Hey everyone!

Not only is this year the year of the monkey according to the Chinese lunar calendar, it is also the China-US Year of Tourism. On Friday, March 25, they hosted a launch event at the Great Wall to commemorate the start of the year of joint-tourism. We, the IES Abroad students, were lucky enough to be some of the 1,000 Americans invited to hike the Great Wall on this special occasion.

When I was in the 7^th grade, my parents took a trip to Italy and left my brother and me at home. Cruel, I know. Granted, it was their anniversary or something special like that and we got to spend a week with our grandma (no parents, no rules???), but ever since I saw the pictures and heard the stories, Italy was at the top of my travel list. Last week, that dream finally came true.

I went to Downton Abbey yesterday.  Yes, the real one.  It exists, and it’s called Highclere Castle.  For those of you unfamiliar with the TV show, Downton Abbey is set in an aristocratic English country home, and it looks as beautiful in reality as it does onscreen.

Last week, right before Semana Santa, I purchased yet another journal here in Spain

If, at any time in the six months before I left to study abroad, someone asked me if I was nervous, I replied, yes, of course (because hello, everything about this is anxiety-producing, but not always bad nerves). And then, when they inevitably asked, “What’re you most nervous about?”, nine out of ten times I probably said, “Money.”

In light of my last post about the effects of mental illness while studying abroad, which I admit was not exactly uplifting, I want to offer the second half of the same narrative--how does one recover from bouts of depression/anxiety/etc. while in a foreign country? Enter self care, a practice I find absolutely essential for my wellbeing and recommend for everyone, no matter the state of your health.

This past week was full of great things, so I don’t even know where to start. First of all, my sister is visiting! Having her around was awesome to begin with, but having her here for Easter made being away from home a little easier. Secondly, I’m fairly certain I found my future home. I may be a Jersey girl at heart, but I think I might just have to move to Edinburgh. Spending Easter weekend there was definitely one of my favorite parts of my time abroad.