First thoughts of Barcelona!

So…

Having arrived just under a week ago now I feel as though I’m in a good position to make my first update.

First off, I am a 20 year old neuroscience student. I have a work placement at la Universitat autónoma de Barcelona. And I am living in l’Eixample in Barcelona.

General first thoughts when I arrived.

When I first arrived, I was honestly one of the most nervous I’ve ever been. I had no clue who I was going to live with, where they were from even what language they spoke as I did not book accommodation with a university in the hopes of throwing myself into learning Spanish to as greater degree as I can (as I studied it at college). I just kept reminding myself of that as I was landing and moving in and even throughout my first shopping experience as all of it felt so overwhelming.

Once I’d sorted the bare necessities such as bedding and food I did have a chance to decompress a little bit. I had asked my flatmates (who all seemed lovely upon first meetings with them even though there is an obvious language barrier) if they’d like to go for any food or drinks that evening. I wasn’t expecting a response as it was midweek though a couple of them said yes a bit later on that evening. I almost took back the offer as I was really tired and in all honesty quite nervous, however I could not be happier that I went. In that first moment of socialising and not instead staying at home in my own head about everything it made a huge difference. I was instantly more comfortable here, though in all honesty (like university) it will not truly feel like home for a while.

Since then I have noticed a dramatic increase in the level of my Spanish, at first I could hardly string a sentence or even a few welcoming phrases together due to my nerves, but since then I have been more confident and even though my Spanish is far from perfect. I am already thanking myself for living where I do and committing to learning the language.

I have also met up with a few people from university which is very lucky as it brings a sense of familiarity to living in a completely different country. We had something to eat, drink and went to a firework festival and a concert at Bogatell beach, something that you’d never be able to just do if you were living back in the UK.

As well as that, I started my first day of my work placement. And like everywhere else the people here have been lovely and welcoming even though they are all PhD students or doctors and are levels above me in terms of knowledge. The placement is also in English which makes the work environment much easier too, although around the office and department they do tend to speak Spanish with each other which I hope to join in on.

I have also signed up for a track membership and a gym membership which will hopefully be a fun pastime for me as I loved doing so back in the UK. Although signing up for the track was a little difficult due to the language barrier and took a little longer than expected but either way the people involved were friendly and always trying to help the best they could do.

I have very high hopes for the rest of the year. I can’t wait for everything from the work to the social life, weather and enjoying what the city has to offer.

~Jacob