We have officially finished up school! It was a lot of fun getting to learn about so many things about international business and the EU that I would have never learned if I had not come on that trip. It was also an incredible experience to be able to learn while being engulfed in what you are learning. It was a great experience and really helped solidify the things I learned in the classroom. After finishing up with school, the guys made a trip to Madrid which was amazing. It has gotten to the point where I do not even realize that I am in a foreign country. I am so used to being in Spain that I no longer marvel at the fact that I need to soak in every second that I get here. I am glad that I have made this realization so soon though, as I can now keep that in my head as I move to experience more of Barcelona as well as other parts of Spain.
On Friday, we took a trip to the Port Authority, which was an incredible experience. It was surreal to see how much the city and even the world depends just on the one port of Barcelona. It was interesting to see the ports plans on integrating into a more global and digitized world, due to the fact that the port has been there for so long. It has been in use since before America was even discovered and it is still an essential part of the economy. Seeing the port from the boat tour was by far the best part. It is so expansive and holds such large ships it is astonishing. The other great thing to see was how the port is working towards being better for the environment, which is an essential part to keeping all of this life together.
All of the guys on this trip made a trip to Madrid this weekend and it has been amazing. It is very surprising how similar it is to Barcelona, but also so different. The people here are a good example of this, as people in Madrid seem to be a lot older which is surprising. That could definitely be just a product of where we have been spending most of our time in each city, but I have noticed a higher amount of older people even in what seems to be the center of energy in Madrid. An example where they are similar is their business models. They both have at least 5 coffee shops on every block and 5 bars to go right along with them. I still have not figured out how this is sustainable at all, but it seems to be working well for them all, as there is not a ton of open real estate in these areas where I have spent my time. I am so excited for the visits that we have planned over the next few weeks and the free time to explore in between. It is really hard to imagine that I only have 2 more weeks here, but I am going to try my best to soak in all that I can in the allotted time.