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Spain is a main attraction
A semester in Madrid: fast-paced living in a cosmopolitan city

By Brian Fitzgerald

Springtime in Madrid: Is this an internship, or a vacation? "Let me make one thing clear, señor," says the manager of a Madrid-based dot-com company to a BU student. "We're going to work you until the day you get back on that plane to Boston."

Make no mistake -- despite the fact that the city has more sunny days per year than any other European capital, students in BU's Madrid Language/Liberal Arts and Internship Program know that the semester isn't one long siesta. A three-hour hiatus for lunch and a nap -- the ritual that Spain perfected -- is quickly disappearing in that country. Nowadays, one-hour breaks are the norm. "Siesta isn't what it used to be," laughs Abigail Nief, senior enrollment coordinator for BU's division of international programs.

	Amalia Perez-Juez, assistant director of the Madrid Language/Liberal Arts and Internship Program, leads a tour of Retiro Park in Madrid. Photo by Abigail Nief

BU students are in Madrid to work and to learn. But that's not to say they have no spare time to enjoy Spanish culture. The program includes day and weekend field trips to such places as Granada, Córdoba, Toledo, Sevilla, and Segovia. Indeed, students who attend Spanish concerts, films, museum exhibits, and other events are reimbursed for a limited amount of their entrance fees.

BU's Madrid internship program, which began in 1984, offers students three options: the intensive Spanish language program for students at the intermediate level, the advanced studies and internship program for students already proficient in the language, and the honors program, a direct university enrollment program for students with strong Spanish-language skills. Courses are taken at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

"I am basically fluent in Spanish now," says Morgan Stockmayer (COM'01), who last fall worked with the director of marketing at Practicum Europa, an organization that offers internships abroad. Her main duties were contributing to the company's Web site, designing advertisements and announcements, media relations, helping prepare presentations with prospective clients, and participating in informative interviews with clients.

Stockmayer chose Madrid because she speaks Spanish and, as a major in public relations, she needed an internship. "Plus, the world is becoming so much smaller nowadays," she says. "I think that it's impossible to work even in the U.S. and not attain some international experience because of the cultural diversity in this country. With my experience in Madrid, I can now see myself working abroad again at some point in my career. But the internship has also given me skills that I can use right here at home."

To work effectively in Madrid and learn the language well, total immersion in the culture is the key, according to Nief. "James Ray Green, the program's resident director, and other Americans on staff, speak Spanish to students from the first day," she says. In fact, the emphasis on language is evident long before students land at Aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas. "Aden Hayes, the program's internship director, interviews students in Spanish to find out what their goals and expectations are," says Nief.

And the students make it clear that they don't want to spend a semester at a Xerox machine. Bob Rehani (CAS'02), for example, wanted professional experience, and he got it. As an intern for Funesco, a nongovernmental organization that has development projects in Africa and Latin America, one day he was translating grants for development projects in South America for the Tinker Foundation. The following day he was consulting with the Inter-American Development Bank on the cost structure of various proposals. The day after that, he worked on several environmental projects. "They gave me a lot of power and autonomy," he says. "The organization was smaller than ones I have worked for in past internships, so I had more control over what I did."

Areas of internships include advertising and public relations, business and economics, the arts, health and human services, film and television, journalism, and hospitality and administration. In addition to working an internship two and a half days a week, students also take three courses.

Madrid is Spain's largest city, with a population of more than three million people. The pace is fast, except for its traffic, which, like in Boston, is in perpetual gridlock. BU students adjust well there, says Joseph Finkhouse, executive director of BU's division of international programs. "BU students come from an urban setting, so they tend not to have a problem with Madrid's size. It's easy to get around because the city is compact. It's not like Los Angeles or Mexico City. And I think that the public transportation system is better than Boston's."

All 43 BU students in Madrid this spring live in Spanish households, and that is where they eat their meals. "Of course, there are cultural differences, but that is part of the learning experience," says Nief. While Americans are accustomed to tracking dirt onto the floors and carpets in their own houses, they quickly learn to wear slippers in Madrileno homes. "The schedule is also much different," says Nief. "Supper is usually served at 10 p.m. The nightlife starts later as well."

The living circumstances run the gamut, from a professional couple living in the city to a large family with several young children. Students specify in a questionnaire which living situation they would prefer. "Last fall, I lived with an elderly woman who was incredibly sweet," says Michelle Dumais (CAS'03). "When I got out of the shower, she had a cup of coffee waiting for me. She packed a lunch for me every day. She was the coolest roommate ever."

In fact, Dumais liked the experience enough to go back for another semester this spring. The program offers a semester or an academic year. "The Madrid program is our second most popular one," says Finkhouse. "Students hear about it from their friends, and the word spreads quickly."

For more information about BU's Madrid Language/Liberal Arts and Internship Program, visit www.bu.edu/abroad/countries/spain_summer/index.html or call the division of international programs at 353-9888.

16 March 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations