¡Hola todos! As I’m just two weeks from the end of my internship, I have many reflections on navigating different communication styles both inside and outside of work environments. Many times throughout my experience in Spain, I have felt very grateful for orientations from Pitt and EUSA that explained “low context communication” culture. In the workplace, often times directions are not as clear and I’ll have to ask lots of clarifying questions to understand what my tasks actually so. Sometimes I feel like my coworkers are speaking to me in riddles! However I have largely been able to overcome these challenges either by asking lots of questions or by learning to infer what my coworkers mean. Regarding miscommunication situations, this began even before I came to Spain. When I first interviewed with ActionAid, I joined a Zoom call with both my future supervisors and coworkers from the Spain and EU offices. We talked as a full group for about thirty minutes (the duration that was listed on the calendar invite), and then the EU colleagues shared that they had to leave for another meeting. The entire group then said goodbye and thank you, and the EU team members started to leave the call, so I left too. However, nobody told me that the interview was continuing with just me and the Spain team! I was incredibly confused and flustered to find links to the Zoom in my inbox from my future Spanish coworkers. I was very nervous about starting off with a misunderstanding, especially during an interview, but this experience taught me to listen carefully and ask for clarification when I feel unsure about what’s happening or what I’m expected to do.
Additionally, I’ve had a few more minor miscommunication situations based on language barriers that have luckily been quickly clarified. For example, I was once telling my host sister that my host brother and I had been discussing some topic earlier that day. She looked at me with wide eyes, but realizing what I meant when I gave more context, she told me that “discutir” in Spanish does not mean to have a regular discussion like it does in English; instead it implies a heated debate. Luckily I have never gotten into such a conversation with my host siblings. In fact, I did my best to hold back when my host brother defended the ethics of bullfighting. Learning regional differences in connotation, plus local phrases and idioms has been such a fascinating experience that I would not have had in a typical Spanish class back home.
Aside from overcoming miscommunications, it’s also been very interesting to observe and adapt to a new communication style in the workplace. As I’m sure I’ve discussed in past blog posts, the culture in the workplace is overall a lot more casual and built on close personal connections. Sometimes I am still surprised by the personal nature of my coworkers’ behavior; for example, I have one younger female coworker who always ends our Zoom calls by blowing two air kisses. However, there are still many similarities to American workplace communication. We use email vs Teams vs WhatsApp/text depending on the formality of the context, which corresponds pretty well to what I’m used to in the US. There’s also plenty of small talk about the weather, especially with the heat waves throughout Europe.
I have been trying my best to stay cool throughout the extreme heat. I go on lots of walks but carry water wherever I go and break up outside time with lots of inside time. One of my favorite things to do here has been explore galleries participating in PhotoEspaña, a nationwide photography festival. There’s an online map with nearly 100 participating galleries across the city, and I’ve been trying to see as many as I can throughout my time here; this journey has led me to many new places, where I’ve met very kind people and seen a wide range of amazing art.
Though this hasn’t meant escaping the heat, I’ve also continued to enjoy traveling outside of Madrid. This past weekend, I took a solo trip to London! This was my first time solo traveling and it was an experience I’ll never forget. I saw many main attractions, like Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe, the London Eye, Big Ben, Abbey Road, and Buckingham Palace. I spent several hours in the British Museum and still felt like I barely saw anything. This trip was motivated by a concert from Nourished by Time (a fellow Marylander and likely contender for my top artist on Spotify of 2026) at the Barbican Center, home of the London Symphony Orchestra. Although I was solo traveling, I was never fully alone; I was constantly chatting with strangers from around the globe or just people-watching tourists and locals alike. One of my favorite moments was hearing groups of strangers chant and sing “Hey Jude” after England beat Norway in the World Cup! Solo traveling was such an empowering experience, but I’m glad to be back in Madrid to enjoy some of the final moments with my EUSA friends, who I will miss very dearly. ¡Hasta luego!