Welcome to Barcelona!

Now that the welcome week has come to an end, it is the perfect time to recap on the wonderful time our students have already had in sunny Barcelona.

The orientation week kicked-off with orientation sessions at the airport and at different hotels in Barcelona. Despite the long flights and the jet-lag, our students showed interest and excitement. During the weekend they could join different activities with local students, and on January 7th classes at the local universities started.

Students taking classes at Universitat de Vic and ESCI had an extra orientation session with their local universities. The objective of these sessions was to explain different aspects of Spanish universities. For instance, the attendance policy, the grading system, or participation in class. In addition, CIEE prepared a session on Academic Cultural Shock in which they got to ask more questions and understand the student-teacher relationship in Spain.

The orientation week ended with a wonderful trip to Art Cava, a cava cellar, and Sitges, a beautiful seaside village located 27 miles away from Barcelona. 

Cava is the Catalan champagne. It is a white or rosé sparkling wine done through a particular traditional method. Sparkling wines produced through a different method can’t be labeled as cava. 95% of cava is produced in Catalonia, and it is well-known in many European countries. While visiting the cellar, our students could talk to the owners about entrepreneurship and the international expansion of the company.

 At the end of the visit, they did a small cava testing.

Once they finished the visit, our students head to Sitges, where they had lunch and could sightsee. 

Another beautiful sunny day in Spain!!