I can count on one hand how many days are left in my program. I just finished my last assignment of the semester. My parents are arriving in a few days. The end is here. Four months ago, I counted the number of days in my program. One hundred and nineteen days of living in a new country, counted down one day at a time. Many of you probably read about how difficult I found the first month of my…
In my previous post, I wrote that one of the opportunities about studying abroad is the chance to travel easily to new, incredible places (when not in school). This past weekend, I traveled to Lagos, Portugal with a few friends! In Madrid, the 1st and 2nd of May are holidays—Spain observes International Worker’s Day on the 1st, and the 2nd is a local Madrid holiday commemorating the 1808 uprising against French rule. Today, neither International Worker’s Day nor el dos de…
One of the benefits of living in Europe is that everything feels so close—at any moment, ancient monuments and breathtaking cities are only a brief train ride away. As if the destinations themselves weren’t attractive enough, my study abroad program provides a financial incentive to motivate students to explore France, offering reimbursements for up to 350 euros for travel within France and other Francophone countries. When my friends proposed a weekend getaway to Mont-St-Michel, a mountain-city in Normandy that is…
Beach..Beach Otago and O-Week! After making my way back from a hectic week of settling into my new home and traveling around New Zealand, I was ready for some time off in my new town of Dunedin. I decided to start off this period of relaxation with a nice, friendly run through the beautiful Botanical Gardens. Weaving our way through the trees and exploring the maze of foliage, Cathy and I came to a beautiful fountain, a pristine rugby field, and a winding road…