If I were to leave Germany now, I would feel much better about my experience than had you asked me a week ago. Why? Because I can finally say I’ve been to Berlin! I was struggling with the idea that I may not visit not just the capital of Germany but also one of the most historically known cities in all of Europe. And what an awesome city it is! Don’t get my wrong, I’m so much happier I’m studying in Freiburg because I can see now that I’ve saved myself from getting lost a countless number of times. Berlin is massive!

For the first time since arriving in January, I left Italy for the weekend with my friend Marissa – trading my familiar spaghetti and risotto for the exotic and unpronounceable dishes of Paris, France. As excited as I was to see the city of light I’ll admit I was concerned about the food, as my knowledge of French is limited to what I’ve learned from Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables. Of course, the only thing I forgot to bring with me was the French phrase book that I bought before I left for the semester.

Weekends away make it hard for me to believe I’m supposed to be learning and doing school! I had such an awesome weekend in Langenbruck, Switzerland working as a camp counselor and teaching Swiss kids English. The theme for the weekend was “Let’s go to the USA”, so we got to make s’mores, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and (the best part) eat waffles and pancakes for breakfast. The weekend exhausted me, but it was so worth it to get to hang out with kids and be encouraged to speak English!

The holiday of “Holi Day” that is celebrated in India is something that I have always wanted to take part in. Unfortunately until I get to go to India, I will have to take part in all the quasi- color parties that I can find. Fortunately, The We Are One festival, was Cape Town’s version of Holi Day, and overall just a giant excuse to party, which seems to be a common theme in Cape Town. We decided that we would arrive at the celebration at about 1:30pm, since it started at 12, and of course we wanted to be fashionably late.

This second part of this journal includes what we did outside of the actual lectures and IES Abroad accompanied site visits. I know for a fact that we had a great time exploring the city. Without a doubt, we never felt unsafe anywhere. Even the taxis are known to be the most genuine people ever – they’ll give you tips and won’t cheat you off on a route somewhere. Anyway, we went to a number of places on our own time including the Night Safari, Chinatown, and Sentosa Island!

Since returning from EARTH, I have been back living with my host family for two weeks and it is wonderful. While my experience at EARTH was truly unique, it is great to get to eat a home-cooked meal, take a hot shower, and be able to take the bus to downtown San Jose again. Everyone has been enjoying getting to spend some quality family time.

Instead of spending Sunday at my host parents’ daughter’s house as we usually do, this weekend we visited their son-in-law’s family. Perhaps through a miscommunication, I thought we were going to another part of the city, but instead we ended up in a rural suburb 1-hour from Quito. Upon arrival, I learned it was someone’s birthday, but all seemed normal. I was so wrong!

IES Abroad has an excursion every month and on March 29th we had our surfing trip at Manly Beach. Surfing is part of Australian culture. Many people like to leave work early at 4 or 5 and catch some waves before going home and making dinner. With numerous beaches close by, Sydney is a beautiful place to live, and a very laid back perspective on life is shared by many.