IES Abroad Barcelona

I spent two consecutive semesters in Barcelona, both times with a host family. I still consider my time abroad as the best year of my life. The city itself is magical-- after traveling around Europe, I realized if I hadn't studied abroad in Barcelona it would have been the city I would most have wanted to return to.

IES is also a great program- the professors made the classes fun and memorable and the staff was always willing to help. Coming from Penn State, it was a nice change having staff and faculty actually recognize and remember me, and I will always value the relationships I formed with my professors and the staff.

I could not have asked for more from my host family, they were hysterical! They dressed up for halloween and my host dad always had a joke ready. They always made room for me, too, like when they had a big Christmas brunch in between semesters and invited me- they even gave me a gift! When my family visited, everyone came over to eat and even though not everyone spoke English or Spanish fluently, we had a great night.

I was rarely homesick, but it was difficult to adjust between semesters-- I had already lived there for three months, so I was over the "first-month-abroad-let's-go-out-every-night," but all the Spring students were just getting started. I also missed my friends from Fall, but I still made really valuable friendships with people I met during the Spring.

I took classes at UPF, a local university, and stayed after class one day and asked a bunch of Catalan girls if they wanted to get lunch and they were so accepting and friendly! I don't think I would have made my Spanish friends if I had only taken classes at IES.

It's difficult to describe any experience abroad in a few paragraphs-- go to Barcelona and see for yourself!

Barcelona is an amazing city with a little bit of everything. The nightlife is amazing, the city is beautiful, and you can climb mountains, sit on the beach, or enjoy a walk through one of the many parks. There are museums, historical buildings, modern buildings, lots of shopping, and a whole lot of culture. Each day I would enjoy walking to my class, either at the IES abroad center or one of the Spanish universities I also took classes at. After classes, I would go get coffee with friends, hang out in the park, or go to the beach. On the weekends I was able to explore the various museums, architecture, or just wander around the city. I loved the people I lived with in my dorm, they were from all over the world. I also had an amazing internship where I was able to get to know many people born and raised in the city of Barcelona. The weather is beautiful, the people are super friendly, and it is a very accessible city. Sometimes it is almost overwhelming how much there is to do, and how little time you have there, as well as the fact you want to travel to other places in Europe. I had an amazing experience, and I would recommend this program to everyone!

Studying abroad was something that I always wanted to do, and I decided to study in Barcelona to improve my Spanish, learn more about my culture, and to experience a part of the world that I had never seen. Each day I would see amazing food, people, and things that you can't find anywhere else. I loved the culture and social aspects of Barcelona. It is a city where you can find wonderful Modern Art by artists like Gaudi, you can visit beautiful cathedrals, or you can simply walk the streets and hear and see wonderful street musicians and life around you. I'm also extremely happy that I decided to live in a homestay, because this was key to my development of Spanish. I learned a lot more about traditional daily life in Barcelona, and I even took home wonderful recipes from my senora (like how to make tortilla de patatas and coques). Along with the daily encounters around the city, my course schedule allowed me to further learn about the city and Europe as a whole. We had lots of trips to understand and appreciate things that we were studying, and I loved each day. Barcelona was amazing, and I can't wait to go back one day!

I very much enjoyed my semester studying in Barcelona. For someone who always pictured themselves living in a city, this was a great opportunity to test it out. The city itself is fantastic. There's always something interesting to do, and of course there is always the beach. Some of the highlights from my semester were the days I would spend wandering around the city's Barri Gotic. There are lots of small shops and restaurants hidden through these narrow streets. I also really enjoyed the antiques market that takes place every Thursday in Placa del Seu. One difficulty that I had was the amount of effort it took to feel immersed in the life of the city. Being in a city is a very different study abroad experience than a small town. It takes more work to seek out opportunities and make connections with local people than it would otherwise. For anyone attempting to get a more immersive experience, I would recommend living in a homestay, joining a conversation circle/language exchange program, and subscribing to one of the online news/events publications that post about happenings in the city (lecool.com is one).

Spending four months in Barcelona, Spain, one of the most cultural cities in the world will absolutely change your life and your outlook on the world. I lived with a host family for four months and they completely made the experience I had. Learning and living the Catalonian culture every day was something I'll never forget. The academics are challenging enough, but nothing unlike you'd see at any four-year institution. The staff is incredibly helpful and reliable; I was able to go to them with absolutely any question or concern, no matter how big or small. Exploring the city has so much to offer between the sites, restaurants, and nightlife. And there couldn't be a more perfect location as a launch pad to the rest of your travels in Europe. I highly recommend Barcelona as your study abroad destination and I wouldn't have done it without the IES program.

Studying abroad in Barcelona has been the best decision of my life to date. Barcelona is an incredible place to study abroad because it has a young, fun, international atmosphere with PLENTY to do. You have the beach, La Rambla, Parc de Guell and all the other Gaudi architecture, exciting nightlife, great food and best of all you get to experience the Barcelona lifestyle. This lifestyle is what I enjoyed most about my time there. I am a night owl so Barcelona was a perfect city for me, where you do everything late: eat, go out at night, go to sleep, wake up. Everyone takes their time and really enjoys life to the fullest. I had a homestay and loved improving my Spanish speaking skills and experiencing Spanish life first hand. One thing that I noticed while in my homestay, was how much Spaniards really cherish their friends and family. When my parents came to visit my homestay parents cooked a massive meal that lasted for 3 hours and included lots of great conversation. It was one of my favorite moments abroad. I also was able to take two classes at a university in Barcelona called Universitat de Pompeu Fabra. This was really cool because I got to see what a Spanish student's life was like at school. Another great opportunity that I took advantage of was all the field trip that IES offers. Through my program I was able to travel to Valencia, Sevilla, Cordoba, Montserrat and Morocco. Overall, I had an incredible experience in Barcelona and highly recommend the city and the IES program.

Studying in Barcelona through IES was a great experience. The building where the classes take place, is in the center of the city, right at the end of Las Ramblas (a key place in Barcelona.) The living situation was equally convenient. All the locations were within walking distance to school or a metro stop, so finding your way in was a snap. I had the chance to do a home stay and was a bit nervous to start, but IES assigns each group a residence assistant (RA.) The RA comes to visit you every other week to check in and make sure that your living situation is good! This way if there are any problems, you have someone to tell immediately. One last great thing was that we only had classes Monday through Thursday, so there was more time to travel on the weekends! Overall, this was an amazing study abroad trip!

I spent about five months living and studying in Barcelona, Spain and it was the best five months of my life. I would recommended this opportunity to any one interested. Spain and the city of Barcelona are beautiful, and worth experiencing. I would say that speaking spanish is useful but not entirely necessary in Barcelona however you should be aware that Catalan an important language in Barcelona and a lot of signs are in both spanish and Catalan. Many europeans speak enough English to get their point across. Barcelona is pretty central to the rest of europe so movement between locations/countries is extremely easy and quick. Also movement in the city was really easy with the public transportation however while I was studying they were doing some construction so there were some longer travel times. But in general it was one of the easiest public transportation systems I used in Europe. Pick pocketing can occur but this did not happen to frequently to students who attempted to blend into the culture and environment, because they are looking for tourist and easy targets so my suggestion would just to be aware of your surrounding and your belongings at all times. Also be aware of the eating schedule in Spain it is quite different to the US schedule and to other european countries. From the other students I studied with this seemed to be the hardest thing to adjust too. Barcelona is also known as a partying city so be prepared to have a blast any time you want. These were some of the best memories and experiences I have had in my life