When I imagined my time in Madrid, I never expected a dog café to become my go-to spot. But without realizing, the 30-minute walk from work and hour of reading has become a cherished Friday ritual. As I sat in my usual seat, I realized that this upcoming Wednesday would mark the halfway point of my time in Madrid. This provided a great opportunity to reflect on how I have been adapting to life in a new country and the unexpected challenges I have been facing along the way.
Everyday Challenges in Spain (some might surprise you)
- My stomach is still jet-lagged
It’s no secret that the people in Spain eat at later hours than people in the United States. Lunch takes place at my internship from 2pm to 4pm, and many restaurants don’t open for dinner until 8pm. After these past few weeks, I expected my stomach to be better adjusted, but it still raises its protests at noon regardless of how much I’ve eaten for breakfast. As someone who eats early even for U.S. standards, this was not wholly unexpected. I usually try to pack some fruit to hold me over until 2:00 so I can eat lunch at the same time as my coworkers.
- What’s on the menu?
Though you might not guess it, one of the biggest language challenges I faced when first arriving was reading menus in restaurants. They’re filled with specific words and ingredients that you don’t think to study at first! This is one area I have found surprising improvement in, and I now know the names of many more berries and leafy greens than I did when flying into Spain.
- Fighting muscle memory
I was given a computer to use at work, and for the first week, I felt like I had lost the ability to type. My muscle memory was actively working against me, with efforts to type an @ symbol resulting in quotation marks and the shortened Enter key leading to me accidentally typing ç more times than I’d care to admit. Perhaps the most frustrating moment was when I had to bold several sections of text and instinctually clicked Ctrl + B. While the B may stand for “bold” on English keyboards, on Spanish keyboards it stands for buscar (which means to find). This meant that I kept accidentally clicking the equivalent of Ctrl + F, instantly losing the section I wanted to bold. Despite my struggles with my new keyboard, I have secretly loved the accent key. Now that I am more adjusted to the layout, this has made my typing in Spanish much easier. Quickly adopting this key is a small win that has given me more confidence in my ability to adapt.
Office Updates
We have new interns! I was particularly excited about this news since the one other intern I have been working with throughout my time in Spain will be leaving at the end of this week. The two new interns are from Berlin, which means that we now have three languages floating around the office. Some of my favorite discussions are with other language learners, and that rang true for this experience as well. During breaks, I’ve shared a bit of the Hindi I’ve been learning, and they’ve taught me some Arabic they’ve picked up. They even brought a few documents that needed our supervisors’ signatures and patiently walked me through German pronunciation as I tried to read some of the words. Trying this reminded me that it’s okay to make mistakes in the language learning process. Ultimately, it’s being brave and making the effort that counts.
Taking a Step Back
After almost a month of adventuring, I wanted to take a chance at this halfway point to relax and recover. I spent my Saturday sleeping in, helping clean the apartment, and going on a stroll through the now-familiar neighborhood. When thinking about what I wanted to do this weekend, I found myself wanting a slightly more hands-on activity. That led to me scheduling myself for pottery painting Sunday evening. Taking this time to sit down with a palette and some iced matcha was the destressor that I didn’t know I needed. It gave me a chance to be experimental and embrace mistakes. I have no clue if my attempts at mixing and layering different colors will result in anything at all, but I’m excited to find out in a few weeks! I’m moving off-campus next year, and I look forward to having this piece in my kitchen as a reminder of my time in Madrid.
This past week showed me that great moments can be found in the small pauses between the excitement of life. It can be anything from sipping on morning coffee to settling down on the sofa at night to watch an old Disney movie in Spanish. I appreciated this moment of reflection and feel much more centered as I prepare for the next half of my time in Madrid.
