A week has come and gone for our Spain study abroad. As soon as we got into the city driving in from the airport, I realized how much of a city Barcelona is. Our first tour of the area almost felt like we were walking in New York, but everyone was speaking not only Spanish but so many other languages. Barcelona seems like a city that people all over the world are constantly traveling to and visiting, yet the things that visitors are coming to do don?t feel super touristy. The thing that has been most evident in living here is how much we walk. We take the metro and walk everywhere. Most days we get around 26,000 steps. One of the best things about the city is the architecture. We have gotten to visit some of the most famous buildings in Barcelona and they are truly breathtaking. We are staying right next to the Sagrada Familia, the church that has been being built for the past 140 years and they are not sure when they are going to be done with it. We get to walk by it and sit by it just looking and finding more details each time we see it. One of the things the tour guide told us that I would have never thought about was that the famous architect, Gaudi, was not loved in his time because people thought that his work was too crazy. The days are also pretty long, which I am not complaining about because we get to make the most of every day. We go to school at 9am and the sun doesn’t set until almost 10pm (22:00, if you will–military time for some reason is so hard). The business program so far has been an interesting experience. The professor has a completely different way of conducting her class than the professors do at A&M. The city is so lively and beautiful. Getting to explore and walk around has been so fun. Spain as a country has also been cool to navigate. There is so much to do and so much to see. I speak Spanish and getting to be able to practice here has been really exciting. I think it helps that I speak at least a little Spanish because I have noticed at some restaurants that the staff can get a little frustrated when customers don?t speak Spanish, or at least try. It has only been a week, but I think I have been able to see and learn so much already! I hope in the weeks to come I can learn more about Spanish culture and become more in tune with social cues; all in all, become more of a local, blending in with Barcelona.
