AUSTRALIAN SLANG OF THE WEEK: “FRIES” (US) = “CHIPS” (AUS)

To say that Melbourne is an incredible city would simply be an understatement. It’s quite possibly everything that I could ever look for in a city to live in. OK, maybe that’s stretching it a little, but I know for a fact that Melbourne will be a place that I will never forget.

As the days are getting warmer and brighter in the U.S, here it is the opposite- it is finally fall in Buenos Aires. The leaves on the beautifully gigantic trees that shaded the streets from the blistering sun just weeks ago are now turning yellow and falling in preparation for the "cold" winter ahead. Although we will miss the consistent 80 degree or higher temperature in Buenos Aires, fall is bringing a whole new array of activities to experience. 

Yo. 

I was walking to class the other day and a couple asked me for directions. They were Spanish and at the moment I was Spanish too. I told them where Calle Molinos was and which bars had the best tapas and continued on my way– two paths so marvelously calculated like the cobblestones below my feet. As I continued past them I realized how easily my Spanish laid path stones on the ground, I am a stone mason finally trained enough to cement rock to the ground even though I was merely tossing pebbles when I got here.

If anything, study abroad should serve to teach students of their own insignificance.

  It isn't going to hit me until I walk in the door of my home in Wellesley that my crazy, five month adventure in Italy is actually over. Currently, I am sitting in JFK airport during my three hour layover, waiting for my final flight to Boston. Just ten hours ago I was in Milan; I felt like I was a local, knew my way around like the back of my hand, had learned the language (proficiently enough to get by). I came, I saw, I did, and I left.

As this semester comes to a close, I thought I might make a brief list for those arriving to this marvelous city in the future of my top five favorite hot spots. From the best lunch-and-study spot to shopping second-hand, these are the places I will surely miss the most. 

1. Juice Bar

This week has been amazing because after a relatively long period of not seeing my parents, we were reunited in Berlin.

My parents are amazing people. Growing up they instilled in me a sense of adventure that culminated into my current semester abroad. When I first heard about study abroad programs back in middle school or so, they always promised me that wherever I ended up going, they would come visit me. Ten years later, they've kept true to their promise and trekked halfway around the world to come visit me.

Being in Europe calls for a Big Spring Break. I decided to spend mine in Italy (I mean, where else?) I figured that I wouldn’t have enough time to fully experience Rome, and still go other places as well, so my trip instead consisted of Verona, Cinque Terre, and Florence. Though Verona and Florence were both gorgeous, my favorite part of the trip had to be Cinque Terre, a national park that surrounds these five fishing towns built into the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean.

Of course it’s a given that you cannot visit Austria without visiting Salzburg – it’s almost sacrilegious. Funnily enough, though, my favorite part of Salzburg was not the beauty, or the “Sound of Music” saturated environment, or the musical history (so… much… Mozart!). My favorite part was a small town, just a little past Salzburg, called Hallein. The small town had an irresistible charm, and the salt mine located there was fantastic (at least, it was as long as you didn’t take it too seriously).