Last Thursday evening, thanks to our wonderful mentors, many of the program students and mentors got together to go roller skating just outside the Chamartín train station at this awesome little place called Rolling. The mentors often organize really fun activities for all the program students, mentors, and language exchange partners (intercambios) to do together throughout the semester. These activities are always a great way to spend time talking to friends and making new ones, but most of all, it’s a great time to hang out with our lovely mentors who always have so much to share with us. They spend so much time planning and organizing events for all of us to enjoy, which are always so thoughtfully planned and executed. The activities are a great way to explore new places around the city that you might want to go back to with your friends again later in the semester. The mentors are our age or just a bit older, they are students at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), and they all live in or very near to Madrid’s city center. The mentors are all so friendly, and having a group of peer mentors has enriched this program in so many ways. 

Last Thursday evening, as we all arrived at the roller skating rink, it was so sweet to see everyone get so excited to greet each other as students and mentors walked through the door. It was also hilarious to see everyone put on skates for the first time in a long time, or for the first time ever. In the first twenty minutes, we witnessed a lot of slips and falls, some yelling, and a whole lot of laughing. Friends were helping each other learn how to skate for the first time, walking each other around the rink holding each other up until everyone got the hang of it on their own. After a while, we all got into our own groove, and everyone was flying around the rink singing and dancing on skates, enjoying the music. We got to request songs from the DJ, and between the colorful lights and the music, everyone was all smiles all night. Even the people who were taking a little break sitting around the edges of the rink were talking, laughing, and smiling, and popping up every so often to take a spin around the floor. By the end of the night, they could hardly get us to leave the rink because we were having such a great time. 
The next mentor activity planned for the upcoming week is a soccer scrimmage at the UAM fútbol field. There are many more in the works that we are all looking forward to doing together, and after last Thursday, I’m really excited to see everyone together laughing and smiling again. I can’t wait for the next mentor activity, we are so lucky to have our amazing mentors to plan them…and you’ll definitely be seeing us at the roller skating rink again sometime very soon. 

Aja Goldman, student blogger primavera 2020