by Sydney Cheng

Food is one of the best ways to experience the culture of a country, and there are tons of new foods to try. It’s so irresistible: after all, when’s the next time you’ll find yourself in Brussels, Prague, or Florence again? The struggle of the “study-abroad-15” is no joke. If you thought the freshman 15 was difficult, study abroad is even worse. Personally, the way I handled this problem was by eating healthy at home--at NYU Madrid—in order to give myself a little more room to splurge when I visited other countries. More importantly, I found a significant increase in my mood and well-being when I was mindful of trying to eat more unprocessed, healthy foods! That being said, here is my list of healthy eats I tried in Madrid!

1. Avohaus
Avohaus is a trendy, avocado themed restaurant just up the block from school. While the aesthetics and neon lights are appealing, I found the food to be sub-par. The menu del día, the lower priced, three-course weekday menu, typically offered in Madrid, cost 13 euros. The appetizer consisted of four raw tomato slices topped with fresh mozzarella, avocado puree, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. Charlotte chose soup as an appetizer: it was an over-salted green puree with a pile of arugula on top. My entree consisted of a bland piece of steak, almost-raw onions, and four measly slices of warm avocado. The chicken entree ordered by my friend, Charlotte, was strangely rubbery: as if it wasn’t real chicken, even though it was (or was supposed to be). Dessert was one scoop of avocado ice cream and one scoop of chocolate ice cream. Overall, I found the ice cream to be the most exciting part of the meal. Everything else was extremely underwhelming.

Ratings:

• Worth it: 2/5
  
• Flavor: 2/5
  
• Service: 5/5, no complaints

2. Aliño Take Away
Aliño is a no-frills healthy food restaurant, also close to campus. As part of the menu del día, you can choose a drink, appetizer, and entree. For drink, Charlotte and I both chose the lemonade. It had no sugar, and tasted like a mildly sweet lemon water, which I really appreciated, since I’m not a fan of super sugary drinks. For appetizer, I got a bowl of lentils, as pictured, and Charlotte got hummus. For entree, Charlotte and I both ordered chicken with roasted vegetables. Overall, the food was pretty basic, but good. If I remember correctly, the entire meal was about 6 euros, making this meal definitely worth the price.

Ratings:

• Worth: 5/5
• Flavor: 3/5
• Service: 5/5, no complaints

3. Ohanasana
Ohanasana has a wide variety of offerings, including desserts both with and without added sugar, acai bowls, smoothies, wraps, healthy tapas, healthy salad bowls, and more. My go-to is the Elton John Wrap, which includes chicken, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and spinach. It costs about 7 euros, and comes with yucca chips. The food, while it may not be fully natural, since a lot of their food has dressings and some processed toppings, is decently priced. Their service, however, fluctuates. Sometimes the service is good, but other times, it can take me 30 minutes just to get the bill.

Ratings:

• Worth: 3.5/5
  
• Flavor: 3.5/5
  
• Service: 4/5
  

4. Roots Lamarca
Roots reminds me a lot of Dig Inn. I’ve only ordered warm bowls from Roots: you can choose a base, sides, toppings, and dressings. I love roots because the ingredients taste wholesome, as if I had cooked them myself. The pesto was so delicious! The chicken and quinoa were also good sources of protein. Furthermore, although the price was a bit steeper at about 14 euros, the portion was so big that I ate the rest of it for lunch the next day. Roots also offers a selection of desserts made without added sugar, acai bowls, and smoothies.

Ratings:

• Worth: 4/5
  
• Flavor: 5/5
  
• Service: 5/5, no complaints
  

5. Honest Greens
Honest Greens is like the Sweetgreen of Madrid. But one salad doesn’t cost an arm and a leg: the price of Honest Greens salad starts from 6.90 euros, and you have the option of adding different proteins and other toppings. The sweet potato fries are BOMB: crispy, healthy (air-fried!), salty, and sweet. The ingredients are vibrant, fresh, and locally sourced. However, the lines can get incredibly long during lunch time and on weekends, so it’s best to go on off-hours.

Ratings:

• Worth: 5/5
  
• Flavor: 4/5
  
• Service: 5/5, no complaints
  

6. Big Little Café
Although this isn’t a traditional healthy place, but rather a cafe, there are many healthy and vegetarian options on the menu. The ambiance in this cafe is wonderful for studying, chilling, or meeting with friends. I ordered a plate of roasted vegetables with beet hummus. It cost about 10 euros.

Ratings:

• Worth: 4/5
• Flavor: 3/5
• Service: 5/5, no complaints

7. La Hummuseria
La Hummuseria has my favorite menu del dia out of all the places listed. The mint lemonade tastes like a delicious sangria (except without alcohol) with natural cane sugars. The vegetarian tapas are creative and yummy. I like the roasted figs stuffed with goat cheese and the roasted sweet potatoes with oranges. The hummus is filling and a good source of protein, served with pillowy soft pitas. The dessert was a delicious brownie-like banana bread. Although it is on the more expensive side, costing about 13 euros, the portion and quality is worth the price.

Ratings:

• Worth: 4.5/5
  
• Flavor: 5/5
  
• Service: 5/5, no complaints
  

8. Batavia Healthy Foods
Batavia Healthy Foods is like the lower quality, lower cost sister of Roots. The depth of flavor is not as profound. First, the lettuce in my salmon bowl wasn’t very fresh, and the flavors did not go very well together, since the bowl consisted of smoked salmon, lettuce, quinoa and tzatziki dressing. Also, I got a carrot cake for dessert. The cream cheese frosting was good, but the cake tasted heavily of baking soda. The bowl itself cost about 11 euros.

Ratings:

• Worth: 4/5
  
• Flavor: 3/5
  
• Service: 5/5, no complaints
  

9. Frutas Prohibidas
I ordered an acai bowl from this place. Charlotte’s pitaya bowl, pictured, came out almost immediately, whereas I was kept waiting. After waiting for a while, I saw one worker walk outside to the grocery store, and he came back with a box of chocolate cereal from across the street. Then, another customer came in, and her order was fulfilled before mine! The chain of command is highly inefficient, and the bowl wasn’t that great either: the texture of the acai bowl was too soupy and thin. 

Ratings:

• Worth: 3/5
  
• Flavor: 4/5
  
• Service: 2/5
  

10. Restaurante Xanacuk
Prices are pretty low here: a wrap would cost about 5 euros. They also sell pre-made noodle bowls, which they pop into the microwave before serving. Their acai bowls are really delicious, with a lot of toppings and costing less than 10 euros. However, the quality of the rest of the food doesn’t seem very high.
Ratings:

• Worth: 4/5
  
• Flavor: 4/5
  
• Service: 5/5, no complaints
  

There are endless healthy options for food in Madrid, and I hope that this guide has been of help to you. Catch me on Instagram @thesilkbowtie to see my other eats and bakes!

by Nisha Honnaya

As I added the finishing touches to my study abroad application early last semester, I couldn’t help but feel excited about the prospects of living and learning in Madrid. It was an opportunity that I was (and even more so, still am) thankful and excited to have at a school as globally networked as NYU. However, to dismiss any semblance of apprehension during the build-up to studying abroad would be remiss. Don’t get me wrong: the idea of daily warm Madrid sunsets, strolls through expansive plazas, and endless tapas was enchanting (and also equally unrealistic, but a girl can dream, right?). Even though I was looking forward to soaking in all that Madrid had to offer, I had a severe case of upcoming FOMO. I was worried that taking a pause from New York would also mean forgoing all the opportunities to continue growing personally and professionally in the city (and school, especially during midterms) that never sleeps. Interning abroad seemed like the perfect gateway to assuage these doubts, while also diving into an entirely new environment. Here’s my take on interning abroad and what it’s meant to me!

About NYU + EUSA:
To offer educational internships to students, NYU Study Abroad partners with EUSA, a “not-for-profit international education organization which works in partnership with colleges and universities to implement study abroad programs in London, Dublin, Madrid, Paris, and Prague.” 

NYU makes the application process and coordination with EUSA very accessible! After deciding to try my hand at interning abroad, my first step in the process was submitting an essay to NYU centered around on what I’d hope to learn and accomplish, if accepted. Here, I shared some of my professional aspirations and personal goals for what I would have liked to have accomplished by the end of the semester. For me specifically, these included gaining a deeper understanding of international business and finance, while also furthering my Spanish interpersonal communication skills. Depending on the site you plan to study abroad in, requirements to intern may vary (for example, intermediate proficiency in a foreign language), and I’d definitely recommend using NYU Global’s site as a resource to research more about your options.
 
Once you’re in, EUSA helps from there! After the school year ended, I was paired with a EUSA representative with whom I shared my internship field interests. In June, I expanded upon these interests within EUSA’s online portal questionnaire and later video-chatted my EUSA representative for a brief follow-up interview. She was not only instrumental in gauging my professional inclinations, but also helpful in pairing me with a provisional offer to a firm here in Madrid.

My Experience:
I received my internship placement in July and found out that this semester I would be interning at Servicios de Prepago Integrales, or SPI - SPARK. A rapidly growing provider of prepaid cards, SPI is emerging as a leader in the Spanish market with its leading SPARK Mastercard and Galp card brands. Over the course of my internship so far, my primary objective has been to uncover Spark Mastercard’s breakeven point in order to deliver insights that better inform SPI’s business decisions. As I had hoped, I’ve definitely gained a better understanding of how SPI’s operations are reflected in their data aggregation and how it informs their distribution strategy. I’ve analyzed various metrics along the way, ranging from average customer life cycle, the distribution of highest grossing card transactions, and customer spending behavior, for example. I’ve loved creatively problem solving my way through complex financial data, while also working to ultimately deliver meaningful information to SPI! 
 
Beyond the technical aspects of my internship, I’ve enjoyed getting a taste for the Spanish workplace culture. It’s been really rewarding to see how my Spanish has improved over the course of the semester, and I’ve loved being able to learn about my coworkers’ lives as young working professionals in Spain.

 Others’ Experiences:
The internship possibilities are endless and expand across a variety of majors/fields. Here are some perspectives from two of my classmates here in Madrid, who are also interning in business-related fields: 
 
Julia Hinckley — ’22 Finance & Accounting Intern @ Socios Inversores:
"My company connects startups and investors to give normal people safe investment opportunities and simultaneously help startups grow through crowdfunding. My job involves doing a lot of market research about the industries the startups are entering and comparing them to the competition. I also do some accounting work where I calculate solvency and profitability ratios to analyze the financial stability of the startup. I really like my internship because the work environment is super relaxed and after lunch we always play pin ball! It’s a really friendly group of people to work around, so I actually look forward to work every day. This internship has really shown me I love accounting and I am super happy to have found my passion within business!"
 
Mariana Fernandez — ’21 Marketing Research Intern @ Nita Suri: 
"This internship has really helped me get to know Spanish business practice, improving my decision-making skills and self-confidence.  I am proud to say that all throughout the internship, I have applied theoretical concepts that I have learned in various classes over the last two years into real world practice, helping me understand them on a deeper level. I have also discovered that I really like the field of fashion, even though I had never considered to actually pursue a career in this field before."
 
Parting Thoughts:
Recently my roommate reminded me of a saying we heard during the first few weeks of our orientation here: “allow yourself to let Madrid in.” It is easier said than done to allow yourself to fully embrace a culture and community, but I’ve found that actively seeking and grasping after any opportunity available to you definitely helps in the process. If there’s anything that studying abroad has taught me, it’s that taking a pause from one environment (aka New York), doesn’t mean fast-forwarding past opportunities to continue developing yourself. Growth manifests in a multitude of ways, and being abroad has helped me redefine what personal and professional growth means to me. Interning has been one of many ways through which I’ve dived into the unknown, dipped my toes outside of my comfort zone, and still stayed afloat while doing so! 
 
I hope that if you are thinking of studying abroad in the future, this post leaves you hopeful, informed, and excited about another amazing opportunity NYU study abroad programs have to offer you to engage with the culture firsthand. If you have any questions about studying abroad/Madrid, or want to share any noteworthy new NYC boba places I’ve missed out on while away this semester, feel free to email me at nisha.honnaya@stern.nyu.edu. And to find more information specific to interning abroad, be sure to check out these links:

• https://www.nyu.edu/academics/studying-abroad/upperclassmen-semester-academic-year-study-away/internships.html
• https://www.eusainternships.org/