From the London Bridge to Ramblas

I am finally settled in my flat in the Ramblas of Barcelona. It has been an extremely long four days but exciting nonetheless.

Starting off in London, I was somehow brought back to the familiarity of an online virtual environment that I had studied in my Media Theory class last semester named SecondLife. Through this virtual environment, one can create human avatars and transport themselves into different worlds with the click of a button.

I was humored when first arriving in London because similar to Second Life, I had transported (not as easily) from one world to another within six hours. I spent almost a full day at my home in the United States, unconsciously immersing myself in a culture I am so accustomed to by everyday activities such as eating, interacting, and shopping. What makes it such an unconscious act is being set in such a routine that I don't think twice about the little details of the culture surrounding me.

At 7:30 pm, I boarded a plane at the JFK airport and flew off to London. After six hours, I entered a world five hours ahead of my home city and full of people who act, speak, dress, and live in, literally, extremely foreign ways.

It's extremely easy to sense the intense patriotism that exists in these countries. As Americans, us students stick out like sore thumbs when traveling in large groups of people, all speaking loud in excitement about our first few nights in a foreign country. Glare after glare, I realized that the inhabitants of London and Barcelona take offense to such "obnoxious" ways.

Regardless of the negatives, there are a significant amount of residents that are extremely willing to help us when in need and are excited and respectful of the fact that American students are so interested in immersing in their culture.

The food in Barcelona has been wonderful so far. London had very similar pub-like food that is so prevalent in America so I was not able to sense much of difference. Although some restaurant menus in Barcelona at first had seemed seem a bit Americanized, groups of us make sure to seek out the authentic hole-in-the wall restaurants that surround Las Ramblas. For example, tonight we ate at a small restaurant residing on the mediterranean where "futbol" fans got loud and rowdy while watching the Italy vs. Paraguay game. I sat there and took in the full atmosphere and excitment while eating tapas and drinking sangria, the typical hispanic food and drink.

I find it extremely interesting to eat at the restaurants that force you to speak the language and try different types of food than what you may be used to. Settling for the places that are the most convenient negates the purpose of the study abroad experience. I'm not going to lie and say its an easy task to take the challenge, but once you stray further from your comfort zone it becomes a lot more exciting to involve yourself in a culture extremely unfamiliar to your own.