!Hola!
The first couple of weeks in Barcelona have allowed me to finally get into the flow of the city and explore all it has to offer. One of the most fascinating parts for me has been witnessing what I learned about Spanish culture in class at Northwestern in real life. I took Spanish 199 in the fall and seeing some aspects of the culture I learned about play out in real life makes me realize how incredible it is to experience something versus just learn about it. One morning, for example, I met my friend in a plaza where two groups, or teams, were practicing constructing castells: a tradition of creating human towers that orginated in Tarragona. While I remembered researching this tradition in school, watching the two teams compete for height and the skills of the team members was an unbelievable experience. Another aspect that interested me of the Catalan people specifically was the common demonstration of pride and the demand to free the political prisoners of Catalonia following the political events in the past year. Before coming, I did not really think about how the fight for independence would be represented, and so I was surprised to see the amount of yellow ribbons and banners signifying the demand to release the prisoners. Not only are there simple messages, however, but plenty of artwork displayed in creative ways and locations throughout the city.
Something I’ve been trying to do more frequently in Barcelona is getting to know its various neighborhoods. Barceloneta, the neighborhood we are staying in, became a bit of a bubble for me after the first week and I realized, when doing research for a class project, how much I still do not know about and how much I have not visited Barcelona. During the past couple of weeks I have explored several different parts of Barcelona, something that really made me get a better understanding of the city as a whole and an appreciation for the uniqueness of each area. The ambience, artwork, and architecture differ in each neighborhood and it’s an awesome feeling to recognize the individuality of each one. Hopefully throughout these next few weeks I’ll be able to take some time to explore others I haven’t had the chance to visit (and return to the ones I absolutely loved!) so that I feel like I have taken the time to learn about and experience all I can during my stay here.
Looking over the WHOLE city from the Bunkers del Carmel.
A castell
Artwork spotted in the neighborhood of Grácia, where there is a great focus on being environmentally-friendly.