One of the biggest highlights of studying abroad in Europe has been the ease with which you can travel between the EU countries. There was a lot of uncertainty initially about whether or not traveling would be an option because the COVID situation as we know is always so unpredictable. But luckily, before Europe began going through a big hit by the Omicron variant, me and my friends had the opportunity to travel to quite a few new and beautiful places.

One very important item on my bucket list for Granada was to explore the local coffee scene and nail down a favorite spot. Spanish coffee culture and coffee shop norms are a bit different from what many Americans are used to, including myself. I have prepared a comprehensive list of my favorite coffee shops in Granada and a short blurb about what you can expect when visiting each of them. I hope this can serve as a fun resource for anyone who will soon be studying in Granada! 

Even though I’m not the type of kid to call my parents every day (or week, or month, oops I'm trying to be better) when I told them I wouldn’t have internet for two weeks in the Amazon they were a little worried. I assured them that everything would be fine and gave them the WhatsApp numbers of our coordinators for the university and for IES Abroad. We live in a world that even in the middle of nowhere in the United States sometimes you can still send out a text by just driving fifteen minutes more in a direction.

For the longest time of my life as a student, my grades never turned out the way that I wanted them to, and it made me question my intellect to some extent, but I realized that it was actually because I wasn’t studying effectively. After I changed my study habits and began working smartly, it changed my ability to memorize, to analyze and all the other academic challenges college puts you through. So, I want to share some of my tips:

When I reflect on some of my favorite memories during my time in Spain, many of them involve total strangers or people I didn’t know very well at all. These last couple of months have truly been marked by moments that were full of surprises and spontaneity that I will never forget. 

It feels as if it was yesterday when I was waiting at my gate at the JFK airport with tickets to Paris. I remember there were two flights schedule to depart back-to-back, one to Portland and one to Paris, which is ironic because if I wasn’t going to Paris I would have gone back to Portland to continue my junior year. I arrived in Paris, sleepy, tired, hungry, but ready to start that adventure. It is hard to do this final post and choose what to talk about because there is so much, it is something you must live to fully understand the experience.

Hola, bienvenidos a mi último blog en Madrid! I cannot believe it’s time to leave already. I leave in a couple of days and it’s extremely bittersweet. I’ve been sorta struggling to find a topic for this blog but then I realized now that my time is kinda over it’d be a good time to reflect a little on the overall culture and energy of Madrid and Spain. Of course, four months in a country is not nearly enough to fully capture the essence and spirit of a country or city, but it’s more than many tourists can say. 

The time has come, not only finals week but also my last week in London completely. Finals have been had considering at times it is easy to forget the “study” in studying abroad. It is difficult knowing that by the end of the week, the semester abroad will be over. I know it is sad, but finals week is also a good part of the memories too. 

    The first three months of my study abroad experience felt too good to be true. But things took a different turn when Netherlands decided to go into partial lockdown last month because COVID cases were spiking like never before. Winter came, daylight savings happened, and we barely got a full 7 hours of daytime. All of these things combined, it set a different mood for everyone in the program.

    The first three months of my study abroad experience felt too good to be true. But things took a different turn when Netherlands decided to go into partial lockdown last month because COVID cases were spiking like never before. Winter came, daylight savings happened, and we barely got a full 7 hours of daytime. All of these things combined, it set a different mood for everyone in the program.