How and why did Spanish become my second language of choice?

Long story short, I grew up in a small town outside of Philadelphia known as the Mushroom Capital of the World for its mushroom production. Many of the employees of the mushroom farms are immigrants from Mexico who come to America seeking the American Dream, fair wages, and quality education for their children. In fact, the majority population of my tiny town is actually Mexican.

My friend Madi and I got invited to a barbeque at our friend Xavier’s house in Eze, about a 15 minute drive from Nice. I was really excited, imagining the kind of food at an American barbeque: hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, coleslaw, potato salad, chips, beer, etc. This was absolutely nothing like that. Firstly, the culture around the invitation itself was different.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of living abroad is one that no one really warns you about: going to the grocery store by yourself. Monoprix seemed harmless enough, with its fresh market and wide selection of miscellaneous groceries and other items like clothing. It seemed homey, almost, like a mixture of Kroger and Target. When I walked inside, however, I was nothing but overwhelmed.

I am spending this spring break with one of my favorite travel buddies, my mom. She’s fun and fearless and feisty and sometimes we fight, as you are wont to do when you spend that much time with anyone (especially those to whom you’re related), but all in all, she’s one of my favorite people to travel with.

• Your umbrella, which has seen you through countless rainstorms, mini-downpours, and one instance of freak snowfall but which now rests in the corner, thoroughly dry after a week of 80-degree weather and clear skies almost every day. Or at least maybe it's still there? Shoot, it's definitely back at the restaurant you celebrated the end of classes at the other day.

Our trip to New Zealand’s north island began in Wellington, the capital.  Home to the beehive and one of the cutest piers by the ocean, we spent two days exploring.  Our next exciting stop was Hobbiton, from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie set. Everything was incredibly detailed, from the colors of the doors and mailboxes, to the pathways to the clotheslines and real vegetables in the garden.

The University of Canterbury in Christchurch has a three week mid-semester break that splits the semester in half.  Like many other students on exchange (studying abroad), I took this opportunity to travel with friends. With packed suitcases and a great road-trip playlist, we spent our first week travelling around the south island.

My days from Monday to Thursday are pretty long. Luckily, I have no class on Fridays so that makes for a nice long weekend! Here’s what a typical weekday is like for me here in Rabat.

I get up between 8:00 and 8:15. Most of my host family is already up and gone by this time, except for my host mom. I eat breakfast, get dressed, and get ready for the day. Usually, I leave the house between 9:20 and 9:30 to walk to the IES Abroad center.