Thought this video, I interview my roommate Rachel on her experience studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain. I asked her 10 questions to hopefully help people get a better idea on what its like to go abroad. Coming from Baltimore, Maryland Rachel explains that she always knew she wanted to study abroad. Her brother had previously studied abroad in Barcelona, and she had gotten the chance to visit him while he was abroad and she absolutely loved it. She explains how when she visited she got the chance to experience Barcelona nightlife and had the time of her life. Having the advantage of her brother already studying here, he was able to give her tips and information on Barcelona life to help better prepare her for her time abroad. The next question asked had to do about the actual school par of being abroad and that is what her favorite class she is taking is. Rachel said her favorite class was Fashion and Society with her professor Fred. Fred is Rachels favorite teacher and they have become very close over the semester. The next thing talked about was food. Rachel explains her love for tapas and how that there are many different options to choose from when it comes to food, like Italian and sushi. The next thing Rachel explains is her favorite day. She talks about when she first got here, her and her friends went up to a place called the bunkers, which looks over the entire city of Barcelona. She explained how cool it was to see the entire city and that she got super close with her roommates and will always remember that day.

Rachel and I at the Bunkers

View of Barcelona from the Bunkers

Next, Rachel was asked her favorite travel experience. She said that her recent trip to Switzerland was her favorite. She said that it was her favorite because she went with a huge group of all her study abroad friends and that they all stayed in a big airbnb together and did so many fun activities. She explained how beautiful Switzerland was and that the activities they did included skiing in the Swiss alps, hiking, and paragliding.

Rachel and I in Switzerland

View of the sunset over Lake Thun

Next, she talks about money. Before coming to Barcelona, Rachel worked all summer to save up money for study abroad. With even doing that, she said she spent a lot more than she expected. This is because she wanted to be able to experience everything she could while abroad, and that traveling expenses really added up. The harder adjustment she had to make was the language barrier. Before coming to Barcelona Rachel did not know much Spanish, but after being here for four months she says she has defiantly picked up on it. She then explains how she defiantly wants to come back to Barcelona in the future and have a reunion with all of her friends she made here. Lastly Rachel says that she would defiantly recommend studying abroad to people and they is was a life changing experience that defiantly matured her while participating in the CEA study abroad program fall 2018.