May 31, 2019 - Barcelona, Spain

---

Lost in Barcelona

For our free day, we took a bike tour of Barcelona. It was incredibly beautiful and I was in awe of the sights. At first, I was nervous because I haven’t ridden a bike in years, and it was too big. However, after I got the hang of it, I felt more comfortable and loved being able to experience the culture in that way. Culture Smart warns about being careful in the pedestrian cross-walks, and I definitely saw why today. A few of us were almost hit a few times, and we were honked at many times, which made me uneasy. Lexie and I also got lost at one point, and anticipation built the longer we waited. I was relieved when the tour guide came back to find us.



Language

Our tour guide today was very hard to understand because of his English pronunciation. Instead of being frustrated, I found myself in awe of how well all of our tour guides this trip have spoken English. CQ Knowledge is not only understanding how you are, but also the native people, and I find myself learning more each time. I realized how none of us speak Spanish nearly as well as most of the Spaniards speak English, which gave me a new perspective into how privileged we are to have our language so widely spoken around the world.





Water

The lack of accessibility to water has been challenging and baffling for me. I’m used to water fountains everywhere in America where you can easily fill up your water bottle or take a sip, and I am accustomed to free water at any restaurant. The lack of water fountains and the price of water here in Spain has been a tough adjustment and forces me to plan ahead for the next time I can refill my water bottle. I am curious how this affects the health of Spaniards especially since they don’t carry water bottles and they drink alcohol with lunch, which also dehydrates. I have personally found myself dehydrated multiple times, and that is without the alcohol.



Word Count: 350

---