Submitted by Melissa R. Vitale on the 2018 winter session program in Barcelona, Spain sponsored by the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship…
It is only week one and Barcelona has already stolen my heart. I have done so much, with little sleep and lots of adrenaline in the past five days and I could not be more content. The city is outstandingly beautiful with the great architectural and elegant buildings on every street corner you turn, the shopping is invigorating and the cuisine is just simply impeccable. I have not done much sightseeing yet since I have been juggling classes, day trips and an internship, but I have definitely made unforgettable memories thus far.
To start off, my internship is awesome, as I am helping a private travel company called ONA Tailored Travel Experiences improve on their social media and digital marketing. The tasks necessary for this position correlate well with the direction I would like to go into for my career in the future. It’s only the first week and I already have an opportunity to continue working for ONA after the program ends, which is why I chose this study abroad program as opposed to the others since I am making life long connections and getting real world experience.
Now, moving on to some excursions I have participated in, the other day we went to a famous food market to try Catalonia’s most famous cuisine. I tried things that I never thought I would try like sardines and chorizo and enjoyed everything so much that I don’t know how I will go back to eating food in the States. Along with the food tour, we also visited Fundació Alicia and the medieval monastery of Sant Benet. Fundació Alícia is a research centre devoted to technological innovation in cuisine, to the improvement of eating habits and to the evaluation of the food and
gastronomic heritage. The monastery is where we learned about the medieval history of the monks. I am not much of a history person, but I appreciated the history behind the magnificent monastery.
To end the great first week, we witnessed the most amazing soccer game, in my eyes, between F.C. Barcelona and Celta Vigo where we witnessed Messi, one of the world’s best soccer players, score twice in a matter of five minutes. F.C. Barcelona won 5-0, so naturally being the first live soccer game I’ve watched in a stadium, I can’t complain. The Camp Nou stadium was remarkable and I cannot be more content with my experience there. Overall, I am super impressed with this microsession abroad program in Barcelona and excited to see what will be in store for me over the next two weeks!