Friday, 18 September 2015

Every good thing comes to an end

Leaves begin to fall from trees, the wind is getting stronger. Summer is nearly over and so is my unforgettable experience here in Barcelona. More than two months have already passed since I arrived in this city, when everything  was still to be discovered, people, places, streets, scents, colours. And as always, when you start getting used to something, it is time to change, time to go on. It will be even harder to go back home now, since I've been spending more than twelve months abroad, first on Erasmus in France, Strasbourg, then here for my internship in Barcelona.

Barcelona has been a wonderful place to live in, I am glad I chose this city for my internship cause it offers everything someone could look for: good weather, beaches, fun, pubs, discos but also cultural events, museums, music, festivals. The time spent here allowed me to learn more about the Catalan culture and its strong traditions, to such a point that now I can even say a few sentences in Catalan :).
I am thankful to my Spanish housemate Miguel, who helped me a lot with my Spanish and who made me smile every single day with his energy, kindness and craziness. I will never forget the songs danced together, our walks through Barcelona and his stories about the secret corners of the city.

I had already been to Barcelona before and my feelings towards this city are still the same, overwhelming and conflicting: on the one hand the traffic, the noises, the hundreds of tourists to avoid while you're walking on La Rambla, the 40 degrees you have to go through every single time you get the metro; on the other, the beautiful views of the city from Parc Guell, from Tibidabo or Los Bunkers, where you almost feel like if the city was under your control. The sound of the waves on the beach in the sunset, when you are surrounded by lots of people but it's like if you were alone. The tiny streets of Gracia and Barceloneta, where locals leave their doors open, arousing your curiosity with the smell of their Sunday's lunch.


Besides fun and emotions, I also learned a lot from a professional point of view. For this reason I want to thank Jessica, who taught me about marketing (a complete mystery for me until three months ago!), and all my companions at 1Global Translators for the amazing summer spent together. I am sure that what I learnt in the Marketing Department will turn out to be useful for my career. So thanks again to everyone who was part of this (especially Domenico, a loyal friend from the very start <3 ) and hope to see you again soon, who knows where.