Everything I Want to Do in Madrid

It’s August, meaning my departure date is right around the corner.  I’m very busy this month, tying up loose ends and emptying our apartment in Seattle.  Since I will be teaching adults, I have been reviewing my English grammar.  It all is very chaotic now, but it’s worth it for this opportunity to live in Madrid.  To take a breather from the chaos, here are a few things that I am looking forward to when I get there:

Improving my Spanish

I want to become fluent, hence why Madrid was the program I chose to apply to.  I have traveled to Guatemala, Chile, and Argentina, and each time my Spanish has been enriched.  Immersion is key to becoming fluent; I need to hear and speak it every day.  I am a little nervous, since I have don’t have much experience with Spaniard accents, but I am sure that I will be very familiar by the end of my program.  As frustrating as it can be to feel like people can’t understand what you are saying, it is all worth it when you have one conversation that goes well.

Learning how to use the metro system

I have used the metro system in many cities and each one is different.  Madrid’s metro is quite expansive; many people I have spoken to have favorable things to say about it.  I will be teaching in multiple locations in the city, so getting a metro card will be one of my first priorities when I get there.  I enjoy taking public transportation because it gives you the full experience of a city.  I am sure I will be initially overwhelmed; however, it is necessary to get lost to learn the way around a city.

Trying the Different Wines

I am no wine expert by any means, but I do greatly enjoy it!  Spain has a great variety of wines due to the diverse climates across the country.  While there are no vineyards in the city center, the Madrid region has three subzones where wine is produced: Arganda del Rey, San Martin, and Garnacha.  Madrid is one of seven wine regions in the country, meaning there will be a lot of options for wines to pair with my tapas.

Experiencing Spanish coffee

People have asked me the first thing I will do when I get to Spain and the most likely answer is drinking coffee.  Not only because I am excited to try it, but also because I will have finished flying for over 24 hours and will need it to beat the jetlag! I know about café cortado and other forms, what I’m really looking forward to is coffee culture as well.  I know to go coffee is not a thing in Spain and am looking forward to camping out in an espresso bar, maybe with my laptop or a good book.

Visiting museums

I am a fan of Goya and am looking forward to seeing the Prado’s collection.  I have more conflicting feelings about Picasso, but Guernica is a piece I have been fascinated by for a long time, so I will be visiting Centro de Arte Reína Sofia as well.  I have always loved traveling and seeing different art museums.  This may be another thing I do early on, since it will be very hot and I most likely won’t want to spend a lot of time outside.

It's incredible that I will be on my way to Madrid a week from now.  It really seems like yesterday I was scrambling to get my visa paperwork together.  I am nervous, but excited to see what it has in store for me.