¡Hola amigos!
I don’t know if you knew, but that is spanish for Hello friends!
I am back from my four months studying in Barthelona (the natives speak with a lisp that I must’ve developed). And let me just say: Studying abroad changed my life.
I feel so culturally appreciative and a better person for it. I’m not saying I’m better than you, but I do know how to order alcohol (or as the locals say, alcohol) in two different languages now.
Before you all say ‘Daddy’s money’ paid for this I will let you know that I paid for it myself . . . I just used Daddy’s credit card. But I only used his card for emergencies. I had to use it to book flights, rebook flights I missed, and buy new ropas. Sorry, I mean clothes. It’s almost like I’m bilingual now. After I spent all my babysitting money by day five, how else do you expect me to pay for things?
After spending four months in Europe I feel like I have grasped a better understanding of the United Nations and the world community as a whole. Did you know there were wars before the American Revolution? All this time I thought we invented democracy, but apparently an old Greek dude did.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however. The beginning of my journey proved to be especially difficult. Firstly, there were no tacos in Spain. I packed my sombrero and souvenir Taco Bell cup leading the locals to shoot me some weird looks. I learned after a couple of weeks that Tacos are in fact Mexican, and not Spanish.
It took me a little while to understand the Spanish fashion. I pulled up with my flip flops, baseball cap, and American flag tank top because Travel.com rated Barcelona as one of Europe’s best beach towns. So if you see me this fall in sophisticated pants and sweaters it’s because I am a more cultured person now. According to the one Spanish blog that I received in English, the fashion of Spain is soon heading to the Estados Unidos, or United States. Before you know it, Brick Street will be filled with sweaters.
Do not worry though, I will not be the stereotypical abroad kid who won’t shut up about how studying abroad changed their life. I will only bore you with my experiences when I feel like it would benefit the entire group. For example, if my friends are talking about football (American football), I will have to explain that in Europe, futbol is American soccer. And naturally this will lead to my story of when I went to a futbol game while studying abroad in Barcelona.
Despite having to retake all my classes, I am so looking forward to this next semester. Apparently “becoming more appreciative of other cultures” is not a good enough excuse for missing all of your midterms to go to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day. Also, I am going to try my hardest to get rid of the lisp I have obtained since basically becoming a Barthelona local.
¡Adios!
(Bye!)
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Patrick Sullivan (Patrick Sullivan)
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