Madrid! Una ciudad increíble

by: Kaitlin O’Meara, Copy Editor

Over winter break, I had the opportunity to go to Madrid, Spain with a group of six Canisius students for a cultural immersion program to learn more about the city and Spanish culture. During our two weeks, we had many opportunities to explore Madrid and discover all it has to offer. 

Our trip did not have the most shining start as, given typical Buffalo weather in December, we were delayed for over two hours – it was not safe to land or take off in Buffalo or Chicago, so we had to wait. It was to the point that we had begun to discuss what we would do if we happened to miss our connecting flight to Madrid, but thankfully we did not. On these two flights (Buffalo to Chicago, and Chicago to Madrid), I experienced more turbulence than I have experienced on the rest of the flights I’ve taken my whole life. It was crazy…but it got us there, so I can’t complain!

While we were in Madrid, we did a lot of activities. The first week focused on holidays in Spain, primarily New Year's Eve (Nochevieja) and Three Kings Day (Día de los reyes magos), and the ways in which holiday celebrations differed in Spain versus the United States. As part of our immersion, we were all placed with families, and they were all siblings so we spent Nochevieja all together. This was a really fun experience, because we not only got to learn more about how the celebrate the holiday, especially with the eating of the grapes at midnights – which is shockingly high-stress if you’ve never done it before – but we also got to enjoy the company of a group of very kind people who had opened their homes to us, and got to meet our friends’ host families. They also celebrated Three Kings Day with us, which included them getting us each a present, which was so kind and unexpected. It really made the day special to see how they celebrated and how welcoming and willing they were to include us in it as well.

Outside of learning about the holidays, we had a ton of free time to explore the city and do what we wanted to do. One of my favorite things I did during these two weeks was going to see “Wicked” in Spanish – or should I say “Wicked: El musical.” As a Spanish major and someone who’s been taking Spanish classes for the past 10 years, I have a pretty good (really good) grasp on Spanish and it was really interesting to hear how they translated the show, because the importance is translating the meaning rather than translating literally to make sure that the songs still sound right, make sense and are…good. If you’re an avid reader of The Griffin, you’d know that I am a pretty big fan of “Wicked” (see “The Griffin’s Favorite Duo Takes on ‘Wicked’ at Shea’s” in the Dec. 5 edition), so it was very interesting to see the staging changes they made – in terms of costuming, the set, the dances and really everything about the production.

Given that “Wicked” isn’t really a stellar example of Spanish culture, I figure I should also share some other highlights that were more about cultural immersion, not linguistic immersion. To finish out our time in Madrid, we went as a group to the Royal Palace, which was just absolutely stunning. We didn’t have a guide or the audio guide, so I can’t tell you any cool facts about the palace, except that it is gorgeous and incredible. Next to the palace is the Almudena Cathedral, which is where the royal family gets married, and it was also breathtaking and gorgeous. On our last day, my friend Maggie (Donner) and I went for a tour of the Real Madrid stadium, which was incredible. Even though we had been upset we weren’t able to go to a game, we got to go onto the field during the tour, so I can’t say I’m too disappointed anymore. 

We also went to a few art museums – the Prado and the Reina Sofia – and we got to see some of the most famous pieces of Spanish art, such as Diego Velásquez’s “Las meninas” and Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica.” Like I mentioned, I’ve been taking Spanish classes for the past 10 years and these are two pieces that are mentioned and seen over and over and over again in Spanish literature and films, so it was incredible to be able to see them for myself. I think that this was one of the coolest parts of the trip, because there were so many things that I’ve been learning about or hearing about for literal years that I finally got to see or hear or try from art to jamón iberico to a show based on a play by Federico Garcia Lorca, so many aspects of my trip really made my Spanish education feel full circle. 

Traveling and studying abroad allow us to learn more about ourselves and cultures that are not our own, which is something that is incredibly useful and makes us more well-rounded people. Canisius is full of different opportunities like this trip, so do yourself a favor – and if you are able – take a trip like this!