The first weekend of November, a few friends and I went to Madrid, Spain. This was the first trip we booked way back in the beginning of September. At SLU, a lot of students choose to study in Madrid because SLU has their own campus there. It’s easier for them to take classes and is the cheapest study abroad option. A lot of my friends chose to study abroad in Madrid, and I was so pumped to visit them. A few of my other friends studying in Rome came that weekend as well. It was so great to all be reunited again.
The morning of November 4th, we had to wake at 1 AM to take a 2:15 AM bus to Dublin. Our flight was at 7:20 AM, so with the three-hour bus ride and arriving two hours before our flight left, this was the only bus we could take. Although I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before, I was unable to sleep on the bus ride to Dublin and the plane ride to Madrid. My mom gave me some Benadryl to take on the flight back to Chicago so hopefully that will knock me out when I head back December 19th. Once we arrived at the airport, we went through security. I hate going through security, especially here. Since, I never check any bags all I have is my carry-on, and I’m always afraid airport security is going to catch me for something like the amount of liquids I have. Well this time they did. They made me throw out my face wash and face lotion. I was so annoyed because this was my final trip before I head home. I carried my face wash and lotion with me to and from both Scotland and London and no one stopped me. And, they both fit in a quart size, airport-approved bag. I told my dad about it when I got back and he told me that stuff like that doesn’t matter. But doesn’t he remember that he was the one who taught me to take care of my things and not be wasteful? But he is right. There are bigger problems to worry about. Needless to say, it’s been four weeks and I have gotten a new bottle of face wash and lotion. I just hope the airport donates all the thrown out bottles of lotion, shampoo, and perfume to a charity or something.
Now I don’t want to scare any of you away, but that was the beginning of my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Okay, I’m being dramatic, but I do love that book, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” While on our flight to Madrid we were told by the captain that the Madrid airport was so congested we had to fly around the air until a gate opened up for us. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, but my friends insisted on meeting us at the airport (their flight from Rome came in two hours before ours) and I didn’t want to keep them waiting. By the time we landed and met them, they had been waiting for four hours, and they still greeted me with smiles and hugs. Do I have the best friends or what? Thankfully, one of our friends, Michael Shay, met us at the airport and took us to our hostel. I realized I didn’t need to write both his first and last name but that is how I always refer to him. He is studying in Madrid this semester and is also a physical therapy student. He became our tour guide for the weekend. Although I don’t think he volunteered to do so, rather his girlfriend (who is one of my friends studying in Rome) told him to. He made sure all of us got our metro passes and got to the hostel. This was my first time staying in a hostel because in London we stayed in a hotel and in Scotland we were fortunate enough to stay with Fiona. The hostel was awful, so unclean and overall, just gross. My friends from Rome have been travelling more internationally than we have thus staying in more hostels and they even said this was the worst hostel they ever stayed in. This wouldn’t bother most college students. They would rather save the money on a cheap hostel and spend it on alcohol, but I’m not meant for the 20-year-old college lifestyle. Get me into a nice bed at 10 PM and I’ll be out like a light. At one point during the weekend I even got locked in one of the bathroom stalls. Thankfully someone found me before I started to cry. We spent as much time outside the hostel as possible, which meant we got to see a lot of great things like The Prado Museum (Museo del Prado), Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol (both of these are squares with fountains and buildings all around them), Retiro Park, the Royal Palace, Saint Michael’s Market (Mercado de San Miguel) and Chocolateria San Gines (A place where they sell churros and chocolate sauce. They were scrumptious!) Michael Shay told us that about 500 years ago Catholics would hang meat in their stores to drive Jewish people out of Spain. Talk about exclusivity.
The first night we were there, we decided to go to this bar, El Tigre, which means tiger in Spanish. The bar was so crowded we didn’t stay for more than five minutes. However, when we left the bar, my friend Allie realized her wallet was missing. We went back in to see if she dropped it or anything, but it was gone. While she was in the bar, this man started talking to her, so she thinks that he was distracting her while his friend took her wallet. I felt so bad for her. She was so upset that she decided to go back to the hostel with our other friend and call her parents so they could cancel her credit cards. On our way to another bar, we met up with more of my friends from SLU, and then jumped on the metro. There was a big group of us, probably 20 or so, and the metro was already really crowded so we really needed to squeeze together. Hannah, my friend Danny, his friend Pat and I all jumped into one car. As I got on this woman who was already on the train kept moving wherever I moved and pushing up against me. After about 5 seconds of this, I looked down and realized my purse was open and my wallet was missing. I looked around and saw this man trying to squeeze his way through people away from me. I looked at my friend Danny and yelled, “He took my wallet!” Hannah with her quick reflexes reached for his jacket just to get a hold of him, and then my wallet fell to the floor. I immediately picked it up and maneuvered my way through a few people to stand next to Danny and Pat. I was so shocked! I couldn’t believe my wallet was almost stolen. So for the rest of the night, Hannah and I were on edge. Even though her wallet wasn’t stolen, Hannah felt just as violated as I did. I think both the man and woman were working together to take advantage of students visiting Madrid because after they got off at the next stop two girls from Germany said they tried to do the same thing to them. I guess I’ll never be able to pass as a Spaniard.
That night Hannah and I went home early because A. we were still nervous about the metro ride and B. we had been up for almost 24 hours at that point. My friend Wes, who is also studying abroad in Madrid and fluent in Spanish, got us a taxi back to our hostel. My first day in Madrid put a bad taste in my mouth, but thankfully the next two were better. Michael Shay showed us all around Madrid and took us to some great restaurants that served the best paella. Paella is definitely one of my new favorite foods. Another reason I love Spain: siestas. I took one both on Friday and Saturday. That's the only way people in Spain can stay out so late (We stayed out until 5 AM Saturday night! Aren't you proud of me, Gidge?) That night after a two hour siesta a big group of SLU students went to this club El Capital. It was so much fun! Probably one of my favorite nights abroad! Still, seeing everyone and being with them made me miss SLU. I can’t wait to be reunited with everyone in January!
The weekend may have started off a little rocky but turned out to be really fun! I liked Madrid but am happy I chose to study in Galway. I guess I prefer the small town feel rather than the big city. I can’t believe in exactly three weeks from now I will be on a plane ride home to Chicago. My time here has flown by, but now it’s time to finish my Shakespeare paper! So to quote Shakespeare himself, “Sweets to the sweet, farewell.”
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