Manuela Montoya
October 2, 2023
Now that I have a routine in place, Madrid feels very much like home. It honestly feels like I am in Calgary, but just surrounded by different architecture, people and culture. In part, I also think that the transition has been smooth since I speak Spanish, so I didn’t experience a huge culture shock. At the school we are attending there are other people from different parts of the world. I have made some new friends and it feels very refreshing. We actually went on a road-trip to Sevilla and Cadiz. It was beautiful and in retrospect, I had an awesome time. I also did a day trip to Toledo with Cory and Chandan. We walked around the city without purpose which felt really nice, we somehow ended up seeing a lot more things than we had anticipated and even went zip-lining. I love getting out of the house and I’ve also realized how much I enjoy spending time alone. I go for walks, go to the gym and sometimes even go out to restaurants all by myself and I love it. I have always been the type of person that loves having people around and I would always say that I could never go out to eat alone, and now that is what I’m doing. I’m learning to love being in my own company :), but of course I still really really enjoy being around people I like.
