The most scared I’ve ever been was last September, about a month into my semester abroad experience. I was fifteen thousand feet above sea level—five thousand up from Quito— on a mountain called El Corazón, walking on a narrow ridge with sheer drops on either side and wearing the wrong shoes. I hadn’t quite realized how different running shoes were from hiking boots, and I was rapidly realizing that my ignorance could have real consequences.

One of the biggest things I wish I’d understood before I went abroad is that homestaying means living in someone else’s house. To be clear, I understood this on a surface level, thinking only of the plus side: the guarantee of an immersive cultural experience from day one. And at its best, homestaying can be a truly incredible experience: I know people who essentially developed the closeness of real family members with their host families.

I chose to study abroad with the intention of immersing myself in the culture as fully as possible. The most encompassing way that I did this was by choosing to live with a host family. This was the best decision I could have made, and it truly added to my experience from day one.

In four months, I fell in love with a city. I learned how to navigate its streets and beautiful, beautiful metro, expanded my knowledge of its language, and adapted to its eating customs. I also had a blast exploring the country.

Well, I have completed my first finals in a university outside of the United States! And this past finals season was tough. The popular myth about studying abroad is that you get to have a “free semester” to travel the world and discover new places. While it is much easier and accessible to travel, you still have school. With IES, no classes were scheduled on Fridays, but there was always the possibility of having class on Friday with the engineering university, which hinders your ability to travel.

Hallo Alle!

In this blog post I wanted to give you ideas of what you can do in Freiburg. Some places you can go visit, foodie spots to eat at, and day trips that you can make to explore Germany a little better. 

I'll give some clarification to the places I visited.

Rieselfeld District:

"Eco-housing in the state‘s largest district project

Tldr; Going somewhere new alone is different when you're female and Black, a concept parts of Europe are still being introduced to.

Hey everyone! I've been home for about two weeks now and I'm taking this time to go through all the stuff I did while abroad and write about my experiences. While overseas with the European Union program, I was lucky enough to visit six countries with the program and an additional six by myself. I tried to keep a list of things I liked about each city so that they wouldn't melt into one another in my memories. I consolidated these notes into this list I'm calling the Abroad Awards for now because I don't have a better title in mind. 

Hallo Alle!

So its been a while since I last updated my blog. I've been a bit busy with classes, class projects, presentations, finals, and making plans for my return home. Not only that, but some computer issues have had me on my last nerves. Thankfully, I've got everything fixed...for the most part.

    When I first decided to study abroad, counselors would always show me the “study abroad roller coaster” chart, explaining how throughout the months I was there I would have different highs and lows. If you look up “study abroad roller coaster” on Google, the first image that comes up is actually the one I saw the most. While my first few months of the “roller coaster” didn’t really line up with what they predicted, I must say the descriptions of going home were spot on.