Marcquis Harris

What are you up to these days? Have you graduated? Are you working? How did your experience in Barcelona have an impact on your life?

Well since coming back from Barcelona I am continuing to complete my degree at Pierce College. I still have a long way of pursing my dream to work at NASA but I fell like this experience has put me 50x closer to that goal. Everything that I have learned including the culture, the language, and self responsibility plays a key role back here in the States. Barcelona has impacted my life in so many ways, too many to count. I am truly blessed to have had this opportunity!

If you were to sum up your Barcelona experience in one to two words, what would you say? My Barcelona Experience is…

BREATHTAKING

Explain why you chose those words.

I chose those words because I was so overwhelmed of how different and how similar Barcelona was even on first arrival. The city reminded me of a mini city; Spanish edition. My culture shock pretty much lasted the whole trip. The day trips, the buildings, the food, the beautiful people, etc, everything had me hanging at the end of a cliff, but metaphorically, in a good way. I knew if I fell, I would just fall into a pit of super soft pillows. Then I would climb back to the top of that cliff and hang just to experience that “breath taking” moment again.

What was your favorite place to eat in Barcelona? Favorite food?

All the places that I have eaten were absolute great, but George Paynes Irish Pub is absolutely stunning. During lunch they have buy one get one free off the whole menu. Each portion is fairly sized so you’d get put into a food coma by the time you’re done. Besides Pan con tomate, I would have to say patatas bravas. Pretty much every place had them and it was amazing, especially at George Paynes Irish Pub. The red sauce with garlic cream cheese(that’s what I call it because I don’t know what it is exactly) is just delicious. But most importantly, I enjoyed eating with my host family.

If you had one perfect day in Barcelona where would you go, and what would you do?

If I had one perfect day I would go to the beach early in the morning to watch the sunrise. Then after I would catch some breakfast at a place I don’t know (because I love trying new things). After that I would probably walk around somewhere and get lost so I could discover something new. At lunch I would, go to my favorite place George Paynes and eat a lot of food. I’d probably be in a food coma so I’d come home and take a 1-2 hour nap. After that I would catch a movie with some friends. Lastly, I would come back home and spend time with my host family.

What is one piece of advice that you have for future students coming to Barcelona?

To be open minded. Forget everything that you knew about this place, and just submerge yourself in the culture as much as possible to actually get a taste of Barcelona. I know a key factor from stopping someone from doing that is the language barrier. Don’t worry about it at all. Someone will literally go out of their way to help you because people are very welcoming there. Go on day trips, talk to locals, hangout with your host family as much as possible to get the full experience. And by the end of the session, any pre-assumptions you had taking with you would be gone.