Ending my time in Barcelona
Over the last semester, living abroad has changed me as a person. I have grown to enjoy new cultures more than I did before and I have learned to adapt to an entirely new city where I know nobody. My academic goals have not changed but living in Barcelona has helped improve my Spanish, pushing me to continue practicing it and not lose the language skills that I honed during my time there.
All of us took this semester as an opportunity to travel to other countries in the region and during this time, I seized the chance to do solo trips. I traveled to Stockholm alone and explored the city by myself. During this time, I learned about the things that I look to do in a new city, sights that I want to see compared to others and how I like to plan my days when in a foreign place for a short time. I learned to appreciate a city even by just walking around and not necessarily visiting the top 10 sights as suggested on TripAdvisor. During the three months, I visited Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Denmark and the south of Spain. Each of these locations are so different to each other in all aspects. It showed me how countries can be so different despite being so close to each other. Each destination had something new to offer and it has inspired me to work hard to be able to see more of the world and appreciate new cultures and traditions, however similar or different they are to my own.
Coming to a new place naturally comes with fears and apprehensions but I believe coming to study abroad through a programme like ASA, with other students, helped a lot. It was reassuring to know I wasn’t the only apprehensive one in a new city and we were all in it together, trying to settle down and create a temporary new life. Support from home and my friends in Boston and elsewhere also helped. Staying in contact with them, updating them about my days in Barcelona while listening to their routine in Boston was comforting and over time, I got over my fears and had settled well into a new city and routine.
Over time, one of the greatest benefits I gained through this Study Abroad was traveling a new continent, meeting new people and making new friends. I met people and created friendships that would never have happened had I not left Boston and I am very grateful. I had visited Barcelona as a tourist a couple years ago and loved the energy and vibe and so I am very happy to have had the chance to live in such a city and explore the ins and outs and learn about the little things in the city that make it unique. My favourite experience was the Calçotada lunch we attended and the hike to Montserrat. Both were completely different but the lunch was a traditional Catalan meal, flavours, food and spices that I had never tasted before and thoroughly enjoyed. The hike was beautiful; it was a perfect day, with not a cloud in the sky and the gradual hike to the top was not very difficult, yet rewarding with spectacular views of the city.
To future study abroad participants, my advice would be to make sure to explore your host city as well as travel your neighbouring countries. I traveled a lot to other countries and didn’t have the chance to see as much of Barcelona during the year. I ended up seeing a lot during the extra week that I stayed in Barcelona but had I not had that chance, there would have been a lot of key sights and experiences that I would have missed out on. After this semester, I am going for another shorter study abroad course, in Iceland to study sustainable development in Iceland and its impact on the country. Studying abroad has been a wonderful experience, one that I would certainly encourages others to seize, as it gives you exposure to other parts of the world and new cultures that you may never get the chance to experience if you don’t travel abroad.
