By: Grace Carballo ‘17

Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of representing the good old US of A, along with my roommate, as a delegate of sorts, if you will, at a 150-person, super exclusive fiesta about 40 minutes from Madrid hosted by an affluent friend of my host brother. Mind you, I didn’t ever participate in Model UN or even take the course when it was available to me sophomore year of high school (I took Comparative Religions instead because I wanted to open my mind and also because there were so many field trips), but I think after hearing how well I mingled, you may be willing to overlook my lack of qualifications.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

You may be thinking to yourself, “Grace, what? How did you get carded in Madrid? Isn’t the drinking age there 18? Aren’t you several years older? I’ve always thought you have such a maturity about you well beyond your years!”

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

Time to break out my ‘Ello Govnah playlist, which I’ve been constructing for upwards of 13 months now, because I’m about to leave for the airport to Londrés, which translates very nicely to London.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

I am going to hold myself accountable and post at least a few times a week because in the paraphrased words of the wonderful Ron Swanson, “Never half-ass anything. Except for swimsuits because that’s trendy now.” Which reminds me, I went to Barcelona a few weekends ago and have a lot to say about that, so stay tuned.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

When I first arrived in Madrid, I was jet-lagged, stressed, and barely able to put together an English sentence let alone one in Spanish. As she showed me around, my wonderful host mom told me to close the hallway door always “porque de las ratas” or because of the rats. This didn’t bother me one bit because she seemed very chill about it and I’m trying to be low-maintenance and honestly I’m not afraid of rats nearly as much as I’m afraid of actual scary things like sharks or my future kids growing up to be bullies.

By Emily Young MA ‘16

You’ve landed a summer internship, have a lay of the land, and figured out your commute; now what? Check out these tips to make the most of your summer internship.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

My first day in Madrid when I went for a run, I realized as I struggled to find my way home that someone had somehow pickpocket my running arm band of my ca$h (luckily just 10 euros at the time). Like any furious parent, I wasn’t mad, I was just disappointed.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

They say “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, but I believe a nice additive to this is “especially when you miss your father” because it kind of rhymes if you pronounce things a certain way and also it’s very timely given that today is Father’s Day.

By: Emily Young MA ‘16

Spoiler: Today is Father’s Day. If you have not yet wished your dad a Happy Father’s Day, please do so before continuing to read the rest of this article.

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

In addition to my amazing host mom and rad, artsy, vegetarian host sister, I also have a super cool host brother who is a little older than me, here in Madrid. The mysterious man I stumbled upon in my new house the very first day I moved in turned out to be who he said he was and now we see each other all the time. Carmen explained to me when I asked what Victor does that he was a “go-go”, which I didn’t understand, but with a bit more pantomiming on her part, some hip thrusts and the like, I gathered means “dancer employed in a club.”

By: Grace Carballo ‘17

People always say that the best way to really immerse yourself in a new country is to live with a homestay family, especially when you’re trying to learn a new language. And I’m going to have to agree with the masses on this one, though at first I had my doubts.

By: Emily Young MA ‘16

Looking for fun things to do in LA this summer? Check out my list of great hiking spots and hit the trails!