I went to Barcelona in November 2013 full of hopes and expectations. I hoped to improve my Spanish, meet new people, and get some volunteering experience. I was very nervous when I arrived there, it was the first time I was travelling on my own, and I didn’t know anybody in the city in the northern Spain. It turned out that there was no reason to be nervous, although that is probably hard to avoid.

I moved into a flat with students, and they introduced me to a lot of people from different countries that I am still in contact with. With these people, I have had the most amazing experiences in Barcelona, exploring the beautiful city and making trips together. I began taking Spanish classes to improve the Spanish that I had learned in high school. These were very helpful, but I found out that it was also important speaking Spanish outside the school, to try to get a certain level of fluency. Furthermore, I got experience as a volunteer. The first three months I worked in a children’s hospital. There, I would entertain the children while their parents weren’t there. It was relevant for me because I am going to study medicine. After that, I volunteered at a place that offers opportunities to children with few resources and their families. I learned a lot from that; I saw a lot of children in different situations, and I could see how good it was for them to be helped by the organization. I had planned to stay in Barcelona for three months. I ended up being there for six months. It was the time of my life.