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Take Away - Barcelona SAE Blog

Written by Omar Granado | May 4, 2016 9:51:11 AM

Barcelona is a city full of history, tradition and fun; Visitors can find a great variety of activities and places to eat, have a drink, meet locals, and much more. Personally, I love to drink a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) every morning, go for a walk in Barceloneta (local beach), listen to the street musicians, feed the pigeons in Plaza Catalunya, etc.

There are plenty of reasons why, people fall in love with Barcelona. From a foreign student perspective, I see Barcelona as a place where I can explore, discover and learn about a vast of traditions, culture and places. After being here for 4 months, I can take away so many different things, but the following are the most significant.

Being exposed to it every day, the Spanish culture is one factor that I have adopted and integrated the most during my staying here.I have implemented multiple daily routines that Spanish people do, and I love it, enjoying a vermouth on a Sunday afternoon, greeting new guests by kissing their cheek, eat some patatas bravas at dinner,  and much more. Culture is definitely that key factor that would have a lot of impact during the staying, but it is also the most fun to discover.

Passion, I developed a passion for learning, exploring and discovery. I haven’t been away from home this long before, this provides a great opportunity to find new passions (or for self-growth) for everyone open to new experiences, emotions, and I tried to get to know the city as much as I could, after exploring a new area of the city every day, I started to enjoy the feeling of discovering new stuff, and this started to develop a passion in me to explore and learn not only in Barcelona, but also whole world.

Fulfilling, I had previous trips before and always the same feeling of ‘something was missed’ is left, however, here I feel nostalgic for leaving. There’s a lot more to see in this beautiful city, but I personally feel that I got a lot from the city, got to experience the most of it, and explored the places interested me the most.

All I have left to say is be open to a change, and be ready to get the most out of any new experiences. I tried to have an open-minded all the time, and that definitely helped me enjoy more from new situations, festivals, celebrations, routines, people, etc.

Andres Granado
University of Delaware ’18
International Business and Marketing Major
Spanish Studies Minor
Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity