The Festivales de Quito are the celebrations in Quito at the beginning of December. The festivals commemorate the ancient founding of the city of Quito. The celebrations go on for about two weeks, and live music is played constantly – there was a band right by my house playing music until 11 p.m. each night. Early on in the first week, IES Abroad Quito got us a chiva to go around Quito! A chiva is essentially a party bus, and a total blast.

My internship/service learning assignment while abroad is at Tueri, the veterinary wing of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, which is in the neighboring city of Cumbaya. I have some mixed feelings about having my work so far from home, and of the city of Cumbaya itself, but my post will be focusing on Tueri.

I know I already posted about the Galapagos, but I felt like another post was necessary. One of the best parts of the trip was seeing all these animals that I had read so much about and seen so many pictures of, so I decided to paint a picture of one of the Galapagos’ most famous residents – the Blue-Footed Booby.

Quito has its own artisan market, which is just a bit south of the Plaza Foch. It is super close to my house, so I go quite often. The market featured all of the goods that make the Otavalo market famous (textiles, jewelry, leather goods), but in a smaller, easier-to-navigate space. In addition, many of us feel we can get better bargains in Quito.

I embark on a five-month study abroad adventure starting in about one week. In preparing for the trip logistically (how many pairs of shoes am I realistically going to wear?!), I’ve also begun to think about my hopes and expectations for my semester in London. If past experience is any indicator, I know I’m about to have the time of my life exploring England (and beyond!), settling into a daily routine as an international student, and occasionally embracing tourist clichés.

27 December 2015

I had been there before,

same place, same time,

Hi, my name is Shannon. I’m a few days from turning 21 years old. I go to Brown University. In less than two weeks I’ll arrive at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.

This is my first real adventure.

Saturday, December 19, 2015:

A couple weeks ago I didn’t realize just how upset I would be to leave Nantes. I think for all of us it was almost unfathomable that we were actually going to have to say goodbye to each other and to France after arriving less than four months ago: it’s an amount of time that makes us feel at home; so being told that we’re supposed to leave, well…sucks.

1: Go for a morning run to see the sun rise. Living in Vauban, it is easy to make it to the hills and enjoy a beautiful sunset amongst the cattle.