Time is beginning to fly by in Barcelona! This week we have been very busy with classes and preparing for presentations and quizzes, but the information I am learning is extremely valuable. This week, I presented about Catalan traditions. The Castellers serve as a symbol of nationality and unity among Catalonians dating back to the 18th century. People climb on top of one another to create a 10 tiered human pyramid with one young girl at the very top wearing only a helmet in the way of protective wear. As she climbs to the top she waves with 4 fingers to represent the 4 stripes of the Catalan flag.?We also learned about the history and evolution of valuing money based on the gold standard. How money is backed in its value and how the population trusts this value is extremely vital to a nation’s economic health and prosperity.
One thing that has been a much bigger roadblock than I originally expected is eating out at restaurants. I have a nut allergy so navigating restaurants has been very difficult, especially with a language barrier. Much of the food here uses all different kinds of nuts in their kitchens and their dishes. It has been a bit of a setback, but I’m now getting to discover some different Spanish food such as Mel?n con Jam?n that I would not have tried otherwise.
The weather here is beautiful so we are trying to take advantage of pleasant temperatures. Dr. Panina taught us that mostly just tourists take the metro, so instead, we should strive to learn about the city and travel on foot. I have tried to put away my phone for directions and rely on my own navigational skills and landmarking to find my way to places we frequently travel. Technology is a helpful tool until it becomes a permanent crutch. So, if I want to truly live here for the next three weeks I need to learn this for myself!
This weekend my roommates visited Mallorca and it was beautiful! Going to Mallorca I have now learned the importance of doing your research on which airline you fly. Cheaper definitely does not mean better. We flew Ryanair for our trip and let?s just say the pilot was not as skilled as we were all used to on an American Airlines flight. Despite the flight, our time in Mallorca was amazing!! It had one of the best beaches I have ever been to. Sadly, many people’s backpacks were stolen on the beach which had entire family?s phones, wallets, keys, and other necessities. I will stay super cautious while I’m here, but I am really curious to see if I stay as paranoid and cautious when I get back to Texas!
Mallorca is known to be a favorite vacation spot for many Europeans, specifically Germans. The people of Mallorca do not like the Germans though because of how rude they are to the locals. Everywhere we went people were excited to discover that we were not from Germany! One lady told us that German tourists insist that everyone should know German even in Spain and that they come into the country and invade their local culture. I hope that we left a positive mark on their experience with Americans.?