The time has finally arrived. In just a few short days, I will be boarding a plane headed for Paris. I keep asking the people around me to pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming. I depart on Tuesday evening, and I still have so much packing to do. Leave it to me, queen of procrastination, to wait until the last minute to be ready. I know what I need to bring, but it's not technically in my travel bag yet. But that's just a minor detail.

It’s a bit surreal to acknowledge the fact that when I wake up next Tuesday morning, I will be beginning a brand new chapter in my life. Only 18 hours of air travel will then remain between departure and my new life as a foreign exchange student. I have been anticipating this day for a while, and as I pack this morning, the reality of it all is becoming more and more real.

Because some of the dorms here at St Catherine’s College, especially singles with en-suite bathrooms like the one that I’m fortunate enough to have, are used for conference accommodation over the break, undergrads have to clean out all of their belongings and store them in the lockers outside their rooms.

“Ecuador loves life” This is the slogan of many signs in Quito and is even on the sides of hills written in stones. It is true. Ecuador is very lively and I learned it has the highest biodiversity of any country!

Hello! My name is Holly and I am from San Diego, CA and go to school at Seattle University. 

January 10^th, 2015

Hello blogging universe! This is my first official post as an IES blogger! A quick intro: my name is Naomi, I am from Colorado, have a cat named Smudge, and I go to school in Rochester, NY. I am travelling to Istanbul on the Sabanci University direct enrollment program.