Barcelona

I went to Barcelona to meet up with my family last weekend..what an adventure! I had some trouble with the plane ticket on the way there, but after buying a second last minute ticket I made it to Barcelona after all. It was relieving to see my family in the hotel when I got there, knowing that I didn't have to plan or stress about traveling for a few days. We saw a Gaudi Museum, Picasso Museum, the Sagrada Familia, walked along the sea, went to Parc Guell, climbed Mount Juic, visited the 1992 Olympic Stadium, and enjoyed tapas and helado. My favorite was Parc Guell, which was a park designed by Gaudi. I'd studied the park in high school and had been wanting to visit it since. Naturally, my dad took us on educational and historical walks through the old parts of the city, thanks to Rick Steves. I don't know where American travelers in Europe would be without good old Rick.

I had initially planned on studying abroad in Barcelona instead of Granada, and I came to the conclusion that I'm glad I didn't. Barcelona is in a province of Spain called Cataluna, and that province hasn't been on good terms with Spain throughout history. They don't consider themselves Spaniards, nor do they only speak Spanish. Catalan is the native language there, and I was surprised to see how much Catalan they actually spoke. I wasn't able to read most menu's there because they were in Catalan instead of Spanish. This was not only confusing, but also very frustrating. I enjoyed my time in Barcelona, but I was glad to return to Granada at the end of the weekend.

Showing my family around Granada was a lot of fun. It was good to have visitors, and to show them everything about this city that I've fallen in love with. At the end of their time here, they came over to my apartment to have tapas with my host mom. I really enjoyed translating for them and watching them interact with each other. When my family said goodbye, it was kind of bittersweet. I told my mom that I'll be coming home in less than 2 months, and she asked if that's good or bad- I honestly had to think about that question. While there are many things I look forward to at home, I'm definitely loving my time in Spain. It will feel good to look back on this entire experience and see how much I've learned, but I'm not ready for it to be over yet. I can't even imagine how 10 weeks flew by and I only have 8 left! Luckily the next 4 weeks will be the most exciting of the trip: a week in italy, 4 days in Paris, and a weekend in Portugual! I'm excited to see more of Europe, but sad to leave Spain for so much time.