Barcelona has been amazing. Beautiful city, great environment, and amazing people. It is a very diverse place with lots of different people who speak many languages. From the first few days I quickly learned that f?tbol is more than just a sport here in Barcelona. F?tbol is a part of their culture and identity. I quickly learned that after watching a crosstown f?tbol match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona. After FC Barcelona won and celebrated on RCD home field it quickly turned ugly. RCD Espanyol fans rushed the field and began fighting with security. Lucky, I am an FC Barcelona fan. The next day I joined the FC Barcelona team and hundreds of fans to celebrate clinching the La Liga title. It was an amazing experience, one that I almost couldn?t believe I was a part of. An amazing experience that I will carry on with me forever. F?tbol is really mes que un club in Barcelona. I also learned about some cultural norms in Barcelona. Once I arrived at Barcelona, I went with a few friends to go eat lunch at a nearby restaurant. We ordered and received a bill for the total cost of all of us. When asked our waiter to split it into equal transactions we were looked at with a puzzled faced ? almost as if it were disrespectful to split the bill and not pay together. Next, we went to an ice cream place and the server waited until we all ordered and received our cone to then charge us on one total bill. Again, when we asked the server to split the bill, he gave us the same reaction as the waiter did in the restaurant. I learned that in Spain one person pays the bill when you go out to eat. Overall, it has been a great experience in Barcelona and I hope to gain more of an open mind throughout this trip.
