Over the past weekend my friends and I took the DART train to the coastal town of Dalkey. Our adventure was so much fun that I haven’t stopped dreaming about it.

A little fun fact about Dalkey: Famous Irish singers Bono and Enya both have homes in Dalkey! If you have been following my previous blog posts, Dalkey was probably the most likely place for me to find famous actress Hilary Swank, but alas I was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Dalkey is officially on my list of one of the most magical places in Ireland.

Greetings from my last week in Santiago! I can’t believe that we are getting towards the end of my experience here. It feels like just yesterday I was living in three worlds: a world in Bloomington, IN where I go to school, outside Chicago where my family is, and then a suitcase filled with all the things I wanted to bring to Santiago. I was honestly a mess because I didn’t know what to expect once I arrived and I was extremely anxious about the whole trip.

It’s Saturday morning. My flight back to New York leaves in about eight hours. I’ve put off writing my last city blog because I really don’t want to face the truth— it’s really over. My exams are in, I’ve said goodbye to my professors, and there are no more class visits to museums planned. Soon, it will be time to wave a slow, sleepy goodbye to Madrid…

The studying part of studying abroad kicked in recently, and I’ve been pretty busy writing my final paper for my Area Studies class and studying for my Spanish final. I’ve had so much work to do, the last day really snuck up on me. Now, before I know it I’ll be heading to the airport and saying goodbye to the city that’s been my home for the past seven weeks.

“Writing and travel broaden your buttocks if not your mind and I like to write standing up.” – Ernest Hemingway

It's officially been one month since arriving in Sydney, and I can honestly say that I am starting to feel like a local.  The first few weeks started off great, everything felling like a new grand adventure.  From exploring the grounds of the iconic opera house to walks along some of Sydneys most beautiful beaches, I truly felt like I was living the dream.

While I was in Barcelona I took an amazing photography class, shout out to the awesome Professor Fred! One of the assignments for the class was to write about someone's epiphany which led them to realize that they were truly living in Barcelona. I wrote about my friend Claire. I decided to share the story I wrote about her here on the blog because there will be a time that you too will come to an epiphany that will make you consider the city you are studying abroad at as your home.

These past weeks in Barcelona have been an absolute whirlwind and it is difficult to think that it is all quickly coming to an end. I have noticed a lot of different things being in this big city when it comes to culture, food, people, fashion, transportation, and much more that is different than the United States. One of those things is that there seems to be a very large acceptance of the LGBTQ+ population. 

The IES Abroad Tokyo Summer program has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, and definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my college career. Through this program, I was able to meet people whom I would have never had contact with, and not just the close Japanese friends whom I’ve made lifelong connections to, but people from all over America from a wide selection of programs and backgrounds. So as such, I have essentially nothing but good things to say about this program, but let’s start from the beginning.