Jessie Williams is a student at the College of Saint Rose and an ISA Featured Blogger. Jessie is currently studying abroad with ISA in Barcelona, Spain.
As some of you may know from my previous blog posts, I have been traveling around Europe for about three weeks. On the 21st of June, I boarded my shortest flight to my final destination: Barcelona, Spain.
I am no stranger to traveling alone, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t slightly afraid of what was to come. As I stared down the plane’s wings during our descent into the city that I was sure would hold my heart, my eyes were glued to the beautiful shoreline of Barcelona. Staring at the city’s gorgeous skyline view, I felt a little less uneasy about what the next 72 hours had in store.
After arriving at the airport, I had a bit of time before the scheduled ISA pick up meeting. During this time, I met two girls (we spotted each other from the wonderful baggage tags ISA mailed to us) who had also found themselves enrolled in the ISA Barcelona program. We spoke and ate for a while, and when we made our way back to the ISA pick up location, more and more students began to join. Soon there was a pack of us in the middle of BCN airport. It wasn’t hard to tell that there were some remarkable individuals present in the group.
Once everyone was accounted for, we began making our way to the bus. We loaded our things inside, and rolled in one by one. Once the wheels got rolling, our present ISA staff member, Raquel, began to pass out maps and presented some helpful advice about our first meeting. The maps were wonderfully labeled with dots to represent the locations of the school, my student residence and the ISA office.
As I write this currently, it is my third day here. Although I have gotten lost countless times, I’ve been making small victories and becoming more familiar with this beautiful city. ISA has done a wonderful job with setting up get-to-know-you activities throughout Barcelona. There was a Gothic tour yesterday, a bus tour today and tomorrow a tour of La Sagrada Familia. If you have chosen this program, you’re very lucky. I have no doubt that you’re going to be a part of one of the best experiences offered by ISA!
I am going to be studying abroad in Madrid this fall and visiting Barcelona – – so excited!
I did the ISA Barcelona program at Pompeu Fabra last summer, and it was a life-changing experience! I really cannot wait to go back! My advice is to go on every tour and every weekend excursion! I missed Sitges last year, and I can’t tell you how often I’ve kicked myself for it! haha And Costa Brava is an awesome time! Not to mention all of the glorious things there are to do in Barcelona itself!
Keep posting about your time abroad! Those of us who’ve been there will appreciate knowing that others are experiencing our old haunts, and those who have never been will get insanely jealous of your travels and decide to study abroad themselves! :)
What camera did you use? I love how your pictures came out!