Barcelona by Megan Benrud

Wow, I’m in Spain, alone—holy crap! I wasn’t always alone, you know, I had a friend with who met me in Brussels—where some members of our EU group started things meeting with different parts of the European Union—and he also spent a week with me in Barcelona; getting acquainted with the city. Even though I’d already been sick for about a week, I’ve enjoyed my time thus far. Now, he’s gone and it’s time to really hit the research. However, I find it more and more difficult each minute knowing that there is some form of Gaudi architecture that I have yet to see, or a spot on the beach calling my name. But I can do it. I am ready to go, and my computer breaks… well what are you going to do? I fixed it at a shop where there were two migrant owners [now residents of Spain] from Cuba. It was at this point I began to reconsider my topic on my project.

I had a couple of interviews later that week and they lasted for over an hour. However, they were well worth it. I noticed that those interviews were with people whose origins where not of Spain, similar to the Cuban business owners. I worked on other contacts but for some reason not many of the people I’ve attempted to reach like to use/communicate through e-mail.

All in all so far, things have been great. I’ve enjoyed the city and have been able to become more acquainted with the sights, culture and people. I could even see myself moving here for sometime—I never thought I’d have such life changing thoughts out of this research project!