We’re officially over halfway through our time in Madrid! The feeling is bittersweet, but between a movie night, a cooking class, and a weekend trip to Valencia, this past week felt like a great start to the second half of my time in Spain.
Beginning of the Week
Finding time to talk with my friends from home has been challenging while being in a different time zone, so I was happy when our schedules finally aligned for a virtual movie night on Tuesday. I stocked up on water and snacks, preparing for a video call late into the night. The next day saw me much more active. To mark the halfway point of our time abroad, EUSA invited us to a cooking masterclass. The process was much easier than I had expected, and I look forward to attempting my own paella and Spanish tortilla when I’m back in the United States.
The rest of the week was spent balanced between work and preparation for a weekend trip to Valencia. The entire time that I’ve been here, I have been eagerly waiting to go to the beach, excited to escape the constant heat. Before I knew it, the train rides were booked and we were on our way.
Valencia!
Here’s a little secret: the best time to hit the beach in Spain is around 8pm. We accidentally stumbled across this realization after some troubles with the train landed us in Valencia a few hours later than initially planned. After soaking up the over 90 degree heat for most of the day, the water is warm and pleasant, even as you go past the shoreline. The sand was also a great temperature, and I wasn’t forced to awkwardly hop across the area between the shade and water to avoid getting burned.
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise with the generally later schedule in Spain, but the beach is very popular at this time. Volleyball nets are filled with people locked in friendly competition, and a few large kites could be seen off to the side. Despite the larger crowd, there was still plenty of room under umbrellas and on open patches of sand. Coming in the evening also meant that we got to watch as the sun gradually set. The horizon looked beautiful with the shadow of the palm trees, and I even managed to hold my phone steady enough for a panorama of the beach!
Our second visit to the beach was around 9am, and it had much smaller crowds and much more heat. At that hour, an umbrella and a healthy dose of sunscreen are absolute necessities. The sand was also getting exponentially hotter, encouraging us to spend more time under the umbrellas.
After about an hour, we packed up and prepared to head into the center of Valencia. One unexpectedly difficult quest was finding paella. Most restaurants require that at least two people order the same type since the dish is typically prepared in a large pan. We eventually found a spot with small, single servings and cooled off there before waving down a taxi to take us to the train station.
Returning to Madrid
After a great time exploring Valencia, I was very ready to get back home and rest. Unfortunately, my way back resulted in a few more challenges than I expected. The first was realizing that I had misplaced my metro card. Not eager for a two hour walk back from the train station to my host family home, I did some frantic searching online and was relieved to find that most metro stations have metro card machines. While I have usually seen people recharging their card balance at these machines, there are a few that sell Multi cards for two and a half euros. These cards can then be charged with 10 trips and used by anyone. The machines were easy to find, and soon I was walking away with a freshly printed card, still warm in my hand.
Securing my metro transportation was especially important because halfway through Sunday, my right foot started hurting. The most likely culprit was the flip-flops that I wore for a little over two hours while walking to the beach, but I’m still not entirely sure. Either way, the last few hours of walking in addition to having to carry my weekend luggage around Valencia was not a pleasant combination. By the time I reached my room in Madrid, I wasn’t feeling optimistic about walking much the next day. Thankfully, my workplace allows interns to work a hybrid schedule, and I was given permission to work from home today and tomorrow for some recovery time.
Today was my first time working virtually while in Spain, and it was a nice change of pace. I grabbed some fruit to snack on throughout the day and made sure to message the other interns so that we could coordinate online. This coordination also worked to strengthen my Spanish communication in a virtual setting, something that I haven’t had experience with before. Through a mix of email, WhatsApp, Google docs, and Canva, we tackled our tasks effectively. While part of me enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, I definitely felt the pockets of silence where I would be chatting with someone in the office and look forward to returning later this week.
