My friends and family back home tend to consider me pretty responsible. I use multiple color-coded calendars that stretch years into the future, can easily remember tiny details about people I’ve just met, and know some of my friends’ academic requirements better than they do; my love of learning coupled with my oldest-daughter sensibility makes me very self-reliant. Of course, my siblings also think I'm super ditzy, but in general, I pride myself on being “put together.”

What should you do when you don't know what to do in Rome? Or any city at all?

Dinner has always been (and probably forever will be) one of my favorite parts of the day. Growing up, I would already be asking my mom in the morning what we’d be eating that evening. I can’t explain why I have such an affinity for the last meal of the day, but I most definitely do. My mom would make meals like quiche or stir-fry or salad; in the winters, smells of minestrone or tofu chili and homemade bread would often waft through the house.

Today, I took a 30-minute bus ride from my apartment to Martin Place, also known as the “civic heart” of Sydney. I disembarked and walked by a number of historic buildings and vendors until I reached the General Post Office -- not where I pictured I would be on a Wednesday afternoon. As I stood beneath the colonnades of the building, which opened its doors in 1874, I found myself in awe of the architecture that has stood there for over one hundred years.

Before my studies with IES Abroad officially began, I sought to discover the truths of the place that had occupied my every wandering thought for the past year. 

We’ve been here in the Galapagos for over three weeks now, and some could say a routine has been established. Weekdays have a methodical rhythm, soothed by the omnipresent crashing of tropical surf, and so for this post, I thought I’d try and capture that rhythm through a series of everyday anecdotes. Enjoy.

They don't tell you much about Switzerland growing up in Vernon Hills, Illinois. It's a shame that the glorious mountains, beautiful lakes, and mouthwatering chocolate were kept a secret from me for the last 20 years of my life, but I'm happy to report that I can no longer say I've never experienced these things!

My trip to Morocco was an experience of a lifetime. I have been traveling every weekend since I arrived in Europe and all of my trips have been fantastic. However, this trip stood out to me because it was so drastically different from the rest. This is largely because I was on a different continent. My first time in Africa! I seek places with culture and traditions that are very different from my own, and Morocco definitely manifested this desire. 

It’s difficult for me to comprehend that my program in Dublin is halfway done. Actually, at the time of writing this, I have only 48 days until I hop on a plane and fly back to Michigan. After spending nearly two months in Dublin, it simultaneously feels like I have been here forever and not at all.

It’s now been almost two weeks since I arrived in the Galápagos, and it really is paradise. I feel like I’ve been picked up and dropped into a BBC documentary, or between the pages of one of my biology textbooks.