The time has come. You’re studying abroad! There are undoubtedly an abundance of thoughts and emotions racing through your head. The moment you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived.

Welcome back! Since studying abroad was such a foreign (pun intended) concept to me before traveling to Ecuador, it's not at all surprising I have learned enough helpful hints that I needed to write not one, but two blog posts examining them. I clearly have a lot to say, and I like to think that what has been useful for me will prove useful to you as well, so without further ado...enjoy Part 2! 

I originally intended to just make a bonus section at the end of this blog post examining a couple of things I have learned while abroad, but before I knew it, I had written enough helpful hints to fill up two blog posts. With that in mind, bienvenidos (welcome) to my Helpful Hints Blog Post Part 1: Unexpected Lessons I’ve Learned.

This past weekend I went on my first fieldtrip with my Mediterranean Ecosystems class. We explored the sub-Mediterranean region of Spain and we got the opportunity to explore massive caves and hike in beautiful national parks. Hiking has, in fact, been a kind of theme for me this semester. Since nature is so beautifully intertwined with the city life here, Granada is the perfect city to scratch your itch for beautiful, doable hikes.

What’s been happening here, you may ask? As we wrap up the second week of classes, I have learned much more than I expected (naturally with study abroad, both in and out of the classroom). What I am quickly coming to realize is that this is going to be a semester of learning, and all great knowledge understanding starts with a learning curve.

The Walking Curve:

Hola!

Last week I made it Spain

With only a few delays

To happily arrive in Granada,

A city to recieve much praise

I have 6 hours of Spanish every day

To orient us all Granada

People here have a first and second breakfast

Consisting usually of pan tostada

Everything here is lovely

From the language to the people to the stairs

I am learning so much about

Spain It makes me wish I knew more foreign affairs

A group of four friends and I spent our February break in Aix-en-Provence, a small city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region of France. Our goal: a relaxing week in a warm place with no formal itinerary. We booked an AirBnB in downtown Aix. Aix’s downtown area is about a kilometer in diameter, encircled by a major road. By the second day, we felt comfortable exploring these streets and got to know the layout pretty well.

Some tips we learned in Aix-en-Provence, and general travel advice for young people:

1. It is always a great idea to go to the local tourism office (if one exists) in person, because they can often provide great deals and advice on trips! If there is a website for the tourism office, that can work too. For us, it worked best to verify the bus schedules and fees in person at the tourism office.

2. Cheap flights exist! Two sites that have helped us are Skyscanner and StudentUniverse.

No, not with a boy. It’s midterms season and I’ve found myself being particularly stressed about schoolwork, my job, and my life as a whole. It is so easy for me to be swept away in the stress of it all and completely forget the big picture. As my dad likes to say, when I focus on something, I really focus on it. When I’m involved in doing something, it is hard to shift my attention to basically anything else other than the task at hand. This week, that thing that has held my entire attention was work.

Love second-hand, vintage, thrift, and flea-finds? For one weekend a month, the biggest flea market in Europe opens its doors to thousands of visitors in Amsterdam-Noord. IJ-Hallen is made up of two industrial warehouses that house over 750 vendors selling everything from clothing to antiques to vintage toys. Even just getting to the market is an adventure: a 10-minute ferry ride from Centraal Station to the other side of the river offers stunning views of the water and the city.