Poco a poco

Little by little, I am changing. 
        It occurred to me as I was lost and confused for several hours today that this lifestyle is more than just a cultural change for me. I am living in a new country, with a new language and traditions, but beneath all of that is the simple truth that Barcelona is a city. I hadn't thought about that when I chose to study abroad. I can't even go into Boston without a buddy and my first time flying alone was 2 weeks before I left for Europe. Assumption is a gated college and it takes roughly 7 minutes to walk to the other end of campus-and that's walking comfortably.
       Barcelona is alive, with people, cars, scooters, bikes, dogs, all constantly moving. There is graffiti on the wall outside my room and the nearby apartments have laundry hanging from their windows. I take the metro to class. There are 3 pizzerias, a supermarket, a bus station, several cafes and 2 fruit markets within a 3 minute walk from the front door of the Residencia, or residence. Also a clothing store and the metro station is less than a mile away-cross the street, go up a block, walk for a few hundred yards and you are there. In Charlton, anything and everything is the standard 20 minutes away. I am a small town girl who moved to a small Catholic college less than a half hour from my house 2 years ago. Now I am across the ocean in one of the most culturally rich and alive cities in the world. The energy pulses through the streets here, any hour of the day on any street. I don't feel history here yet. I feel innovation and change, creativity and color. Barcelona, for me, is a step into a world with a very modern and healthy look at the future. Modern because of the architecture and the diversity, healthy because of the culinary culture and relaxed point of view.
      Before I came here, I had a picture in my mind of what a Spaniard would look like. Tall, dark and attractive is what I expected. Very fashionable and someone I would be able to look at and know where they came from. What a close-minded point of view I had; ignorant, really. But how would I have known? I have barely ever left New England.
     There is no one word or type to describe a Spaniard. There are Caucasian, African, Asian and Indian people everywhere in this city- all speaking Catalan. I am embarrassed to say I was shocked to hear an Asian speak Spanish. There is a magic to the diversity. I wonder, when people look at me, where do they think I am from?