Meeting new people

So, what I have learned so far is: it is hard to become a real Barcelonian (at least for me).

Here are my top three reasons that cause my hardship:

1. I do not know the language

I mean, I understand some Spanish and some Catalan but I cannot really speak it. So it is always hard for me to try to fit in (except when ordering coffee - I can sound like a real Spanish while saying Cafe con leche, por favor!). I am still trying to learn Spanish using Duolingo - it is very useful - except you sometimes come across strange sentences like yellow elephants eat rice. My goal is to achieve at least level 10 (I am level 7 right now, hehe - yeah, I will not get rid of my gamer soul - I will reach higher levels!).

2.Different schedule. 

For me, it is still hard to get used to the fact that dinner is at 21:00 or later. AND it is a big problem for my diet!! You cannot really say no to tapas, even if you are about to eat them at 22:30 at night. So be prepared for some late night snacks!
(Here is a picture of my late night snack, hehe)
 

3.It is really hard to get to know some real Barcelonians. 

I don't know if it is just my problem (because of the language) or if the others have the same problem. I hope they will comment or talk about it in their posts. I was really fortunate to meet at least few of them through Meetup. If you are new in the city, you should really check out this page. You can find different groups depending on your interests. For exemple I went to a meetup for people who enjoy board games. They meet every friday in a shop Kaburi in the evening. After 21:00 they always go to a cool pub who has board games you can borrow - Firefly. If you are a nerd like me, this might be a good environment for you. People there are always very very friendly, they didn't mind explaining and playing the games in English. We always laugh a lot. I met my best Spanish friend there - Lis. She is really nice and smart and we always go out for a coffee or something when she has free time. I am grateful to her, she is my connection to te real Barcelonian life. She once took me to a "black market" (not literally, it was an outlet of all the big brands but it was only for the people who have registered). It was really exciting.

When it comes to knowing international students or other interns, you don't have to look that hard. There is usually a bunch of us in the office and there is a lot of groups on FB. Just join some event, it doesn't matter if you go alone. I have always been an introverted person. BUT living abroad taught me that you cannot be afraid of making new friends. If you just gather up your courage and try talking to someone there can be two outcomes - either you become friends or they ignore you. In the second case, you don't have to feel that hurt, you will probably never see those people again.
While using this despicable method (random chatting with strangers) I got to know some amazing people:
First, cute French girl Nina and her German friend Lara and Anika. We met at free international dinner party at Shoko. They were standing behind me in the queue and since they seemed nice, I just started a conversation with them. And we spent the whole night chatting and dancing and drinking and eating together ^^
Second time, I got to know a nice German girl Carla on my trip to Sitges Carnival. That palce was amazing! So many costumes, so many people, just dancing and having fun! The event was still not over when we were going back at 1 in the morning. And I made other friends in Sitges beside Carla. A group of three, very friendly Americans - Jordan, Justin and Aabesh. My friend, Evie, did not want to belive that such a thing as a friendly American exists (she had a bad experience with them), but I proved her wrong. After meeting them, she admitted that they are really nice and cool people. We are making pancakes some for them tonight ^^

The last thing I want to mention in this post is my visitors.

I have previously mentioned the visit of my friend Nika. It was an exhausting week and to my disbelief, it seems I will have more visitors. This weekend, my mom is coming with her friend and then my Czech friend Eliska (currently living in Nroway) with her Norwegian boyfriend. Afterwards, I am planning to go on a trip to Morocco. Soooo much to do and so little time. Barcelona is a beautiful city so, my fellow interns, be prepared to host a lot of visitors since I am sure your friends will be interested in seeing Barcelona.
Combing the old and the new is sometimes difficult, but belive me, it is worht it!

Having no time to sleep is probably also one of the things that makes you a true Barcelonian!

\^_^/ 

Bianka