Okay, I must be looking at the date wrong—it CAN’T be already NINE DAYS since we arrived in Dublin. I feel like time is going so, so fast. It’s both wonderful and terrifying, as I can’t imagine how I’ll feel a month from now, or even three months from now and I’m heading back home!

Orientation week and my first week of class have passed and I am already in love with every aspect of Rome. The citizens of Rome are extremely friendly and so is my host family and the IES staff. I have had incredible pizza, pasta, ciabatta, cornetto cioccolato, and probably way too much gelato. I was told to do as the Romans do, which fortunately not only includes the many carbs I eat on a daily basis, but also walking everywhere.

I made it!

I’ve spent just over 72 hours in Siena already! The flight from Portland to Amsterdam was easy. Navigating through the Amsterdam airport on a ridiculously short layover was another story, but I made it to the right gate – huffing and puffing – just in time. Flying from Amsterdam to Florence was barely an hour and a half, and I could barely keep my eyes open, but the alps were a sight to see. 

Today was one of those days. You know, the ones where you're tired, stressed out, and maybe even have a cough or a stuffy nose that won't go away but, even though you wake up and feel all these things right off the bat, you're still determined to have a positive attitude. Despite a less-than-perfect start, you still want to try your best to be produtive and make the best out of the day; do what you should no matter how much you don't want to. So you do. And it doesn't work. Or it takes forever.

Caught up in the modernity of the new Shanghai, you begin to find yourself yearning for relaxation and tranquil spaces. Traveling to the Old City, you expect to be confronted with rows and rows of temples or gardens filled with lush greenery. Yet, the magic that waits is not calm, nor quiet and is instead a market filled with vendors and food alike. Neighboring the Yu Garden and City God Temple, The Old City’s Yuyuan Tourist Mart is in the heart of Shanghai.

For your benefit, I’ll fast forward through my uneventful nine hour flight from O’Hare which was as one might expect any long flight to be: a little tiring, cramped, and uncomfortable.

It has been a little over a week since I arrived in Barcelona and I can say I have never been busier in my life. It feels like I’ve been here for months because I’ve done so many things and visited so many new places.

Barcelona is BEAUTIFUL. The food is delicious (I love the café con leche) and the architecture is amazing. The city is always alive, it is quite different to what I’m used to in my little suburban town in California, but I enjoy this change of pace.

            It has been four weeks since I boarded a bus to Iguazú, and Buenos Aires is certainly feeling like a home. The past month IES students have kept busy on the weekends with various day trips to local destinations.

The American perspective on France tends to leave out some of the good, some of the bad, and a lot of the ugly. When I imagined my trip to France, I saw cobblestone roads and immaculate cafés. While those definitely existed, there are also many parts of France that aren't so sophisticated. One of my favorite things to explore was French graffiti. Under bridges, on the sides of buildings, and on sidewalks, there are hundreds of clever sayings and pictures sprayed by anonymous artists. Some of my favorites;