Hello everyone!
My name is Virág Kiss, I am a student from Hungary and currently I live in CMU Mater Salvatoris. I came to Barcelona in January to study, to discover a city I’ve never been before, I wanted to meet new people, to improve my language skill and for all those great things that a student can gain from an experience like this. However, my beginnings in this beautiful city were like a comedy-drama. After my first hours I had no place to go, because the room I’ve rent was nothing, but a terrible experience. So we stayed in a hostel for a few days (I came with a classmate, so luckily I wasn’t alone) but I can remember all those feelings I felt during the first days… suddenly there were no home, no safeness and I was in the middle of a city that I don’t even know. I was really desperate even though I didn’t show it.
Then something came to my mind… „God has said: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”.(Heb. 11:5-6) So I stopped worrying. And God showed himself in a moving way… it turned out the there is a chatolic priest here who can help us. And he did, with no strings attached.
After a while I found myself in CMU Mater Salvatoris where one of the nicest person I’ve ever met was waiting for us and gave us a warm welcome. Mother Isabel let us stay here and suddenly all of my bad feelings were gone. I’ve found everything here that made me feel comfortable… a nice room in a beautiful area, deliciuos foods made by my favourite Montse, and a really great community. Slowly I set myself comfortable and I get used to all the things here. Since the girls were really friendly I made some friends soon. After a while I felt like I am a part of their community and what I liked the most since the beggining is the thing that they are not only live next to each other, but they are working on to be a community that does things together, organise programs such as watching films, go to a trip together and it makes them a living community. As they were doing things together I started to join them, so I got a chance to visit Milan for a weekend, or go to the cinema, have a few drinks, or play tabletennis.
Recently we went to visit Tarragona which is one of the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. During the visit I felt like I travelled back in time and now I am in the middle of the Roman Empire. It is important to mention that the Roman ruins have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. During our planned city tour we saw the Cathedral, the prison, the circus, the amphitheatre and all the most important ancient sights. Raquel and Madre Isabel were translating so I could get all the informations were told by the tourist guide. After we had a nice chilling time at the beach, then we went back to see the Cathedral from inside which was literally stunning.
All in all, I’m really grateful for this place, and for each person I’ve met here, you made my stay here much better. I hope, God bless you all!
Virág