At each change in our lives, we subconsciously adopt a perspective, known to some as “graduation goggles”, where nostalgia creeps on you and forces you to see everything you are about to leave in a brighter light than usual.

Tokyo Pt. 3: My #1 Favorite Japanese Experience

Yesterday we had our first classmate leave for home. It’s really incredible how quickly I went from seeing him every day, traveling with him, and then all of a sudden he’s gone. Before he left, we all took turns going around the table, talking about the many memories we had made together, and some of our favorite moments. The whole thing was a great send off, in my view, and at least two people cried. It’s all a little heartbreaking, especially since I know this will be happening with everyone in our program in exactly a week from today!

Dance has always been a part of my life in some way, shape, or form. When I was younger, I took ballet classes; in college, I learned Latin and Swing dancing, and took an adult ballet class. In Vienna, I knew that I would be able to attend one ball - which meant learning how to ballroom dance. So, I signed up for a ballroom class at a Tanzschule (dance school) through the Vienna Sports University.

Dear London, 

There are so many things that I could say to you in this letter...but for now I would just like to say thank you. 

Thank you for being such an amazing city.

Thank you for having so many amazing sights to see, museums to visit, and activities to take part in. 

Thank you for being a city of tea drinkers (I'm not much of a coffee person)

and for being a city where people have scones with their tea. 

Today I am leaving this incredible country that I have been fortunate enough to spend the past semester in. I can honestly say that I love Chile and I know that I will be returning to this beautiful place. I didn't realize how insane this experience had been until I stepped floor onto the 62nd floor of the Costanera center, looked out on to Santiago and felt my chest grow heavy and my eyes start to water. I couldn't believe I was actually bringing and end to this journey.

How lucky am I to study in a school that is located directly across from the Castel Sant’Angelo? A program that is five minutes away from the Vatican, and approximately ten minutes away from the Pantheon?

Rome is known for its rich art, architecture, and sculptures from the antiquity. The center of Rome during the Roman Empire was the area of the Forum Romanum, as well as the forums of multiple emperors that were built around the Forum Romanum and close to the Colosseum. Considering the historical importance of this area of Rome it is interesting to see that the Vittoriano was built in midst of this center. It is a monument that was constructed from 1885 to 1925 to honor the first king, Victor Emmanuel, after Italy had been unified.

Although this is something that has been on my heart since my third day here in Morocco, and especially following the annual debate between Moroccan and American students, I hesitated to share my thoughts. I did not want to let brash, visceral feelings lead to brash words. However, as the semester comes to a close and I enter a mental state of reflection, I believe it would be dishonest to ignore even the unpleasant aspects of my experience in Morocco.

Baños is a small city/large town about 4 hours south of Quito. You can find a very inexpensive bus ticket at any of the major bus stations in Quito. It's similar to Mindo, in that it's a pretty big place for eco-tourism - there's ziplining, canyoning, tubing, among other nature-based activities. There are many massage parlors offering relatively cheap massage treatments. Also Baños is famous for their taffy candy.