Bon dia! Soc la Liv, estudio espanyol i història, i aquest anys he passat tres trimestres a la Universitat Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona.
The nine months that I spent studying abroad in Catalonia was one of the worst things that I’ve ever done, but it was also one of the best. I spent what felt like the entirety of the first six months wishing that I could go home tomorrow, and the majority of the final two months wishing that I could stay forever. I cried multiple times while trying to navigate the TIE cita previa website, and I spent more time wandering into Catalan police stations for various appointments than I would ever have expected – including three train journeys to the nearby town of Castelldefels via the R2, because the first time I went they Just Couldn’t Find Me in their online system.
Studying at Universitat Pompeu Fabra was also challenging in surprising ways, with a somewhat limited choice of classes for us Erasmus students, as we were almost completely separated from the local students, which meant that I was unable to choose modules that aligned with my interests specifically. It also felt quite frustrating and isolating to have one of our main opportunities to integrate with Catalan students so heavily obstructed, although I did my best to alleviate this by joining UPF’s Castellers society. I also ended up taking several Catalan courses throughout the year, which led me to achieving a UPF Catalan Diploma and CEFR language level B1 by the end of the year. I’ve still got a long way to go before I have any hope of understanding when and how to conjugate the perfect subjunctive, or knowing which pronom feble to use, but at least I’m no longer pacing up and down the supermarket aisles trying to work out the difference between queso and fromatge.
Apart from this unexpected but exciting linguistic development, I also gained an appreciation for what the locals mean when they complain about tourist presence and overcrowding. We quickly learnt which beaches and parts of the city to avoid during busy tourist times, not to go near El Raval after dark, and to hold tightly onto our phones if we ended up around La Rambla and Plaça Catalunya.
I was also lucky enough to find a relatively affordable flat with pretty good metro connections, which I shared with four other international students. But even that came with its downsides, such as the cockroach infestation in the first two months of my stay, the regular early morning building works that would start up right outside my bedroom window, and the one very exciting moment of teaching myself how to repressurise the boiler so that I could have some hot water and heating while alone in the flat over Christmas.
One of the absolute highlights of my stay in Barcelona was UPF’s Voluntariat Lingüístic programme, which is an initiative designed to help international students connect with the Catalan culture, language and environment, through organising over 30 trips and activities inside and outside of Barcelona, as well as offering tips, advice and song recommendations via weekly emails.
With VL, I visited so many parts of Catalonia that otherwise might have remained inaccessible to me, such as the Greek and Roman ruins of Empuries on the Costa Brava, the slopes of Vall de Nùria in the Catalan Pyrenees, and the vineyards in Penedès. We tasted anchovies in L’Escala, had a calçotada in Montblanc, took boat trips and swam at Cadaqués and Tossa, and hiked to the summit of La Mola in 30 ˚C mid-June sunshine. I also got the opportunity to try skiing for the first time, with an exceptionally well organised weekend trip to Andorra, and made many close friends who I hope to stay in contact with for a very long time.
There’s no question that VL was one of the main factors that made my stay in Barcelona worthwhile in spite of the difficulty, stress, isolation and exhaustion that comes with living abroad, and although next year is unfortunately due to be the final year that the programme runs, I will forever be grateful for the opportunities that it gave me and the memories that we all made.
