George A. Langhammer
H-SC
Alcala de Henares, Spain
May Term Abroad 2022

First Impressions

After a bumpy overnight flight, our class arrived in Madrid at 8 am on Wednesday, May 25th. We are studying at the Universidad of Alcala in Alcala de Henares, a city about 45 minutes from the center of Madrid. The city is full of history and was founded in the 1st Century BC by the Romans. We were all immediately struck by how much of the city’s past is preserved through the architecture. However, we did not have too much time to admire everything because we had to meet our host families.

My host mother, Perla, doesn’t speak any English, but I took enough Spanish in high school to understand everything she says. Having this background has been very useful for the excursions that we get to take as a group, and I have been able to help other students in our class who don’t have as good of an understanding of the language. However, everyone is benefitting from the immersion regardless of their level of Spanish. For example, the other guys quickly learned how to order at restaurants and picked up on the standard greetings in Spain. Also, when we have been going out with friends from the university, we have been trying to communicate with them in Spanish. Speaking and practicing is what the immersion experience is, and doing it with friends from a different culture makes things a lot easier and more fun.

After picking up some basic knowledge, our group went to one of Madrid’s most famous tourist attractions, El Rastro. Every Sunday, this ginormous open-air flea market located in the center of the city takes place, and at times there are so many people that you can’t even move around. There was everything from art and clothes to camera equipment, and most people in the group bought an item or two. Most of the people running the tents are looking to make money off the tourists, so being able to negotiate with them was important. Without the knowledge of Spanish that we gained during our first few days, I don’t think we would have had as good of an experience as we did.

As our first week comes to a close, I could not be happier to be in Spain! My understanding of Spanish is growing, and my ability to speak is getting better by the day. Even though we are only here for a month, there is still plenty of time to explore our city and immerse ourselves even more in Spanish culture.

George A. Langhammer