After our month in Quito came to a close, we all piled on a big metal tube and launched ourselves to a little postage stamp in the middle of the Pacific Ocean known as the Galápagos Islands. Looking out of the window, Isla San Cristóbal, my home for the next three months, appeared out of nowhere.

Hola, Cariños!

If you didn’t know, the Berlin—Language & Area Studies program doesn’t start until March 5th, and all my soon-to-be-classmates and I have been home since the end of winter exams. I always knew the start date of the program, but I didn’t really think much about the break until I was experiencing it.

For some students, volunteering while studying abroad may not be possible because of limited time in their schedules or they prefer to use their spare time to travel with friends on the weekends. Prior to coming to Freiburg, volunteering was not on my list of things to do while abroad.

I recently traveled to Copenhagen with one of my best friends from high school, and I have to say it was truly an amazing experience. Copenhagen wasn’t on my list of places to travel originally so I didn’t really know what to expect, nor was I super enthusiastic about going. Surprisingly, the city blew me away. From the people to the food to the historical monuments Copenhagen is definitely a must-see! Our first stop was brunch at a restaurant called Mad & Kaffe. When we got there the line was out the door and down the street.

After arriving in Rabat and staying in a hotel for two nights, our group took off for Meknes, one of Morocco's imperial cities. We were placed into host families, given classes every morning in Darija (the Moroccan dialect of Arabic), and taken on tours of historical sites and cultural activities and lectures. In our free time every afternoon, we would explore the city and wind up at cafés, drinking tea and avocado juice.

Let's walk starting from my host family's appartment in the downtown Hamria neighborhood.

I am beyond blessed that my study abroad experience thus far has been extremely transformative, and it has only been a little over a month since I first arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. I have been transformed emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. It has been overwhelmingly uplifting to say the least. It is interesting to note that in my first blog post, I hinted at facing potential change in personal and professional goals while studying abroad. Well, it has happened ladies and gentlemen.

We often hear the term “culture shock” when discussing global experiences with friends or family that have studied abroad, lived abroad, or traveled abroad for a short amount of time and have experienced feeling out of place when moving to an unfamiliar society and way of life. I was thoroughly instructed on the topic before my departure to Argentina by my university through in-person presentations and an online module, which informed students preparing to study abroad on what to expect and how to cope with cultural adjustments.

February goes by quickly for everyone by nature of it being the shortest month of the year, but this February has gone by especially quickly for me because of all the traveling that I’ve been doing. It’s during times like these, when I’m almost halfway done with the semester even when it simultaneously feels as if I’ve just arrived here, that I tend to write down memories and events that I don’t want to forget. It’s not really a journal as each memory occupies a sentence or two; it’s more like a pseudo-journal.

I’m sure we can all agree that it’s extremely exciting to travel abroad!  We start to think of every landmark, city, country etc. that we just have to see before running out of time.

All of this seems pretty straightforward until you take a closer look at your bank account...so how can you possibly travel everywhere that your heart desires without spending a ridiculous amount of money?

My Three Main Tips:

1. Budget