Walking around Plaza Mayor in Madrid

Author: Cate Mertins | Majors: Accounting and Food Science

I chose to do the summer program at Saint Louis University Madrid Campus because of the school’s international student population, its option to live with a host family, and my personal familiarity with the SLU campus in the United States.

In each of my two classes, I was in the minority being from the United States. I took a Personal Narrative Writing class and an International Marketing class, which both frequently involved discussions about culture. While workshopping our memoir pieces that we would turn in as our final project in the writing class, I had the opportunity to interact with classmates from Uganda, Greece, and Bolivia, just to name a few. Many of their memoir pieces were focused on culture and the idea of home, and I got to dip a toe into so many different lives and backgrounds across the globe.

The first week of the International Marketing course, Professor Moreno took the class on the excursion that he calls “Shopping Safari.” We went to a traditional Spanish market called Mercado Barceló; then to Fuencarral street, which is a pedestrian-only shopping street lined with specialty stores like Khiel’s and Tea Shop; and then to Carrefour, which is a gigantic hypermarket (similar to a Whole Foods, but with a size and product selection comparable to a Walmart supercenter). Throughout the day, we discussed the differences in these types of retail tactics, as well as the ways Spanish culture influenced the products and marketing. For example, in Carrefour, there was an entire section dedicated to charcuterie, with at least four employees behind the Jamón Ibérico counter who were shaving fresh slices of meat off of the black-hoof pig legs propped up on the countertop. On this shopping tour of the city, from the local perspective of our professor, I learned more about Madrileño and Spanish culture in one day than I had in the entire previous week of being there. It was also a fantastic display of marketing concepts that we continued to learn about throughout the month. Afterwards, on a note that struck much different than in Arkansas, Professor Gonzalo took the whole class out for a beer before we headed home for the day. This class made me realize that majoring in business is almost a waste of time if you’re not thinking on a global level, and I’m considering applying for jobs internationally after graduation, which is something that hadn’t been on my radar before this experience.

The Saint Louis University Madrid Campus has been established in the Vallehermoso neighborhood for over 50 years, so they have an extensive network of homestay families who host students every semester. I was paired with a random roommate, who ended up having lived in NWA for several years before moving to Saint Louis, which was a crazy coincidence. Together, we lived with the most amazing and gracious couple, Christina and Pedro, who greeted us every morning, cooked for us every night, and always joked around. They agreed to only speak Spanish with us so that we’d be forced to practice, and they helped us live like Spaniards for a month! Living with a host family was hands-down the most influential part of my study abroad experience.

Every morning, I would wake up at 7:00 in my room at my host family’s apartment. I’d go to the fridge and pull out the carafe of water to fill up my water bottle. Then, I would make myself two slices of toast with mantequilla y mermelada (butter and marmalade) and a mug of Nescafé instant coffee (which is a staple in Spanish homes) and eat my breakfast on the terraza overlooking the city. When I left for class, I’d say ciao to Pedro, walk around the block and enter the metro station. I’d catch line seven for 20 minutes, getting off at Guzmán el Bueno, and walking to the iron gates of Saint Louis University. After class, I would work on projects with classmates or sit outside at a bar for tapas and drinks with my roommate. At night, around 9:00, my roommate and I would sit down for dinner with our host parents. We would watch las noticias on TV in Spanish and talk about the current events and how our days went. We loved practicing Spanish with them and learning new vocabulary by talking about things that were going on in the world.

I would definitely recommend living with a host family no matter where you go. It’s a great way to learn about the culture and cool opportunities around the city you’re staying in. I ended up going to a free Vogue Spain event where all the florists in Madrid lined one of the streets to show off their arrangements, all because my host mom told us about it! The SLU Madrid experience was great because of all the international students in my classes and the amazing professors, but the classes were much more rigorous than I had anticipated. There was a lot of out-of-class work in each class, so I spent a lot of time sitting in classes and doing homework. I was still able to travel on the weekends, but if I could do it again, I would’ve only taken one class so that I could have more time to explore the city and spend time with classmates.

Overall, my study abroad experience in Spain was an amazing part of my time at the University of Arkansas, and I am so grateful for my mentors who helped me get here.