From the moment I stepped off the plane in Barcelona, this city’s unique culture, cuisine, history, and architectural wonders have impressed me around every corner. After getting settled into our hotel for the next few days, a group of fellow students and I decided to go explore the city. We navigated our way through the metro system and found ourselves at the Arc de Triomf where locals and tourists gathered to watch the FC Barcelona team parade through the streets after winning the La Liga. One notable cultural difference I noticed was compared to local Texans the Spanish locals were not as friendly with strangers and often avoided eye contact as we walked the streets. This does not mean they are unkind in any way, just shows the hustle and bustle of a city the size of Barcelona. Another difference was the access to public transportation and the amount of people dependent on those systems such as the metro. The metro connected every part of the city and could be found with little effort even for a foreigner. It demonstrated the vast infrastructure and planning while the city has grown throughout its rich history. It made me wonder if Texas could ever implement such a streamlined system of public transportation for its major cities as efficiently as the system in place in Spain. Walking through the city every building in sight was filled with small shops or restaurants unlike our food market dominated by corporate fast-food giants. Speaking of restaurants, in the United States water is commonly available and free here many restaurants do not include free water and instead charge you like any other drink on the menu. I look forward to continuing exploring Spain before heading to France followed by Italy. I could tell the moment I arrived that this is going to be an experience of a lifetime and I cannot wait to learn from our diverse group of business visits throughout this study abroad trip.
