Barcelona has surpassed my wildest expectations for this trip. This was my first time in Europe, and exploring the city has been amazing. The drive from the airport was even beautiful – with the mountains and the beach in clear view, it was incredible to see my new home for the next month. As a French minor, I was intimidated of studying in a Spanish-speaking country, but I have been picking up Spanish and one of my roommates is very fluent. I love exploring the city with my roommates and the other students on our trip. We’ve also gone to the beach and the port, which were amazing experiences. We’ve also done some sillier things, like watching the Minions movie in a Barcelona movie theater and playing cards with the other members of our trip. The trip to the Port of Barcelona was a personal favorite of mine ? we listened to a lecture about the history and importance of the ports, which I felt was very relevant to the recent supply chain issues. For me, seeing the logical flow and process of a port in conjunction with the issues in the past few months was very interesting and contributed greatly to the hands-on learning you get with a study abroad experience. We took a boat tour through the port and got to see the museum we had hiked to the day before. It helped me get my bearings in the city and was amazing to see the ocean views. My classes have been incredibly interesting ? as someone who has been passionate about history but can?t study it very much in college with my business major, focusing on the history of the European Union and its culture has been incredible. The projects are interesting and interactive, and overall I have had an amazing first week in Barcelona!
