A little bit of jet lag, a little bit of awe, a little bit of excitement? and so much to do! I would consider myself an overthinker and deep analyzer, so the weeks leading up to this trip inevitably consisted of me painting a picture of Spain and Barcelona in my head based on what I know, things I?ve heard, and things I?ve been told to expect from faculty in our pre-departure meetings. So far, my classmates are becoming close and tight-knit, and I have a feeling I?m going to make some lifelong friends out of this group during this trip.
I?ve been to Barcelona before, but essentially in passing. I spent two days here, on the other side of town, in a hotel and didn?t see much besides the beach. This trip is going to be a completely different and well-rounded experience for me.? The neighborhood we are staying in definitely gives me the authentic impression of what Barcelona really is. The hustle and bustle, lots of cars and lots of people. Packed transport systems, buildings with residents (apartments/condos) on top and businesses on the bottom. One thing that is sticking out so far is how differently we do small transactions like grocery shopping or going to a restaurant. 99% of restaurants don?t split the tab, so we?re going to have to find a way to split a bill between the 18 people sitting at the table if the (relatively small) restaurants can even fit all 18 of us! Barcelona is beautiful but definitely more petite than Texas. Grocery shops typically charge a small fee for plastic bags as well. These are things I didn?t realize that I became used to back in Texas, but I will have to adapt to them while on this trip!