El Metro de Madrid

When I asked students in my group to write a blog post, Tyler and Oona, our two guest writers for today, asked what they should write about. I suggested they could write about their homestays, first impressions, things that they had learned, and activity, and excursion… They decided that something they had in common was being from smaller towns in more rural parts of the USA and chose to write about the contrast between home-home and Madrid-home:

In my tiny town in Ohio, we have no taxis, no buses, just one Uber driver, and he is a 50 year old man in a 2007 Subaru. So, aside from fresh fruit and an obvious language gap, the Madrid Metro was the most shocking change I had to adjust to (or how the Spanish say, un gran choque). While there are Inter lapping maps of hundreds of trains in New York and Metro Mariachi bands in LA or Boston, the Madrid Metro was definitely the most Spanish experience I had on the first day. The floors are clean, unlike New York, the stations are well-lit and have plenty of seating, unlike the London Tube, but the trains themselves are incredibly crowded during rush hour. I felt like a sardine (my favorite Spanish food) in a can, but it was all part of the experience. One of my favorite things about the Madrid Metro is the artwork in the stations. Many of them have beautiful mosaics or posters of classic literature that make the commute more enjoyable. Overall, the Madrid Metro was a great way to get around the city and experience the local culture.

-Oona

After spending two weeks in Madrid it is easy to say that is has been the most mind opening, perspective changing and hottest two weeks of my life! I am from a small town in Massachusetts so the adjustment to the big city of has been interesting. Living in the city has been as staggering as one from a small town can imagine and it has been nothing short of an incredible experience thus far. And getting used to the schedule and lifestyle of the city as well as getting used to using Spanish all day has been as challenging as it has been rewarding.

For as long as I can remember anywhere I wanted to go was by car. When I was younger my parents had to drive me everywhere which then became my friends until I got a license of my own. However, in Madrid one thing that very quickly stood out to me was how easy it can be to live without a car. Every morning I wake up excited to take a new path to class and discover more beautiful areas. The whole city is walkable and what’s better is that on hot days the metro system is as convenient as it is efficient. Discovering the ins and outs of it has been one of my favorite ways to spend my time. And with it the whole city is within my reach.

-Tyler