Hey everyone! It’s Caitlin back with an update after one month in Spain!
Here are some highlights from my time abroad I hope you find helpful:
First Impressions: welcome to city life!
– constant noise
– love people watching
– for a city as big as this one, everyone is relatively unhurried
– much more use of public transportation than in Alabama/U.S.
Fave thing about Barcelona:
– the accessibility of the city to both the mountains and the beach
Academics:
– very similar to the system back home (grade on a 10 pt scale instead of a letter grade scale)
– pleasantly surprised that everyone in all my classes is in a study-abroad program
– sweet professors
– manageable workload
Excursions:
– love the ability to take day trips and the events my program has planned for our group
– Montserrat was definitely my favorite place I have been outside the city
– La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell (pictured here), and The Church of Sagrat Cor are my fave sights so far!
Locals and Language:
– everyone is very nice, clean, mannerly, happy to help!
– I have enjoyed learning the local language and vocabulary and using my Spanish here to interact with the locals/my host family
– everyone is patient in my practice of the language and happy to repeat things if needed, but there are also English resources/menus almost everywhere you go as a “security blanket”
Prep to go home:
I am very excited to go home and enjoy all the things and people I have missed while in Spain, but I have so enjoyed my time. I am taking back with me some Christmas ornaments for my family/friends and some clothes I bought from local Spanish stores.
Hasta luego!
