Bienvenidos a Madrid

Hola a todos!  My name is Jenn Brooks and I am 21 years old.  I am currently a junior at Merrimack College majoring in Marketing with a minor in Jewish Christian Muslim Relations and Spanish.  This spring semester I have made the decision to study abroad in Madrid, Spain.  I am attending la Universidad Pontificia Comillas, and I will be studying International Relations here in order to improve my Spanish.  

JJ and I with chocolate caliente from Dunkin Coffee. 

It is official; I have been in Spain a month as of today, although I’m going to be cliché and admit it feels like just yesterday we all arrived.  There are nine students from Merrimack in total studying abroad in Madrid this semester, and luckily most of us were able to book the same flight to Spain.  We decided it would be best to take taxis from el aeropuerto since all of us over packed, surprise.  Extremely jetlagged I heaved my two suitcases and backpack into a taxi, destination:  Augusto Figueroa.  My good friend JJ, who I dragged along with me to Spain since I did not want to travel alone, and I were the first to arrive at our residencia.  Since we were the last to leave the airport, my heart skipped a beat.  It was 7 a.m. on a Saturday, and the street appeared deserted, immediately thoughts started racing through my mind.  “Did we have the right address?”  “I do not have a cell phone!”  “It is 7 o’clock in the morning.”  “The entire city is sleeping.”  “What are we going to do!?”  When Juan, the man who operates and runs our residencia, finally poked his head out the second story window and cried “Merrimack College?”, I felt like the 100^th sheep in The Parable of the Lost Sheep.  Lost and now found, we were welcomed into our new home soon to be joined by the others and begin our experience of a life time. 

My Sunday breakfast at Dunkin Coffee. 

I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, hence residing in a city as vibrant and alive as Madrid has been exciting!  Our residencia is located right in the heart of the city, therefore the best tapas bars, café y té stops, tourist attractions, restaurantes, plazas, etc. are at max a block or two away.  Also, we are very fortunate to have our little piece of Boston close by too!  Dunkin Donuts, or should I say “Dunkin Coffee”, is located at the end of our street.  America now “runs on Dunkin” in Spain!  There are also plenty of other American restaurants in the area such as:  TGI Fridays, KFC, Starbucks, Burger King and McDonalds to name a few.  And do not make the same mistake I made and let your American perception of McDonalds form your bias.  The McDonalds in Madrid does not compare to the fast food in America, the burgers and fries are much healthier here and drive-thrus are nowhere to be seen. 

Capitan Mani peanut butter

Unfortunately, other fundamental American foods are a rarity.  Back home peanut butter is my usual staple, every morning I have peanut butter and whole wheat toast for breakfast with a glass of non-pulp Tropicana orange juice.  Sadly, peanut butter here is treated like gold.  It can only be found in Corte Inglés and is rather expensive.  The typical brand of peanut butter I encounter in Spain is Capitán Mani.  It comes in both suave and crujiente.  I believe the label on the jar is an attempt to characterize Americans, a hefty, foolish baseball player with a white-on-blue stars uniform.  Yay America!