Holiday Availability: All IES Abroad offices will be closed on Dec 24, Dec 25, Dec 31, and Jan 1 as we take some time to celebrate. During the weeks of 12/22 and 12/29, our team will be smaller, so responses may take longer than usual. Thanks for your understanding—and happy holidays!
If you’ve been on TikTok recently, you probably know the Backyardigan’s song “Into the Thick of It.” I can confidently say that this song lived rent free in my brain during my time in the Amazon. The lyrics are surprisingly relevant when you’re living at a research station in the jungle, 13 hours (by bus and boat) away from Quito.
As my semester in Paris comes to a close, I've been reflecting on my favorite places that I've visited in Paris. Here are my top 10! Click through the photo gallery to see my picks.
I’ve been home for a few days and it’s taken me a minute to adjust to a few things. My sleep schedule has been off and haven’t been able to sleep past 8 a.m. and my sinuses have been acting up. You would think that with Paris’s crazy weather, I would have been able to adjust to Virginia’s own psychotic mess. However, that is not the case. I have been able to get back into the swing of things at home and spend time with my family.
I have always been a massive overthinker, so you can probably imagine that my head was about to explode when I was getting ready to go abroad. The problem is, logically I know that I’m in my own head a lot and I know what I should do to get out of it, but when you’re in a totally new place with totally new people that can be rather difficult. Getting out of my own way was one of the biggest challenges I faced this semester, and even though I’ve been me my whole life, I honestly didn’t see it coming.
God hath no fury like the customs line at an American airport.
I’d go so far as to argue that if Pharaoh hadn’t conceded to Moses after the tenth, then the customs line at Newark Liberty International Airport would have been sent down as the eleventh plague of Exodus.
Parks, as plain as they might sound, have been lifesaving. A spot for lunch, a late night stroll, or a gathering, they are key to getting me outside in the evening.
I have always been a serial overpacker, and true to form I arrived in Granada with three large bags stuffed with clothes and everything else I thought I needed for studying abroad. Now, some of the things I brought along have been absolutely essential, but I've gotten very little use out of others. I also didn’t really take into account that I would be buying plenty of things here, so trying to fit everything back into my luggage for the way home has been a struggle.
When preparing to study abroad, there are always a million questions swirling through your mind, but somehow you only manage to ask a few of them. I arrived in Spain feeling decently prepared for the semester, then of course got my world turned upside down. So, to prevent the same from happening to you, here’s a list of things I wish I knew before studying abroad, in Granada and in general.
Oh my gosh! Qu-est-ce qui s’est passé? The title of this blog sort of gives away what happened, but here’s the story for anyone who doesn’t know that méduses do (in fact) exist in the Golfe du Morbihan. Dear future Nantes students…you’ve been warned by this blog.
Rather than leaving you and London on a sad note, I wanted to list some recommendations here for future reference or for any Study London students coming in Spring 2022. The list provided touches on coffee shops/study spots that I am so glad I found while here. Enjoy!