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

Hi everyone,

After two months in Japan, I have finally figured out that socializing in Japan involves a lot of food. I think this is because of the structure of class periods.

February 1st is known as St. Brigid's Day. I had no idea who she was, but I was excited to learn!

Turn outs, St. Brigid is a total baller. 

She outsmarted a king into giving her a huge portion of land, now known in present day as Kildare.

She was known for being extraordinarily kind and beautiful, but she vowed to remain chaste much to the chagrin of her suitors.

During my first week in Dublin, while we were all still going through orientation, the IES Abroad staff put a poll up on a screen in front of us showing why most people said they were studying abroad. According to the poll, nearly half of all the IES Abroad Dublin students were studying abroad for the travel opportunities, and I was one of them. One of the main lures for studying abroad in another country, especially one in Europe, is all the other countries you can travel to and all the other cultures you can experience.

After I finished packing for my three-month trip to Barcelona I was super confident that I had covered all of the bases. What could I have possibly forgotten?!

Come to find out, I only had about half of these must-have items...so learn from my packing mistakes! Use this list to make sure you’re completely prepared for an adventure abroad!

Yesterday, in the orientation class “Spanish and Culture in Chile,” our Professor Claudia walked up to the board and drew a curvy line. She then proceeded to draw somewhere around twelve stick figures in various states of ecstasy and distress.

¡Hola! It’s been a while. Something I’ve learned through experience is that it can be very easy to lose track of time while studying abroad. Sometimes days feel like weeks and other times weeks like days. My first few weeks of study abroad have been packed full of orientation, figuring out my schedule, and adjusting to life in a new place, which has made time to reflect on my experience hard to come by unless I consciously make time for it.