Officially more than half way through the program at the time of this blog post and the first month has gone by very quickly. This week especially was quick and very fun. Over the weekend I took a trip to Morocco right after work on Friday. It was nice to be able to leave Madrid for a little bit and explore a new place, although it was incredibly hot. On Sunday it was 105 degrees. I was in Marrakech so Friday I got in late and just explored the market a little and went out with some kids from my hostel. Saturday was a busy day as I went to see the Ouzoud waterfalls which are the second tallest waterfalls in Africa. That took basically the entire day and it was also very hot. It was fun though and I got to meet a lot of people from all over the world in my tour group. The water at the falls was also very cold which helped keep the whole place cool. There were also wild monkeys which were cool to see. Sunday then was again just a chiller day exploring and walking around the city until I had to leave. The hostel I was at was also very nice, actually making breakfast and dinner for everyone everyday so it was really easy to meet and talk to everyone there. Overall it was a very fun trip and experience that gave me a nice little break from the routine I have developed here in Madrid. 

It was also interesting to experience the difference in feeling being in Morocco compared to when I am in Spain now. In Morocco, I definitely felt like a tourist, didn’t know the language, and was definitely in an unknown environment. It was a pretty similar feeling to the one I had when I first landed in Spain. As I came back to Spain this time though it definitely was not a feeling of being a tourist or landing in a new place, but rather like I was returning home in a sense. Being here for an extended period of time and getting comfortable with my surroundings has really given me a unique insight and feeling towards my time and status here.

Outside of personal things that happened this past week and focusing on my internship, the job has been going really well and I think I have developed a lot of different skills that will be valuable to take going forward. In terms of soft skills, being in an office everyday with people of different backgrounds speaking a different language forces you to develop excellent communication skills. Trying to understand and be understood is a challenge at times but forces you to really work on how you communicate with coworkers. Along with that, being in a place where directions aren’t always super clear to begin with, plus adding a language barrier also really puts my problem solving and efficiency to the test. I have to work out what exactly is expected of me and when it is needed, but so far I have been able to figure everything out. 

From a hard skills perspective, I have been doing a lot of work on their website and with the creation of graphs/storing and tracking different data. While it is a political science job, a lot of it is almost like a data information job as I look at and track lots of different information the company collects regarding different areas of Spanish education. It has put my excel skills to the test and also has made me learn a little bit of a more technical role in data collection and sharing, which is a positive. Overall, the job so far has given lots of opportunities and skills that I can and will take forward. 

Lastly, I think my global competency skills that I came into this program with have been very advantageous for me. I had done a lot of traveling before and met people from all over the world, while also studying international studies, so coming here I feel I had a pretty good grasp on other cultures and how to interact as an American in Europe. This allowed me to understand and involve myself in lots of conversations specific to Spain as I actually have a knowledge of what’s going on. For example the EU elections took place a couple weeks ago and I was able to talk to my coworkers about them because I knew what they meant and what the results were. It has been nice being able to speak to them about Europe and Spain specific issues and not be coming from a completely clueless place.