The darker side of things…
Not everything can be pleasant on a month-long trip to a foreign country. I think it would be unfair to only document the positive things on my trip, as it really isn’t an accurate portrayal of my time. Don’t get me wrong, I really am enjoying myself in Madrid, but sometimes I have down moments or experience some questionable things. Okay, let’s get started!
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On our second orientation day, we were warned about the amount of pick pocketing in Madrid, especially in areas of dense crowds like Puerta del Sol (now coined Vodafone Sol) or in the metro. We were told stories of people who had their shoes stolen while napping in a park, bags snagged from in between their feet, and so on. On my way to Chueca, the gay district of Madrid, my first 
Friday night, my friend Rachel and I experienced a near-robbery/fight. The thief (I will call him “villain” from now on) was a Spaniard and the victim was an older, plumper British man (I will call him “gordito”). When Gordito was turning around as people were leaving to the train in order to make room, the villain of our story quickly reached into his pocket and hid the stolen wallet under a strategically draped sweatshirt. Quickly, El Gordito turned around to grab his wallet back, causing a commotion as the stolen article dropped to the floor. For the duration of the metro trip between the two stops, El Gordito was fuming. More so than being angry, I saw absolute misery on his face. His eyes were glazed over, his lips were quivering. He was angry, I will give you that. He wanted to murder the villain who was trying to act as if nothing happened. He continually yelled, “You thief! You stole my wallet! You’re a thief!” If it weren’t for El Gordito Jr. (the son, not plump, but…), a fight would have broken out. Rachel was in the middle of all the action, and was really shaken up by the events. For the few minutes it took for us to find where we needed to go, her eyes were popping out as far as they could from shock (you’re welcome for the graphic description!). I checked all of my purse pockets to make sure I hadn’t been robbed, and luckily, everything was a-okay!
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On my first day here, everyone went out to purchase Spanish cell phones. Because American data-plans can be quite costly when abroad, my friends bought small, old-fashioned phones with five euro SIM cards in order to keep in touch, as well as to have an emergency line. I decided I wouldn’t buy one yet because I was going to try to add a Spanish SIM into my own pre-paid 
phone, thereby bypassing the twenty euros I would have to pay for the device itself. When I finally got myself to a store, the one across the street from my apartment, not everything went as planned. Firstly, the entire process took way longer than it should have, and I was in the middle of eating a juicy Gala apple and wanted to finish it promptly (but had to hand it over to my friend as I spoke to the man). He wouldn’t give me what I wanted – I wanted Orange as my provider because it would be cheaper to get in contact with my friends who also had that same service. The man kept telling me not to get Orange and to get Lyca or Lebara and so on. Even though I was pretty sure he finally gave into my desire, it turns out I actually don’t have Orange after all. On top of all that, none of my texts were going through to my friends! It seemed as if I had spent all that dinero (money) for nothing! The next day I made my way to another phone store and recounted my story to them. Their only advice was to add more money onto my SIM, and so what did I do? I added more money. That was 3 days ago, and only today did my texts start working! Ay dios mio!!!
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The following account isn’t of a single event, but more of an ongoing difficulty I am having. I also want it to be known that it is both bitter and sweet. In the winters at home, it can get very gloomy when I walk out of my dorm at 4:30 in the afternoon and I 
already see the moon in the night sky. When the summer comes, and the days get longer, I am overjoyed knowing that I have “more time” to do the things I want to do, or at least “more time” to waste time. In Spain, however, it never gets dark! Perhaps I am exaggerating a little, but let me tell you, I never feel like I need “more time” in my day. In America, I am used to winding down the day’s activities at around 6:00, but in Spain… the day is just getting started at that time! Because of this expansive time allowance, I get extra-super exhausted by the end of the day. Because I feel like I have all the time in the world, I find no problem hopping on the metro multiple times a day to go to various areas in the city of Madrid. Would I ever do that in New York? No. Granted, one of the reasons I wouldn’t is because I don’t have an unlimited pass like I do here, but it would also seem quite gratuitous and a waste of time. My first Friday here, I stayed out until 1:30 AM! Although the time flew by, which is a good thing because that means I was having fun, I also realize that the massive amount of sunlight just throws off my circadian rhythm. I can’t make heads or tails of my energy status sometimes! I just want to say that the picture that is associated with this “bad event” isn’t meant to depict a negative experience, but only shows how my friends and I were out late. Of course, I took the picture, so I couldn’t be in it.
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For my Art History course, I will be visiting the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum, and the Thyssen Museum. All in all, I will probably be out of the classroom at least two times a week – I already went to the Prado once (today, July 8). In order to get into these museums for free during our scheduled meeting time, however, we needed to get International Student 
Identification Cards (ISIC for short). Rachel (center in the picture above) and I were planning on getting our cards on Friday and on Sunday, but because of difficulties with either us not having all of the necessary materials, or the office being closed, it took us until this morning to actually go and receive them. Even though our 9:00 AM class was canceled due to the fact that we would be going to the museum in the afternoon instead, Rachel and I had to wake up as normal because we wanted to make our way to the ISIC office. We brought all of our required materials (as stated by USAC): passport, certificate of participation in USAC, money, and passport photo (taken in the photo booths conveniently stationed in every metro!). When we got into the office, the woman alerted us to the fact that our certificate of USAC participation did not qualify us for an ISIC card because it only stated that we would be studying for one month – not the nine months required for ISIC. I pleaded, “Please, call Alvaro our program director, so that he can explain our situation!” Pero, no. She said she wouldn’t call because there was no point – she knew we weren’t qualified. It took a while for me to realize that I could prove to her that both Rachel and I were long-term students by showing her our home university IDs. Phew! Fiasco averted, right? No! I got ready to pay my nine euros in cash, and the woman says “No, necesito tu tarjeta.” My credit card? Now I’m going to be charged a fee! Luckily I had my debit card with me. The whole process was a lot more complicated that I had planned. One of the other students in my class wasn’t able to get hers because she didn’t have her home university ID on her! Oh well, at least I got into the Prado today!
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This last account, luckily y gracias a dios, didn’t happen to me, but I thought I would add it in here anyway to paint a general 
picture of everyone’s experience. Now, before I start, I by no means, again, am saying that this is a bad trip. I’m having a great time in Madrid! And so is everyone else! Apparently, last night a group of girls went out to drink and eat some tapas in Puerta del Sol. This is one of the main plazas in Madrid and is very popular among the USAC group – it’s too busy for me and there’s nothing special there in my opinion. Anyway, the girls were served tapas that looked a bit strange, but they decided to eat them anyway. According to one account, the tapas tasted good! In a few hours, they were all throwing up from food poisoning and are still feeling under the weather now. If that were me, I would be FLIPPING OUT!!! I will be staying well away from funny looking food!
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And that’s it guys! Stay tuned for more updates on my Madrid experience! And remember, it’s 99% amazing!
