The Barcelona Curse

Fellow readers,


Another month has passed, and May flew by like a bliss. I started May with a four day weekend to the beautiful city of Barcelona. What a trip that was! I had a little bit of everything and it felt sooooo good to be in a country where I understood what everyone was saying. Also, I stayed at a hostel for the first time and it was a good experience. The food was absolutely delicious (it beats Italy, France and Germany). I went with 3 of my new friends so I had nice company, I enjoyed the night life in Barcelona as well, and the sightseeing was unbelievable. Barcelona has little alleys like Venice, Italy where you can get lost but find yourself in small yet interesting boutiques. There are many museums, cathedrals and beaches! Everything I wanted to see in just one city. However, not everything was beautiful, smiles and happiness. The title of this post talks about a curse. Well, yes. The curse got the three of my friends and myself included.


The curse started with difficulties in Germany. So, we needed to take a train from Heidelberg to Frankfurt because we were flying from there. Easy enough BUT there has been several strikes by the Deutsch Bahn company. The workers are demanding a higher salary and better work conditions. Unfortunately, to make their point, the trains were being delayed and some even cancelled. My friends and I were very scared about missing our flight because as typical exchange students, we bought the cheapest plane tickets with no refund. The good thing is that we all worked together and thought of ways to make it to the airport on time. We also decided to share a taxi with a super nice senior lady. She is from Australia and though she was old, she was traveling through Europe. The whole ride of 25-30 minutes, she told us about her life and I really enjoyed listening to her. Also, it felt good to be in a car (it has been a long time, since I've been in one). Once we arrived to the airport we all felt relieved and excited! However, one of my friends had a problem with her plain ticket and payment. She couldn't get in the same flight as the rest of us and she had to pay extra. It was unfortunate and I felt bad because she couldn't be with us. This is were the curse starts making its way through all four of us girls. One girl down, three more to go. The second day in Barcelona, another friend felt sick. She still did all the activities we had planned for that day but I could tell she wasn't comfortable and being herself. At this point, none of us had figured out the curse was making its way to me. I, of course, did not see it coming. The third day in Barcelona, my wallet got stolen on the train. I can honestly say that has been the worst experience thus far. People warned me about this but I was honestly so distracted. Pick-pocketers got me real good. All my student IDs, 150 euros, my bank card, gone. Forever. I felt horrible, dumb and extremely mad. At first, all I wanted to do was cry but my super supportive friends helped me calm down and make moves. I had to call my bank in Germany to cancel my bank card. I didn't have a cell phone in Spain, therefore, all I could think about was maybe the police could help. The advantage of being in Spain is that I know how to speak and understand Spanish 100%. So communicating with everyone was never an issue. I filed a police report and I was able to cancel my bank card. My day was ruined but I had to enjoy my last day in Barcelona. I also felt really bad for my friends because their day was ruined too. Though I was still mad and sad, I turned my frown into a smile and decided to move on. We went to Park Guell, a very famous park in Barcelona. I can tell everyone that it was so worth it! The park is located uphill by the mountains in Barcelona, and the view of the city was beautiful. Bad things happen but it's up to you to react to them in a positive or negative way. In addition, to the wallet incident, a bird decided to poop on me at the park.....that day was so not my day. But I've heard that is good luck when birds poop on people. Only an optimistic person would say, and I do describe myself as that.


So yes, the curse sure made its way to the last girl in the group. She got bitten by a spider the night before we left Barcelona. The Barcelona curse will never be forgotten by the fours of us. But, we made it safe and sound to Germany and we absolutely loved the city. The moral of this experience is to take care of your belongings everywhere. I had to learn this the hard way. But now I know. It will not happen again while I'm here in Europe. I can promise that!