Everyday I wake up in Nantes I'm a bit surprised. Quelquefois 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.
It's hard to believe that my dream of traveling to Australia is becoming a reality in one week. Ever since I entered college, I knew that at one point during my undergraduate career that I would study abroad in a foreign country. After careful consideration and planning ahead, I solidified Sydney, Australia as my destination. It feels good to look back on how far I've come in terms of decision making and making ends meet to make this something quite real now.
CBC テレビ is a television broadcast company here in Nagoya and thanks to my host mom, I got to do a アルバイト (small part time job) at the CBC company building.
I have been in Cape Town for a week and a half and everything has been an absolute blur, in the best way possible! I feel like I’ve been here forever but at the same time I feel like I just got here and I still have so much to do! This city continues to amaze me with its beauty and vibrance every day, which I know sounds cheesy but it is so true. I’ve only been here for 11 days and I’m convinced that Cape Town is the best city on earth.
I'm enamored by history. Which means I love stories, [her]stories, narratives, and gaining wisdom from those that are usually ignored or silenced by dominant discourses. February in the United States is Black History Month, and I have many a memory of my dad giving me history lessons on the importance of understanding the implications of the past and the struggles my ancestors faced.