Keira’s Journals

Nevertheless, I haven’t dedicated all my time to studying now. During the weekends, I try to explore more of Spain but typically my plans always take me back to Madrid. I don’t mind this. It doesn’t matter how many times I have been to the city, it always feels like I am discovering something new. I walk on the same streets but somehow there is always a new shop or restaurant that I never noticed before. I have started a list of all the places that I have been and others that I still need to try. The next few months, I am planning to focus on discovery. I want to travel to other cities and continue to explore more of what Madrid has to offer. 

A few weeks ago, we had our first orientation with the inbound students in District 2201. We all went to Ávila which is a beautiful town about 2 hours northwest from Madrid. The town, like many in Spain, was filled with beautiful architecture from Cathedrals to a giant wall that surrounded most of the city center. Students that live near Madrid all met to take a bus and I was glad to meet a small group of students before leaving. There are about 30 students in the Rotary district 2201 and this includes people all the way from Vigo (in the province of Galicia near the Atlantic coast) and even the Canary Islands. The orientation was organized by Rotarians and Rotex from all different clubs. On our first day, we had many introductions and many names to memorize. We played icebreaker games to get to know the other students. We stayed in rooms almost like college dorms. I got to stay with 4 other people (including a Rotex) and other rooms had up to 10 people. I really enjoyed talking to my roommates, in which 2 of them were living in the Canary Islands, and we all shared our experiences during our first month including a little bit about our home countries. We also received these beautiful matching yellow ‘vests’ from Rotary. I don’t exactly know what to call them but I’ll just say that we all looked like human traffic cones. We got to try different kinds of Spanish food and snacks during the weekend. In addition to the informational part of orientation, we also toured the city on a bus tour. We learned a little bit about the city’s history and stopped to take some amazing pictures that overlooked the city and we all held our countries’ flags. Some interestings things included yoga one morning, a small spanish lesson led by the Rotex, and a talent show on the last night. As the weekend came to an end, people were all getting flags signed and exchanging pins. I got all the contacts of the students near Madrid and we even arranged a weekend after orientation to have lunch and catch up with each other. It was absolutely an amazing weekend and it helped me feel less alone in this experience. It helps knowing that we are all in this together and we will support each other especially because we know we are not alone in this journey.

This past week, Rotary organized the Polio Race with all the districts in Spain. It was a great way to meet other people from Rotary such as the Rotarians and students in local Interact Clubs at their universities. I always love talking to people associated with Rotary. Whether it’s at home speaking english or here speaking castellano, they are always so welcoming and their bond, uniting them under one phrase, “Service Above Self”, is the strongest that I have ever seen. We ran around el Parque del Retiro (Retiro Park) which was beautiful to watch as we completed the 5k. After the race, we went to eat a small snack like jamón serrano, bread, and of course, Tortilla de Patatas. I spent the rest of the day exploring small towns around the area and later, Madrid. The next day, I went to a small town called Manzanares el Real to meet another exchange student and his family. We hiked the mountains which are literally within walking distance of their house. I am already ready to go back because I miss the mountains. It was truly an incredible experience. We stopped to take a photo at the bottom of the mountain and they showed me a creek that was full of running water from the last few days of rainfall. It was very typical to see dogs running around off a leash and splashing in the waters. The host parents showed me the trail and markers that we were looking for, but after a few minutes, it started to look less like a trail. The path was very narrow at times or straight through a small stream of water. Sometimes we had to climb up and around big rocks. I loved the change from a city-like home to a small adventurous country town near the mountains. I had so much fun weaving through the path as we continued our way up until we took a break to eat lunch. As we were eating lunch, I could look out at the horizon and see all the way to where I live (Alcobendas) and Madrid. That day was full of curious little things. We stopped to take a picture with a giant rock shaped like a snail and we also saw a herd of mountain goats. My friend’s host dad told me that typically the goats are not that low but we got lucky. We watched the goats, some sitting and others moving around, sometimes vertically running up or down the side of a rock with ease. That was impressive to watch. We headed back down after only going about ⅓ of the way but next time, we’re going to the top. Afterwards, I walked around the town for a short time before I had to go. Where I live, most of the development is fairly new but Manzanares is a city of history. There is a castle that first belonged to a royal guard family and it is situated in the center of the town. I can’t believe that only a 45 minute bus ride can take me to so many different places, each with their unique characteristics.

I realize that I still have so much to learn about Spanish culture. For example, my host club counselor from Rotary taught me when to say good morning, good afternoon, and good night. It does not depend on how it looks outside or the time, the phrase can only change after eating a meal. For example, I can only say good night after I have eaten dinner. So when I go to my Rotary dinners, it can be 8:45pm and I still say “buenas tardes” and only after dinner, I can say “buenas noches”. Also, lunch is typically eaten anywhere between 1pm-4pm. Many people eat lunch at home and because of this, most of the stores close during the day. Between 1pm and sometimes as late as 5pm, people are eating lunch and taking their siesta (nap) and then, the world comes back to life.

I am definitely now working on a kind of balance between school, sports, exploring the country, and resting. I want to do and see so much but I have to be patient with my choices here. Typically my plans are on-the-go and I am just seeing where this experience will take me. This not only applies to being an exchange student but I will try to incorporate this into life after this year. I hope you all enjoyed reading this and be ready for the next update in a few months!