Well, it has been officially one week since I arrived in Milan! I already can’t believe it—it has gone by so fast yet everyone and everything here feels so familiar as if I’ve been here for months!

"Please don't sing for me."

Finding the time to sit down to write this blog was almost impossible. As in, it took me a week to even write down the first sentence, and after I wrote the first sentence, I didn’t have time to write a second one until right now, days later. Seriously, the typing of the word “impossible” in the first sentence occurred days before the typing of the word “as” in the second sentence. Perhaps this tangent in unnecessary, but I hope it portrays the amount of busyness that has consumed this first week in Nantes.

The redundancy of terms such as “unprecedented times” and “return to normalcy” have been pounded in our heads over the past year and a half. Like many others, I was left disappointed, and quite frankly, lost, when I was forced to leave behind my college town and moved back home to my California suburban hometown. My dream internship was canceled, I longed to be surrounded by my college friends, and I even missed the late night study sessions in the library.

Every moment since I arrived in Spain has been surreal and packed to the brim with activities. Just about every second since I arrived, I’ve either been going on adventures with IES Abroad and my new friends, or sleeping to recharge for the next adventure. For reference, I was living out of my suitcase until I unpacked it literally yesterday because I didn’t have time to manage my mess of clothes strewn about my room. At this point I’m thanking my lucky stars for the ~siesta~.

Now that I’ve been in Paris for almost two weeks, I’m starting to get in the groove of la vie quotidienne (daily life) of Parisians: using the metro, speaking in French, and living independently. I know where to get my groceries, what to do if I don’t feel well, and how to get to places around the city. I thought it would take a lot longer to acclimate to life here, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the easy transition. 

So… I did it! I finally arrived in Milan! But let’s get to the nitty gritty: how did travel go when flying internationally in fall of 2021?? AKA pandemic central??

It’s been five days since I’ve been in Spain and today is the second day of classes. It hasn’t even been a week, and yet I feel like I’ve seen and experienced so much while going through a rollercoaster of emotions. Traveling from the U.S. to Barcelona was nothing but a smooth ride. On the day of departure, I received a notification regarding my flight delay from D.C. to New York, which meant I would miss my connecting flight from New York to Barcelona.

Imagine…sitting around your family members, reminiscing on old memories, and getting in those last few moments before you leave. *Ding* Suddenly, your hands start to sweat, and your heart begins to race. As you begin to reach for your phone, you know what that sound means. Your life is going to forever change and it will never be the same again. You find out that it’s an email telling you that it’s time for you to check in for your flight. Interesting, how something so simple can cause you so much stress and excitement at the same time.