Hello! I'm a new member in need of some advice.

I am going on exchange to the University of Alcala in January. I will be studying one course in English as well as a Spanish Language and Culture course as I don't speak Spanish (crazy I know!).

I don't really fancy living on campus but I am wondering if it would be silly to live in Madrid while studying in Alcala. I feel that I would be missing out on the Madrid experience if I lived too far out of the city centre.

Would it be difficult to commute between Alcala and say, Malasano, for study. I also hope to work as a nanny in closer to the city.

Any advice would be appreciated!

hi marisol, welcome to the forums.

how many days a week would you need to be at the university?

saludos,
jer...

I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping it will only be two or three days as I'm only doing two subjects. I really have no idea though!

if it is every day, i personally would not want to commute but if it is a few days a week, you can do it no problem.

it all depends on if you mind the commute or not.

you can get metro line 1 from tribunal or bilbao (closest to malasaña area) to atocha renfe and then take the cercanías train to alcalá de henares.

the metro from tribunal to atocha renfe takes about 10-12 minutes to go 6 or 7 stations...

www.metromadrid.es/redmetro/visor/plano.asp

the train from atocha renfe to alcalá de henares takes about 35 minutes.

www.renfe.es/cercanias/madrid/index.html

waiting time is minimal since there are both metro and cercanías trains very often.

so, the commute could be under an hour if all goes well.

saludos,
jer...

Hi Marisol, welcome! First of all, I did that in 2001, I lived in Madrid and studied EVERY DAY in Alcala de henares. Honestly, it wasn't that bad, it depends on the time of your classes. I lived in avenida de america/diego de leon, and buses leave from there for Alcala every 15 minutes and take abotu 25 minutes to get there and the facultad for North American studies, I imagine that's where you're going, is about a 10 minute walk from the bus stop, but cute, through the plaza, etc, really nice place, or if your'e in a real hurry, there's a bus that takes you from the bus station to the facultad.

the only bad thing is that coming back into the city about 7/8 pm it's very bad traffic, but normally at random hours, its fine. I didn't mind it much, you listen to music and study. no problem, but that's just me.

I totally agree about the missing out on Madrid, like on weekends and nights out and stuff, my friends that lived out in Alcala would never come be cause then they had to take the buses that run at night back to get there and they only run every few hours, and it was bad, and on weekends, being in madrid is the bst. I would suggest living out here and commuting.

Besos, Joy

i agree.

if you have to decide between living in alcalá or living in madrid and commuting, take the commute.

i find that when people live and study (or work) outside of the city in other towns or burbs they make their whole lives there and rarely get into madrid.

marisol, thought you might be interested in this article i found on malasaña (not malasano ) while surfing the Broadsheet mag online...

www.tbs.com.es/simplyspain/barrioguide/Malasana_Metamorphosis_1.html

saludos,
jer...

Thanks so much for that advice and the article guys. Do you think Malasana (sorry Jer, I don't know how to do the n!) is a good place to live? What type of accomodation could I expect for under 480 euros/month?

Joy, how did you like studying at Alcala? Any inside info would be great!

xx

quote:

for under 480 euros/month?

hey marisol.

for that money you will not have your own place but will also not have to share with more than 1 person.

people with lower budgets (300-350) usually have to share with at least 2 others but if you have 480 to spend, you can get a place with just one other person.

saludos,
jer...