University of Girona, Barcelona!

"My experience of University of Girona in Barcelona"

Before I came to Spain and Barcelona, I didn’t know much about this country. Sure, I knew about cities, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Las Islas Balearic and a few others, I knew about typical things – flamenco, paella, bullfights, Picasso; but I did not knew much about people, their way of life and the general atmosphere. So when I came here, I learned a little bit every day and I’m still learning it day by day. Mostly I did not know about the greatness of the political problems, the size of unemployment, and mostly, the desire of Catalonians of the separation their region from the rest of the Spain. I heard about it, but I never really understood why they want to be their own country. But now, I’m starting to realize what is the issue and the difference in their way of life and the way of thinking of the Catalonian people. 

The decision about going to Erasmus came out of nowhere actually. I know a lot of people who went studying to other countries and the all had an amazing time. So I started to thinking what if I would go, I went to the meeting we had in school and I started to write the application, not knowing that I will actually send it. But I did, I got accepted, which was frightening and amazing at the same time. So I started to preparing myself, I wasn't sure till the last few days if I will actually go, but I did and here I am. I got my flat over some other girl from our university who was in Barcelona last semester. She met this girl who rented apartments there and she gave me her contact. We talked over email and that was it. I got pretty lucky with the whole apartment thing, but they have a lot of student renting web pages, so it’s not hard to find the place to live. Your own rooms cost from 250- 400 euro per month. Some rooms have expenses included, some not. So you have to take time to find the apartments you like, write to owners, ask a lot of questions, be persistent, and it’s better to go to some hostel for a few days and you visit apartments in person before you sign or pay for anything. Because you can come across with some pretty strange people or the flats.

The catch here, is the money. The scholarship we get isn’t nearly enough, so you need to have your own money. We got 80% of the scholarship before we came, and the rest after we come back. Plus another scholarship that we get ( I think) in June, which for me, since I am in Spain the first semester, doesn’t help a lot. So save the money, save it a lot, because you will really need it.

But general as I see people of Spain are passionate, loud, friendly and very welcoming. I was surprised how people that I came across with, were trying to make a contact with me. Even though not many people can speak English, they still put a great amount of effort of including me in the conversation and their lives, even though I am just a stranger to them. I felt accepted right away. In my college this semester are only a few Erasmus students, I heard it is better to come here the second semester; so I don’t know many people from my school. But the kids there are still very friendly, just no one speaks English, not even the teachers, which I find pretty strange. The classes are all in Spanish, one of the professor is also having trouble with Spanish, she speaks a lot in Catalan. Also the whole organization in this school is a little bit weird. They don’t tell you anything, you have to ask all the time about some activities, days free of classes, even the lectures aren't on-line. You have to follow the classes which can be pretty hard sometimes because professors speak fast and if you don’t understand everything in Spanish, can be pretty tricky. If you don’t know the language, I think it is very hard to stay here. So I recommend some classes before you arrive.

About activities, I can say Barcelona has a lot to offer. Just walking true the centre you find street singers, shows, lots of tourist and just the atmosphere is charming. Walking on the beach, over the full La Rambla, the Passeig de Gracia or visiting one of the many tourist attractions or parks is an amazing experience. If you some of the Facebook pages such as ERASMUS Barcelona and many other you get invitations to parties, activities every day. There is a lot to do in this city, you just have to get involved, be willing to meet new people and try new things,. There are organized trips to Madrid, Girona, Valencia and some other cities so you experience even the Spain outside of Catalonia.

The night life is amazing here. There are parties every day, over the Facebook you get invitation, you send your name for the entrance list and you most of the time have it for free. Usually the free entrance is until 2 or 2.30 am, they start their party life very late. Spanish people have their dinner at 9 or 9.30 pm, so they start to drink at around 11 so they enter clubs pretty late. For us it is a bit weird so u have to have a lot of energy to make it thru the morning. In usual Erasmus clubs music if RNB, commercial, Mtv style, and it is the same almost in every place and every time. I found this party club El row 14, which is near the airport, the music is better, it is named one of the best clubs in the world. I really enjoyed it there, but the parties are usually at Sundays from 17h – 3 or 5 am. The prices in clubs are around 10 to 14 euros, but when you pay the entrance, you have the commission for one free drink! I didn’t know that at first so it is a good thing to keep the ticket so you cash it in the bar.

The food here is pretty much “normal”. They have a few specialities such as patata, I really like it, it’s is a potatoes with eggs made into some kind of pie. Paella, I haven’t tried it because it is made of sea food and I don’t eat sea food. There are some new and different things and food, and some are missing. I really miss here “Radenska”, “čokolino”, “cedevita”, “vegeta” and some other food.

The prices here are pretty much the same. There are stores such as Eroski and Dia, who has their own products and they are cheaper, but some other are more expensive. The general life is more expensive, since they have bigger salaries.

transport here is good, there is metro, they drive pretty fluent, every 2, 3minutes; there is bus, which is not so often as metro and it takes you a while to get to other part of the city because of the traffic, then there are trams, I actually never travelled with those; and of course taxis, which can be pretty expensive if they realize you are a tourist. So I recommend metro, even though there is a lot of people there no matter the day or the hours, it is always full, which in the night can be a good thing, and it makes you feel more safe. The prices are 50 euros for one month, or you can buy a card for 10 journeys, for 50 journeys in 30 days.. different options but it is relatively expensive. The prices are available at www.tmb.cat.

Closuring I would have to say that I am very happy to go thru this whole experience. I sure do miss my family, friend and my life but it actually gave me a chance to focus on myself, my life wishes, I learned a lot about myself, what i like, what I don’t, what kind of a person am I, so it was worth it. I think even if you are thinking about going it, you should. It is kind of expensive, but it is worth it. You definitely get more independence, you come across with new situations, people and you learn a lot of new things.

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