ON SECOND THOUGHT, YOU CAN LEAVE AT HOME: American clothing/apparel. Once you leave the country, no one really cares where you’re from as much as you do. You’ll enjoy the experience a lot more if you try to integrate yourself rather than being uppity about where you’re from.

WHERE TO LIVE: Barri Gòtic is a beautiful area close to a lot of clubs, touristy things and the beach. If you want a quieter place to live, I lived up in Gràcia, which is a beautiful, quieter area farther “pujant” (toward the mountains).

BEST PLACES TO EAT: My favorite restaurant in Barcelona is La Pubilla in Gràcia. They have really high quality, but reasonably priced Catalan food. Bar Gato Negro is a great local bar up in Gràcia for tapas, sandwiches and cheap “jarras” (pints). El Glop is a more traditional Catalan restaurant in Gràcia as well. Down by the sea Bo de B has pretty amazing sandwiches and Gocce di Latte has really good gelato as well.

FAVORITE CULTURAL ACTIVITY: There’s events called correfocs where they have little kids run around dressed up as devils spraying people with roman candles. There’s also the “castellers”, which are where Catalans form human towers in the middle of massive crowds. It’s really a sight to see. Both of these events and a lot of other cultural events as well are in Plaça Sant Jaume.

BEST PERSONAL HIDEOUT: Montjuic is a more peaceful area in the city with great views since its on a mountain and on the end of the city. There’s also a cool traffic tunnel up there that was converted into a rock climbing area which you should totally check out.

FAVORITE PLACE TO STUDY: The library at the Universitat de Barcelona is beautiful and a great place to study. Cafes and public libraries around Barcelona are also pretty safe bets in general.

MUST-TRY LOCAL DISH: If you come in the Spring, you should try to go to a calçotada, which is where Catalans eat barbecued Catalan green onions along with romesco sauce and drink wine from a porrón. If you’re not quite as lucky, you should try patatas bravas, morcilla de burgos, mató con miel,  and crema catalana which are more common around.

BEST PHOTO OP: Literally the entire city of Barcelona is a photo op. The most popular areas for photos are Gaudí’s buildings like Park Güell, La Sagrada Familia as well as La Platja de la Barceloneta (the beach).

BIGGEST FAIL: A lot of students in our program lost their phones, wallets, keys, etc. to pick pockets. Keep your wallet in your front pocket and stay aware of your belongings, especially in touristy areas/events.

BEST PURCHASE: My best purchase in Barcelona was probably a wine key. Bottles of wine are only 1 euro in Barcelona, so a corkscrew of some sort is indispensable.

MOST INTERESTING CLASS: Contemporary Spanish Art was my favorite class because we got to learn a lot about the city of about the city of Barcelona and about how Spain, and Catalonia specifically, influenced art around the world. Artists like Picasso, Dalí and Joan Miró are from Catalonia and inspired international movements in art.

BEST PART OF THE PROGRAM: Our program organized a lot of trips around Barcelona and Catalonia. My favorite of these was the trip to the Dalí Museum in Figueres. I was never a huge fan of museums but Dalí designed this museum himself so the entire museum is incredible.

MOST MEMORABLE TRIP: Probably when I went to Mallorca and tried out “deep water soloing” which is rock climbing over water without ropes. I went with a friend of mine who was studying abroad in a different country, and it was terrifying, but also one of the most rewarding parts of my trip.

BEST LOCAL EVENT/HOLIDAY: Probably the Festes de Santa Eulalia where teams compete in forming human towers (castelleres).

FAVORITE LOCAL WORD/SLANG: Vale. It means okay, got it, cool, etc. I use it a lot now even when I’m not speaking to Spaniards.

IF I COULD DO IT OVER AGAIN… There’s a super long list of things to do in Barcelona. If I could do it all again, I’d probably not waste as much time laying around and explore the city more.