Senior Mariah Williams of the UCLA women's basketball team is studying abroad in Spain this summer. Williams will be chronicling her summer in Spain on uclabruins.com.

July 25, 2012

Hola Bruin fans,

This week, travel with me as my study abroad program and I head to Madrid, the country's capital, as we continue to delve into Spain's rich history and culture.

Although we only stayed for one weekend, Madrid provided plenty of reason to fall in love with the city. Here, we continued our cultural exploration of Spain by visiting world-renown museums, the Prado and Reina Sofia, where, for the first time, I witnessed the makings of Salvador Dali and other Spanish artists.

After a day's worth of studying, mis amigos y yo (my friends and I) took the Metro to the Real Madrid Stadium, where we joined the sea of red and yellow in cheering on the Spanish National team as it took on Italy in the 2012 European Cup championship. In allowing myself to be immersed in the pool of enthusiastic fans, I truly believe I got the best sense of Spanish pride and National identity. If you think Laker fans are crazy, you haven't met Spanish Futbol fans! These people are the epitome of sports fans. Armored in red and yellow, flag-bearing, and faces painted, the Spaniards know exactly how to will their team to victory! After an amazing 4-0 victory, I danced and chanted Yo Soy Espanol, Espanol, Espanol ... with thousands of locals and die-hard fans. As an athlete, it was a great experience viewing the art of competition from this perspective.

Join me again next week as I travel to Granada, Spain, hit the books and visit one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Europe, the Alhambra.

Mariah

Previous Entries:
Part One - Pablo Picasso Museum in Barcelona