USWIB
  • Home
  • Events
    • General Meetings
    • Asynchronous Attendance
    • DEI Dialogues
  • About Us
    • Meet the Board
    • Membership
    • Alumni
  • The Blog
    • Study Abroad
    • Lifestyle
    • Meet the Members
  • Conference
  • Contact Us

Healthy Eats of NYU Madrid

12/3/2019

0 Comments

 
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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. 
Picture
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!
0 Comments

Interning Abroad

11/5/2019

0 Comments

 
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!
Picture
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.
Picture
 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/
0 Comments

Hola From Madrid!

12/2/2018

0 Comments

 
By: Jessica Chen 

Hi USWIB!
​

My name is Jess Chen, and I’m one of the NYU Madrid study abroad liaisons for this semester! I’m currently a sophomore concentrating in Finance and Statistics, and minoring in Global Public Health. I’ve already been in Madrid for almost a month, which is crazy to even think about. So far, I’ve traveled to several cities in Spain including Barcelona, Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, Málaga, and Córdoba. However, for my blog post today, I will be talking about some lifestyle differences between New York and Spain in areas like food, culture, and more. A lot of this took me by surprise – so stay tuned!
Picture
1. Cafes: Here is one thing for sure: if you love coffee, you will love Spain. Coffee is delicious, cheap (latte will be between 1-2 euros), and everywhere. My favorite type of coffee has been “café bombon,” which is basically strong coffee with a bit of sweet condensed milk. However, if your favorite way to drink coffee is iced coffee, then you might find yourself struggling a bit. Unless you go to a nearby Starbucks, you will have to ask for “hielo” (ice in Spanish) on the side with a hot coffee or latte in order to get the iced coffee experience. When at a cafe, try churros with chocolate or bread with tomato and olive oil – my favorites!
Picture
2. Restaurant Food: In New York, there is the luxury of having all types of food from different cuisines open around you at nearly any time of the day. Although Madrid does offer almost every type of food given that it has diversified over the years, not having great ramen places on every corner was definitely an adjustment for me. However, it has been really great trying Spanish food. Most Spanish restaurants serve “tapas,” which are basically small dishes that you share with your friends. They consist of everything from croquettes and fresh jamon to Spanish tortillas and tasty seafood. If Spanish food isn’t your favorite, I would say that some other popular cuisines in Madrid are Italian and Asian (specifically Thai and Japanese).

3. Grocery Stores: Groceries are cheap, and supermarkets are everywhere. Generally, Madrid will have any basic groceries for a better price than in New York. There are even Asian grocery stores where I’d get frozen dumplings, noodles, and sauces that remind me of home. Another note is that fresh-squeezed orange juice is more popular than “normal” orange juice in Spain, and grocery stores offer the best price: a bottle for less than 2 euros. Normally, you’d use the orange juice machine and fill up a bottle yourself. No more $7 fresh-squeezed orange juice from Whole Foods…
Picture
4. Schedule: Generally, everything happens later. There is a period of time in the late afternoon when many restaurants close for a break (usually between 4PM and 8PM); however, one misconception is that this is the case for all eating places in Madrid. Usually, cafes, grocery stores, and more casual restaurants will not close for this break. Additionally, people generally eat dinner later, go out later, and wake up later. Personally, I’ve found myself adjusting to the Spanish timing of things, but it is definitely not necessary.

5. NYU: The courses I am taking in Madrid are Foundations of Finance, Management and Organizations, Intensive Spanish, and Spain & the EU. Everyone who studies abroad in Madrid is required to take Spanish – don’t worry, there’s a level for everyone! I personally love learning Spanish because it helps me around Spain, and I’m starting to remember a lot from high school. The NYU Madrid staff are incredibly kind, and both the residence and school staff hold many events for students. For example, this semester, NYU Madrid is taking me on an overnight trip to Bilbao and Elciego.

6. Transportation: There is a pretty convenient metro in Madrid, but it’s not as fast as the New York metro. The metro in Madrid is much cleaner, bigger, and also very easy to navigate (especially with Google maps). Everyone here gets an unlimited metrocard for 20 euros/month, but if you’re feeling lazy one day, you can also take an uber. Many ubers are pretty cheap (i.e. all of my ubers during the day have been 5.50 Euros), but it definitely depends on the time of day.

My experience in Madrid so far has been exciting, different, and overall pretty amazing. Madrid is a very vibrant city with a ton of culture and definitely a lot to offer. Feel free to add me on Facebook if you have any more questions about studying abroad in Madrid. Until next time, USWIB!
Picture
0 Comments

Adventures in Spain

9/23/2017

0 Comments

 
​By: Alisha Thanawala

Hey USWIB,

It’s been a little over a month since I arrived in Madrid, and my time here has been nothing short of amazing. I have had the opportunity to see about 6 cities here so far on trips through NYU and traveling with friends.

The first week we got here, NYU took us on a day trip to Segovia. We started off by seeing a Roman aqueduct from the first century. Through it has been secured over time, the aqueduct still was made up of the original stones the Romans used to make it. NYU professors also showed us around the charming city and took us to the Catedral de Segovia. It was a gorgeous gothic-style building with stained glass all around the cathedral and rows upon rows of pews. For lunch, I tried out a regional dish called fabada asturiana, which is a delicious stew made of white beans and chorizo. The city was a look into how the older Spanish cities were, as compared to more modern cities like Barcelona and Madrid.

A few weekends later, my friends and I decided to take a trip to Barcelona before the weather cooled down, though that still hasn’t happened. We took a bus at 11:30 at night on Thursday and reached Barcelona at 7:30 in the morning on Friday. Though we were exhausted, we dropped our bags off at the hostel and started exploring the city. Our hostel was centrally located near the high-end shopping, so could conveniently walk most places. We started by seeing the Arc de Triomf and made our way to the Parc de la Ciutadella, which was absolutely gorgeous. There were several greenhouses with trees and flowers and a large lake with row boats. We kept going and found la Cascada Monumental, which was a huge and breathtaking fountain. We then passed through a neighborhood called La Ribera with super cute shops and restaurants to get brunch at a fabulous restaurant called Brunch and Cake. With its name, I couldn’t resist ordering a huge slice of red velvet for dessert! We then split up and a few of us made our way to Park Guell, which is an elevated park and has full views of the city and coast. We chose to keep hiking up even after the park ended and had 360 views of the entire Barcelona. The next day, it was raining, so I went to the Picasso Museum and then made my way to la Familia Sagrada. We went and got tapas for dinner afterwards. We had to take the bus back Sunday afternoon, so we spent time lounging on the beach that morning and hopped on the bus. Barcelona was definitely more touristy than Madrid, but I loved that it was right on the beach and had a very relaxing vibe.

The next weekend, I went to Bilbao on an overnight trip with NYU. We took the bus on Friday, got lunch, and went on a walking tour of the city. It’s not a very large city, but it’s continuing to grow as more people move to Northern Spain. We walked over to the Guggenheim Museum, which was designed by Frank Geary. It’s a very interesting building with a roof that looks like it’s made of silver waves. There were a lot of great sculptures and exhibits there as well, and we all enjoyed looking around. On Saturday, NYU took us to a winery for a tour and wine tasting. Our tour guide took us through the complete process of making the wine, from crushing the grapes to seeing the towers of bottle waiting to be labeled. The winery also had a great view of surrounding towns, including Laguardia, in which we ate lunch. The winery also had a hotel designed by Frank Geary that resembled the Guggenheim in Bilbao but was purple to represent the surrounding wineries. The drive back was gorgeous, since we could see the landscape changing from the mountainous surroundings in the North to the dessert climate near Madrid.

Classes here have been really nice, since they’re all relatively small in size. I’m taking Spanish every day, so I have been able to see the continuous improvement in my grammar and vocabulary, and I’ve even been having conversations with locals in Spanish! I’m also taking a politics class about Spain and the EU, and I’m enjoying learning more about the EU and its role in international politics. In terms of Stern classes, I’m taking Intro to Marketing and Foundations of Finance, both of which I’m enjoying a lot.

So far, I’ve been really enjoying my time abroad and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the semester will go!


Picture
Exploring la Cascada Monumental in Barcelona! Follow @alishathanawala
0 Comments

Hello from NYU in Madrid

1/20/2016

0 Comments

 
Hi! It´s been great seeing all the exciting USWIB events going on in
New York, and I´m excited to see everyone next semester.

This semester, I'm studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. I´m taking two
Stern classes in English (Foundations of Finance and Introduction to
Marketing) and two in Spanish (Spain Today and Intermediate Spanish).
Spain Today is particularly interesting because we talk about the
complicated political and social issues in Spain, something I wouldn´t
have known about otherwise. In Marketing, the professor always brings
up Spanish companies and advertising campaigns, which tends to be
different from popular brands in the US. I´ve started to become more
interested in business and politics from a European perspective, both
because its becoming more and more complicated, and because its so
relevant here. Please let me know if you´re thinking about studying
abroad and have any questions about classes!

Spain is strongly connected to its culture and history, although
Franco´s legacy does complicate that. It´s been great to experience
tapas, cafe con leche, lots of jamon (ham), and my favorite part, the
medieval and different neighborhoods in Madrid. I love how close the
historical attractions are to the modern, busy parts of the city.

The other amazing part is the travel! So far I´ve had the chance to go
the medieval towns of Caceres and Segovia within Spain, and to the
cosmopolitan, colorful city of Barcelona (with USWIB´s Stephanie
Revering)! When you see these medieval villages and castles, you can
just imagine the people living there and how there lives and decisions
would have been - it feels like you´ve stepped directly back in time.
While in Caceres (in the rural and rough-and-tumble Extremadura region
of Spain) we crossed into the Portuguese border town of Castelo de
Vide. Although most people there did not speak Spanish or English,
they were very friendly and extremely interested in hearing about New
York City!

I´ve also gone to London - where I met up with Katherine Gang, Sachi
Jain, and Mackenzie Bishop. London was like seeing the place where so
many movies and stories take place - especially Harry Potter. St.
Paul´s Cathedral and the Tower of London were definitely some of the
highlights of this trip.
I´ve had an amazing first month in Europe so far, and I´m looking
forward to the rest of it!

- Natasha
0 Comments

    USWIB Abroad Blog

    Read up on our study abroad liaisons adventures and experiences!

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    IBEX Beijing
    IBEX Milan
    IBEX Paris
    IBEX Singapore
    IBEX Sydney
    IBEX UK
    ISP
    NYU Abu Dhabi
    NYU Berlin
    NYU Florence
    NYU Ghana
    NYU London
    NYU Madrid
    NYU Paris
    NYU Prague
    NYU Shanghai
    NYU Sydney

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Events
    • General Meetings
    • Asynchronous Attendance
    • DEI Dialogues
  • About Us
    • Meet the Board
    • Membership
    • Alumni
  • The Blog
    • Study Abroad
    • Lifestyle
    • Meet the Members
  • Conference
  • Contact Us