It’s been one month since I put my California life on pause and moved halfway across the globe to Barcelona, Spain. After an adventurous first week in Barcelona (if you haven’t already, you can read about it here), I have started to get in the swing of daily life here. I drink more coffee and beer than ever before (didn’t think that was possible) because both are insanely cheap and tasty in Spain. I am more active now (mostly because I have time to be) but also because I walk/bike everywhere. I joined a gym and plan to get involved in some sports soon (dare I say fútbol?). I’ve checked out tons of cafes, bars, and stores…and there is so much I have yet to see. There are constantly cool events happening. Here are a few I’ve been to: Patatas Bravas Festival, Mercat de Mercats, Halloween Safari Discoteca, and Palo Market Fest. Any doubt or reservation I had in that first week has completely disappeared! Barcelona is pretty dang rad.
Going to School
It’s weird to say I’m a student again. But not going to lie…I’m enjoying it. After being forced to attend school for 17 straight years, and then working full-time for 9 years, it’s pretty cool to return to the learning world! I have a much greater interest in attending class and learning than I did before.
Okay so I’m only taking one course, which is a Spanish course…BUT it’s 4 hours per day. So basically full-time. To obtain a study visa, you must be enrolled in a minimum of 20 hours per week of classes. The language school I am attending is called Speakeasy BCN. It’s located right in the heart of the City near the University of Barcelona. I attend two, two-hour classes each day. The classes are small (4-10 people) and the professors are all named Ana (kidding, but both of mine are). Regarding classmates, there is a big range in ages and nationalities. I definitely don’t feel like the old guy in class which is nice. There is a good amount of people from the US, but also a bunch from Russia and a few from India, Korea, Italy, Israel, and even Macedonia. The school also hosts weekly activities and excursions. I’ve participated in two so far, which include a local happy hour and a day trip to Narbonne, France. Shoutout to Sophie and Lina for the cool events! Overall, I’m enjoying Speakeasy BCN and would 10/10 recommend; it’s centrally located, the teachers are great, and it doesn’t break the bank!
Becoming a Resident
Visiting Spain for less than 90 days is easy and doesn’t require any type of visa (yet). If you wish to stay in Spain for longer than 90 days, you have to obtain a visa. There are tons of options out there, but I went with the student visa. It is one hell of a process to get the visa, so I’ll save the details for another blog post.
Although I obtained my visa prior to arriving in Spain, I still had a checklist to complete once I got here. The first is obtaining my empadrónamiento (or padrón” for short). This is a document proving you live in Spain. To do so, I had to collect all of the required documents and attend an appointment at the town hall office, which notoriously speaks ONLY Spanish or Catalan. Thankfully, with help from my new roommate Nick, I was able to attend the appointment solo and get my padrón. From there, I have to schedule a second appointment with the local police station to get my TIE, which is an identity card for foreign nationals. The government website is confusing and barely works, so that’s been a blast. I must take my visa documents, NIE (national number), and padrón to the appointment, get fingerprinted, and then wait for my card to show up. Who the hell knows when that will be.
Making Friends
Although I tend to make friends relatively easy (probably due to my insane good looks and exceptional personality), meeting new people is no easy task. You definitely have to put in some effort, unless you’re content with journeying solo 100% of the time. Somehow I’ve been lucky with my roommate choices so far. Not sure if I hit the random roommate jackpot or if I’ve earned VIP status due to the number of roommates I’ve had, but I’ve already become good friends with Laia and Nick.
Besides roommates and friends of roommates, I’ve attended a few events that I found on MeetUp. It’s a super popular app where people host meetup activities like happy hours, sports, excursions, etc. One of my favorites is the Language Exchange group. They host events most nights of the week and I’ve met some cool people from all over. And finally, I’ve met people through school. My buddy Ian is a savvy 3D graphic designer from Seattle, and Tyler is a part-time English teacher from South Carolina.
Building This Website
I have zero experience in web design, so creating this blog has been a pretty significant project! I have spent way more time on it than I imagined, but it’s been a great learning experience. I almost quit multiple times because I was so lost and confused. Someday soon I will write a blog about writing my blog. But for now, it’s simply a mention in the first chapter of my Barcelona journey.
End Chapter 1!
