My first impression of Spain was positive because the weather was sunny and not too windy. When we arrived in Madrid, it was already nighttime, and we were trying to catch a bus to Zaragoza, but we missed it. At that point, we were all tired because we had been traveling for over 12 hours, so we stayed at a hotel for the night and took a bus in the morning.
The ride to Zaragoza was quiet and chill. The thing that surprised me was that outside the city, there’s a lot of “desert-like” sand and not a lot of grass or trees. The city is very clean, and people are very polite. The weather is also very nice, but it can be quite windy at times, so it’s a good idea to have a jacket with you at all times. Outside the city, you can see many abandoned houses and buildings, but also several dirt bike trails that are right next to the road. We even saw a few people riding on them, which was cool to see.
When we arrived in Zaragoza, we realized that not many people speak English, so getting help finding anything would be and will come as a challenge. We arrived around noon, and it was sunny. The driver who took us to the apartment also didn’t speak English, so we had to use Google Translate. The ride was smooth and fast.
After we arrived, we went to eat and then walked to school, San Valero, where we met with Alex, our mentor, and some other students we share classes with. At this point, I don’t really have any complaints about Zaragoza, except for the language part. While there are some people who can speak English fluently, there are a lot more who can’t even understand you. It’s in their culture not to learn English; it’s optional, and most of the older generation of people found it unnecessary because they have everything in Spanish, like movies, TV shows, and podcasts However some locals told me that the newer generation is now learning English at a much higher rate. I believe that not knowing English is a huge disadvantage because it’s not only difficult to travel, communicate online, or talk to tourists.
