Hey y’all, my name is Jacob Fox and I am a rising senior at UA. My majors are biology and Spanish and I am on the pre-med track. My expected graduation date is this upcoming fall semester.

I have decided to study abroad in Madrid, Spain for 4 weeks. This is my first time in Europe and it is a bit of a culture shock between the difference in language (obviously), using euros instead of American dollars, and especially the timing of meals. Back In the US, I took my lunch and dinner around 12 and 6 respectively, while here in Spain, it is normal to eat lunch at 3 and dinner at 8 in the evening.

Attached here are a couple photos that I took on my first few days. The first one is from the plane ride from New York to Madrid. I had a 7hr red eye flight that left at 6pm and arrived at 8am due to a 6hr time change between the two cities. I was fortunate (and awake enough) to witness the beautiful sunrise. The sky was red and it was unlike something I have never seen before.

The next photo is from our trip to Salamanca where we explored a city about two hours from Madrid. We took a guided tour of an enormous cathedral called The Catedral de la Asunción de la Virgen. It was constructed hundreds of years ago and there are many gothic elements reflected within its architecture.

The last photo is from the Royal Palace of Madrid; we ended taking a tour of the inside and it was unbelievable. The Royal Family does not live there and it has been converted into a museum for people to explore.

Hasta luego!