A R C E L O N A

We missed the stop we were supposed to go off, so we had to find another station nearby, and take the metro back. First, we tried to ask someone at the station, but when no one spoke English, it was hard to understand each other. But thanks to google maps, we figured it out. Contrary to the first experience, one thing that surprised me about Barcelona was the amount of Spanish people we met who spoke English. When visiting Spain on previous trips, my experience was completely different. This made it so much easier to communicate, even though you usually manage either way.

Hostel life

It was not the first time staying in a hostel, so it was not a new experience for me. But someone was smoking cigarettes in the bathroom, which was annoying since it is clearly not allowed. The beds were making a lot of noise when moving, so waking up several times in the middle of the night was not uncommon. The windows were opening and closing, while I think the windows should be open when 8 people are sharing a room with bad ventilation, others did not agree. The hostel was what you can expect for 15 euros a night. Okay, but definitely prefer hotels.

The workshops at the university were enlightening, and it was cool to see the university facilities. Also, meeting the people from the other universities. Doing a micro-module on intercultural competences was a unique experience. In addition to grow and improve our intercultural competences, we learned a lot about citizen science projects, which was completely new to me. We also had a lot of free time in the afternoon to explore the city.

I spent my free time visiting La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and just wandering around the city. I love food, so trying different restaurants and cafes was a main highlight of the trip. The guided walking tour on the first day was also really cool, and learning about the history of the city was really interesting.

To conclude I would say the trip improved my intercultural competences. It was the perfect mix of workshops and free time to explore the city. I hope they continue doing these micro-modules as you can learn a lot in a short amount of time, and it is an unique opportunity. Would definitely recommend.

Jing A. Tvinnereim