A number of years ago, I took a trip to Morocco with my family and was in awe of the tiny streets of Tangier’s medina twisting and turning until it was impossible to tell which way was north or south. My dad summed up the confusion by making a bet with me: if I could find a street that ran straight through the medina (literally, a straight line), he would give me $1000. While I failed to find a street that lacked curves, I was excited to explore the tiny alleyways, even if I could only explore with the accompaniment of my mom and dad. 

I have been back for almost a whole week now and let me tell you, IT IS HOT! My first purchase here was a fan yet my room still feels like it's 90 degrees.  Can’t complain too much though when I know there is snow on the ground at home…

After arriving in Venice, we had to take a bus to actually get into Venice, since the airport is on the outskirts of the city. From there, it was a long walk to our Airbnb (we could've spent money on the bus boats, but we're poor college students so...no). Since we arrived fairly early in the morning, we had plenty of time to explore the city that day. That first day, we got pizza as our first meal (and it was delicious), then we kind of walked around our area to see what was near us.

So my winter break started last Friday, when I got on a bus in Nantes with 4 of my friends and arrived 5 hours later in Paris. Surprisingly, this bus ride was very easy, and allowed us to sleep plenty. Luckily, there was a break about half way through where we stopped at a gas station/convenience store and we were able to grab some snacks and a drink before we finished the bus ride. Unfortunately, our bus was a little late arriving in Paris due to traffic. Fortunately, this bus had wifi! It didn't work all the time, but I was thankful nonetheless.

With orientation over, six of my friends and I decided to plan a trip before classes started.  Our plan was to stay at Lake Tekapo Thursday night and then…well, there’s no point in telling y’all what we planned after that because after Lake Tekapo, all of our plans changed.  But anyways, back to my story. 

I've been told by Salamancans that locals have little respect for public property.  That means lots of graffiti, trash, (that magically disappears by morning by the obsessive cleaning crews) and art.  Salamanca is filled with art.  The Barrio del Oeste is a neighborhood that doubles as an urban gallery, the city having invited young artists to paint walls, doors, and entire buildings, as well as cover trees and bicycles in a rainbow of yarn.  I expected a neighborhood covered in such vibrant culture and creativity to be filled wi

Monday, February 22nd, 2016 23:30

Alhamar, Granada

Bonjour from AH215!

In America, many people are proud to be American citizens, but still have close ties to their heritage.  After all, America is made up of lots of different cultures coming together.  In America we tend define ourselves by our family heritage.  In America, when people ask “What are you?”, we don’t answer “American”.  We call ourselves Polish, Portuguese, Italian, Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Korean, Indian, Russian, etc.  But when we leave America, we are no longer defined by these titles.  Even t