The Best Four Months of My Life

I always knew that I wanted to study abroad in Spain, and after looking through all the programs I knew Barcelona would be the place for me. The second I arrived at the airport and met not only the API program directors but also the students in my program, I knew that this was the start of the most amazing semester of my life.

I lived in a beautiful apartment in the gothic area of Barcelona right across from the Cathedral of Barcelona. I had six other American girl roommates from my program, and they became my best friends. Every day I would wake up to sunlight streaming in through my balcony, and I could hear the bustling of the city below my window. I also could see the awe-inspiring cathedral from my room.

I walked to class or took the metro everyday. Walking was not only great exercise but there was nothing better then taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the city. In America, our architecture doesn't even compare to the beautiful buildings Barcelona has.

I also really enjoyed the classes that I had and it was extremely useful to take about eight hours of Spanish a week. I also took Spanish Civ and Culture and Barcelona Architecture. Those two classes were topics never offered at my College and it was interesting to learn about Spain from the perspective of Spanish professors.

The friends that I made while in Barcelona are still some of my closest friends and it's been almost a year since I left Spain. We had so much fun sightseeing from the sprawling beauty of Parc Guell to the magnificent Sagrada Familia. We also were huge fans of the night life that Barcelona has to offer and on the weekends we would be at the beach club hopping until 5 in the morning.

While abroad I also traveled a lot. I went to London, Prague, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Salzburg, and Florence. I love Eurpoe and I miss it every single day. When I look back on my experience abroad, nothing in my life compares. It made be a more independent person, I am now fluent in Spanish, and I have some of the best friends I could ever dream of.