Hey Guys!
Around two and a half weeks ago, I returned from my exchange trip to Madrid. It was the first exchange I had ever been on and I can truly say the experience as well as the city, was absolutely amazing. I thought I would share with you a few photos I took during my stay as well as tell you all about what I got up to!
In the evening of the day of our arrival, after standing at the centre point of Spain, my exchange and her family decided to ease the initial nerves of us having met by eating churros at a cafe. It was my first time trying it and I certainly loved it ¡Que rico!
The second day was a Friday, which was spent having a tour of a bullfighting ring called 'Plaza de Toros de Ventas' and later visiting a famous art gallery ('Reina Sofia') where amongst many other alluring paintings, was the 'Guernica' by Picasso. Later on we took photos around Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in Madrid.We then also went into such a KAWAII 50's American Diner (shout out to 'Tommy Mel's'!) and walked to the terrace of a department store where we took in the view of Madrid.
The following Saturday, my host and I spent our Valentine's day going to another art museum and later in the evening, going rowing (I'm sure you can picture the amount of couples that were there).
The Sunday, we visited 'el rastro' (a flea market) and then for the evening, went to see a play that had me sliding down my seat slightly, wanting to cover my eyes at the awkwardness I was feeling.
Monday. The day of the stares. This was the day where we followed our exchanges to all of their classes. Maths, economics and physics was not my idea of fun whilst on holiday.
The following day we went to a city outside of Madrid called Segovia. There, we found the palace that Disneyland took their idea for the architecture of the Disney castle from. How cool! We also ate tapas at a restaurant for lunch and later headed home to our host families to do some 6pm shopping.
Wednesday, the last day before leaving, we had special classes at the Spanish school which included salsa dancing, notebook making from scratch and 'Robotica' (basically a robot class where we made armour for our robots and battled it out to see who's was strongest). Later in the evening, all of us exchanges and hosts went out together one last time before heading home to pack for our flight the next day.
For anyone who is considering going on an exchange trip I would absolutely recommend it. As I experienced myself by going on this trip, things don't always go according to plan or how you want them to, but that's what makes it such an unique and unusual experience. I found it to be not only a culturally enriching experience but also one where I made an incredible friend that I truly feel I'll have a relationship with for a very long time. Moreover, I totally feel that I've improved my Spanish and I'm able to speak much more fluidly than before, as well as the fact that I've become even more interested in the language (which I didn't realise was possible). It's absolutely true that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, take it!
Sharleen x
(My incredibly kind exchange will be coming to stay for seven days with me in London in just under two weeks, how exciting! I'll let you know how that goes soon!)
