Ryan Tomlin
H-SC May Term Abroad
Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Summer 2018

My day to day life in Spain is entirely different from that of my life at home. From Monday through Thursday, I wake up at 7:30 in the morning to get ready for class. I take an extremely short shower because water is not as prevalent here. At home, I rely on a long and warm shower to wake me up for the day. Then I grab breakfast downstairs with my host mom and roommate. We typically eat a piece of toasted bread with olive oil and butter on top. This also took some getting used to as I usually eat a large breakfast of bacon and eggs when I am home.
After breakfast, I start my 20-minute morning walk to the University. On the way, I typically see other students, most in uniform, going to their schools. I see parents walking to work and buses constantly picking up and dropping off people. Almost every morning, people are mowing or weed eating the grass in the Plaza or preparing the stage for an event the upcoming weekend.
After class, I take the same walk back home and eat lunch in the kitchen with my host brother. Our lunch is typically premade from the night before because our host mother works during the day. So far, my favorite food has been the Tortillas de Patatas and my favorite drink is a yogurt drink called Fresa. After lunch, I work on my homework for most of the afternoon. While I am doing homework, my host brother and roommate typically take a siesta, which is common in Spain. They nap for around 3 hours after lunch which I still have not gotten used to. I do not typically take naps and I am often the only one up for that time of the day.
After my homework, we all eat dinner around 9 pm. Again, this took some getting used to. Lunch and dinner here are shifted about three hours later than I am used to back at home. At first, I felt like I was hungry all the time, but I have since adjusted to the schedule. Once we finish dinner, my roommate, host brother, and I watch a movie in the living room. I have also gotten used to watching TV in Spanish and have started to understand what they are saying in the films. Afterwards, I go shower and then into my room to finish last minute studying.
My room is extremely small, especially my bed. The bed is even smaller than those at school. The room is always kept extremely neat by me or my host mom. It took me about a week to get used to the size of the room and bed. Now, it feels like my home.
In conclusion, the most interesting thing for me thus far has been the transformation of my relationship with my host family. My host mother and I make jokes to one another when before I was nervous just to speak. My host brother and I frequently hang out on the weekends and we have gotten very close. I have enjoyed their hospitality and am gracious for the opportunity to study abroad.