It has been almost officially three weeks here in Santiago, Chile and I have had classes at IES Abroad, classes at La Pontificia Universidad Católica, observations in pre/post partum and pre/post surgery at the public hospital, observations in the private university hospital OR, been out to eat at restaurants, been on a very extreme mud hike, been to the mall and subsequently to the movie theater, and made my way across all parts of the city. How’s that for a run-on sentence to start off this post?

So about a month ago I got it into my head that I should try to write an orchestral piece for Berlin. And as of now, one month later, I believe I’ve succeeded, more or less. The result is a song called “Krankenwagen”, which was inspired by some of the sounds I’ve heard walking around Berlin: bike bells, trains, the clicking noise the walk signal makes, and of course that god-awful German ambulance siren.

It has been nearly one month since I left Vienna, and I have to admit that I'm glad to be back home. I always have reveled in the comfort of familiarity, even if it sometimes slips into mundanity. Upstate New York is certainly no Vienna, but I know I appreciate it now more than ever after being away for so long. Going from a city of nearly two million to a town of about thirty thousand, I feel like I can breathe again--there are no subways, no tourist crowds, no street vendors trying to sell me stuff.

I wasn’t sure what to write about this week. Should I describe the pubs I’ve visited? Should I describe the beauty of visiting the Hampton Palaces or the Greenwich boat tour I was on with some of my friends over the weekend? I didn’t think anyone really wanted to hear about my classes, though I will say I’m actually enjoying them at the moment. (In case you’re curious, I’m taking British film and literature in the 1940s and British youth culture in the 1950s). I’ve seen so much of London, yet I’ve barely scratched the surface.

This is the question I expect from everyone and their mother.  After five months away, how does it feel to be home?  I landed back in the states over three weeks ago and have had ample time to settle back into life at home.  I’ve been to some monster truck rallies, played with my guns, and eaten Taco Bell for every meal.  

Obviously I’m kidding.  I miss Europe.

Here’s how it feels to be back home.

In the interest of honesty, let me just say right off the bat that I had no interest in Bosnia whatsoever before I got into the program. I thought there were thousands of other places I’d rather see; I thought the only benefit of going would be not having homework; I thought it would be boring. I’ve been here for four days now, and I’ve been proven wrong every single day. The eleven of us arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the eleventh, and we’ll be here until our return to Freiburg on the eighteenth.

English: One of the coolest things about Barcelona (besides the sangria, of course) is that the city is a mix of mountains, the beach, and beautiful architecture. I have loved exploring around the different areas, where alleyways are covered in artistic graffiti and filled with local boutiques and bakeries. I’ve spent a couple days at the beaches – at Barceloneta you can’t see an inch of sand past noon, and at Ocata you get the feel of being a local with lots of open space and tranquility.

For most Chinese students at Donghua University, June 9 was the Dragon Boat Festival and a day off from school. For IES Internships students, we had class all day including our evening seminar. But since the rest of the college was off, that meant our school building was locked for the night. Field trip!

New students have arrived at IES Abroad. They began trickling in yesterday morning, jet-lagged and nervous-looking, all fretting over whether it’s appropriate or inappropriate to use the formal case with their guest families, and trying to figure out what the proper thing to say to someone is when you bump into them on the subway.