Another month has passed by, and I am still loving my Fulbright Spain experience. If you are interested, keep reading for some thoughts I decided were worth writing down and sharing on the internet!
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No two weeks in my life are exactly the same. I have been dying to create a week-in-my-life post because right after I accepted Fulbright, those were one of the main kinds of posts/videos I looked for, as they helped me imagine what my life would be like. However, being a university TA with a schedule that changed mid-semester and who travels semi-regularly, it has been quite difficult pinpointing a week I would consider “typical”. Which, on one side speaks to how hard I am trying to diversify my experiences and not get stuck in a rut, and on the other side speaks to how chaotic my life still manages to be, despite how relaxed I am on the whole.
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I started volunteering! Every Fulbrighter in Spain has to complete a side project as part of their grant responsibilities, and I am so happy that I finally got to start mine this month! I am volunteering with Down Madrid, which advocates for the inclusion of individuals with Down Syndrome in the Madrid area. As a volunteer, I focus on social inclusion. As such, I engage in activities with a set group of participants every other weekend. My first time, we went mini golfing together, and this past weekend, we went to a theme park. I genuinely feel that they are teaching me more than I am teaching them, and I am so grateful that I found this organization. (Shoutout to the volunteering session at Fulbright Orientation in September!)
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COVID does, unfortunately, still exist. While masking up has become second nature to me, sometimes I forget that countries can and will change their travel restrictions at any point. For example: Austria, where I was planning on going next weekend to visit Vienna’s famous Christmas markets. However, they do not have a very high vaccination rate relative to other countries on the continent, and are suffering a new wave of cases. A bit of a bummer, sure, but more importantly, a reminder to be mindful and respectful of other countries’ scenarios, as well as to stay up-to-date on COVID news in general.
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I underestimated how cold Madrid gets. Not much to say here other than that I am embarrassed, especially having just gone through four Pittsburgh winters…and eighteen New England winters before that. I think I am most used to just putting on a giant parka and facing the cold, but since I could not fit a parka in my suitcase, I am still working on learning how to master the art of layering.
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Celebrating Thanksgiving abroad is possible. I had one dinner and two potlucks this past week! I think I have fulfilled my mashed sweet potato quota for the next two years. Of course, it is difficult to find an entire turkey and an oven big enough to roast it, but in my opinion, Thanksgiving is all about the side dishes anyways.
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I am a pretty good travel/activity planner. I feel like I have considered this to be a personality trait for a long time, but through this experience, it has really been put to the test. And, I think I am standing up to the challenge. For one, I have been staying consistent with my original plan of rotating weekends between traveling and enjoying/exploring Madrid city center. This month, I traveled to Logroño, La Rioja and San Sebastián/Donostia, País Vasco one weekend and Tenerife, Islas Canarias another. While in Madrid, I have gone out to brunch, volunteered, attended an animated short film festival, seen the Christmas lights, and eaten lots of home-cooked food. I have also been able to pivot when unexpected things happen, such as when I found out Austria would no longer be an option. I will now be taking things easy and going on some day trips! On a final note, I am very fortunate to have found friends here that want to do as many things as I do and also have fun activity ideas.
That’s all for now; ¡hasta luego!
Note: views are my own and do not reflect those of The Fulbright Program or La Comisión Fulbright de España.