Half Full or Half Empty?

Eight weeks down, eight weeks to go. I can't believe that my time in Luxembourg is halfway over. In this post, I'll share my reflections on the first half of my time here and my hopes for the second half. I'll also give you my insights on the sights and sounds of Barcelona, which I had the pleasure of visiting this past weekend.

Song of the week: Barcelona by Ed Sheeran or George Ezra

Last weekend, I was in Barcelona. Even though it was rainy and humid, we still managed to have a good time. The city is both vibrantly creative and incredibly touristy. Barcelona's trademark architect, Gaudi, constructed whimsical and fantastic buildings all over the city, but all of these buildings have entry fees. Instead of spending 20 euro to get in to each one, we decided to admire them from the outside and then head down to the beach. Unfortunately, it started raining en route, so we were completely soaked by the time we made it to the water. We relaxed along the shoreline for a while, and I went beach combing for some rocks and shells. I was pleasantly surprised the selection and might have taken a few more rocks than I should have (but all of them are very cool so it's fine). After getting even more wet, we headed back to the our hostel to dry off and prepare ourselves for going out in the evening.

Barcelona is a lively city, and the Park Guell is a perfect example of the city's vibrant spirit. Designed by Gaudi, the park features his recognizable and whimsical architecture and an infinite amount of tiles arranged in beautiful mosaics. Gaudi's life was cut short when he stepped into the street and was hit by a trolley, but he left behind some amazing and unfinished architecture, including the Sagrada Familia. I personally thought the Park Guell was the most coherent and inspiring of his works that I had seen, but it was the only one we actually paid to enter.

Much like Gaudi's work, Barcelona is a mosaic of people, cultures and ideas. Tourists and locals mingle in the streets, and people from all over the world come to see what Barcelona has to offer. One of the most noticeable aspects of the city was the presence of the Catalonia Separatist movement. All over the city, Catalonia flags displayed on nearly every surface. Flags hung from windows, symbols painted on monuments and cartoons on trashcans revealed the prevalence of the Separatist movement. There were no protests while we were there, but there have been several in the past couple of months. Catalonia is similar to California in that it accounts for much of Spain's economy, and without its contributions, the country would have a much lower GDP. The opposition to the Separatist movement was also highly visible. Stickers and signs with "Viva España" could be seen plastered or painted on many surfaces around the city. This issue is obviously a point of high contention within the city and the surrounding region, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the future.

If you look closely, you can see the 3 flags hanging from the balconies in the background.

By the end of the day, we had walked about 12.5 miles around the city. It was a little too much to do in one day, and all of us were completely wiped out the next day. If I could do it over again, I would spend at least two full days in Barcelona. We really only had one and a half, and trying to squeeze everything in resulted in a frenzied rush around the city. While we got to see almost everything we wanted to, we were also completely drained when we got back to Luxembourg on Sunday afternoon. Instead of doing everything all at once, I would spend one day on a tour of the the city's top sights or do something like a hop on/hop off tour. I would then spend the rest of the time exploring the less touristy areas of Barcelona, on the beach or in one of the many museums.

"Time moves in one direction, memory in another." -- William Gibson

In the eight weeks I've been here, I've visited six countries, walked 250 miles, eaten almost every kind of food I could get my hands on, learned about the many different cultures in Europe, made new friends, and experienced adventures that I will remember for a lifetime. I feel like I have become comfortable living here and overall, I have really enjoyed my experience so far. Although there have been highs and lows, I am very glad that I decided to study abroad here in Luxembourg, and both the knowledge and experience I have gained are invaluable. With everything that's happened in the past eight weeks, it's hard to imagine what the next eight weeks will hold. I definitely can't imagine what it will be like to return to the US after the program is over. I think it will be a bit of a shock coming back, but at least I will have a month to readjust before starting up classes again.

For the next two weeks I will be off the grid, so if I get the chance to post anything it will likely be a short post or a few photos either here or on Instagram. If you're curious about where I will be at any given time, just refer to the map above. So, what's on the agenda? The first week I will be on a field trip with my anthropology class in Brussels, Belgium and Leiden, Netherlands. The trip will focus on understanding colonialism from a European perspective and how colonial representations of the world are still impacting current European society as well as post-colonial nation-states in Africa. The second week, I will be travelling to Prague, Czech Republic and Warsaw and Krakow in Poland. Siyu (my housemate) and I don't really have an itinerary aside from walking around these cities and finding some cool places to hang out (and eat). We're just going to see where these cities take us, and I'll be sure to report back once I'm back in internet range.

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Have any suggestions for what I should do while I'm in Prague or Poland? What do you think will happen in the next eight weeks? Let me know in the comments!

Until then, I'll keep wandering.