I am now halfway through my stay in France, as it has been three weeks since my arrival and the start of this program. I am now in Arles, a very charming town in the beautiful, lovable region of Provence. For me, Arles is the perfect mix between young and old, modern and ancient, and big and small. As you may have guessed, a lot has happened and has been happening. In this blog, I could just right about how amazing my life is here and how everything is perfect and fun abroad. But I would be lying.

I’m currently sitting in a cafe in Barcelona, Spain, and I felt the need to write about the life-changing effects of studying abroad. Granted—I haven’t really been back to my normal life yet. I will be back in Indiana in just under two weeks. I don’t know that there will be any major differences in how I go about "life as normal," but I do know that my summer abroad has given me new perspectives and ways of thinking that will impact me forever.

I’m over halfway through my internship in Sydney and I can honestly say this has to be the best summer of my life. I can’t think of another summer where I’ve seen or done or learned more about the world and myself.

Sometimes things don't go entirely as planned, and other times just about everything that can go wrong, does. My last weekend trip was the latter.

On the final weekend of my 6-week study abroad program in Rome, I planned a trip out to Barcelona with my boyfriend. I had the flight tickets weeks in advance and planned to stay with relatives. 

This past weekend, my roommate and I took a short but much-needed trip to Granada. Living in Barcelona for the past six weeks has been a blast. There is never a shortage of restaurants to try, places to shop, and sights to see. Despite all the fun I’m having here, I still miss the quiet of a small town, and living in a fast-paced city can get a bit overwhelming at times. Granada seemed like the perfect place to take a break from the city, and it didn’t disappoint.

Although I came to Vienna to study music, another one of my passions is visual art. I have always been fascinated by classical art and techniques, so when I arrived in Vienna, I wanted to take every opportunity to visit the art museums and see some of the most notable art in the world. The two main museums I visited were the Belvedere and the Albertina.

Throughout my time abroad, I have tried to put myself out of my comfort zone and talk to new people. I'm generally pretty introverted, so striking up a conversation with a stranger or making new friends doesn't generally come easily to me. However, in a new country all by myself, I felt it would be important to foster some sense of community. I also thought it would be important to talk to new people and hear their life stories or their perspectives on things. Spoiler alert: it has been.