This weekend we decided to take a journey just outside the city to Bray. A seaside town about a 40 minute ride on the DART outside of Dublin, Bray is home to the childhood residence of the author James Joyce. Upon arriving on the DART, we took a trip up to Kilruderry House on the outskirts of Bray. The house has been used in a slew of movies and television shows, and today still operates as a farm. The house was unfortunately not open, but we took a stroll around the grounds on the picturesque country lanes around the property. 

One day it’s cold in Paris, one day its hot. This combination means that unfortunately for me, I’m prone to getting sick. Being sick anywhere sucks. Especially in Paris, where I want to explore as much as I can during my free time (like today for example). This has not been the case. I realize a cold is a cold. But my impatient self does not appreciate it one bit. I remember last semester at my home university when the study abroad office talked about getting sick while studying abroad, I bushed it off. Me, getting sick in Paris? As if.

Hopefully, the majority of those reading this caught the Mean Girls reference. I feel this movie quote is all too relevant when discussing the weather in Amsterdam. Seriously, one minute it is sunny, the next it's raining, and then it's sleeting with a mix of snow. Words of wisdom to those wishing to study abroad in Amsterdam during the spring semester, bring waterproof shoes and a very warm coat. When initially packing for my excursion, I had read the weather in the city is fairly mild in the winter with frequent rain showers.

My neighbor, also a full-year visiting student, is a gyminatrix who starts working out at 11 pm on a regular basis. Her boyfriend back home, well-versed in player stats of just any team in any sport, aspires to go straight into sports management after graduation.

Hey you! Yes you, person reading this. GO ON THIS TRIP. This was another one of the organized trips (I'll eventually get to posting about the adventures I've been doing around London on my own) and it was awesome! We left early Saturday and went to Salisbury and Stonehenge, stayed overnight in Bath, and then got back around 5 on Sunday.

So this week started off a little slow. Classes started which took up most of my days but I still managed to do some wandering and found a few more of the Contrada fountains, Chiocciola (Snail), Selva (Forest/Rhino), Drago (Dragon), Valdimonte (Ram). Its crazy how these fountains are everywhere and no where at the same time, scattered throughout the city right under our noses. Only ten more left to find!

Everyday I wake up in Nantes I'm a bit surprised. Quelque​fois I forget I'm in France until I start my treck to the IES Center or the University.  As I walk out of my apartment, I am greeted by both crisp winter wind and brilliant French sunshine. I love hearing the heels of my boots click-clack on Nantes' cobblestone streets and seeing French five year olds being led to maternelle by their parents or older siblings.

I went home for the holidays.  The only snow I was likely to find in Rome would be the glittering leftover of Saturday night revelry smashed on the cobblestones.  Weigh the shards of a Peroni bottle against a million Minnesota snowflakes.

Tomorrow is my last day in Quito and marks four weeks that I have been abroad. This morning I took my final exam and finished editing my final paper for my Techniques of Marine Research I class.