Since living in Madrid for about a month, I’ve made many adjustments to adapt to life in Spain. The daily rhythm of life in Madrid is a lot different from that in the United States. For example, meals and social activities happen at a much later time. Dinner usually is around 9 or 10 pm, and people typically stay out until early mornings. At first, this was difficult because I was still getting used to my schedule, and I felt like my energy levels would fluctuate throughout the day. Over time, I’ve started to adapt by being more flexible with my routine and learning more about the Spanish mindset, which has helped me get used to it by understanding their reasoning. I try to take advantage of the slower pace of afternoons and evenings, and appreciate how social meals are here. The locals here prioritize slowing down and enjoying meals and conversations in their day-to-day lives, which has been different from the US, where I feel like we are always rushing around from place to place with a strict schedule. Spending more time talking and enjoying food with friends has helped me understand how important conversation and community are in Spanish culture.
Another challenge I have been navigating is the more relaxed, uncertain nature of my classes here. A few of my classes at my university feel less structured than the classes I take at Pitt. At Pitt, I usually take business classes with a structured curriculum and schedule. Here, the instructions for assignments and quizzes tend to be more open-ended, and it can leave a lot up for interpretation. To help with this uncertainty, I’ve learned to be more outspoken and proactive in asking the questions that I need answers to. My professors are incredibly qualified and genuinely want to help us learn the material, and are always helpful when asked questions. I think that the culture here is just more laid back than I am used to, and they don’t preemptively schedule or provide guidelines for things like how we do in the United States. I also talk with my classmates to make sure we are on the same page. I think that this experience in classes has helped me be more comfortable with uncertainty and problem-solving in a different academic environment than I am used to.
Cross-cultural interactions have also been a formative part of my experience so far. Interacting with locals and classmates from different places has been an incredibly eye-opening part of this journey. I have found that locals appreciate it when you attempt to speak in Spanish, even if it doesn’t come out right. One day, I was in a coffee shop between classes and ended up speaking with three other girls my age who also happened to be business students studying in Madrid. One girl was from Ecuador, one was from Poland, and the other was from Madrid. We ended up talking for a few hours and expressed our opinions on various topics, including living in Madrid. The girl from Madrid told me that some locals think that Americans can be self-involved and closed-minded, since most people from the United States only speak English. Here, almost everyone I’ve come in contact with who isn’t from America speaks at least two languages. It really made me think about how the world perceives people from the United States, and for me to make more of an effort to learn about the Spanish culture and language. Interactions like this have also helped me see how different cultural perspectives shape the way people communicate and think. By navigating through these new challenges and interactions, I feel myself growing both personally and academically, and gaining a new understanding of the world around me.
