Travel

[elainemasey]

My son will be going to Grad school in Madrid. Any advice? Do’s or Donts’s? Must see?  Thanks

Elaine

[FancyPhillyshopper]

Madrid is one of the great medieval and modern capitals of Europe.  Spain is a wonderful country, full of marvelous places to visit.

I went to undergraduate school in a different city in Spain, but traveled throughout the country and visited Madrid many times.  I also love Portugal, the next door neighbor.

If I had to choose a country for a second home, Spain would be my choice.

Advice for you, the visitor, or him, the student?  Does he want to improve his Spanish, learn the culture, travel to see the wonderful cities of Toledo, Sevilla, Barcelona, Avila, Segovia, Granada, the great beach resorts near Valencia and too many other fantastic places to mention... What is his area of study? How many years will he be in Spain?  Does he like history? Or art? Or flamenco? Or visiting ancient cathedrals (Santiago de Campostela)?  Or Roman ruins?  Or following in the footsteps of the conquistadores? Is he single?  Does he like to dance, go to nightclubs, go to bars and have a vino, stroll the avenues, snack on tapas, dine late at night, meet people from other places and make lots of international friends?

Madrid has the Plaza Mayor, a royal palace, the famous Prado musuem, and lots of shopping. 

Spain is also convenient for travel throughout Europe.

I wish him a wonderful experience and I definitely recommend that you visit!!

[elainemasey]

 Thank you!  We are going over with him. I want to see where he will be living ( he’s my only) and we have never been to Madrid.

He is single, 22 yrs old with passable Spanish. He does want to become more fluent. He was a Criminal Justice Major and has been working as an EMT and a Summer Police Officer on Cape Cod. He likes helping people. He will be studying International Relations in Developing Countries ( or something like that) and it is a 10 month program.

He is very social so I’m sure he will make friends easily. He is looking forward to meeting people from other countries and he’s been saving to travel while he is there.

We will drag him to the museums and historic sites while we are there, then I think it will be night clubs, dancing and vino😏. Toss in some futbol and he’ll be happy. AND studying!

I know it will be a fabulous experience and he’s excited. Me- not so happy 😢 but excited for him.

[FancyPhillyshopper]

Well, Spain is definitely not a developing country, but what he will gain quickly and deeply is an important international perspective. Spain is a bridge country between Africa to Europe and has a long, long history of negotiating cultures, religions and languages.

Since he is interested in criminal justice and developing countries, he may wish to focus on how Europe is addressing the migrant challenge from Africa, especially from a law and order perspective (and the differences in experiences, values and resources). He could then compare and contrast with the U.S. and Latin America.

Yes, he should try to learn as much as possible about his host country and begin to understand it, but he should also recognize he is also a tourist, and enjoy all the sightseeing!  You will have a lot of fun visiting--make sure you make it to Toledo (less than an hour from Madrid) while you are getting him settled.  If you return in the Spring you could go to Sevilla for the famous feria (a few weeks after Easter with parades and costumes). Or head down to the Costa del Sol to be on the beach with all the jet setters!

He will never forget this experience and it will be a wonderful learning opportunity for his future career(s)!  

BUEN VIAJE y BUENA SUERTE

[sunshine45]

my daughter spent six months in spain for her junior year in college. she spent half a year in spain and half a year in italy. she LOVED having that full year experience. she lived with a spanish woman and her daughter......and all of her classes were in spanish. spanish was one of her majors. they did her laundry, she had her own bedroom, and they provided three meals a day.

she was able to travel to a lot of cities in europe by spending those two semesters abroad.

she was in oviedo spain at the university of oviedo. it helped her spanish immensely and she has used her spanish quite a bit in her summer internship for law school.

she is thinking of doing a semester abroad during her 3L year.....not sure where yet though.

[JYWilliams]

Congrats to your son!!!!

[elainemasey]

Thank you!