Final Thoughts

Nothing more cultural than drunk, singing Spaniards outside of the Bernabeu
I suppose these cannot really be my final thoughts, as I do not go home until the end of May, but for right now I would start out by saying the experience was significantly harder than I expected it would be. On a personal level, it made me appreciate my friends and New York City as my home. More so, it made me appreciate small conveniences like 24 hour convenience stores that sell EVERYTHING or walking into a store and knowing for sure that the people would understand you perfectly. At times I found it hard to integrate into a culture where my knowledge of the language, while sufficient to get me through a conversation, was certainly not enough for me to be able to fully project my personality.
That said, I made some amazing memories. My favorite part was playing with the women’s soccer team in Alcobendas. I had a group of girls, roughly the same age as me, who had a love for the same sport, and only spoke Spanish. Going on the trip with them to “almost” Barcelona was the most uncomfortable yet rewarding experience, and I came out of it with friends who want to learn from me as much as I want to learn from them, with inside jokes and experiences that only we could ever understand.
I also really enjoyed the cultural activities. I have been to two Real Madrid matches, a Spanish National Team match, a bullfight, el Rastro, the museums, the parks…the list goes on. Not to mention traveling to the Canaries, Portugal (my favorite), and London, to name a few places. The National Team game was the most cultural because it showed the passion of the people for their country, despite all differences in regional origins. The bullfight was fascinating. At first, all I could focus on was the brutality and the seemingly unnecessary final stab of the tortured bull. Once you get past the actual killing (and the fact that there were small children watching), you can see the art to the act. It takes a tremendous amount of agility to dodge a raging bull, and you could easily tell who the better bullfighters were once you learned the object of the game. The museums…they’re worth a look. I was impressed by the size of Guernica and I think it is hilarious that my group got lost within the first 30 seconds of walking into the Prado, but beyond that I am not much of a museum person. El Rastro is great for gifts, and if you want to get up early on a Sunday morning (assuming you didn’t go to bed at 7 am). I am rediscovering the parks now, particularly Retiro. The more I explore it, the more beautiful it becomes. I have a friend visiting me this weekend, and I informed her that my plan of a tour was to get lost walking. There is surely no better way to explore.
What I will take home with me is that I need to open my eyes more and recognize my surroundings. Too often when you live in a place, you forget to experience some of its most important features, or you become disillusioned to what is going on around you. I have stopped using my ipod when walking, simply to appreciate the sounds of the streets and the conversations. I do not know what NYU can do to make the program better. I truly believe it is difficult to only do a semester. Just when you get settled in it is time to leave, and I feel like I still cannot speak the language to the level I wanted. The classes I took were some of the most informative and engaging I have taken though, so I am happy overall, although I am ready to be home in a world where I do not feel like the American freak sometimes.