Like many countries in the Arab world, cats rule the streets of Morocco. They sit where they please in the middle of busy markets, they look both ways before crossing the road, and they have even taken over an entire garden in Rabat's historic Kasbah of the Udayas! I'm going to share with you here a few of my favorite felines.

First off, there is Oscar from my homestay during my orientation in Meknes. Not all cats in Morocco live on the street, many are also spoiled pets! Oscar was the king of his apartment. 

During the stress of midterm exams, it was easy to forget the significance behind them. Yes, they marked an important period for grades to either rise or fall, but they also denoted something more—Mid­-terms, as in, middle of the semester—meaning this experience of a lifetime was already half way over. Before I left school in the states for the semester and thought of leaving my friends and the home I knew for a semester, 5 months away seemed like an eternity.

I think Assisi is the most peaceful town I’ve ever been to. It’s a medieval town with incredibly well-preserved architecture, centuries of history, incredibly pure cuisine, and a feeling of warmth, welcome, and peace that you can only experience in person.

It was one of the first days of Vienna; the birds gaily sang, the sky was a bright cerulean blue, and flowers were beginning to bloom. I stood on top of a cliff admiring the rolling green hills, speckled with soft-hued houses. Below me were the remnants of a marble quarry. As romantic as the setting was, the purpose of the quarry and the massive stone fortress behind me was in fact evidence of the most horrific crimes against humanity. I was at Mauthausen, a concentration camp used by the Nazis from 1938-1945.

There is truly no way to fully capture our trip to Morocco. I have been on MANY organized trips and I can say with full confidence that this was the absolute best organized trip I have ever had the privilege to experience. In order to not blabber on for pages and pages, I wanted to break this up into my top three highlights:

DARNA:

Travelling is a big part of the European Union program, with there being three trips in total. At the time of writing this, I’m currently on the third and final trip of the program: the member states trip. Unlike the previous two trips, not everyone in the program visits the same cities. I’m on the southeastern trip and visiting Budapest, Athens, and Sofia, in that order. My next couple of blog posts will be about each of these three cities and my experiences in each city.

Close your eyes. Imagine standing outside with warm sun on your face. All around you hear people talking and laughing, children playing, and birds calling. Maybe the clock strikes the hour and the air around you is also filled with pealing bells from the nearby church. You can smell fresh bread, sausage, and flowers. Can you picture it? That’s a market here in Freiburg. This week I am going to share some information about one of my favorite things about living in Freiburg—the markets!

Long ago, the ownership of the coastline between France and Italy was under debate. Nice used to be a part of Italy, leading to its Italian influences today, and some towns across the border were at one time a part of Nice County. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to travel from the French Riviera to the Italian Riviera with IES Abroad. I discovered the difference in culture, the divine cuisine, and beautiful landscapes.

This past weekend I went on a two-day field trip with some of my classmates from IES Abroad. Having been on some terrible group trips in my life, I was a bit anxious, but I ended up having an absolutely wonderful time.

We woke up early on Friday to head to Perugia. We had our own private bus which was very comfortable and honestly, it was fancy. It felt so nice not having to worry about public transportation.

My family came to visit me this month. I am so lucky that I was able to show them not only Shanghai, but we also traveled outside of the city! This post is all about Guilin. A gorgeous rural city that has lakes strewn throughout the area and beautiful mountains that were cut from the ocean long ago that now jut up, out of the ground like the teeth of some monstrous beast. Guilin is considered one of the most beautiful places to visit in China, and from my experience, I think I might have to agree.