Since I landed in Ecuador, life has been a blur of classes and excursions to different places all over the country. Though I’ve had amazing experiences and have grown closer to my friends and family, I’ve had little time to reflect on all that I’ve learned. This blog post will attempt to sum up all of the important lessons I have learned during my time in Ecuador.

Today, I sit down to recap my first week here in Tokyo. I talk about some of the places we've been, and showcase one particularly interesting bite of sushi. Hope you enjoy and as always, have a good one! You can check out my personal Youtube Channel, where the mentioned music video will soon be posted, here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPhy...

This was at the beginning of the program when classes were about to begin and our art history professor took us to see some historical monuments within Amsterdam many which are now located in the infamous Red Light District. We went to the Old Chuch, and right outside of the church is the site of the "Belle" the statue for sex workers all over the world, as sex work is legal and what makes the Red Light District, the Red Light District. We also visited Our Lord in the Attic, a small hidden Catholic church in the attic of a home.

In seven short days I am going to board a plane headed to Christchurch, New Zealand and the journey that I have been anticipating and planning for will finally be taking place. I cannot even begin to express the gratitude and excitement I feel about my upcoming trip and while my excitement has been bubbling up inside of me since December, with only a week until I depart, I thought it was time for me to get physically prepared for the journey.

The Palio di Siena has been called the most lawless race on Earth,

complete with bribery, contrada fights in the streets, betrayal, drugging of horses, kidnapping, and physical assault among jockeys and citizens alike. At it’s very least, the Palio is a two minute long bareback, medieval horse race for a silk banner also called a “palio” (in the same way that the Superbowl or World Cup are named for their respective prizes).

Am I an impostor?

The first half of the video is the IES Abroad sponsored day trip to Delft, NL which is home to the infamous Dutch Royal Blue as well as home to well known Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (The Girl with the Pearl Earring)! In Delft, we took a tour of the Royal Blue factory and also made our own Royal Blue tiles! It is a lot harder than it looks to paint the tiles, I can't even imagine painting plates and vases that are commisioned for the royal family!

Hallo,

With the first week finished I have found Berlin and German culture very interesting. The program hosted a bus city tour on weekend when we got to see the main city sites in Berlin. It was very informative and gave everyone a better understanding as to where all the historical sites are located in relation to their homestays and the IES Abroad building.