thursday morning, I woke up feeling like the storm had passed. I bounced out of bed, went straight down to the gym and got on with trying to lift weights with my weedy little arms. We all enjoyed a good laugh that day, because the lecturer for the two classes was a hilarious woman who basically recognises that we're all here for the cheap booze and sunshine.

Friday is my day off and I've tried to keep it that way so that I would be free to take a long weekend to travel or come home if I fancy. Since I was staying in Madrid last Friday, I used it as an opportunity to explore. I caught the metro into the centre of town with my friend Aysha and we explored all the little shops and small cobbled streets. We did note that whilst cobbled streets look cute, they will often trip you up.

In the evening, we gathered a group of friends and all headed to a club called Rococó, which is not far from where I'm living and is basically one of the most popular clubs for the locals. Although, we made the rookie error of showing up too late and the queue was absolutely huge. We waited in it for two hours, but I actually thought it was really nice to get to chat to everyone a bit more in the meantime and when we got in it was amazing.

Our week ended with a beautiful picnic on Saturday afternoon with lots of friends in Retiro Park. We all brought different foods and just had a fun time laughing, eating, taking photos and enjoying the sunshine. It's been really lovely getting to know other people from the exchange, and even though we all come from completely different parts of the world, I'm starting to feel like it's a little family. Being abroad and going through all the confusion and excitement together has made us bond really quickly and my biggest concern so far is how I'm ever going to leave them all afterwards.

I feel like I've really made the most of my time here so far, and I'm always trying to go out and see more of the city. I hope these weekly Madrid posts don't appear too boring and self-centered, but I also really want to keep some sort of record of my time here and to show people that there is so much to see outside of your own country.

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