The culture of Barcelona is unlike anything I am accustomed to, the people are very relaxed and laid back. The timing and schedule of everything is flexible and normally later than anything in America. For example, most restaurants don?t open until at least 9am, and the bars don?t open until midnight to about 2am. People in Barcelona are very reserved in their style and are quite polite.
On a lighter note, the weather here is absolutely stunning. In my total of about 40 days here, it has only rained one day, something that I didn?t think was possible being from Houston/College Station. It?s about 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day with very low humidity, so I take every opportunity I get to enjoy the outdoors.
The biggest difference I noticed on my arrival is that everybody smokes cigarettes here. Out in the streets, the beach, even in university. It’s very interesting because smoking has such a negative connotation in the States that it?s very rare to see people smoking in this amount. In addition, beer is very cheap here costing about .55-1 euro for a six-pack. They even sell beer at the university cafeteria, which was a huge surprise to me.
A very notable difference from living here for a month is the public transit system is light years better than anything in Texas. There are 4 main modes of public transit, the metro/subway, Tram, Bus, and bike, which can all be accessed easily. It is relatively cheap for me it is about a euro a day to have unlimited access to everything but bicing (the public bike sharing system used in Barcelona).
The ties to Catholicism are very strong in Barcelona still, most stores are closed on Sunday and it is usually a very relaxed day for everybody. People are very reserved and polite. They wear well-fitting clothes, unlike most Americans. Almost nobody wears shorts of any kind which was weird to see because it?s a majority in the States. The food here is great, Spanish Omelets and Patatas Bravas are hard to beat, but I have been craving? some good Tex-Mex.