I am officially two months into my semester abroad. It seems unreal how quickly my time in Italy is going by. All the program orientations are finally over and I am finally getting truly settled in Bologna. Routines are forming almost as quickly as the weather is changing. Only a month ago, I was basking under the strong Leccesian sun and now I am cozied up in my sweaters and scarves. Despite being in Bologna for over a month, I…
I can picture you reading this back at home, wrapped up in a sweater or scarf, sipping on a cup of hot apple cider, as red and yellow leaves slowly waft down outside the window. Ah, fall in New England! It’s still hot and humid back here in Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, and I am even sunburned from our weekend trip to Mũi Né. But all is well, and the time is flying by. After our trip in the…
Malo le soifua. We spent almost a week on Savai’i, the largest island in the Samoan archipelago, both relaxing in beach fales and learning about the island’s natural history. Savai’i is not densely populated at all: the island was only recently formed by volcanic activity, and the lava flows have not had time to break down into a soil that can be used for farming. Thus, there is very little arable land in Savai’i, and many people must move to…
Classes are finally underway at the University of Glasgow. We had a late start compared to Vassar, which was kind of nice because summer lasted longer, but it was also stressful. I had a hard time making my timetable work out, for various reasons, and for about a week I was really concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find enough classes. But it ended up working out, and I was enrolled in all the classes that I wanted, amazingly…
I know I’m supposed to be studying in Copenhagen, and writing about Denmark, and being in Denmark, but as I’ve realized this past week, a significant portion of my semester abroad is going to take place outside of Copenhagen, and even outside of Denmark. The way my program works is that every third week is a travel week of some kind, and every core course (mine is biomedicine) goes on a long study tour somewhere during one of the first…
Life in Vietnam transpires in the streets. Families and shopkeepers enjoy people watching from their stoops, while men and women sell produce or consumer goods from baskets balanced on their heads or makeshift markets laid out on the sidewalk. There appears to be a general disregard for traffic laws, and most people get around by motorbikes that can hold one or two passengers – or an entire family with a child balanced on a parent’s shoulders. I will be the…
I arrived in Italy about a month and a half ago, ready to embark on my first journey abroad. I came with few expectations because I wanted each new experience to be as untainted as possible from the stories I heard from previous participants of the E.C.C.O. program in Bologna, Italy. Although my final destination was Bologna, I spent three weeks experiencing southern Italian culture in Lecce. My time in the south taught me that Italy is a richly nuanced…