Over the course of this past month, I had some of the most incredible experiences and made lifelong memories. I knew going into the trip I would learn a lot about the Spanish culture and the Barcelona customs, and I definitely did. However, I didn’t think I would learn so much about myself. I would say resilience is the most important thing I learned about myself. Throughout my time in Barcelona I had to adapt to the culture, language barrier, and people while living there. It was difficult at first to adapt, for instance when it came to eating hours later than I am used to, talking to Spanish speaking cashiers when buying items, and protecting myself from pickpockets. These things did get easier with practice and routine with the help of my peers and professors to guide me. I did take their advice on practicing Catalan and Spanish when ordering food to show cultural awareness and it did help me get better service. Adapting to the new environment was not easy because I was not used to being a foreigner, so there were definitely many learning experiences. One big learning experience that took lots of practice to understand was the metro train station. Knowing how it works, which lines to take to school, understanding there is metro etiquette, and what it is. One thing I learned was that if young people are sitting on the metro and an older person gets on it the respectful thing to do is to get up to let them sit. I was on the metro one time with my friends and we were sitting not really paying attention to the people around us and a local tapped my friend to stand up and let the older person next to her sit, which was an unfortunately embarrassing situation for us as Americans but a real learning experience. The locals will abide by the metro etiquette and they’ll enforce it on others as well. Fortunately through these experiences and challenges, I was able to persevere through, continue learning, and being flexible to enhance my abroad experience. I think being able to do this shows resilience on my part which I am so glad to have learned. Another thing that I also improved on is my sense of direction. I am normally very bad with directions and remembering my way around, but being in a new country on my own forced me to really pay attention to directions. I was able to enhance my navigation skills as well but I often tried to figure out my way without google maps which helped me pay more attention. My friends helped me with this because we would all try to figure out our way without Google maps and help each other along the way to our destinations, especially when going to school and Las Ramblas.
If an Aggie is considering going to Barcelona on a study abroad trip I would say they should definitely go. I loved my experience and I am so glad I jumped at the opportunity to go even though I was extremely nervous. You will be able to meet amazing fellow Aggies and find your footing within the group of students. You will also get to live in such a beautiful country and see so many different historical places that are very important to Barcelona. Some of the things you will see are the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and the Monserrat. You will experience the metro train station, so much walking, and lots of tapas. You will also hear lots of friendly conversations and people being so kind wherever you go in Barcelona. I couldn’t encourage Aggies enough to go to Barcelona if they are considering studying abroad there!
