Getting Ready!

As I’m getting ready to leave for Barcelona I have a few fears but mostly I’m just excited. I’ve traveled abroad before. (I’m sitting and writing this in my grandparents’ house in York, England). However, I have never lived abroad. Spending so much time away will be a new and slightly frightening experience, but I’m hoping, after a quick adjustment period, Barcelona will begin to feel like home. I’ve also never traveled abroad without my family. I’m very glad I have a good group of students with a similar background to mine and two experienced professors to guide me. Since Spanish is my second language, it will be a difficult adjustment to use it every day, but I hope that it will help me learn.

Overall, I really want to get to know Barcelona as a city. I think that when I have traveled before and stayed only a week or so, I have been missing out on large parts of the culture. I hope that living in the city and experiencing it first hand for six weeks will allow me to really grasp the language and the culture. I want to speak with locals and learn from them as well. I really want to get pictures to show off back home, but I also don’t plan on seeing the city through my camera. This is a once in a lifetime experience and I’m going to take full advantage of it.

I’m very excited to try new things and get out of my comfort zone during this program. One thing I’m very excited to try is the food. I’ll admit that I don’t know much about it, but I want to try everything I can. I also am looking forward to learning about the rich history of Barcelona and Spain as a whole. I’m glad we will be having on site lectures around the city. Getting to travel and learn at the same time is a wonderful opportunity. No matter what we do or where we go, I know that this will be an amazing adventure I will remember forever.