and then spend the rest of the day either exploring the city, going to the beach or doing schoolwork. I don’t have classes on Thursdays or Fridays, so I usually leave on Thursdays for a weekend trip to a new place or country. On the weekends that I do stay in Barcelona, my friends and I go on day trips around or outside of the city, play a lot of cards, go to street markets and/or local festivals and organize big dinners and events for us all to go to together.
The community in Barcelona is welcoming and friendly. Whether I'm being a regular at a store and practicing Spanish with the workers I see daily, or I'm meeting new people at new places around the city, I meet lots of people who are happy to talk! (Most know English as well, which is helpful.) Meeting the locals is an amazing way to immerse myself in the culture; they have great insights into the best places to check out and try good local cuisine. They are also interested in learning about where I come from and what the United States is like. In addition to locals, Barcelona has many international study abroad students like me, so it's cool to connect with them and talk about things that we have in common.
Overall, my daily life here is spontaneous; I usually play a lot of things by ear! Barcelona is very lively, and I’ve realized here that someone is always doing something exciting that I'd like to join, which can make life really busy. I have had to get used to this busyness and find my own methods of balancing it because I learned quickly that it is easy to get burned out. That's why I need to take a break sometimes and give myself time to recharge physically, socially and emotionally.
