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Starting with the obvious...Why do you want to go on an exchange?
Spain is in Europe. The capital is Madrid, a small town until about the mid-sixteenth century. There is an "old quarter", the Bourbon region, and the modern part of the city, although, depending on the program you're going on, you may not have a huge chance of going to the capital, and most programs will do their best to place you in one of your first choices.
The old quarter of Madrid is charming, with narrow, windy streets and really old buildings. The Bourbon area is 17th and 18th century, gracious buildings, large, sweeping lawns, and wide boulevards. Then newer part of the city (which is more likely where you'd wind up, I'm guessing), I can only speak for the little bit that I saw, was all boxy apartments, but I'm sure there are larger homes, as well.
The people in Spain are the warmest you'll meet anywhere...they love meeting people, they're friendly, and kind, and I love them all. Unfortunately (and thisisn't a comment against the people of Madrid), it seems like no one in Madrid is from Spain. I hardly met any natives in Madrid. Most of the people who work in the stores and restaurants are from other countries, though most seemed to be from Latin America. I was quite dismayed, after almost a week in Madrid, to find out that all the people who had been waiting on me at the bar, etc. were from everywhere else.
They speak Spanish in Spain...Maybe you mean compare it to what you've learned in school? I'm gonna bet you won't understand anything for weeks. In school, you're hearing the language (most likely) spoken very slowly. They speak, well, much faster in Spain than they did in any of my classes. They use the "theta" throughout Spain: Z and soft C are pronounced like TH in English. In the south, they skip a lot of consonants, and lose a lot of the esses. In Barcelona, they speak Catalán, which is close to Provençal French, as well as "Castellano", which is what they call Spanish. In the Basque countries, they also speak Euskadi, which is also known as Basque. In the Northwest they speak Gallego, which is close to Portuguese. There are a few other dialects, but everyone speaks Spanish.
Can´t speak much for the teenagers, as I don´t know any any longer. I can tell you that my friend´s daughter used chulo to mean cool, but that´s about all I know on that front. One thing I can tell you...there is more of a drug problem there than here, and STDs are a HUGE problem. What was once a very conservative country is now having some serious growing pains, so be careful you don´t bring home any unwanted souvenirs...got it?
The atmosphere, I´m not sure what you mean, but it´s warm, both as a climate, and as a culture. I lived in Spain (in Sevilla) while in College, and wouldn´t change it for all the money in the world. It was the BEST experience.
The culture is driven by the history which is...(in a nutshell) First, there were the indiginous people, the Iberian tribes. The Greeks colonized some of the coastal cities, and then moved on. The Romans set up what is now Spain, colonizing deep into the country, setting up what are still most of the important cities. In 711, the Moors moved in, conquering most of the peninsula very quickly, and staying in power, longest in the South, for from 100 (in some of the northern cities), to 800 years, being expelled in 1492, by the Catholic Royals (also known as Ferdinand and Isabel, of Columbus fame... you remember that story, I´m sure), along with the Jews, who arrived in the 1st Century BC, and also had a huge influence on the country. However, from 1492 until 1975, with only two breaks of less than ten years, it was illegal NOT to be catholic in Spain. Catholicism has had a HUGE influence on EVERYTHING Spanish. You´ll find LOTS of Moorish influence, again, more in the South. LOTS of things Roman (right down to the language), many towns have Roman ruins, or buildings that date back nearly two thousand years, and if you get to Segovia, there is still a working (semi-working) Aqueduct built in the first century by the Romans. It dominates the city. You can´t miss it. It´s way cool.
I´m sure that, no matter where you go, if you use common sense in terms of any snags you run into, you´ll have the best time of your life. You´ll find yourself feeling as if the city you wind up in is "your" city, and you'll hopefully forge some very important friendships...all the luck to you. |
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