Madrid Day 1, Brunch, Shopping, and Imagining my Future Life Working with Deloitte in Madrid

Friday, May 23rd

I flew into Madrid at 11 p.m. and arrived at Paige’s at midnight. I was so excited to see my friend. Paige was my roommate my senior year at Madison and one of my go-tos. It was hard to keep in touch with my summer trip, her focus on school, and then going off to Europe for her study abroad. So, when she opened the front door and we were face to face again, my jaw fell open in shock, my heart heavy. It was so surreal when she answered. And it hit me that over a year ago, when she told me she got into the Madrid program, I promised her that I would come visit. And here I am. I am proud and happy that I stayed true to my word. 

We talked for so long in her room catching up, we also talked to her roommates and they were so sweet. We fell right back into step, it was so familiar, hanging out in her room, talking about all things life, feelings, and memories. I missed her dearly and knew that the next two days would not be enough, but I would take all I could get. I was not expecting to stay up so late; it wasn’t until 2 a.m. that I finally said goodnight, retreated to the well-made bed on the couch, and passed out after a long day of travel. 

I woke up Friday morning at 8 a.m. with plans to meet up with an old college friend, also in Madrid for the weekend. Sadly, he reached out to me at 6 a.m. saying that he got locked out of his place and won’t be able to meet before his flight at noon. I was bummed because I really wanted to see him and catch up, as he’s so funny and positive and a joy to be around, but hopefully, I will be able to see him another time. It was cool that we so happened to be in Madrid at the same time and a meet-up would’ve been electric, but it just wasn’t in the cards. It was an easy pivot because Paige invited me to join her and her friends for their breakfast plans and I got to meet Sophie. 

We went to Brunchit and I had some avocado toast. We chatted and it was so fun getting to know her friends better and hearing all about their last 4 months in Europe. By the end of breakfast, I felt like I was there with them the whole semester, and it was super reminiscent of when I was in their shoes just two years ago, feeling the same lasting memories marked in my mind and heart forever. It gave me joy seeing the impact it had on them, and the great experience they had. 

Paige and Carmen had to go take their finals and Alisa and Sophie were going shoe shopping and invited me to join. I was thinking I’d just go solo until lunch with Deloitte, but I was happy I joined them because it was so much fun. I got a pair of sandals for the summer and the Greece wedding. They were so fun to talk to and I enjoyed making friends, like I did in Asia. Sophie left us to finish packing up as it was her last night too, but Alisa stayed with me and we kept shopping. It was my mission to build out my summer work closet and hers to pick up last-minute mementos and gifts for herself and family.  We stopped at Caramel, a boutique store, and the clothes were amazing. I got a cute flowy skirt there.

We stopped in a few more stores, but then I thought I should make my way to Deloitte, especially if I was planning on walking there. Alisa left me for her next destination, and she graciously took my shoes and skirt back to the apartment with her so I wouldn’t have to bring them to my lunch with me, bless her. As I prefer, I walked there, only 50 minutes and I got to see a new part of town, north of Gran Via and into the business district. It was great to see another neighborhood and vet if I would potentially want to move there. 

For context, my main plan for today was to visit the Deloitte Madrid office and grab lunch with Emma and other GDPs at the office. I got into contact with Emma after a conversation with my manager, who connected us after I expressed an interest in doing a GDP (Global Development Program). Emma is a former Minneapolis Deloitte team member, who was on the same client I am on now, but is currently completing her two-year stint in the Madrid office. It felt like a dream to be able to get a glimpse at a potential future route of mine. After my study abroad in Madrid, I knew I wanted to move back to Europe and was convinced that I’d be back in Madrid for longer than 5 months. There is something so tangible about visiting the office, meeting other professionals, and shaking hands with the hiring manager. My dreams felt like they were coming true. 

I met Emma at Torre Picasso, a beautiful building in the business district. I got there a bit early and waited in anticipation in the lobby. It was just enough time for me to imagine my future, coming into the office every day, going up the elevators and to the office. Soon enough, I saw Emma, who greeted me warmly. I needed a guest pass to get up to the floor, in which she spoke fluent Spanish with the receptionist. It was both impressive but also made me realize I had far to go to get to her level of proficiency. I wish I felt excitement for how much there was for me to learn, but instead, I felt anxious, and slightly disappointed with how much I lost. It was so much so, when Emma brought me around the office to meet everyone, we used English instead of Spanish, just so I could make sure I was hearing everything correctly and could answer accordingly. 

I got the office tour, going around to her team members' desks where she introduced me to her colleagues. Some local, some other GDPs, from staff to manager, it was a great opportunity to see who I could potentially be working with one day. 

After the tour around the office which took about 30 minutes, we went to lunch. Three other GDPs joined Emma and me for lunch, Megan, Carmen, and Shelby. I totally should’ve mentioned that I was vegan because we went to an authentic Spanish restaurant for lunch, but they were so good about modifying and making a meal out of various items. I still had a good meal with bread, hummus, and tomato. What I loved most about the lunch spot was that we sat outside and it was a beautiful day. I started in the shade, but we talked so long that by the end I was sitting in the sun. We stayed at lunch for three hours and they were so receptive and honest in my questions and their answers. I could not believe that they took that much time out of their day, and spoke so enthusiastically about the program. It goes to show how much they loved it and were willing to share their experiences and encourage it for the next person. How lucky was I to be the recipient of their stories and wealth of knowledge for this work abroad program. 

I loved how they talked to me more as “when I get the GDP” instead of “if” and that’s so cool that if I really want to come here there is a spot for me. After our conversation, I have so much clarity that I for sure wanted to do it. In the meantime, I will definitely need to brush up on my Spanish but I’m super excited at the potential that this could truly become my reality if I want. And that’s amazing. It was also cool to see how good of friends the GDPs were. I hope that if I were to get the assignment, I would also have some awesome coworkers that would become my friends and travel buddies. I also loved hearing the Spanglish and how well they improved their Spanish by living and working in Madrid. I have so much hope for my language learning experience and overall travel experience. I really want to do this.

I thanked and said goodbye to Emma and I walked the hour or so back to Sol. Paige’s exam got delayed, so while waiting for her, I went shopping on Gran Via. I wasn’t finding anything for the right price, I guess the Gran Via stores weren’t as inexpensive as I recalled. And there was something about thrifting and trying on used clothes and packing those next to mine that was not ideal so I didn’t go thrifting like I hoped I would. As I was leaving my next store, I saw Paige's location was just about next to mine, and she and Carmen were stopping for McDonald's after getting back from Getafe, so I found them and joined them while they ate. 

We went to a cute postcard store after McDonald's and then Paige and I shopped a bit at Brandy Melville and Scuffers before meeting at an Italian place for dinner. It was so fun shopping with Paige because we both were trying on clothes and tempted by the soft Scuffers sweatshirt. She almost convinced me to get one, but they were pretty expensive and I had plenty of sweatshirts at home. I came here for work clothes not a sweatshirt, which is what I told myself when I left the store empty-handed in regret. 

The pasta was fresh and delicious, I got chili oil pasta. And after dinner, we stopped to get cookies and then walked home. It wasn’t a far walk, thankfully they recognized that I didn’t have a metro pass and hopefully they were enjoying their last strolls through Sol. Plus, we made the most of the walk and stopped at a couple of souvenir shops. Today, the weather was absolutely beautiful and the walk wasn’t too long, so I greatly appreciated saving on a metro ticket by taking the scenic route back.  

When we got back to Paige’s, I didn’t realize how tired I was until I lay dizzy on the couch bed. She had started packing and I almost passed out right there, but I wanted to talk to her some more, so I migrated to her room and we chatted as she meticulously packed up her life. Again, another couple of hours flew by as we both opened up about our past couple of months, mine working and hers in Madrid. The night ended with the final zip of her suitcase and a hug goodnight, how greatly I appreciate her friendship!