They told us re-entry would be hard. We are coming back home, a world all so familiar, with a whole new mindset, an altered perspective. I have spent the last four months waking up every morning awaiting a new adventure in Santiago. Everything was new and everything was exciting. We spent so much time planning our independent travels and mapping out how to explore our new city in the most genuine way. I have spent the last four months on a non-stop adventure.
It is finally at that point – one day left before we leave the Galapagos. For me, I still can’t really tell if these last four months were real life…. I spent 4 months with people I had just met, at the beach everyday, traveling every weekend, and making friends with wild animals. Wow, what an experience.
My mom was pretty alarmed when I told her I was going to go to Rome by myself. “Really? You don’t want to take someone with you? I thought you had friends!”
Some things people don't usually do in Barcelona...
1. Go to El Raval
El Raval is a culturally diverse neighborhood. It is very different than the rest of Barcelona and there are many things to see and places to eat in El Raval. Although this is an interesting neighborhood to visit, I would recommend not going by yourself at night.
On the last IES Abroad field trip (the member states trip), I was able to travel to Budapest, Hungary and Bucharest, Romania. I am so thankful that I was able to visit these two cities. Both were places I really hadn't thought of traveling to on my own (especially Bucharest), and they ended up being places that I will never forget. The academic meetings we had on these trips were also fascinating. It was such a great experience to learn about Eastern European countries and how they are integrating into the European Union.
Within the last few weeks we were in Santiago, the Chilean spring was really taking full form. It was warm, the trees were in full bloom, people spent hours in the parks, and the city truly came alive. With this a number of festivals, protests, deomstrations and the like began to occur more frequently. On November 14th, one of these such events took place: Open Mind Fest. This festival was dedicated to promoting free love across the gender sex spectrum, appreciation for diversity, and simply adopting an open mind.
As Quito is situated at about 10,000 feet above sea level, it's quite close to the clouds. Since the rainy season started (September-May), the clouds have been amazing. About once a day, I see some clouds I'm compelled to take a picture of. Since I'm fascinated by the clouds here, I decided to do my next painting on the clouds. I thought it was going to be easy. I was wrong.