For its first weekend trip, the IES Rabat program went to Merzouga. Merzouga is frequented by tourists because of its proximity to the Chebbi Sand Sea. But Merzouga is also a small residential town close to the Algerian border known for its Gnawa population. The Gnawa people are the descendants of African slaves, and their music and culture has a strong influence in Morocco. Just outside Merzouga, there are abandoned mines, which the French used as labor camps to extract lead and quartz until 1965, when they stopped being profitable.

Arch di Triumph at an angle in Paris, France

This past weekend, I decided to visit Munich with a small group of IES Abroad students.  There was a lot of excitement leading up to the trip, as this was our first venture outside of the Freiburg area since we’d been here.  Not even the reality of a five-hour bus ride could deter our excitement.

We boarded the bus on Friday with a walking tour in hand and a list of places we wanted to see.  We talked the whole way there about plans for that night and looking up the best places for bratwurst.

We spent the first days in Santiago getting all the important information in order to survive in our host country, but at the same time we got to get to know all the students on the program.

On March 8 I was able to partake in an international experience that not only fortalicized my sense of solidarity with women and feminine-identifying people all around the world, but also widened my view of feminism and how it functions in other countries.

Mid-terms are approaching and I'm about half way done with my second semester at Bocconi, the partner university in Milan that I'm enrolled in through IES Abroad. This semester I'm taking two economic courses and I'm very content with my decision to do so. Bocconi is a well-known, international business school and offers a wide range of courses in the business and economic fields. It was just ranked among the top 5 universities in Europe!

Moving from California to Michigan for university, I know the process of settling into a new place very well. It’s all a bit much moving to a completely new place where you know no one and must find your rhythm, however after a few weeks I feel like I am finding my footing. There have been a few things contributing to my settling including the weather finally cooling down, feeling like my homestay is home, and of course being able to get around the city.

the Dom Tower

I still remember the feeling of perplexity that I experienced when I opened a correspondence email from my soon-to-be host mom in France, Brigitte, and read the line “Nous serons en compagnie d'une dame japonais qui arrive le 2 janvier pour 2 semaines.” As I scrambled to recall from my limited French vocabulary and dust off some French lingo that hadn’t been used in over a year, I translated, “We will be accompanied by a Japanese woman who arrives January 2^nd for two weeks.” Dot dot dot … I had a lot of questions with this sentence.