I am back in Boston! While I am happy to be home with my family and to have swapped gloomy winter weather for sunny summer days, it is hard to say goodbye to the life I made 5,374 miles away. I have been thinking a lot about the last four months and decided to try to encapsulate everything that made my experience so special in a thank you note to Argentina.

Argentina— 

Freiburg is an absolutely beautiful city, and I am so happy to have spent the past four months discovering all that it has to offer. While I have by no means discovered everything there is to see, I do have some recommendations for some of my favorites so far.

While sitting in the taxi on my way to the airport, I gaze out the window thinking of everything that has brought me to this point. All of the life lessons, stressful moments, and dedication to my education were all worth it. I would do it all over again if I knew I would be able to attend the eighth-ranked university in the world in the heart of London. I am still in disbelief that I could make my dreams become reality.

Saturday evening after Dublin’s Pride Parade a group of my floormates and I took a train over the hills, farms, and rivers of Ireland straight to Galway to find the best sightseeing destinations and food spots we could pack into 24 hours. It was a two-hour ride at top speed across the intimate and scenic countryside through multiple towns and counties.

I have been home for two days now, and it feels like I was just packing and preparing to start my adventure in Salamanca. One month felt like a week, and when the end of June rolled around, I was shocked that I had just finished a month in Spain. Studying abroad in Salamanca was one of the most rewarding and transforming experiences I have ever had.

Coping with Mental Illness in general can suck, but coping with it while studying abroad can be even harder, as many expect it to be a life-changing, wonderful experience. In many ways, studying abroad in Amsterdam has been beautiful and life changing. From Amsterdams museums, beautiful architecture and canals, there are so many things to do and life-changing experiences to be had. At the same time, however, being in a country and environment that you are not used to is hard. With so many unfamiliar things, it can be hard to find grounding.

Amsterdam is a city known for its progressive tolerance. From the legalization of sex work, relaxed drugs laws, and LGBTQ history, Amsterdam is unique in many ways. Although often praised as utopian, when it comes to matters of race and anti-blackness, Amsterdam, like most countries, has its issues. Below is an overview of my experiences and what I’ve learned so far here.

History

Four months ago I got off the train in Freiburg, tired and nervous about the next four months in this city. But I was also so incredibly excited to get started on this adventure. And what an adventure it has been. Our IES Abroad program officially ended on Saturday, but I am still in Freiburg with the other students who will be staying for university courses. Although I will still be here for another month, this will be my last blog post as I look back on the past four months of living, growing, and thriving in Freiburg.

In recent years, Parisian summers have faced rapidly rising temperatures that can nearly bring this metropolis to a standstill. The French call it the dreaded canicule, which translates roughly as the dog days of a heatwave. This summer has been no exception. Although the past month and a half has been delightfully frigid, the last week has brought ravaging heat that can make daily commute, activity, and work unbearable. Here are some cooling tips I can offer after making it through a week of la canicule.

One of the most common questions I got before coming to Argentina was, “Are you gonna eat meat?” I’ve been a vegetarian for a little over three years now, and my close friends and family thought it was absolutely hilarious that I chose to study abroad in a city known for its meat. When choosing Buenos Aires, I didn’t really factor food into my decision, so as the questions continued arising, I became super nervous that I was going to be stuck eating side dishes all semester. Luckily, that has been far from the case!