I always knew that I wanted to study abroad because I had a desire to travel but my parents did not. I had heard great things about it from family members and other students who had done it. It would be my first time leaving the country and I’d be doing it alone. The process of choosing a place to go was difficult for me because I had a wedding in the beginning of May, so I had to find a program that ended early enough for me to return and attend it. I knew that I wanted to go to Europe and improve my Spanish, so I wanted to go to Spain. Barcelona had the only program that ended before May so that’s where I ended up. I knew that it would be difficult to improve my Spanish speaking skills and immerse myself in the Spanish culture there because it’s such a touristy city, but I was still excited. Throughout the fall semester, as the departure date approached and it became more real, I got more nervous and questioned whether I still wanted to go. When the day finally arrived for me to leave, I remember sitting in the airport and thinking to myself, “What have I done? I don’t want to do this anymore.” Despite these thoughts, I proceeded to board my plane and arrived in Barcelona. The moral of this story is: don’t be afraid to be afraid. It’s a big deal to leave your friends and family behind and travel alone to a new country for an extended period of time. All the fear is worth it though because it is a life changing experience you’ll never forget.

If you’re looking to improve your Spanish speaking skills and experience the Spanish culture, I wouldn’t recommend Barcelona unless you are willing to put in a lot of work to achieve this. Because it is such a touristy city, most restaurants, stores, museums, etc. have workers that speak English so it can be tempting to just respond in English. I’ll admit I fell into this trap more than I would’ve liked because it was easier and more comfortable. I wish I would’ve made more of an effort to only speak Spanish even if people responded in English. There was also a lot of other Americans studying in Barcelona at the same time, so it was easy to just hang out with them and talk in English. I’m shy so I don’t usually go out of my way to meet people. As a result, most of my friends were from the U.S. and we spoke in English because it was easier and there was less of a chance of feeling out of place. I did meet one girl from the U.S. who had studied abroad in Colombia previously. She was pretty fluent in Spanish so we would speak Spanish together. She also had made some local friends in Barcelona who I met and hung out with. Looking back, I definitely wish that I had made more of an effort to meet some local students so I could practice my Spanish and learn about their cultures and experiences.

If I did it over again, I would probably try to do direct enrollment so I would have an easier time interacting with the locals. All of the classes I took were taught in Spanish but they were with other Americans, so it felt the same as taking Spanish classes here at UMass. It would have been more challenging if I had done direct enrollment, but I would’ve gotten the full experience of what it’s like to be a student in Barcelona. I did my best to still practice my Spanish and appreciate the culture. I lived with a host mom who was from Argentina and didn’t speak any English. She made dinner for my roommate and I every night and we would have conversations about our families and where we traveled. We would also sometimes watch TV together after dinner in Spanish. In the beginning, my host mom showed us around the city and told us the best places to go. In addition, my study abroad program offered a chance to do a language exchange program where we were paired with a local who wanted to learn English at the same time. I did this and my partner was Marta. We met twice a week for an hour each time and one day we would speak in English and the other we would speak in Spanish. It was really cool to hear about her experiences in Barcelona and other places around Europe. She was studying to be a lawyer and taking classes to learn English. I found that my Spanish improved a little as a result of this because I wasn’t afraid to make mistakes since we were both learning a language. Even though my Spanish didn’t improve as much as I had hoped, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Barcelona and would love to return again. It is possible to work on your Spanish speaking skills and experience the culture in Barcelona if you are willing to put in the effort and seek out opportunities.