Greetings from SPAIN! The first day was amazing. My excitement covered up the most of my jet-lag. Just seeing how different the city layout is blew my mind. I have heard that the United States does not have many walkable cities, especially as large as Barcelona. The streets are truly built around the sidewalks and they are rarely small! I also appreciate how you can get basic essentials at every block! There is a Super Market or Super Merkat at every corner, and they all provide cheap essentials apart from the higher prices you see at convenience stores in the U.S.. The apartment is also very nice and spacious! I am excited to learn more about Spanish media and from the visits and speakers that we will have.
The most challenging part of day 1 was going to La Flouta, a tapas restaurant that was recommended by the woman from CEA who helped us move in. Only one staff member spoke english, and he was busy attending to other tables. We had to order by pointing at the menu, and we ended up staying an hour longer than we wanted to since we did not know how to ask for the bill. This was mainly because we all lacked the confidence to speak in Spanish or Catalan. I can read Spanish pretty well, but I need to work on my confidence in speaking it.
The first full day was a better experience, after our orientation at CEA, we went to another tapas restaurant and tried a variety of their tapas, such as their fried squid with a citrus mayonnaise, shrimp scampi, their patatas bravas, and so much more! It was a lot of food, and when my stomach was full I think I stored some in my heart from the sheer love of all of the flavors. For my main course, I had their rice and cuttlefish, which was outstanding! And for desert I finished it off with the Catalan style creme brûlée. The walking tour was also a lot of fun! I got some great photos of the city, but was scared to bring my camera with me since we were walking La Rambla.
Adios for now my Barcelona Buddies.
