Debrief: Barcelona

“Attention Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now flying over the city of Milan. There is a great view out of the right side of the airplane.” All of the announcements on my flight back to Prague were done in Spanish, Czech, and English, with a different flight attendant speaking each language. Having a window seat, I got to enjoy the great view. I also got to see the Alps out of my window, which honestly do put our mountains back home to shame.

And as I write this last journal entry, all I can say is WOW! I wanted to write this debrief before I started typing my other handwritten entries to the blog. It was an incredible weekend. From overcoming fear, to enjoying such a new culture, to meeting amazing people, and discovering so much about myself…I am completely awestruck by the four days I spent in Barcelona! To say it was life changing is an understatement!

I think back to how scared I was navigating the night tram to the airport. Then, six hours later, I was navigating a foreign subway in a new city. As I said, I never had a sense of bravado, but rather a sense of this can’t be me. I never knew I had this in me.

I was also nervous about travelling with a group of strangers. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned since leaving home is how to trust people. From trusting Ivana in Prague, to trusting this new little group, I’ve seen how easy and how important it is to let my guard down and enjoy the company of other people.

The culture of Barcelona really was addicting. I don’t know if I truly fell in love with the city or with the nice weather, but either way, it was so different from Prague. It really was a tropical paradise and I can’t wait to go back some day…spring break 20?? perhaps.

Looking out the window at the beautiful views below, I thought to myself, I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I think a huge part of me really didn’t expect this whole “study abroad” to work. I think part of me had expected to be too scared, too sheltered, and too boring to make it happen. I’d expected to be homesick by week two and I’d expected to have to tough my way through four long months. Instead, I’m loving it. While I miss my family and friends like crazy (and would give just about anything to have them join me) I have to admit, I like this version of Zach. Whoever this adventure seeking, world traveling, deep thinking person I’m becoming is, he’s very much the person I’d always hoped I could be.

In honor of Easter, I listened to Jesus Christ Superstar on the flight. Like a good tourist, I also took pictures out the window. When we landed and disembarked from the train, I navigated the airport and—after a brief scuffle with the ground transportation guy trying to sell me a ticket for the bus and telling me my student pass didn’t work on Easter, to which I called BS and got on the bus without problem—rode the bus, and then the subway in Wenceslas, where I caught the metro back to dorm.

I’m now getting ready to Skype with Bryan. While I’m still disappointed in missing Easter with my family, I’m so glad I had the opportunity to visit Barcelona. It was amazing in every way and I can’t wait for my next adventure.