Submitted by Kaitlin Vienne on the 2017 winter session program in Barcelona, Spain sponsored by the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship…
Traveling to Europe for the first time has definitely been an experience worth having. It has been three days thus far and I feel as if I have seen so much, yet have so much left to see! After our 7.5 hour flight delay at JFK due to a snow storm, we have finally arrived and are residing in Placa de Tetuan in Barcelona. There are 20 students on the program and we are all staying in the same building split between 3 floors.
A major adjustment has been made, as there has been hardly any access to cellular data or WiFi. Since American students seem to be addicted to cell phones and social media, it is easy to imagine that this is definitely a change. We have very weak WiFi connection in our apartments and only access to the internet in cafes and restaurants (so it is a great excuse to find new places!). It has been a bit difficult in times when we want to contact our families and need directions (using physical maps – what a sight!), but otherwise, it is extremely refreshing to be disconnected for such a long period of time and to solely focus on the beauty of the city. Without the internet connection, there is no pull to constantly check the phone and the time spent with each other is much more valuable.
So far, we have visited the Barcelona Cathedral and the Gothic Quarter. The area is absolutely beautiful, especially near the water. We have been walking, using the metro and taking taxis. The metro is much cleaner than the NYC subway system and has a much calmer environment. You can actually see the various train cars moving and turning on the tracks, as all of the tracks are connected and open on the inside, much different than changing cars in NYC as each sector is separate. It is interesting to see the train turn from the outside and watch the cars in front of you sway, but you don’t seem to feel the movement.
One thing, I have noticed is that most people walk dogs with no leashes. The dogs stay by the owner’s side and do not wander, especially in the metro stations, something almost never seen in the United States. Also, drivers actually stop for crosswalks throughout the city. Throughout NY,C everyone seems to fly through crosswalks with no thought to stop for pedestrians, however, that is not the case here.
Using euros has gotten much easier, as it is so similar to the U.S. dollar. However, there is very little to no tipping here. It is so different as we spend so much on tipping services in the United States. The mannerisms are very interesting to note, as people truly value and enjoy sitting in cafes and restaurants rather than constantly running around, taking food and coffees to go as we so frequently do at home. Time spent together and meals eaten are highly valued, and it seems we have lost that important aspect across the United States. As dinner is usually eaten around 9:00 pm -10:00 pm here, it is a radical change from the 5:00 pm -6:00 pm usual dinner in the United States. All meals seemed to be “appetizer” sized, so we must order many tapas to fill ourselves up. However, the gelato is unreal and definitely something that I will miss when I return home.
As most residents speak some bit of English, the language barrier has been a bit of a challenge. In most places, I am able to speak to and understand locals, and it has been very exciting to finally put my five years of studying Spanish to the test. It turns out that I have remembered and know more Spanish than most of my peers on the program which is pretty cool because I am able to speak the most to the natives and try to make the best out of my language skills.