This has been a busy week, but we just finished our last day of classes! We started out the week by going to class and then afterwards taking a tour of Parc Guell, a park with beautiful architecture designed by Antoni Gaud?. The majority of the week though as been spent preparing for presentations and a final exam. We?ve been giving presentations and listening to those of other group members about the European Union and the Economic and Monetary Union. Today?s class was really interesting, as we were able to learn about how the EU has been battling COVID-19, which is a very relevant topic in today?s world. Despite having to work hard for school, Monday through Thursday really flew by, for we were all looking forward to the next two weeks which we have free to explore Spain. This weekend we are going to go to Madrid and Toledo. Madrid is going to be a lot of fun and do a lot of unique things to do, such as eating at Sobrino de Bot?n, the oldest restaurant in the world! Toledo is a city I originally heard about from my dad, who highly recommended going there.? His recommendation was based upon his his visit to Toledo while he was doing his study abroad program when he was in college. Later on, in class our professor, Dr. Panina, also recommended going there, as she said it was one of the prettiest cities she had seen.
At the end of class today, after all work was said and done, our other professor, Professor Gund?n, who is from here in Spain, told us to always work hard but to also have fun. This work-life balance is probably my biggest takeaway from this week. On Monday, as previously mentioned, we had a group tour of Parc Guell. However, on Tuesday I had a presentation. I was worried that I was not going to be able to fully enjoy the tour since I was nervous about preparing for the upcoming day. When we arrived to the park though, I took a deep breath and reminded myself to live in the moment. Who knows when I will get the chance again to visit such special and famous places?? I am really glad I did this because it allowed me to make the most out of the opportunity. Even after the official tour was over, some of us decided to stay and explore more before hurrying back to our apartments. If I had not done so I would have missed out on some incredible views of the city of Barcelona.
All in all, I really enjoyed the classes that I had the opportunity to take here in Spain this summer. I definitely learned a lot and feel that I will always be interested in the economic goings-on of the European Union as a result of having taken these courses. I also found it interesting to see the differences in how we expect school to be and what professors expect of us, compared to those same expectations here in Europe. I am really excited, however, for these next two coming weeks and the many adventures that I know they will hold.