The end of my first month in Barcelona is coming to an end. That?s crazy!! I actually feel like I live here now. I am going to try to the best of my ability to condense some adventures of the days that have stuck out to me- there?s a lot so this might turn into a novel.
To give a little background information, I am a junior at A&M. This study abroad trip is my first true time out of the country.
My arrival
The first moment that was monumental on this trip was my first moment in Barcelona, my arrival. Upon my arrival, I was terrified. My landlord said he was going to send a shuttle to the airport to pick me up, but I was scared I wouldn?t be able to find my apartment from where the shuttle would drop me off. To make matters worse, my roommate wasn?t able to arrive until a week after me so I was completely alone. Luckily, I accidentally arrived on a huge Spanish holiday.
January 6th is a day called the “Day of Epiphany.” It?s very similar to Christmas except children receive gifts from the three wise kings on this day. From how eeringly quiet the airport was when I landed, it didn?t take long before I had an epiphany of my own and realized I did not arrive on an ordinary day.
I say my arriving on a holiday was lucky though because my landlord was unable to book a shuttle. That meant he had to come to the airport to pick me up. It was such a relief seeing a sign with my name on it. My landlord?s name is Albert. He?s the best! He took me straight to the apartment and told me all about the “to-dos” of Barcelona. It was so nice not having to worry about finding anything on my own. He also told me I could ask him if I needed anything at all because he knew I was there all by myself. That was extremely comforting. After he left, I knew I needed to find my university, but I was too scared to leave my apartment.
I checked my email, and I had an email from a “language partner” I signed up for through the school. My language partner?s name is Lluis. In his email he asked when I would want to meet up. I really needed to find where the school was because I had orientation the following day, so I asked if he could meet that night. He didn?t realize I had only arrived to Barcelona that day, and immediately came over to help me find the school. I?m still in shock he did that! To reiterate, it was a huge Spanish holiday. He lives 30 minutes away, so that was very nice of him to take time out of his family time to help me. He showed me where Universitat Pompeu Fabra is; the walk is beautiful! Below is a picture of the walk to the school. Our meeting was short because he needed to get back to his family. The rest of the day I was exhausted, so I went to bed early.
Eventos Desgraciados?
After my first day, I had quite a few unfortunate events happen. But, I don?t really want to go into the details because that would just be super negative. So, I?m going to list them out instead.
– Registration. Never again will I complain about ?registration at another school. I?m still actually not positive what my schedule is, and this is the fourth week of class.
– It took me two days of being by myself in Barcelona before I was violently throwing up. The nerves caught up to me.?I felt awful!
-?I was robbed of my phone, and credit card. 🙁
I still don?t have a phone. And it got stolen with .02 seconds of me setting my purse down… while my body was still touching it! Not all Spaniards abide by the Aggie code of conduct. It has genuinely?stunk?not having a phone. I lost all my pictures etc. But, good news is my new phone should be coming in the mail anytime now! And Albert (my landlord) felt so bad for me that he gave me one of his old phones AND he got my roommate and I a washer. Did I mention he?s the best?!
– The ticket system at the metro system ate my money. Not really a big deal, but this happened within the same week I lost my credit card, phone, and was sick. At that point I just wanted to go home.
BUT I?m glad I didn?t!! I have met amazing people and have had many awesome adventures that have overshadowed that one terrible week.
Adventures?
When my roommate arrived the adventures began!
– We took a bike tour which I HIGHLY recommend to everyone!! We learned a lot about the history and main tourist sites of Barcelona. And side note- our tour guide thought it was hilarious we were from “College Station.” She was crying she was laughing so hard. Also, a huge political movement in Catal?nia is the want to be independent from the rest of Spain. Another guy on the bike tour from Washington said, “Hey, that?s kind of like the secessionist movement in Texas!” …………. *no comment*
– SO MUCH GOOD FOOD. At every restaurant, there are tapas. The best ones are potatos bravas. Tapas are small dishes similar to appetizers. Basically, you order a variety of different entres and split them amongst the table.
– The Sagrada Familia is AWESOME. Antoni Gaudi has some amazing architecture around the city; it?s funny because a lot of the Barcelona natives think he?s overrated. We saw another work of his at Casa Batllo, which is a house inspired by a dragon.
– I love Sagrada Familia, but I think my favorite cathedral is still the Catedral de Santa Eulalia. This cathedral is dedicated to the life of Eulalia, she was a 13 year old girl who died a martyr. If you get the chance, google the story. She?s my hero.
– Park Guell has incredible sights. This was mine and my roommate?s favorite place so far. There are so many trails you can go down, and the house Antoni Gaudi lived in is here. He lived by meek measures which is inspiring. There are so many admirable people that inspired the city of Barcelona. It has truly inspired me!
– Montjuiic has incredible sights. It was the perfect spot for a picnic. 🙂
– Last semester, I met a group of REEP students that came to A&M from Spain. We met up with one of them one night, Tomas. It was so nice to see a familiar face in Barcelona! He is still obsessed with A&M which was hilarious. He sang the Aggie fight song in his Spanish accent.
– On the subject of friends, having a language partner has really come in handy! Lluis showed us an awesome spot to get gelato. He?s also informed us of some weird cultural differences between here and the United States. One that stuck out to me is that here they consider Obama extremely conservative. I thought that was funny!
Can?t wait to see what the next two months hold!?
There are many other sights we have seen, and there are many sights still to see! There is plenty on my to-do list, I can?t wait to see what these next two months have in store!