So you’ve found yourself a flight and a hotel for the weekend that’s less than 80€ total; that’s amazing, right? What a cheap weekend away! Well, you’re not totally wrong. Flights and accommodations are often much more affordable for students in Europe than in the US, but be careful!

             My class and I got a taste of some of the more touristy activities this past Friday through a trip consisting of El Junco, Galapaguera, and Puerto Chino. We also made a stop at the Agencia de Agricultura’s farm in the highlands. It was fascinating to see the gradient of ecosystems as we drove from the sunny, semi-arid coastal area of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno into the lush, tropical highlands, and finally back down into the dry, sun-bathed beaches around Puerto Chino.

It all starts with my alarm going off at 8 a.m. I can hear the birds chirping, and can see the beams of light coming through the curtain in my room. It will be a perfect day I think as I get up and reach for my alarm.

I hit snooze and go back to sleep for another hour because who really gets up the first time their alarm goes off?

That pun just never gets old for me to be honest.

Last weekend my friends and I travelled to Dublin for three days and it may have been my favorite trip so far.

During my month in London, I took the opportunity to see four different shows for (relatively) inexpensive prices. Among the variety of ways you can get tickets are going to the ticket booth in Leicester Square on the morning of the show (the booth opens up at 10 a.m., but the line begins earlier than that), finding tickets online from sites such as Amazon Tickets, or using second-hand sites such as StubHub.

I apologize for not blogging for a while. I have been so busy with class, excursions for class and traveling independently that I have not even had a solid day to sit down and really piece together my blogs for the month. That's a good problem to have though; if you ask me. Well, I just finished my first environmental class today and turned in all the necessary documents. It was a great class and I'll tell you why.

My trip to Madrid, despite being over 20 hours, was relatively smooth. I arrived in the Madrid-Barajas airport, picked up my luggage from baggage claim, and stopped at the exchange station to convert my US dollars to Euros (if possible, I would recommend trying to get foreign currency through your bank at home before leaving – you get a better conversion rate and avoid the hassle of exchanging money in a foreign language). I was greeted by IES Abroad personnel who ushered me into a taxi along with another student.

As someone who’s considering joining the Peace Corp after college graduation, I was extremely interested in opportunities to volunteer during my semester abroad. When IES Abroadgave us the chance to spend a weekend building houses with Un Techo por mi País (A Roof for my Country), I couldn’t wait. Similar to Habitat for Humanity in the United States, Techo is an international NGO that organizes volunteers to build houses in impoverished neighborhoods.

One of the things that I was most curious about when researching study abroad programs was what the average day would look like. Weekdays at university campuses all across the US follow, for the most part, a comfortably predictable routine of lectures, library hours, and meals eaten under brightly fluorescent lights. Our lives become quickly encircled by the proverbial “Ivy Tower” which, for all of its academic rigor, really can’t compare to what it’s like to find your own routine and way of life in a foreign city.