With only a few weeks left in Barcelona, friends began to ask me what I was most excited to come home to. What I said surprised some: “I miss lots of things, but especially the most ordinary of things”.

栄、名古屋城、大須。。。次のは何でしょう？

Just when I was getting more comfortable with my new life in Ireland I shook it all up by traveling to another country for the weekend. The minute we landed in Prague I realized just how different each place in Europe could be from one another. The signs were written in a language I didn’t recognize in the slightest and the architecture was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The best way I can describe Prague is to say that it is almost like a fairy tale.

So this was one long day.

After flight delays due to a broken toilet (what) and a pilot flying for too long and having to leave, I finally arrived in Quito at 5 Am.

I just arrived back from a weekend IES Abroad trip to Cáceres and Mérida and boy, I’m absolutely exhausted. We left Madrid at 7:30 AM on Friday morning (note: that’s about an hour before the sun rises here) and drove to a parador, a government-run hotel in an old medieval castle, for a large breakfast. The amount of food I ate was definitely an American-sized, but I ate a nice mix of jamón, bread, yogurt, and some more jamón.

When I first applied to this program in Nantes, I was a little nervous that I would actually get accepted because I didn't want to face some of my fears that I had. They ranged from silly things like not being able to find a certain product that I loved having in the US to more serious things like not being able to find any vegetarian- and food allergy-friendly foods. I am very pleased to say that most, if not all, of these fears have been faced and are no longer a problem.

Hola a todos!

My flight was cancelled and my taxi dropped me off at the wrong hotel, but I finally made it to Madrid! I’m off on an adventure of a lifetime.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Emma McQuade. I grew up in a small suburb north of Boston where I spent most of my days dribbling a ball up the soccer field. When I wasn’t on the field, I was on the beach. As a child, I was a sand castle sculptor, a skee-ball master and an ice cream connoisseur.

Yesterday I visited Ireland's first public library, Marsh's Library. The oldest book in their collection is from the 1490s alone. Old book smell was overpowering.

Thursday, January 21, 2016 3:46 pm

Colectivo (Madison, WI)