The second weekend of my time in South Africa, I decided to go on the Garden Route tour with the program for a three-day excursion filled with various fun activities including amazingly delicious food, unforgettable views, memorable moments with friends, and appreciation. On Friday, we went canoeing at sunset. My roommate and I found ourselves floating along the way a lot, just trying to live in the moment and soak in our environment. What. an. experience!

There’s something wonderful about setting out for a day in the city without having a concrete plan or a final destination in mind.

Q: So Erin, what’s your experience like abroad, as someone with anxiety?

A: Everyone is different, but this is my experience:

Imagine getting lost on a strange island. It isn’t that different from going abroad. You are on a treasure hunt that brings you from one awe-inspiring moment to another confusing one. Every new city is full of trapdoors and cleft that plunge you into its past and vicissitudes of changes. Look around you; they are everywhere. Each metro stop takes you to a place you haven’t seen before. Behind every corner, local shops and plazas tell the vibrant ways of lives that you have yet encountered.

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).