I have returned to Spain. Surprisingly, when I arrived at Barajas Airport this time, I felt relieved and welcomed. The stress and uncertainty I felt the first time I had been there was gone. This time again I was alone, but it was a good alone.

It was a familiar alone. I got in the cab and instead of shaking and hoping the cab driver doesn’t ask me something in Spanish (like last time); I talked with him the whole way home. He told me that it hasn’t snowed as much as it has this winter since he was a little boy. People here aren’t prepared for snow, or for the cold. It’s almost entertaining to watch people in scarves and gloves in 40 degree weather. Since then, it has gotten colder, but Madrid is still as lively and entertaining as ever.

This time around, as I begin my second semester here, instead of sitting on the tile floor and listening to flamenco during the hot summer nights, I am sitting wrapped up in a blanket, drinking hot tea and listening to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1. The cliché image of Spain that I had in mind before I came here, as the land of sun, bulls, sangria and flamenco has been stored away in the back of my mind, with the rest of my fantasies.

I have started to live in Madrid-the real city, not Madrid the magical place in my dreams.

And Madrid is a dynamic city, even in winter. Now in winter, everything looks different. Spain feels different. It is that strange time of winter when it is still cold, but you don’t have anything to look forward to (like the holidays), and summer still feels ages away.

It is probably for this reason that an amazing phenomenon takes place every year in Spain-rebajas. After Christmas sales-commercialism’s gift to mankind. Rebajas is the sale of year. You wouldn’t simply remark “I got that on sale.” You would say, “I got that at the sale.” It is a dangerous time for women to be out on the streets because every store window threatens with signs of 50, 60 and, yes, 70 percent off. It is the 21st of January and the sales are still going strong. That is one thing I enjoy about Madrid. No matter what time of the year it is-there is always something to make you feel good.

Spain has taught me one of the most important lessons I have ever learned-a lesson that many people learn in Europe-you have to enjoy life. Every spare moment that you can find, enjoy it. Fill it with music, with dance, with warm crepes and with rebajas. The true beauty in life is enjoying yourself, whether it’s with a glass of sweet sangria, with the fiery sounds of flamenco or with a nice pair of shoes bought at rebajas.

After all, what’s life without a little fun?

Dorotea Lechkova is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, studying in Madrid.