WEEK 1: Syllabus week?

WE MADE IT! 

After a whole semester of talking about studying abroad and being in Barcelona, I can't believe that it is finally here. There was always the constant struggle of not wanting to leave behind my friends at TCU for a semester but also wanting to do something different and explore a new country to get out of my comfort zone. My family has gone on a few trips to Europe and other places around the world, but to change my whole routine and way of life living in a new country was definitely something I wanted to try. 

So far, Barcelona has been amazing. Liz and I are living in an apartment with two other girls and our RA, Claudia, who is from a village about two hours from here. Going into this, I was expecting a small, beat-down apartment with no space, so I was shocked when I came into a spacious, fully-furnished apartment with kitchen amenities, a nice dining room table, TV, and spacious rooms. This first week we have been focused on getting settled into the apartment (Liz and I share a room and a connected bathroom) and getting used to the slight cultural differences. We are about a 25 minute metro ride from our school, which hasn't been too bad considering we are close to a metro stop and have quickly figured out our way to get there.

View from the top of Placa de Espana

Accomplishments: broil toast in the oven (because we don't have a toaster), successfully find the wine opener, cook our first meal, locate the dumpster outside, take less than three minute showers to conserve hot water, realize wedges have to come off before stepping foot in the apartment to not wake residents below us, find a good running path, that not tipping is okay, and that you need to bring your own bag to carry home groceries. 

Still figuring out: how to successfully brew a pot of coffee, use the correct functions on the washing machine, wake up before 11am, where to buy refrigerated milk, live without air conditioning, use a Spanish SIM card correctly, the purpose of "x" in Catalan's vocabulary, and why there are more Zara stores than cafes. 

As someone who considers herself a morning person, getting used to Barcelona time has been very different. Most of the time we have dinner around 9 or even 10 and then go out after that so the days are much longer than we are used to at home. We have only had Spanish classes start so far so I am excited to meet more people when our full load of classes start tomorrow. At first I was really excited about having 9am classes so I could have the rest of the day to explore and now I am slightly regretting it...but I'm sure once we get in the routine of classes, it will be a lot easier waking up. 

So why am I doing this blog? Of course I was against it at first because it seems like a typical study abroad student just blogging about her time abroad and all the interesting places she's traveled or things she's discovered. Liz convinced me into doing this to share my semester abroad with my family and friends, so I thought I would give it a try. The purpose of Talk Tapas to Me is to share my eats, drinks, and finds throughout the city of Barcelona and other places I travel. My goal is to find the best tapas in Barcelona, see every coffee shop there is, and be able to talk my dad's ear off about Spanish wines when he visits during Easter. So join me as I learn more about this incredible city and everything that it has to offer.