Erasmus in Madrid

Accomodation

I like to think of my self as a pretty organized individual, and I thought in some way moving into Switzerland proved that. However arriving in Madrid proved that I was completely the opposite. I thought I had everything under control, I moved to Madrid the 27thJanuary and my contract for an apartment was the 1st of February. I stupidly thought I could crash with my friend for a month before moving into the room next to her. However that turned out a complete disaster. Not only because two people living in a small-ish room for longer than a week can turn out quite complicated but also having to live out of a suitcase without being able to hang your clothes or have your own space even to think is not a good way to start a year abroad, because if your home-setting will be complicated your life turns out to be pretty complicated and this will reflect on your everyday lifestyle such as university or work or even just going for an afternoon walk. Then it turned out that the student whose room I was going to take over ended up by not wanting to move out and wanting to renew his contract, so I had to look for another flat and this was the stressful part. Many people will tell you to book your room with HelpMadrid and Spot-a-home but this was problematic. They are the worst companies to book a room with, firstly because they charge such a high agency fee that it is really not worth it and secondly because they double booked my room. This means that they were telling the student that he could renew his contract whilst telling me that I was moving in. Finally when I thought I found another flat, and paid the deposit, Spot-a-home told me that the landlord was looking for someone to stay 9 months, when on the website it was clearly stated “minimum stay 6 months”. So it was a disaster, and these companies made things no easier.

There are other websites such as idealista but they are quite picky and tend to go for Spanish students and workers. This was until I met up with a friend who told me about a place called MiCasaInn. She said this was where she stayed last year, but however it was so popular that it was difficult to get a room, however it would be worth the try.

So I emailed them and funnily enough got an email back saying I would have to decide on the same day whether or not I would move in the following day. It was such a rushed decision however it was the best decision I could have ever taken. Yes, slightly more expensive than the other apartment however here we have our private bedroom and bathroom, a large kitchen and a common room, there is a cleaner every day and the fridge space is immense, and most of all every single student here is incredibly friendly. Everyone was so welcoming it is like one huge family, friends you will know for life.

What have I learnt from the accommodation experience? Have the house organized before coming to Madrid. I would suggest coming maybe a week before hand to finalise everything, sign the contract and make sure that everything is confirmed.

University Experience

So after finally getting my accommodation sorted, it was time to get my university sorted. This again was complication after complication and still is a complication. Before moving to Spain I was supposed to go to Complutense, so I chose my modules, made sure the times did not coincide (and made sure my Fridays and Mondays were free so I could travel). As I was sending my learning agreement the university told me I could only pick politics, sociology and economics modules, which I was definitely not going to pick. So I emailed my home institution in a panic and they told me there was nothing they could do about it, because our faculty in London made the agreement with the political science faculty at Complutense. So I ended up by emailing Carlos III, the second Spanish institution asking them for a place. They ended up sending me the application form but I swear to god King’s was furious with me, it was actually quite awkward. So I had to email Complutense saying I wasn’t going to be attending and the module picking starts again. I was happy because I chose things such as Photojournalism and Online Journalism – subjects that interest me and intellectually stimulate me. However another problem arises; I was in Prague when the module registration happened, meaning that when I arrived to Spain I had to wait two weeks to re-register for the modules and by that time the majority that I had picked were filled up. So yet again I emailed here and there and managed to get into Photojournalism and Online Journalism but the other two I had chosen I had to change so I ended up choosing Advertising and Comunication, and Informative functions of Newspaper design which after two weeks I ended up changing anyway because I was so far behind. Unfortunately the subject I changed to was an even worse choice because the classes were mandatory with “Practicas” which are evaluated tests every week that contribute to the exam result. However having missed almost one month of this class I was so far behind that I gave up going.

So this is my university experience, not as positive as I hoped. Oh not to mention that in advertising class, my teacher, with green hair and sunglasses on her face said that Louis Vuitton was an Italian brand. I was stunned honestly. Anyway what I have learnt from this experience is to “get your shit together” basically. Make a calendar or write in your diary the exact dates of module registrations, open days, welcome days, class times so that you can remind yourself about important dates.

Carlos III

As far as the university is concerned I would like to be able to say positive things about it but honestly I can’t, and I would not recommend choosing this. Firstly, I am used to having the lessons uploaded to the online platform at King’s College London because if I miss anything during the lesson, I will not be far behind. When I had the whole problem of missing the first month of university I emailed all the teachers asking to please send me over some notes and one said that they are not allowed to share their notes or the class presentation with students, a second said to email a classmate (Which I obviously didn’t have considering I hadn’t attended classes yet) and the third and fourth just did not answer. I found this so disappointing because not only I felt behind generally, not even having an understanding of what the classes were about made it even harder to settle in. This set me off at a bad start and honestly carried on ever since. For some reason this university really doesn’t motivate you to attend classes, and therefore my attendance is appalling. Many times I have attended class and the teachers haven’t shown up, and the worst was last Friday when I went to class (after debating whether or not to go) and there was no one in the class. I waited 10 minutes and then messaged a classmate who told me class had been cancelled, but had I been informed of this? No!. After 45 minutes of travel to get to uni, I had to return thereby wasting a good two hours of my morning. It Is such a shame because Madrid as a city is amazing, full of life, history and culture and it is the perfect city to spend an Erasmus, however the University defeats the point.

Madrid as a City

Madrid is a city full of life. You have everything you could ever want, the amazing warm weather, friendly people, cheap restaurants, expensive restaurant, top brunches, museums, parks, rooftop bars, clubs – anything you could ever want. I wouldn’t call myself a tourist after living here for 5 months however walking around and doing touristy things is one of the things I love doing best, and here in Madrid this is amazing because you have so many museums and important historical sites to visit that you could never get bored. Not to mention all the restaurants and cafés to explore. The difference to London is that even though both in London and Madrid you have original little cafés that serve brunches in their own unique way, Madrid will come to cost you half of what London does, and this is what made me super happy about this city. Also Madrid is in the centre of Spain, meaning that travelling around the country is easy, if you rent a car you can get to almost everywhere- I got to Porto in Portugal in 6 hours.

Finally i will write a post about all of my favorite restaurants and rooftop bars so you can have a little "Madrid Bible" when you come here.

Travel

As for travel you need to book an appointment with one of the travel offices to have your travel card made. One of these places is Atotcha, Atotcha Renfe, Sol etc. But remember to book your appointment in advance because at the start of the semester it is always fully booked and it would be a waste to pay for travel when for the month a student pays only 20 Euros.

To book your appointment: Travel card

One of the positives about taking an Erasmus in Spain is that traveling around the peninsula is easy. This also means making the most out of two countries rather than just the one. Out of all the methods of transportation, the easiest I would say is renting a car. This doesn’t necessarily mean it is the cheapest option but it certainly guarantees your freedom in terms of driving around and stopping in small little villages that aren’t necessarily worth detouring for. Whilst getting a flight is the quickest and (depending on the plane company) the cheapest, it certainly drains the life out of you if you want a simple weekend getaway. I did this when I went to the Canary Islands and taking a flight Saturday afternoon to return on Monday evening was pretty tiring. Of course other alternatives include a coach, which is always the cheapest option but then again pretty uncomfortable if the travel time exceeds the four hour mark, and the train. The train however in Spain is not necessarily cheap and it is probably the travel I would less recommend, especially in the summer where the temperatures rise and they seem to have air conditioning issues.

To find out all the latest offers with Sixt click here: Sixt

To Rent a car with Hertz then book here: Rent a car

You can easily travel from Madrid Barajas to Somewhere with Ryanair from 40 Euros return if booked well in advance.

Check out the latest bus offers here: Bus offers

Food Shopping

After having spend a semester in Switzerland any supermarkets seem extremely cheap, however two of my favourite foods here happen to be ridiculously expensive and they are Mangos and Avocados. Both pricing at 4. 50 Euros a kilo which is ridiculous considering in London you can find two avocados for 1 Pound. The Corte Ingles is one of the most expensive supermarkets of the city but you can find some good deals and the food quality is top. My Favourite, Supercor has everything you need. Fresh ham and cheese, fish, meat and an incredible selection of salad options both organic and non, I would compare it to a Sainsburies. The prices vary but here again you find some very good deals. You will also find Eroski, Dia and Mercadona. I am someone who loves her healthy food including Superfoods, tofu, nuts and dried fruit and luckily there are quity a few organic markets or even food markets that sell these amazing products, including oh my bio, gymage, mercado de san idelfonso, mercado san miguel, kiki market.

Photo gallery