Study abroad is an experience best shared with good friends; either the friends you meet or the friends you came along with. In my case, I decided to go to Rome with only two people from my college. The rest of my friends from the University of Colorado at Boulder are spread across the world! I have friends in Florence, Prague, Spain, Greece, Paris, Sweden, and even some on Semester at Sea. Even though we decided to experience other places, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a little reunion during our time in Europe. So at the last minute we all decided we would meet in Barcelona.
This decision was pretty last minute so it took some serious communication to pull this off. Facebook messenger, Viber, and Skype were constantly flooded with messages from my friends trying to make this work. Some how, more than 50 of my friends were able to make it work and off we went to Barcelona for the weekend of our lives.
Even though we all don’t hang out on a regular basis at school, we all have one thing in common; study abroad. We all made the choice to live in Europe for the semester and challenge ourselves beyond our wildest imaginations.
We met at the beach and filled the city with screams and tears of excitement to see familiar faces. No one could really prepare us for the overwhelming feeling of home that rushed over us in that moment. I didn’t even know I was missing a piece of me until I saw them. Even though I have made a family with my new friends in Rome; there’s nothing like the comfort of college friends to bring a smile to your face.
After all of our hellos, we took off and explored the city as a family. That’s right, more than 50 kids took off in a pack to explore. A few of our friends have been studying in Barcelona for the semester so we let them take the lead. They took us to around town to a local market, La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell!
We couldn’t have been more thankful for our Barcelona friends to show us the city they now call home. This weekend was an experience of a lifetime. We may not have been the best of friends before, but we share a bond we will carry with each other for the rest of our lives.
So here’s to a great weekend with great friends… and Go Buffs!
Shayna Kerry is the Spring 2014 CEA MOJO in Rome, Italy. She is currently a junior at the University of Colorado at Boulder.