Visiting the neighboring town of Cuenca! Home of the hanging houses. I am on a bridge overlooking the downtown area of the city.
Author: Bryton Grisham | Major: Electrical Engineering | Semester: Fall 2022
After months of planning to study abroad in Fall 2022, I finally made it overseas in Madrid, Spain. I have always wanted to study abroad in some capacity given the number of resources the university provides to do so. I really did not choose this program; the program chose me. There are not many choices as to where I can study and take classes that can fill in degree requirements as an Electrical Engineering student. My study abroad advisor suggested this program after the program I was planning to go with fell through. This experience abroad will give me the opportunity to meet students from all over the world and collaborate with a few on engineering assignments/labs. In my future career I will be working with people from various backgrounds, so getting the experience now to see how that plays out is invaluable. My classes so far are good, I took a week to rework my schedule after one of the classes I planned to enroll in was already full before I could even sign up! All the instructors speak English well enough to understand and I have had literally two homework assignments in four weeks of class, way less than the amount I would receive back in the states. Every course is 110 minutes, some instructors give breaks in the middle, others do not. There is also less student and teacher interaction during lecture than back home.
There are way fewer social activities on campus compared to back home. They have some sport facilities and a few clubs, but they do not have a band, choir, or American football. My transport to campus each day also takes triple the time in took me last year on the UARK campus, from 20 minutes to a little under an hour. I have gotten used to the academics over here and next month when I have my first exams, I hope to prove I learned something in my classes.
Outside of the classroom, I have been able to take so far one weekend trip outside of Madrid to Cuenca. I went with a group of other international students, and we went down a canyon river, jumping off large rocks all the way down, then explored the town itself for two hours. There were bar stands on every other corner it seemed like since it was Sunday, and they were partying everywhere in the upper part of the town. Attempting to speak Spanish to people at stores was a struggle at first, but with repetition came retention, and now unless I am looking for a specific item whose name I do not know in Spanish, I can confidently buy things from stores without getting funny expressions from those I am talking to. Over the next 3 months I am here in Europe, I have scheduled some trips out of the country and am planning others, so I will get to experience other cultures and languages outside of Madrid pub where I am living. People are low key and relaxed in Madrid it seems, the Spanish take their free time leisurely, and take is apparent every weekend no matter where I go. I like every weekend to just walk around the city for a couple hours to see if there are any interesting stores for me to explore and maybe pickup some cool souvenirs for the dozen people I promised to get something for back in the U.S.
I would absolutely suggest this trip to other U of A students. Madrid is such a bustling city, with a nightlife that never quits and an endless array of activities and trips to be a part of. I have been bouldering over my first month here, a popular sport across Europe, and have met many cool people while doing so. I would have wished to know a little more Spanish and preplan trips outside of the city before travelling abroad, just so I didn’t feel rushed picking the best places to explore. When I return home the night on December 23rd , I plan to give a big hug to whoever is picking me up from the airport and kiss the American soil like I haven’t set foot on it for years. I will definitely miss my time abroad when it ends, so I am going to soak in as much western European culture as I can. In my next post, I will detail some of my new trips I will have been on and some local events as well.