During my experience abroad in Barcelona, there were many events that had a positive impact on me. Whether it was having short interactions with locals or interacting with my professors and classmates in invigorating class discussions, every day was filled with an event that left a small positive impact on my experience abroad. One experience, however, stood out to me in this regard more than others.
After a weekend trip to Paris in which I didn’t bring proper footwear, I quickly realized that I would need to invest in a good, comfortable pair of sneakers to support the amount of walking I do daily in Barcelona and on trips to other countries. This led me to take the bus to Passieg de Gràcia after my Spanish class one afternoon to go shopping. Passieg de Gràcia is a large street filled with tourists that is known for having a bunch of different stores, ranging from European brands, such as Bershka, Pull&Bear, and Mango, to luxury brands, such as Gucci and Chanel. I originally headed to the area planning to buy a pair of Aloha’s sneakers, which are a popular and trendy Spanish brand, but after seeing that a pair of sneakers costed over €200, I decided that they were slightly out of budget for me. After having no luck at Aloha’s, I started aimlessly wandering the street looking for another sneaker brand. This led me into a store called Hoff’s, which is a Spanish sneaker brand focused on comfortable shoes. When I walked in, the associate was talking with another customer, so I walked around the store for a bit looking at the different sneaker designs they had in stock. Eventually, the store associate came up to me and asked, in Spanish, how I was doing. I responded back in Spanish but was caught a little off guard so my Spanish wasn’t perfect. He then asked if I would rather talk in English or Spanish, which I then told him, in Spanish, that I wanted to speak in Spanish so I could get more practice. While abroad, I consciously tried to speak Spanish as much as humanely possible. The worker smiled at me and conversed with me in Spanish to help me find the correct style and size shoe that I needed. After I was satisfied with the style and size of the sneaker, he rang me up for the purchase and began asking me for my information so he could send me a virtual receipt. For whatever reason, even though I can hold a conversation in Spanish, the small things, like numbers and letters, always tend to trip me up. I began spelling out my email to him in English, but then, he stopped me, smiled, and helped me get the correct pronunciation of the letters. After the transaction was completed, even though he could have just ended our interaction there and let me walk out the door, he began asking me questions about my life. We talked about what I was doing in Spain, where I was from, and the differences between the United States and Spain. After talking to him for a short while, I had to get back for my next class, so I thanked him and got on the metro to make it to my next class.
Although this experience was most likely just another average day for the worker, this interaction left a lasting impression on me. Not only was I pleased with myself for holding a long-term conversation with a native Spanish speaker, I was also really touched that he took time out of his day to converse with me and help me improve my language speaking skills. At the end of the day, he didn’t have to go out of his way to help me, but his kindness greatly improved my study abroad experience by giving me more confidence when speaking Spanish in Barcelona. It also showed me the importance of kindness and how one, small interaction can change the life of a stranger.
The streets in Barcelona:
