I don’t have much going on in my life this week, just going to school. So, I’m going to write about what a normal day looks like for me.
First, I wake up late and throw on sweatpants and put my hair up. After, I have a 10-minute walk to school. Every day I walk through the Jardín de San Francisco, a beautiful park surrounded by flowers and huge statues. By the time I get to school, everyone is half asleep including me. Luckily, we have an awesome coffee machine that charges about 75 cents to keep me alive for the next 4 hours. My classes change every other day, but I learn about Spanish art, culture and language. After 2 hours I get a 30-minute break, in which I go to the same coffee shop every day called the Capuchina. Normally it’s packed with all the students in my school (a very small school and a very small coffee shop). This is my favorite part of the day because I get to talk to all of my friends and the same ladies that work there every day that are very sweet.
The coffee here is nothing like Starbucks. You only have about 4 options: espresso, cafe con leche, capuchino, or americano. I’ve gotten accustomed to coffee without loads of sugar in it, and now when I drink something too sweet it tastes awful. Here they also give you a small sandwich, tortilla Española or another small snack for free when you order a drink.
When I return to class, I’m now bouncing off the walls from all the caffeine. I have 2 more hours of class and I spend the entire 2 hours looking at the clock. I’m increasingly convinced that I may have ADHD but it’s probably because of my new coffee addiction.
After school I have a coffee crash, and I’m desperately hungry for never giving myself time to eat breakfast in the morning. So, I usually cook patatas bravas, a traditional Spanish tapa of diced potatoes smothered in aioli mayo and hot sauce. I like to add a little more spice because to be honest they don’t spice their food here, not even with salt sometimes. After I eat, I spend hours doing homework, mostly for my classes online at Tech. Sometimes I go out to watch the sunset at the park next to my house or meet up with friends for tapas. I don’t really know where the night goes after that, but by the time I look at my phone it’s midnight and I have to go home.
My days are nothing exciting, except for when I’m traveling. But this may give an idea of what study abroad students do. It may seem like a lot of partying and traveling, but there has to be a balance in between. Even when I’m not doing something “exciting” I’m content just because I’m here.
