I exit the L4 metro stop, Jaume I, in Barcelona and walk to my usual cafe, Federal Gotic. It feels so good to say that I don’t need Google maps to find it (and makes me feel more like a local). I walk through the streets, the markets, and the vendors selling “FC Barcelona” jerseys and various restaurants with outdoor seating. I walk inside Federal Gotic and order a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and reflect on the fact that I’ve been living in Barcelona for over a month. I’ve never been away from home that long, not even away from my mom for that long! However, I don’t feel out of place or like foreigner here. The fact that I already speak Spanish, of course, is a beneficial factor but the main language spoken in Catalonia isn’t Spanish at all, but Catalan. I don’t think I could feel more comfortable than I already do. The city is just as welcoming as its people.
As a Journalism & Design major at The New School, studying abroad, specifically in Barcelona, is the perfect location for a journalist to be. With President Carles Puigdemont suspending the declaration and two of the Catalan independence leaders, Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, the Catalonia region continues to strive to separate from its home country, Spain. Along with traveling to different cities and living in Barcelona, I’m observing history right where it’s happening.
My favorite class at my host university, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, is Global Media and International Journalism. My professor, who is a practicing Foreign Correspondent, encouraged us to attend a protest that was taking place near La Rambla. Helicopters were hovering over and every time they flew by, people chanted, and as an elderly man handed me a candle, I found myself joining in, participating in history.
When one thinks of Barcelona, they think of siestas, sangria, the Mediterranean sea, tapas, flamenco and soccer. However, before I arrived, I tried to not consume too many expectations, so I came with none. A few hours before my flight, I watched the Disney Channel original movie “The Cheetah Girls 2“, the one where they all visit Barcelona to compete in a music festival. As the movie got to the scene where the girls sing “Strut”, I watched them dancing along the city streets thinking to myself, “Tomorrow that’ll be me”. I’ll be strutting the Barcelona streets.
Have you ever listened to “Drops of Jupiter” by Train? It’s about a girl who returns home from traveling the world; Patrick Monahan begins the song with “Now that she’s back in the atmosphere with drops of Jupiter in her hair.” As most college students, one of my dreams is to see the world, travel and to participate in the abundance that exists out there. I remember in the second episode of “Gilmore Girls”, Headmaster Charleston asked Rory, one of the protagonists, what she wants to do, and she replied, “Um….travel, see the world up close, be part of something big.” Being the first in my family to study abroad has given me this opportunity, to be a part of “something big” and I hope to return more cultured, colorful and with “drops of jupiter” in my hair.
[All photos and feature image by Caroline Dilone]