I survived the trip, and I have no idea how! It was my first time traveling by myself, let alone internationally, and in Portland my flight gate was changed twice, in Atlanta the boarding process was postponed hallway through because of a thunder storm, and on the plane about two hours before landing in Barcelona there was a man who stopped breathing and didn’t have a pulse! He is ok now, thankfully. Needless to say, I was relieved to be on solid ground. I met one of my roommates as soon as I got out of customs and baggage, and it turns out we were on the same exact flight! When we got to our apartment, both of us were pleasantly surprised. It was much larger than we had anticipated, we had a washer and dryer, two bathrooms, terraces for each of the bedrooms, a fully equip kitchen, and a lovely sitting/dining area. It looks as if they had just designed and decorated for our stay. We settled in for a few ours, and eventually our other two roommates, who are sisters from Australia, showed up. They unpacked a few of their things and then we set out to find the metro so we could make it to our 3 o’clock orientation (we were a tad late). After a few powerpoint presentations we were brought to the city center for a tour. Despite how incredibly tired I was from traveling, I felt myself falling in love with the city already!

The next day was our academic orientation, which included some presentations and then a bus trip down to the beach and a marvelous Paella lunch! Then we were free to wander the waterfront. It was so gorgeous and the water felt amazing. After another long day of walking, everyone was feeling pretty burnt out, so the next few days were filled with mild exploration and relaxation. I saw a few major landmarks, including La Sagrada Familia (which is right next to my apartment), the Arc de Triomf, Las Ramblas street, and a few others. I already know that this trip is going to be amazing 🙂

Barcelona!!