Public Service Announcement

Now, if you've been keeping up with my blog and you are someone's parent, eagerly sifting through all the available information in order to be assured that your baby will be safe abroad, I thank and commend you for choosing my humble blog.  If you've been consistently reading this blog, you likely have visions of your child coming home after a day of work, settling down with a laptop and planning out weekend trips to sites of cultural import as he or she settles into a comfortable, quiet night.  Please, read no further.  I'd hate to be the one to destroy your innocence. 

Just kidding.  But this post will be addressed more towards potential interns than to parents.  Either way, I hope both groups enjoy hearing what I have to say.  And, from this verbose introduction, it must be pretty important.  Believe me.  It is.  What is it this post will be about?  Wait for it. . . .  

BOOM!  It's the night life.  I have done my fellow collegiate scholars and potential interns a disservice by not mentioning the night life until now.  There is a life and culture here in Spain that can only be experienced in the early hours of the morning, a part of the country that can only be witnessed in bars and clubs and in mixing with the masses.  Thus, I feel it is my duty to provide this Public Service Announcment (I really felt like I had to explain the title).  Allow me to begin with the most extreme example.  Posted below, you will find a picture of a crowd at the Festival of San Fermin, in Pamplona.  The Running of the Bulls.  

San Fermin is a festival celebrating, you guessed it, Saint Fermin, where Spaniards and foreigners alike drink and celebrate all day and all night for an entire week.  Each day has it's own Running of the Bulls, where the foolhardy can gamble their physical capacities against angry, sprinting, 1200+ horned monsters.  While the majority of people make it through the event with little other than a scratch or a bruise, don't be fooled.  You run at your own risk, as some people get completely demolished.  A friend of one of the Intrax interns ran and actually collided with the bull.  He was unconscious at the entrance to the plaza of the bulls for a solid five minutes, unaware of the hordes of people and massive bulls leaping over him.  Anyway, after the event, in the afternoon there are bullfights and all the injured runners are then avenged. 

While I did not run, my experience of the festival was highly positive.  Everyone around, Spanish or not, was extremely friendly and it took no effort to initiate conversations with the locals.  It really is a great time and I highly suggest you go should you be in Spain at the time.  Be prepared to go all night, however, as I literally did not sleep while I was there.  

Not everything is as high profile as San Fermin, but I've had fun no matter where I've been in Spain.  Madrid itself has a very active night life, with tons of bars, night clubs, restaurants, and anything you can think of to entertain you.  Going out, you have the opportunity to meet tons of people from all over the world.  So far, I've met people from England, Australia, Germany, all over South America and, most importantly, locals.  It's an opportunity to practice your Spanish and to meet new friends. 

One thing I had to get used to in going out here in Madrid, day or night (but especially night), is that everyone, literally everyone smokes.  If you smoke already, nothing to get used to.  If you don't smoke or don't have friends that smoke, it'll take some adjusting.  Another thing that needs adjusting: people stay out until 6 AM or so here.  It's ridiculous.  They don't leave to go out until around 2, they hit a bar for a little bit and then head out to las discotecas to dance until the sun comes up.  If you are a faithful to my blog, I've already described my borderline narcolepsy to you.  I love to sleep and to nap, whenever and wherever, so being up so late has been a real shock to my system.  But, as always, it has been absolutely worth it.  One of these days, I plan to stay straight up until 6 or so in order to be awake when the churro shops open.  

Before I close out, I would like to leave you with one last though.  Perhaps, if you're lucky enough, you will be in a country that wins the World Cup while you are there.  This will intensify everything by at least 1,000%.  You will not sleep, have an amazing time, and be at work the next day anyway (or not, depending on which company you work for).  Words cannot describe how amazing it is. 

So, I will just leave it to your imagination.