¡These are a Few of my Favorite Things!
Beverly Diaz was a PAA Dance intern in Spain in the Summer of 2015. This is the second of 3 blog posts she wrote on her personal blog about here experience. Check out the first here, and stay tuned for part 3.
Sorry, I had to.
These are some of my favorite parts about living in Barcelona!
(subject to change, in no particular order)
- The laid back work environment
- Tapas! Especially croquetas and pan con tomate.
- Fun Fact: One story of many on the origin of Spanish tapas: The Spanish king became tired of all the flies flying around and into his wine while he ate, so he ordered that a slice of bread be put on top (tapa). He then began to eat the bread while drinking the wine as he waited for his food – solving the issue of getting too drunk while drinking on an empty stomach! Pan con tomate (bread with tomato) originated in Catalunya! DELICIOUS. Soldiers were said to have rubbed tomatoes on their stale bread, making it easier to eat.
- Food. In General. Fruits and Veggies are laughably cheap compared to the States.
- Sangria.
- The Beach
The water was cold.
- The Sun – it’s strong here! SPF becomes your best friend, or you could, ya know, not wear it and become a lobster like many people do here(tourists and locals alike)…. I have worn sunscreen without fail here and I haven’t gotten sunburnt – and I’m tan. So yeah.
- Leaving a club when the sun is just starting to rise and leaving the metro near my apartment when the sun has come up!
- Speaking Spanish! (dare I say I am now bilingual??) Also, living a bilingual life – I have badass moments, every day.
- The Catalan influence is real man. And passionate!
- A mix of Spanish, French, Italian, and Latin, all with it’s own amazing flair – but don’t tell them that! Coming to Barcelona with a decent handle on the Spanish language (they call it Castellano here) and some knowledge of Italian (Buon Giorno!), and being around it every day for seven weeks, I can now read and understand someone speaking (slowly) in Catalan 🙂
- New friends <3
- Abbreviating Barcelona as BCN. (Barça, is only for the fútbol team)
- The passion.
Plaça Catalunya after the big win for FC Barça!
- Basars – EVERYTHING you could think of and more (minus fresh food) for CHEAP!
- The sun doesn’t go down until 21:30 = long days = more time for activities!
- Trilingual kids (and people) – this is important.
- In Barcelona for the day and don’t have a plan? That’s okay, just walk around a little bit and you will literally stumble upon your day’s activity! My favorite game to play 🙂
Hey city, I like you.