It’s the first week of Spring semester classes and needless to say, I am already missing Spain! We arrived back in the US last Saturday after a full day of traveling, and now looking back I am able to reflect back on how fun the trip was as well as understand the uniqueness of Spanish culture. When we had first arrived, I still felt like a tourist. Still figuring out the ins and outs of the city, supermarkets, shops, and more. But now, after having spent two weeks in my little apartment with 3 other girls, it felt like home. We knew exactly how to get around, where to go, and adjusted to the language very quickly. My last tapas meal was at our farewell dinner with our whole group and we got to cook the meal from start to finish. It truly made me appreciate all the effort chefs spend making the food and I wanted to savor it all! The second half of our trip consisted of visiting different cities around Barcelona, learning about important moments of the country’s history, and so much more. I had a wonderful time in this beautiful country and was sad to leave after two short weeks!
In addition to all the fun we had, we also spent time working on our project with Celler Diaz. They are a small, family-owned, Vermouth company that is based in the city of Sitges. We got to taste their products and then had to come up with a plan to help them with a business problem. Something my team noticed had to do with their social media and how they market themselves to their customers. We spent the second week finalizing our presentation and created what we believe is a solid plan that could possibly be implemented to help propel them forward. Something that was interesting to see was the difference in mindsets when it comes to American’s and how we view working and businesses versus Spainairds views of the same thing. Family, relationships, and hierarchy are more clearly evident in the sense of respecting those who came before you. Additionally, from the people we were able to speak with, everything seemed much more relaxed than in the united states. Additionally, they have a siesta time for those in the city which is something unimaginable that could never be implemented here with our 8 to 5 work schedule.