As an African-American man born in the United States, there are many challenges I face simply due to the color of my skin. I have always thought about what the black experience looks like in other countries across the globe. Last week, I had the honor of visiting the Langa community. This week, I had the honor of having an in-depth conversation with a black UCT student from the Free State, one of the nine provinces in South Africa. Both experiences were captivating!

I’ve been quite a few places throughout my past 21 trips around the sun, and along with that, I’ve endured just about every flight and travel snafu that one can imagine. Lost luggage? Check. Pickpocketed? You got it. Boiling ramen water poured on your legs by an elderly Malaysian woman? Sadly. Lost boarding pass? Of course. Accidentally bringing your mom’s sewing scissors into the security check? Naturally. Oh, and missed flights? Every day and twice on Sunday.

Siena is a tiny town, often overlooked while others—Rome, Milan, and Florence—are glorified. Yet, there is never a shortage of things to do here. I have been here for two weeks now and still have items on my bucket list to explore. Here are the things I have managed to experience and would highly recommend.

Okay, so I didn’t actually cry. It just makes for a catchier title to say that I did. The truth is, I didn’t cry, but I certainly wanted to. The other day, I had some British friends over to my flat. It happened to be raining that evening, so many of them showed up varying degrees of soaked. I noticed some people were more cold and wet than others, so I offered them tea to help them warm up.

As a polar vortex takes over Minneapolis and forces the shut down of the Midwest, my excitement for the start of my program has quadrupled in size! In just over a week I will be welcomed by the warm temperatures that Argentine winters have to offer. My name is Mollie Abts and I am a junior at the University of Minnesota majoring in Global Studies, with a concentration on the global political economy and Latin America. When I first came upon the Multi-Location Emerging Economies program, I knew it was a perfect fit.

I will be on a plane headed to Berlin in twenty-four hours from now. I have repeated the phase “I am going abroad this semester” with ever-increased frequency to family and friends. However, I do not think the idea has really sunk in that I am going abroad until now. Of course, I have been preparing for months now with filling out the necessary paperwork, and buying and organizing all the necessary items for my trip.

The days, and now the weeks, continue to be filled with new discoveries, mishaps, laughter, delicious cuisine, and furious note-taking. From the morning walks to class to the IES Abroad community we have to the vulnerability in walking into a classroom as the sole American, growth and appreciation is at every step.

Ok, so can I just say that Vienna is amazing? The architecture, the food, the language, the music—*COUGH!*

Oops, excuse you! As I was saying, the music concerts are—*COUGH!*

*COUGH COUGH!*

Amazing. But strangely coughy. I have never heard so many coughs during a concert before.

I have been living in France for one month and have not come into contact with escargot. As a kid, I believed that this was all the French ate, perplexed by their ways. As I grew older, I began to understand that this dish was not something the French ate every day, or even at all. In my class last week, my professor asked if the French students ate the dish and they responded with a resounding "no" amid one "on occasion". The cuisine of the French is complex, but I learn more each day.