A hop, skip, and a jump later, and we are in Venice! We take a water taxi to the stop nearest our AirB&B, a nauseating experience I would like not to repeat. A lovely woman named Miss Desirée is sent to bring us to our apartment, and we wearily carry our luggage up five flights of stairs, through a locked gate and three locked doors. Oh boy.
"I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart."
Three out of four final shows performed. One diploma from The Gaiety School of Acting received. It reads: "This certifies that Shannon Sotomayor has successfully completed IES Abroad Spring Semester 2016." Completed. I'm not a fan of that word currently. Not at all. But I will admit there are many things I'm happy to report experiencing.
My Spring Break adventure starts in Prague, or Praha. My friend Emily and I take a four hour train; a non-stressful form of transportation I highly recommend. We take a brisk walk to Ahoy! Hostel which from the outside looks a little rundown. We enter through the door and see construction everywhere, but we are not deterred. Walking up two flights of stairs we get to reception, get taken to our lovely twin room, and settle down.
The month of March flew. January gave us a gradual ease into the new year, a new city, and many of those first few days felt like weeks, the constant influx of new information making the hours stretch. February picked up a bit, as routine and familiarity started to settle, but then the travel started - first a weekend in London, then a ten day midterm break in Amsterdam, Paris, and Northern Ireland.
Whatever station I get off within Tokyo subway system, I will expect to find a totally different environment and mood around me everytime. Feels like every part of the city is unlike any other part of the city. It also feels I'm traveling while traveling but not actually. Kind of confusing, isn't it? But one thing I can't deny is that Tokyo is a worthwhile place to experience. I personally dislike crowded cities aka New York, however with Tokyo, that didn't seem to be the case.
The first seven weeks of the program are up and my time in Brazil has officially come to an end. When I first decided to join this specific program, I wasn’t really sure of what to expect from Rio. I knew Brazilians spoke Portuguese and I just focused on trying to learn as much as I could before leaving. Now I’m two days out of Brazil and currently writing in Peru - another post for another time – and I can say with absolute certainty I’m homesick for Brazil. Studying in Rio de Janeiro was one of the most unforgettable experiences!
Early on in the semester, the rest of the IES Abroad group was embarking on their trip to the Galapagos islands. Originally I was sad that I wasn't able to go with the rest of them, but after the weekend of adventures that I had instead, I don't feel so bad. I went with two girls from my program that also didn't go to the Galapagos, and another U.S. exchange student that was enrolled in the local university where some IES people take classes, USFQ.
I’m back in Spain after Semana Santa! I’ve been traveling since last Thursday and have been to Budapest, Prague, and back to Copenhagen. It seems to me that all of Spain gets a vacation week for Easter, as in all three of the cities I visited, I’ve seen massive Spanish tour groups (and slyly listened to pick up some info from their tour guides along the way). My trip brought me first to Budapest for four nights, then Prague for three, and then Copenhagen for another four nights before returning to Madrid yesterday.
I am incredibly excited to for my journey this coming week. I’m still having a hard time believing that I get a chance to travel, jump out of my country, and land right into one of the hearts of another. Since I was younger, I’ve been enamored with visual arts as well as the art of storytelling. American comics and cartoons being equal as inspiring to me as Japanese anime and manga and videogames. My own drawing style stems from aspects of both cultures mixed together with my own storybook-like flair.
