It is easy to fall in love with South Africa; to wake up to the sweet voices of school children singing on Sunday mornings, walk along the colorful patterns of the houses in BoKaap, and stare at the mesmerizing sunsets settling in against the mountains. It is easy to fall for the deep sounds of African music, with each beat of the drums controlling every limb of your body.

If you're like me and loving the current ‘brunch’ trend then this post is for you. One way I was able to feel more at home in Paris was by going to “trendy” brunch places. I am someone who enjoys eating salads and working out and unfortunately that can be hard to come by in France.  However, I did my research and found a few healthy brunch places that I enjoy going to when I need a break from the croissants and baguettes. Here are some of my faves: 

Season 

Dear Eunice,

Thank you for always reminding me what time I have class even though you aren’t in my classes.

Thank you for taking my clothes out of the dryer and folding them delicately on my bed, when you deservingly should have thrown them over the balcony since I leave them sitting in there for several days.

Finals are stressful; there is no way to avoid it. No matter how much you prep there is always some sort of stress still lurking, an anxiety reminding you just how important finals can be. What is also stressful, though, is the realization that your study abroad time is coming quickly to an end. Have I seen everything I wanted to? Did I get to eat at all the restaurants, take all the pictures, buy all the souvenirs, etc. etc.

In contrast to the previous, light-hearted post about food, I will discuss a more contentious subject in this post: U.S. national politics and what it is like to live abroad in our current political climate.  As this is a subject about which I constantly think every day, I have more to say than could fill this blog post.  Thus, I will concentrate on the two largest revelations I’ve uncovered this semester as well as their consequences.

This weekend I travelled down to Jervis Bay with my roommates and the girls across the hall. We had been trying to make this journey for a few weeks now but for numerous different reasons, the plan never stuck. Until this past weekend. And I’m so glad it finally did this weekend.

 Rabat, Morocco.

Free weekends are for travel... & that's exactly what we did! During the last two weekends before "real" semester classes started in Berlin, students took advantage of free time to go and travel. A decent chunk of IES Abroad Berlin students went on the program-organized Baltic Sea trip (where we visited both Warnemünde and Rostock, Germany) for spring break. Then, I personally also tagged along to a Copenhagen, Denmark trip (plus a day-trip to Malmö, Sweden) with a smaller group of friends~ Enjoy!

Student housing is quite different here in Germany but I definitely love it. There are some major differences between student housing in Germany and in the USA. Here is a short list of some of the major differences between the two.