As my time in Barcelona had come to a quick and unexpected end, I can truly say that this city has changed my life. From learning to live in the moment and focus on the now, to learning the importance of relationship. From late nights out with friends, to nights in with my host family, I’d always felt supported and connected by the people around me. My study abroad experience has enhanced my life in ways I’d never dreamed possible in the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. While in the city I was able to do almost all of the “touristy” things, as well as explore the lesser known areas. From Sagrada Familia, to Park Guell, and my favorite, the bunkers. I’m already looking forward to the day that I’m able to return!

Junts per Catalunya is a large political group that holds 34 of the 68 majority seats in the Catalan parliament. This political group was formed as an electoral alliance of the Catalan European Democratic Party and centered around the former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont. They are pro- independence and capitalist than most of the other parties. I personally believe that if I were a Catalan voter, this would be a major party that I would be interested in as most of our stances line up. They seem to be a political party that truly stands up for what they believe and what they want. Looking online at news about them, it looks like they want Spain to continue to be shut down but some other parties don’t. They’ve demanded measures from the Spanish government to end the work of domestic workers and to take care of its people. They’ve also refused to attend the Plenary that was convened by Congress as they didn’t feel it’s their responsibility to remain in confinement. They fought for meetings to be to telematic, and they had finally won that fight today in Parliament. I highly respect their fighting efforts and think that this would be a party that I would support.

This article was about Barack Obama announcing his support for the presidential campaign of Joe Biden. This endorsement is a great deal for Joe Biden as Obama is one of the most well-liked and respected presidents in American history. I think that this endorsement will give Biden an edge as the democratic face and will make the future election even closer than it would have been before. I’m personally not a big person on politics, I believe that I don’t have enough knowledge on the subject to truly form an opinion. My opinion is mostly based on those around me, what they tell me, and the research that I try to do on my own. I personally don’t have an opinion on Joe Biden vs Donald Trump, but most other Americans do have a very strong opinion. This endorsement may change some American’s opinions and lean them over to Biden’s side, but it may also lean others to Trump’s side since there’s always people that hate on previous presidents. Let’s face it, no one person can efficiently and successfully manage an entire country the size of the United States.

With the unbelievably high number of COVID-19 cases in Barcelona, the hospitals had quickly run out of beds for all of these incoming patients. In order to help fix this problem, municipal facilities and hotels were transformed into hospital centers. The first facility that was changed was the CEM Olimpics Vall d’Hebren and this allowed over 130 more patients to be treated. I think that opening up these areas was a great way to be proactive against the virus and allow more people a chance to survive. My host dad (a doctor in the city) said that Madrid was already to the point of having to choose between people to save (this was before I’d had to leave and before the outbreak truly hit Spain) I can’t imagine how bad it is now. I’ve been looking at the number of cases and deaths online and it’s truly heartbreaking. It’s also the fact that the number of cases has no way of being 100% correct as some people haven’t been tested. I personally believe that when I was extremely sick in the Hospital for the 6 days that I’d had the virus, but since the “outbreak” hadn’t truly happened yet, I wasn’t tested. The scariest thing about this virus to me is that if you don’t get it yourself, you’re bound to have someone close to you get it. It seems like now the daily cases are decreasing and I’m hoping that Spain is at the tail end of the virus now. I can’t imagine how incredibly hard these doctors and nurses are working during this time and how selfless they have to be to willingly put themselves on the front lines like this. Sadly, I believe that a great number of these doctors and nurses will have some sort of PTSD seeing so much suffering and death on a daily basis.

Calçots are the Catalan green onion that grilled until they become charred. They are always served with the romesco sauce and hopefully extra napkins and a bib as they can get pretty messy. Being able to try these while in Terragona was a great experience, especially being surrounded by friends that also had no clue how to eat them. Learning the correct way to peel them and eat them was half of the fun as the taste was incredible. These onions are such a big part of the culture that there is a public festival where everyone in Barcelona get together and eats them! My coworker at my internship had told me about this and how excited she was because this was one of her favorite foods. I loved this food and the way that it brings people together.

Crema Catalana is a Catalan version of the  crème brulee. This has been one of my favorite desserts that I’d experienced while in Barcelona, right behind chocolate croissants. When I’d asked my host mother about “Catalan” dishes, this was one that she’d not only talked about but had made for me one night for dinner. It’s traditional to serve the serve dish in the clay pot with the slightly burnt sugar on the top of the dessert, atleast that’s what she’d told me and I had observed.

Pan con tomate is one of the simplest and most widely eaten dishes in Catalunya. I personally think it’s one of the greatest foods to signify Catalan culture. The dish uses fresh tomatoes and bread, olive oil, and salt. I had learned to make this in a cooking class that I’d taken while in Barcelona and while I’ve never been a big bread fan, I had loved this. The tomato had softened the bread and adding the oil and salt had given it even more flavor. After eating it there, I’d noticed more and more people eating it at restaurants. I’d found a small bar that was close to IES that I would go most days for lunch and order the Spanish tortilla and I was always given this bread to go with it. I’d also noticed my host brothers make it quite a bit throughout the day as it’s a simple and quick food that can be taken easily on the go.

An activity that I noticed important to Catalan culture is cooking and the meals in general. Whether it’s creating traditional food like the fideua, Calçots, or Crema Catalana, this is a pass time that is a way of keeping culture alive, as well as bringing groups together. My host mother always cooked for us and had even invited my friends over to host a dinner for them. Meal time is an important time for connection. It’s a time to talk with the family about their days and check up on everyone. It’s also a time to go out with friends and socialize. Comparing dinner in Barcelona to dinner in the United States is completely opposite in my opinion. My family very rarely made food for everyone, and we especially didn’t all sit down at a table to eat together. The food we did eat most times was something quick and simple, especially things that could be microwaved. My time in Barcelona, my host family took extra time to make fresh meals, and we always sat at the table together and had great conversation. It was the one time during the day that we would all be able to see and talk with eachother, and I wish this activity was more important in the States.

A large sport in Catalunya is the Castells. This is the tradition of building the largest human tower possible and disassembling it without anyone falling. This sport is open to anyone within the community, from men, women and children. While it is a symbol of unity and community within the Catalan culture, it is also a competitive sport that can be watched all around Catalunya in it has now grown internationally. These towers can be made during cultural festivals and during competitions. The tower creation requires near silence of the audience as a traditional flute is played to tell the castelleres where in formation they are, and they need to be able to hear eachother tell what is needed next. As the tower builds, generally smaller and lighter people continue up. Seeing these towers being built in person by professionals was an amazing experience. I’d witnessed them at the Correfoc where they had made the Castells three separate times, with the next being larger than the last. Seeing the bystanders gather around the base to create an extra cushion was truly amazing and showed me how important they felt others were and their community.

From the beginning of FC Barcelona, their main center has been on their Catalan identity. They were first led by a Swiss man that was so fascinated by the Catalan culture, he’d became a self proclaimed Catalan and had even changed his name. FC Barcelona has been an important way to raise awareness to Catalunya and the culture. They use the Catalan in their crest as well as use the Catalan language as their official language for all documents and require every person on the team to know it. While the fact that they stand so strong in the Catalan identity is important, they’re also an incredible football team. Any person that knows even a tiny amount about football has heard of FC Barcelona, and any professional football informant would name them in atleast the top 5 football clubs of all time, if not top 3. They have even passed Real Madrid this year in becoming the richest football club. Watching this team play is a major pass time for the people of Barcelona and almost anywhere that you go you’ll see atleast one person in an FC Barcelona jersey. While I didn’t know much about football before my time in Barcelona, it had quickly become a favorite pass time of mine to watch their games and talk about them with my host brother that was a fanatic! They’re a team that brings the Catalan people together as well as voice their support for them.