My decision to apply for this study abroad program was largely influenced by my family and friends. When my mom was studying at university she attended a study abroad trip to Barcelona and described it as the best experience she ever had while in college. My cousin experienced multiple summers in Spain as her first summer here convinced her to come back. Hearing about my family?s experiences in Barcelona encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and travel to Spain for half of the summer. In addition to my family, my friends also encouraged me to come on this trip. We had many conversations about how fun summer in Barcelona would be when experiencing the city with friends.
The expectations I had before coming here were created by what I had heard about Barcelona from my family and from the online research I had done before coming. Both my cousin and mom described the city as one of the most exciting places in the world. My cousin took it a step further and said she even wanted to live in Barcelona for a couple of years after graduation. This created the expectation that I would be having a ton of fun in Barcelona. Not only did they describe it as fun, but they also talked about how beautiful and historic parts of the city are. I am very intrigued by architecture and art, so before coming here I expected that I would be fascinated by the culture here. Lastly, I had an expectation regarding the language barrier here. Although I was worried about the fact that I speak terrible broken Spanish, I was encouraged by the fact that I would have the opportunity to improve my Spanish speaking ability.
My arrival to Spain was comfortable and my experience the first couple of days here definitely lived up to my expectations. The excitement of arriving in the city allowed me to move past my low energy level from the time change. Before my roommates and I settled into our apartment, we were already walking around the streets looking for tapas. We found a place that looked popular and enjoyed some incredible beef tenderloin sandwiches. Although our meal was incredible, I also encountered my first surprise in Barcelona. Despite the safety briefing we received regarding paying close attention to your surroundings because of pickpockets, my group was confronted with an interesting situation. Two policemen walked up to our table and told us that we needed to be careful because two men were eyeing us possibly looking to steal from us. This experience on the first day was necessary for me to take the proper amount of caution for the rest of the trip.
There is not too much I have to say about my experience at Sagrada Familia because I don?t know the words that would give my experience a proper description. The best way I can put it is that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to see the architecture. I have already made a commitment in my mind to come back to Barcelona decades in the future to compare the progress of Sagrada Familia to the pictures I took.
In conclusion, our team scavenger hunt was an incredible opportunity for me to learn a little about important parts of the city. In addition, I was able to create a relationship with other students that I hadn?t gotten to interact with before.