It was Amsterdam this weekend, Dublin last, and Barcelona next. It’s a flight every Thursday after Italian class and racing to the 2 p.m. bus to the airport to make it. The Ubers to the train station to board the bus and the airport food for dinner before take off. I used to love traveling as a kid. Honestly, I think I really just loved the airport—maybe even more than the trip itself. It was exciting and instilled a mature sense of “adulting” in me even if I was by the side of my parents.

I first heard the legend of the guayaba (guava) recounted during a hike through the forest at Hacienda Guadalupe, a farm up in the Highlands of San Cristóbal island. Our tour guide began the legend in a hushed whisper, about a mile into our hike. It was the first we had ever heard of Manuel Julián Cobos, the infamous first settler and founder of the torturous Hacienda El Progresso. The legend of the guayaba is more than just a tale; it was the first glimpse we got into the dark penal history of the island we had been living on blindly for months.

One of my favorite parts about studying abroad in Europe is how easily I can travel all around the continent. Through some trial and error, I have learned a lot about how to travel cheaply and as efficiently as possible. So, here are some tips from what I’ve learned so far.

I have officially been living in London for over two months! There’s part of me that feels like I’ve lived here forever now, but it also feels like I got here just yesterday. At the beginning of my time here, I was caught up seeing new sights and meeting new people. It was certainly a whirlwind, but now I’m feeling more settled into a routine with my classes and how I spend my free time. Despite having a more established routine, every day here is so different.

A few weeks ago, I got to travel outside of Paris for the first time. IES Abroad hosted a field trip for a group of about forty students in which we traveled a few hours south of Paris to visit the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley is a region of France built around the Loire River Valley that bolsters a ton of castles.

We’re now officially halfway through the Paris BIA program! It feels strange knowing that there’s only about two months left of my time in Paris; the last few weeks have felt long, but at the same time they’ve also flown by. I’ve been able to do so many different things and yet there are still lots more things I hope to do before I depart. While this midpoint serves as a great time to look back and try to plan out activities for the two months, it also means that we have midterm exams.

For my last major trip of the semester, a couple friends from home flew in from the U.S. and we went to Paris together! We flew in on Friday evening and discovered the hard way that taxis coming from the airport can rip you off very easily…lesson learned. But once we settled into our hostel, we managed to find a fun pizza restaurant nearby where we could have a late dinner and toast to the start of our adventure. 

On January 14, 2022, I wrote a letter to my future self after studying abroad. My plan was, and still is, to respond to that letter when my program ends. However, I thought it would be fun to do a mid-semester reflection as well. So, without further ado, here are my responses to the questions proposed by my past self over two months ago. 

Since I’m passionate about fashion, I have noticed its role within Italian culture in Rome. Coming from the University of Michigan, I’m used to dressing for the normal 20 degree weather in February. When I arrived, it was about 50 degrees and sunny, something that normally would cause for praise in Michigan this time of year. Regardless, I observed Romans dressed for winter, bundled in scarfs and down feather jackets with a great deal of black. 

This past weekend, I traveled to London to visit a friend and have a pre-emptive birthday celebration. The only problem: We chose to fly out during storm Eunice. I opted for a later flight than my roommates so that I could attend my Friday lecture. While they were able to land in London with minimal delays, I knew my flight was different from the beginning.