Spain: Adaptability

Submitted by Nicole Caracciolo on the 2019 fall semester study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain…

My friends and I spent our weekend in Dublin and planned a trip to the Cliffs of Moher for Friday, November 8th. We had to wake up very early because the group was meeting at 6:50 am for a 7:30 AM departure. There were two buses to fill up what seemed like way too many people for the amount of space provided. Once the buses were almost full, they asked for people to split up in 2s or 1s, but we could not because we were 5 people. We somehow managed to be the only people without seats on either bus because people behind us were in smaller groups and were able to split easily. There was no representative from the tour company and the bus drivers had nothing to do with the situation, so they could not explain why there were not enough seats for us. They would not allow us to squeeze either. It was really just the luck of the draw. Had we been the first people in line this would not have happened, but our placement in line completely screwed us. So, the tour left without us. Thankfully, we were able to find another tour that was leaving at 8 AM and we made sure we were the first people on the bus. We ended up having the most amazing time and were actually thankful we ended up on that tour instead of the original plan. I learned that you must be adaptable in all situations because you never know how things are going to work out. That was the most unpredictable thing that could have happened and we were able to be flexible and make a new plan on the spot.

I visited Montserrat, which is a monastery built in the mountains of Barcelona.