My name is Colleen Brockwell, i am majoring in International Business with a double minor in Spanish and marketing. I’m abroad in Madrid, Spain with AIFS, I chose AIFS because i loved their plan for us and I heard from friends that AIFS was really awesome when they did it. My goals for my time abroad is to experience as much as possible and develop as much fluency as I can in Spanish! Beforehand I did not do a lot of research about my host country and only knew of some of the popular tourist spots. But there is so much more to your host country then that and your favorite spots end up being the cute streets or your favorite cafe.

Since being in Madrid I have seen myself become more accustomed to things people do everyday here. For example, people here walk EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere. I have been walking over five miles everyday and have actually come to enjoy it. In Charleston if I walked that much I would be so tired but I have gotten used to it. Metro and the bus are also very big here, at first I thought it was going to be so hard but actually love doing it now. People here also eat pretty healthy, they like to eat small breakfast, big lunches and then a smaller dinner. Which is actually supposed to be better for you. People here also eat dinner at 10 PM. I have realized I actually get hungry later which is so weird since I’m used to eating at 6:30 PM at home. People here tend to stay up late and also get up early. Which I actually enjoy since there’s always something going on. The people are also very different since their mannerisms are different and the way they act towards strangers. I find myself staying to myself more then I would at home. Since people here tend to not interact with people they don’t know and just get where they need to be. For school here and in most parts of Europe you are required to dress up meaning jeans and a nice shirt. It’s “weird” if you wear leggings in a sweatshirt. Also, you are not allowed to eat in class or yawn since it is considered rude to the teachers. This just showed me how lenient classrooms are in America. A lot of parts of Madrid remind me of Charleston which makes me feel comforted. I really enjoy just walking around and finding a cool restaurant and going to eat there. It’s so easy to find things to do and be entertained in such a big and amazing city.