Friday, December 16, 12:15pm: Dramatic title, but I'm feeling a little dramatic (the théâtre went to my head). It's Friday afternoon and my plane leaves tomorrow, and how much packing have I done? Very little, because I'm in denial. And on a boat.
It’s finals week here in Nantes, and it’s not just difficult to get through because of the tests. It’s that on Saturday morning I’m going to wake up, go to the airport, and get on a plane back to Los Angeles.
I’m not ready to leave. At all.
Milan is a simply incredible city. For Americans it’s fairly unknown, taking the backseat to the Amalfi coast and Florence in terms of Italian vacation destinations. But after a semester in Milan, I want to shout Milan’s wonders from the top of the Duomo. I walked around the city with my mouth open at its beauty for four months straight and I know that it will always hold a very special place in my heart.
Today was my very last final exam. I have to admit that I stayed up too late playing Neopets (feel free to add me but neomail me first - my username is bishadow!) so I didn't very much, and wanted to just DIE the whole exam as a result, but I still never wanted to finish that test because I didn't want my semester to be over. But it is!
You’ve mastered the old art of map reading since wifi rarely exists
Me and some other students from the program had decided to spend a weekend in Tangier. After seeing the city and grabbing some dinner, we decided to try and find a nightclub and go out dancing. We got there around ten at night, and the place was completely empty. This is pretty normal; night life in Morocco gets started later than it does in America considering that at ten at night most Moroccans are still eating dinner.
“Inshallah” is an Arabic phrase the literally translate to “If God wills it”. It’s also used for ‘no’, ‘yes’, and ‘maybe’. So I don’t actually know what it means. Our program coordinator told us that sometimes, people we just met will invite us over for lunch or to stay the night; it’s a part of Morocco’s traditional hospitality.
We had our last IES Abroad trip ever (so sad!) recently, which was also the best one - Kyoto! I've been hyping myself up for this all semester because I've always wanted to go to Kyoto, and it didn't disappoint.
Taal is krachtig, het verbindt en isoleert. (Language is powerful, it connects and isolates.)
How much do you judge someone based on their language?
When you’re having a conversation with someone on public transportation, in class, or in line for a coffee, how much of your opinion of them is determined by how well they speak?