Madrid + A Great Program

I went to this program solely looking to have a good time. For a summer program abroad, you should not have lofty goals of becoming perfectly fluent or visiting every city in Spain. I took the days as they came and it was a phenomenal experience all around. I stayed in a home stay near the Pacifico station. Your average weekday starts with breakfast like cereal and fruit. Everyone has grammar class early in the morning followed by your elective class either right after grammar or later like 3 pm. During the summer program, they are more relaxed on the academics compared to the semester because they know the students are there to have fun. That being said, you learn useful grammar tips and my elective went to the Prado two days a week. The academics are very manageable. Between classes, you can go home to have the large lunch prepared by your senora. Around 5, I would go out everyday to meet up with the other students in the program. Most times, we would walk around a plaza, grab dinner, and possibly go to a bar or club. Those nights just hanging out with the other people in the program are some of my favorite memories. This program also has two weekend trips which are awesome as well and not restrictive, you go to Valencia for 2 days for example. You can also travel over the weekends if you like. In my opinion, this program doesn't take up too much time which allows you to really take in Madrid and the culture. Also, the city of Madrid is awesome and offers so many different adventures!