Hello again from Barcelona! Technically tomorrow morning will mark two weeks that I’ve been here. I’m amazed its been two weeks already but then I also feel like I’ve been here for forever; time is wacky. I was reading about the stages of adapting to a new culture for my Psychology class (totally should’ve majored in psych, its so interesting and I actually want to do the readings for this class compared to forcing myself to read the academic journals for my environmental studies class. I’m making a bold claim to say I would even read the readings, but we’re at the beginning of the semester and I have to reach for the stars), and it was talking about the honeymoon phase and then sinking into a deep depression and ultimately leveling out and finding satisfaction with your new situation. I’d heard about these stages many times before, but this particular article made the point that they have very little scientific backing. If I were to go along with it just for fun, I feel like I maybe experienced a small watered-down dose of each stage during my first weeks here. If we can think of my time in Barcelona as a cupcake: I was eating the same cake and frosting every day but the sprinkles would shift.

The first few days would’ve been my honeymoon, where just walking down the street got me excited (to be fair, walking down virtually any street anywhere in Europe would probably excite me because there’s just so much to see). I was so, so happy to have a cozy bedroom, clean bathroom, and a nice Host Mom who always welcomed me back home, and I was soaking up Catalan culture like a thirsty sponge (not true at all- I wanted to be, but I was battling my eyelids to stay awake so I could hear literally any of what we were being told during orientation). Anyways, it was new and novel and exciting and I felt like a real adult.

Then dawned the morning of the fourth day and… the storm clouds of an intense depression rolled in. I cried myself to sleep, I cried myself out of bed in the morning, and I used my own tears to brush my teeth (very salty)- what could be sadder than that? I hope you know I’m lying. In truth I don’t feel like I really ever got that sad about anything. I didn’t miss Talkis or my cat or the American version of McDonald’s like my friends did, and I didn’t find orientation insufferable like the Miami girls (just extremely sleep-provoking). Of course I missed my family (hi guys!!), but it honestly felt like it would feel at St. Olaf- somehow being 4,500 miles away is not hugely different from being 45 minutes away (I know others feel differently). This probably means I miss them more than most other college students, because there are times throughout the day where I really wish I could hug them even for just a second, but then again the same thing happens at St. Olaf. And as for my friends, 90% of them are off on their own adventures and are also halfway across the world!

The main cause of my dark and stormy depression stage and fitful nights tossing and turning and not being able to sleep (joking again) was being worried about making friends on the program. Actually, compared to how it could’ve gone, making friends was a seamless process and was not even that stressful at all. I was never left without a group, and I love most everyone I’ve met (which I guess makes sense because many of them are from St. Olaf. I self-selected the right school I guess). That being said, I will always find a way to worry, and I stressed myself out about the potential of our friend group dissolving and never seeing each other again after orientation ended. Very much first-week-of-freshman-year thoughts and concerns. What I didn’t realize is that we all genuinely like each other and want to hang out, and if we want to hang out we’ll find ways to hang out even if we don’t see each other every single day. The best part is I will see one of them every single day because we live together! Natalie and I (and Gracie) already have one weekend trip to Switzerland booked and have plans for Portugal and Andorra in the mix. I go back and forth between feeling super connected to all the new people I’ve met here and like a powerhouse of relationship building and, five minutes later, brainstorming ways I could survive as a hobbit in a remote forest where I would never have to talk to anyone again because I feel like I don’t really know anyone and how could I possibly be friends with people who have like 3,000 followers on Instagram. But I’m guessing someone with very sage wisdom would tell me that none of that is uncommon.

And onto the third stage where I can comfortably position myself now: the leveling out and finding satisfaction. I’ve (mainly) stopped gawking over my new friends and searching for their approval and started joking around, being myself, and having fun. Mainly. I’ve become accustomed to eating whatever I find on the dinner table, even if said thing is “cheese” but looks like whale blubber, or is a slice of ham that appears to have an equal ratio of fat to meat. I’ve stopped scanning the sidewalk for dog poop anytime I walk anywhere and checking the bottom of my shoes when I get back to the apartment. Okay, that’s a little bit of a lie- I definitely still do that. What I’m getting at is that now life in Barcelona feels like exactly that: Life, and not a trip. I’m not going to say I’m practically a local, but I’m developing routines and picking up on behaviors that initially confused me. I’ve developed a balanced work vs. play mindset where I’m still in discovery and awe mode but homework and sleep are catching more and more ground.

Well that whole thing was supposed to be like three sentences and then I was going to write about what I did this weekend, but alas… here we are. I’ll give a really quick tiny summary of the weekend events and maybe write more later!

Thursday:

  • Day 2 of internship. It was the final day of intensives for the kids at Learnlife, so I got to admire amazing art pieces, help them set up their restaurants, and listen to a bunch of basically professionally recorded songs!
  • Went out to Brunch and Cake with my fellow interns for lunch and got a basque cheesecake!
  • Booked flights and hostels for our Switzerland trip
  • Dinner, made possible by Cristina
  • Went out- the college student meaning- with friends to the Sutton club, which was the most fun club I’ve been to yet. We stayed and danced until 3am.

Friday:

  • 1st 3 day weekend! It felt like infinity!
  • Slept until 1pm (cry) (cry) (cry)
  • Went shopping with Natalie and Gracie. Stores visited: Bershka, Pull & Bear, McDonalds (referenced in my “Post About Nothing”). I bought a really short pink skirt and a gray sweater for just $25.00!
  • Dinner, again made possible by Cristina
  • Debated doing something but decided not to because we had to wake up early the next day to catch the bus

Saturday:

  • 1.5 hour bus ride to Tossa de Mar
  • We had from 10:00am-7:00pm to explore the town. However, it was mainly abandoned and empty for the winter (its more of a summery beach town) and it was torrential down pouring for the majority of the afternoon sooo we spent the last 2 hours huddled inside a supermarket counting down the minutes until we could get back on the bus :) The morning was fun though! We hiked up this hill to a castle and soaked in the most gorgeous views- I’ll post photos! And we had a good lunch at a piza place.
  • Went out that night to George Payne (George Payless haha inside joke) Irish Bar. It was extremely hot, loud, and smokey and not the most enjoyable place to be. Gracie, Natalie, and I played cards: a few rounds of B.S. and a few rounds of Garbage, then headed back around 1:30am.

Sunday:

  • Woke up and finished reading Hudson Bay Bound, finally!!
  • Went on my first true run since I’ve been here! Explored 5 miles around Sarría Sant-Gervasi and it was sunny and not raining for the first time in forever. I saw a few markets, churches, and green rolling hills in the background.
  • Natalie and I took the metro into central Barcelona and found an adorable coffee shop where we sat for 5 hours and did homework. I ordered a pistachio croissant and ended up getting banana bread instead because the lady accidentally sold my croissant to someone else (after I’d ordered and payed for it). The banana bread actually ended up being really good.
  • Dinner made possible by… Cristina! We had canelons, which are like a Catalan lasagna/enchilada.
  • Purchased flights to Portugal! Got scammed again and the flights ended up being $15 more than I thought
  • Blogged and pretended to do homework

Now I really have to go to bed! Goodnight, good afternoon, good morning wherever you are on the planet!