from Barcelonahello everyone and welcome back to mychannel today I’m coming to you fromChicago I got back from my study abroadexperience a couple months ago now acouple weeks ago the time in quarantineis really just flying by and I wanted tomake a video to talk about a couple ofthe things that I think would be helpfulfor people to know if they’reconsidering Barcelona as a place ofinterest in terms of where I lived Ilived in something called the studenthotel I’ll put a photo right here and Iwas there for a total of about twomonths the program was supposed to lastuntil June 30th but of course withconcerns over the pandemic we wererecalled so the first tip I wouldrecommend if you’re consideringBarcelona it’s to learn Spanish at leastat a basic enough level that you cancommunicate in places like taxisrestaurants the metro and the grocerystore so no basic phrases like hellogoodbye what’s your name excuse me canyou help me what is this things that youkind of really just need to get by ifyou don’t know Spanish at all and I knowthere’s a lot of people who definitelyare already at high enough level wherethis tip isn’t important another reasonI’d say this tip is helpful is becauseif you want to go to nature cafes andrestaurants and let’s say you have aspecific diet like me you’re vegetarianor vegan it’s really kind of rare tofind places that are small and also haveEnglish menus more english-speakingstaff so it’s good to know some basicsat least of the food groups that you’reinterested in if you’re going to thesecafes and restaurants my second tip isto get a 3-month metro ticket if you’regoing to be in Barcelona and you’regoing to need to commute a lot taking ataxi or even a lyft or any of the otheroptions is extremely expandso I would highly recommend getting ahome a metro ticket I’ll show a photo ofit right there if you lose it you haveto buy anyone and it’s a full 80 eurosso don’t lose it but I kept it in thislike green pocket book which I’ll show aphoto of as well and if it does get bentor anything like that as long as youhave a copy of your passport with you sothat’s another thing you have to bringwith you at all times you can just showit to someone in the metro station andthey’ll bring you a new one my other tiprelating to metros is to always wearyour backpack on the front just forsafety purposes to watch all of yourvaluables when you’re in the Train evenif you’re with friends because if you’rewith a loud group of Americans that candraw even more attention than if you’realone and to not sleep whether you’realone or with other people andespecially if you’re on publictransportation late at night my thirdtip is for people who are interested ingoing out so Barcelona’s nightlife isfantastic if you’re not interested inthat you absolutely don’t need to takeadvantage of it I only went out a coupletimes and I’m honestly not a big goingout person in general but if you’re astudy abroad student there’s somethingcalled a she’s list I’ll show a photo ofhis Instagram here if you follow him Imean if this is still going on in a fewyears he promotes a different Club andsometimes a bar as well every night andit will tell you which ones you can getin for free by saying oh she’s list andthat saves people a ton of money becauseotherwise cover can be up anywhere from13 to 18 euros my fourth tip is to notbe intimidated by classes in Spanish alot of people are really afraid oftaking classes in Spanish especially iftheir Spanish isn’t perfect if you don’tknow all the Spanish in a particularfield like for instance I studyneuroscience and I was taking psychologyclasses in Barcelona but I didn’t know alot of the terms in Spanish since I’dnever taken a psych class in a differentlanguage but do not be intimidated bythat because the professors are supernice I went up to several of myprofessors after class explained that Iwas an exchange student and they werevery very welcomingbasically said you know if you ever havequestions come to me Spanish classes aretaught a little bit differently and Idefinitely found that there was not asmuch more so my fifth tip is to not beafraid to put yourself out there andmake friends especially in classes thatare introductory level because they tendto have freshmen who are also looking tomake friends it gets pretty easyespecially when people know you’re fourand they’re more willing to take youthrough their wig don’t be afraid to askpeople for help in classes I know I wastaking a French class at one point whichI ended up dropping and switching outbut one of the girls in the class was afreshman and I asked her for some helpon conjugating some sentences and thenafter her and her friend group invitedme to boba and croissants and then Iended up going out with them photoinserted here a couple weeks later sojust don’t be afraid in general andrealized that people are open andwilling to talk to you and make friendsmy sixth tip is to be aware of thedifferent zones in Barcelona and alsothey very touristy places a lot of thetouristy places are actually the leastsafe because pickpockets know that’swhere Americans are going and othertourists and they know they’re bringingstuff like cameras and phones andthey’re gonna be less careful becausethey’re taking pictures as opposed tojust watching their things so I’d beaware of those places I’m consider onlygoing during the day for instance lastround plus it’s a very popular place butif you go at night it’s pretty likelythat you’re gonna get pickpocketed ifyou look like you’re not Spanish and ifyou’re not being careful about the veryvaluable things that you may be carryingalso keep in mind that if someone comesup to you and offers to help you withanything for absolutely no reason youshould be suspicious if someone comes upto you on the street and it’s like doyou need help getting somewherethat’s weird like unless you’re askingthem don’t talk to them just don’t talkto strangers my seventh tip is to findthe people that you want to travel withsinceis a big part of study abroad for moststudents it’s pretty cheap to just go toanother city or country on a weekend andbasically you find a group of three orfour other people who like to travel itearly on and make sure that these arepeople who you live with not just interms of where you want to go but alsoin terms of your budget and what kindsof things you want to do well in anotherplace because some people are all aboutthe nightlife and so they’re gonna stayup til 6 a.m. and sleep all day whereasother people are more about the museumswhere the cafe is more plain and simplejust walking around the city to exploreit my eighth tip is to take advantage ofthe extremely cheap flights that areavailable through companies like RyanaireasyJet veloute a– i booked like a 15euro flight from Barcelona – I thinkNaples which was supposed to be mySpring Break and it was supposed tohappen about yesterday that didn’thappen for obvious reasons but it isvery very cheap to get to othercountries although that was pricingprior to the coronavirus so it’s gonnastay consistent years from now as welland if you find Airbnb ‘z and hostelsthat are affordableyou don’t actually spend that much Iended up travelling to Budapest Viennaand then several cities in Spain as partof my program including GranadaTata gonna and Madrid one thing you haveto keep in mind though is that you needto be able to fit all of your belongingsso that’s clothing toiletries if youhave a camera you want to ring a lot oftop etc into one backpack which shouldbe a struggle for some people but justlearn how to pack light it’s not thathardalso make sure you bring a lock and onetravel tip is to use a contact case tohold things like face lotion or eventoothpaste because you’re not gonnaactually need that much for two daysmy ninth tip is to be aware of the Iwould say increased verbal sexualharassment that happens in Spain and inclubs especially my 10th tip is kind ofa specific one but I came to Spain tostudy but also I wanted to be a part ofa volunteer experience that we wereoffered in a hospital and it wasextremely difficult because I forgot toget my FBI background check and at thesteal in the States so I had to do itwhich just made the process a thousandtimes longer and more complex than itneeded to be so if you’re interested involunteering anywhere especially a placewith kids that requires a backgroundcheck do all of that stuff in the UnitedStates if you have questions on that Ican probably answer in the comments orbe a TM because it’s a difficult processand it’s very frustrating and I wouldn’twant someone else to go through thatsame level of stress my eleventh tipit’s not really a tip so much but thelocals in Spain especially the studentsare very very fashionable they typicallyfor kind of dark tight fitted clothingbooths are very common pea coats andleather jackets and they wear thisclothing to class and on the metro andstuff so unlike American studentsthey’re not coming to class dressed insweats if you do want to fit in I wouldrecommend kind of looking at some stylepics and ideas and deciding what thingsyou want to add to your wardrobe mytwelfth tip is with regard to food soit’s very very easy to spend a ton ofmoney on food at Barcelona but it isalso possible to save a lot of money thecheapest grocery store by far is medicaDona it was very close to my residenceand there’s also multiple in the cityitself but if you are interested in alittle bit healthier food I would go tocutting fluid vo vo means organic soanytime you see the word feel the IOlike bio it means that food is organicand they have an entire Ganic section inthe cutting go to the store as well as akind of food vo which is all organicthere’s also a store called a middlemanwhich tends to sell more natural thingslike corn nutsalso I’ll insert the names of some of myfavorite cafes and restaurants if youwant to pause the video and take a photohere I’d recommend trying tapas at paiaat least once but don’t go to thetouristy places where they willovercharge my thirteenth tip is to carrya water bottle always bring water whenyou got in Europe because water in Spainis so expensive my fourteenth tip is tomake sure to have a budget like I saidit’s easy to spend a ton of money justbe mindful of what you’re spending moneyon whether it’s food tickets forsomething etc my fifteenth tip is don’tbe obnoxious about being American if youare if you’re not American try to justbe open to the culture and faith anddon’t teach other people about theirculture you know when you’re riding theMetro try to not be yelling in Englishjust kind of be mindful of what you’redoing and where you are and how muchspace you’re taking up basically thatbeing said make sure you stand up foryourself I worked as a dog walker inSpain for a little bit and a lot of myclients we’re trying to lower my alreadypretty competitive price I did feel likepart of it was because they could tellthat I had an accent and they were likeoh she’s not Spanish like maybe shouldbe a little bit willing to be flexibleand then her prices but if you know whoyou are and you’re working especiallydefinitely you stand up for yourselfdon’t worry about people trying tointimidate you so I just realized it’sraining so I’m gonna try to finish thisvideo quickly my 16th tip is to besensitiveto all people regarding Andalusianindependence I don’t know where it’sgonna be at when you go but at the timethat I went there’s definitely a lot ofpeople who feel really strongly about itbasically Catalunya which is their upperlike northeast region of Spain thatcontains Barcelona wants to separate formultiple reasons and whether you’re onthe independent side or you’re on theSpanish side you usually feel prettystrongly about it so try not to you knowabout that my seventeenth tip is tolearn some very basic phrases in Catalanbecause Catalan is used very frequentlyon the Metro in grocery stores and inhospitals and spoken widely in Spain somake sure that you know at least somebasics okay my 18th tip is gonna be alist of places that you have to see I’mjust gonna put it here and maybe I’llinsert some photos and videos as well my19th tip is if you’re in Spain forcotton Ava’s videos and pictures comingsoon I would recommend seeing annainseajust the festival itself is veryflamboyant very colourful and C Chesitself is extremely LGBTQ friendly sojust a wonderful place to see a parademy 20th tip is that you will be walkinga ton in Barcelona even if you use theMetro so make sure to bring comfortableshoes my 20 first tip is that if you ohmy god it’s really raining if you go toBarcelona in the future it’s not gonnabe as cold as a New England winter mightbe or wherever you’re from but it stillwill be cold enough that you will need ajacket at some point so make sure tobring clothes my twenty second tip isthat if you go out especially if you goout to like five or six a.m. a siesta isessential I knew some kids who weregoing out till six or seven going toclass from 8 to 2 and then taking a twoor three hour nap starting at 2: 00 somake sure you’re aware of that scheduleand don’t just push through the daymy 23rd tip is to get used to the lackof homework and kind of just enjoy thecultural immersion that you’re gonna beexperiencing for these months focus onthe fact that there’s so much to exploreand realize that the pace of life alittle bit slower and you’re not gonnahave as much one where this would add anAmerican University my twenty fourth tipis to journal take as many photos andvideos as you can cannot get them backand my final tip since it’s aboutstorming don’t rush needing to settle ina you’re up to your priorities and do