Chelsea's Exchange to CEU San Pablo | Spain
PART 1
Madrid Life
Student Accommodation: Most students in Madrid live in student flats, rather than on-campus accommodation. There are a few good sites to help you find a flat and it's helpful to use these sites because it lowers your chance of being scammed! I found my flat by using the site Aluni.com and everything was a pretty smooth process. My room in the flat was 353euro a month, + 40euro a month for bills. Included in my rent was a cleaner who came once a week and cleaned the common areas, kitchen and bathroom. My flat was in an area called Argüelles, which was about a 20-25 minute walk to CEU San Pablo. You can view/rent the flat I lived in here. Flat 536, Room H1- https://www.aluni.net/es/habitaciones-para-estudiantes/ver-alquilar-habitacion/536H1
Transport: When you arrive in Madrid you can get a student transport card called an ABONO card. It cost 20€ a month and you get unlimited travel during that month period. The metro trains in Madrid are so easy to use and you can get anywhere easily and quickly. It is amazing to live in a city where everything is so accessible!
SIM Card: There are a few different mobile providers in Madrid that you can choose from such as Vodaphone, Orange, Movistar etc. I used a Lycamoblie sim during my stay and used 'pay-as-you-go' packages for data only. Below is an example of some of their data plans (current as of November 2017). They also have packages that include national and international roaming too but getting data packages is a lot easier and cheaper! For the rest of my travel around England, Denmark & Iceland I used a ‘3 Moblie’ sim.
Food & Drink in Madrid:
- The Federal Cafe The Federal Cafe does the best breakfast and coffee in Madrid. It may or may not be owned by Australians and that may or may not play a big part of why it is so good! I really struggled to find good coffee in Madrid but The Federal always had consistent amazing coffee and service. A must go for breakfast if you're missing Australia!
- Takos Al Pastor Takos Al Pastor is this tiny little Mexican place that does amazing tacos for 1€ each. Super cheap, super tasty and a great place for a quick feed! This place is super popular so be prepared to wait in a line if you don't get there early! The wait is worth it though. My favourite tacos are the 'Pastor' and the 'Cochinita Pibil'.
- La Musa La Musa is a bar and restaurant in the trendy area of Madrid called Malasana. I would highly recommend trying the Degustation menu, which is designed for 2 people and is 30€. It gives you a great chance to try a variety of different 'fancy' tapas and dessert.
- Rosi de Loca Rosi de Loca is hands down my favourite restaurant in Madrid. It is a gorgeous styled restaurant that offers an awesome menu of 'fancy' tapas and also bigger dishes such as paella. I would highly recommend trying the 'Pork Sirloin', 'Aubergine Chips', 'Patatas Bravas', 'Croquettes' and the 'Sea and Mountain Paella'. They also bring you free shots with your bill, which is about as EXTRA as a restaurant can get!
- El Tigre El Tigre is a bar where you buy a massive (literally HUGE) drink for 6€ and then the staff bring out a massive plate (this is what it looks like) of traditional tapas per drink you buy. Traditional tapas is not pretty in the way 'fancy' tapas is, but it is still very tasty. This bar is great fun and is always packed so be prepared to stand while you drink and eat your tapas.
- Tartan Roof Tartan Roof is an amazing rooftop bar that gives you a stunning view of Madrid, especially at sunset. It costs about 3€ to go up and drinks are a bit pricey up there, however, the view is worth it! If you're going to see the sunset, make sure you arrive super early because it gets really busy!
- San Miguel Markets The San Miguel Markets are a must visit in Madrid. They offer heaps of different market stalls that sell everything from fresh fruit, food, tapas, pinchos, drinks and desserts. If you're looking to try a good paella- try the paella from these markets. You can buy either a small bowl of paella for 5€ or a larger plate for 8€. The seafood paella is my favourite!
Other thoughts on Spanish Food: I really enjoyed trying lots of different Spanish cuisine. My favourites included:
- Patatas Bravas- Cubes of fried potato with a spicy tomato or aioli sauce
- Paella Marinera- Rice dish with prawns, squid and mussels
- Tortilla de Patatas- Spanish omelette made with egg and potatoes
- Jamon Iberico- Cured Spanish ham
- Lentejas con Chorizo- Lentil and chorizo stew
- Tinto de Verano- Red wine mixed Sprite or lemon Fanta over ice
PART 2
University
Understanding Your Draft Timetable: On your draft timetable, on the left, you will see the units and their unit codes. On the right, you will see a calendar like a timetable. For all units at CEU San Pablo (except practical units), you are required to attend ALL of the classes as listed on the timetable. For units that have (P-A), (P-B), (P-C) or (P-D) after the unit code, this means that it is the practical class for a unit and you must choose one of these classes to attend. For example, for the unit 'DAR- Art Direction, you must attend the Thursday 11pm-1pm class and then one of the two practical classes. However, you must attend the same practical class every week so you are attending consistent classes.
Enrolling in Units: The first week of University started on the 4th of September 2017. This was mainly an introduction week and you will attend a few orientation seminars and receive your draft timetable etc. Classes (except practical classes) started on the 11th of September 2017. From this date until the enrolment date (on the 27th-28th of September 2017), all classes are purely trial classes so that people can try some different classes out and sort out issues such as timetable clashes. Attendance only was taken from after the 27-28th of September.
University Classes: My classes were really interesting and the content in them was very practical and useful. Despite being told that they were Public Relations classes the content was a lot more Communication/Marketing/Advertising-based. It was still really interesting though and In particular, I loved my Brand Management class. Most of my classes were probably 90% exchange students and 10% local students. This meant I met heaps of people from all around the world and formed some great friendships while at university.
THE UNITS I STUDIED
COI- Integrated Communication Integrated Communication is a course that teaches about strategic communication. You will learn to analyse main advertising aspects and learn about the role communication has inside companies as well as the importance of event management. You will learn about ideas and concepts such as product placement, guerrilla marketing, viral marketing and direct marketing. Assignments are listed below-
- Group Presentation
- Group Presentation + Report
- Final Exam (Only if you miss more than 4 classes)
DAR- Art Direction Art Direction is a course that teaches about practical (Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator) and theoretical knowledge of creativity in the professional advertising sector. You will learn about the roles of copywriters, creative directors, planners in advertising and also how to create ads and campaigns. You will also be taught how to analyse visual culture. Assignments are listed below-
- Logo Project
- Print Ad Project
- Group Presentation
- Exam
CYC- Communication and Culture Communication and culture is a course which teaches about the cultural industry from a unique point of view. In this course, you will learn to analyze contemporary communication trends and develop your capacity to adapt communication techniques to cultural industries. The aim of this course is to understand cultural industries and apply that knowledge in Communication and Advertising to different professional sectors. Assignments are listed below-
- Midterm Exam
- Group Presentation
- Final Exam
GMA- Brand Management Brand Management is a course which teaches the basics of Brands and their environments. You will learn the concepts of brands, strategic management, brand identity, sponsor or corporate social responsibility (CSR). This course addresses issues in the advertising industry and will help you make advertising related decisions in regards to the creation of a brand and product. Assignments are listed below-
- Group Presentation
- Brand Presentation + Report
- Exam
OTHER UNIT RELATED INFORMATION
Attendance: There is a 75% attendance rate required for all of your units. Public/Bank Holidays:
- 12th October 2017 (Dia de la Hispanidad / Hispanic Heritage Day)
- 1st October 2017 (Dia de Todos Los Santos /All Saints Day )
- 9th October 2017 (Dia de la Almudena/ Day of Almudena )
- 6th December 2017 (Dia de la Constitucion / Day of the Consitution)
- 8th December 2017 (Dia de la Inmaculada / Day of the Immaculate)
Exams:
Every class has a student that is the 'Student Representative' and this student is in control of speaking to the entire class and deciding on the date of the exam. There are two exam periods, a few days in late December (21st-22nd) and then a two week period in January (8th-19th). You won't know your exam dates until mid-semester unless your class decides earlier. Usually, because all your classes will be a mix of Exchange and Erasmus students there is a preference for the exams in to be in December rather than January so that people can get everything done before Christmas and not have to come back to uni in January.
PART 3
My Internship at Smart Insiders
My internship at Smart Insiders was an incredible experience. I was working as an intern photographer and had the opportunity to travel all over Spain to places such as the Pais Vasco region, Seville & Cordoba, Salamanca & Avila as well as countries such as Portugal and Morocco with them and photograph each trip. I also had the chance to run their Instagram account and Instagram stories. The team at Smart Insiders were incredibly welcoming and made me feel very much a valued part of their team. It was a very diverse team with people from all around the world and they were all incredibly supportive of each other. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Smart Insiders. Here are all my blogs, photos and videos from each one of my trips with Smart Insiders!
Morocco Trip
Pais Vasco Trip
Seville & Cordoba Trip
Salamanca & Avila Trip
Portugal Trip
Lisbon, Portugal
Sintra, Portugal
Porto, Portugal
PART 4
Other
LANGUAGE
If you have ever learnt Spanish or wish to improve your Spanish, Madrid is the PERFECT city to live in as literally no one speaks English. If you don’t speak Spanish I would HIGHLY recommend taking some extensive language courses before you arrive in Madrid. It will help you and your experience so much. Or download Google translates, this saved me a lot!
LESSONS AND BLESSINGS
I truly believe that everything in life is either a blessing or a lesson- there are no mistakes. Madrid was a difficult trip for me however it taught me a lot about my internship and myself in particular was such a bold highlight and something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.
LEARNING TO DOCUMENT
Prior to my trip I had set myself a goal of pushing myself to write and document more. It was both of a creative and professional goal however I’m really glad I set that goal because I used all my experiences and turned them in blogs, photo diaries and videos. Not only is it really nice to have written and visual memories but IT also helped me greatly as a way to cope with how overwhelmed I felt a lot of the time! Here are some but not all of the personal documentation work I did.
Packing for 6 months abroad in Spain
Settling into Madrid Life
CEU San Pablo, Madrid
Impacts of Culture
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you get the chance to travel, whether it be apart of work or study or something else… take it. Nothing is more valuable than travelling. The things you learn, the opportunities that present themselves, the people you meet and the experiences and memories you take away from it is priceless. Take the chance; push yourself outside your comfort zone because the time of your life is out there just waiting for you. This was a hard trip without a doubt, but it was so worth it!
- Chelsea studied abroad at CEU San Pablo in Madrid, Spain
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