It seems as if just yesterday I was packing my suitcase to come to Spain. And now, again, I am packing my suitcase, but to leave Spain. The time has gone by both quickly and slowly. Slowly in the sense that I have had the chance to appreciate each and every experience. Quickly in the sense that I have done so much and had so much fun in such a short amount of time.
This Saturday, I will return to the United States after a month of Spanish-language intensive and immersion in Costa Rican culture. I don’t know yet if I am happy or sad, but I wanted to share four of the amazing things I learned about Costa Rica and Pura Vida while living here.
Today the group began part one of the journey to Bosnia! Because our flight is so early in the morning on Tuesday and there were no trains that would make it to Köln on time, we had to leave a day earlier and book a night in the Youth Hostel in Köln. After a late train, a missed train, and a full train, we finally made it to Köln at around 7:15pm and were relieved to finally have the chance to get some food in our bellies!
It still quite hasn’t hit me that I am really home. After living in Cape Town these last few months, home has taken on a weird new meaning for me. Since I never really considered my college my real home, I never expected to get so attached to Cape Town, mold-infested bathroom and all! I think the reason I will forever love Cape Town is because of the people I met there.
After staying the night in Sorrento, we made our way to Positano, a beautiful town in between Sorrento and Amalfi. The road there was quite the journey considering it was a winding, narrow road cut into the cliffs of the mountainside with a straight drop down to the water.. but the views were worth it!
As a part of one of our field trips planned through the program, we spent a day in Sorrento on our way to the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento sits at the foot of Mount Vesuvius (the volcano infamous for burying Pompeii) and is known for it’s quality limoncello. Limoncello is a lemon liqueur that is popular in Italy and the best of which is made in Sorrento since it has abnormally large and sweet lemons. We also took some time to visit a winery and vineyard whose wine takes on a bit of an acidic taste since the soil is rich with the Vesuvius’s ashes.
It’s still quite unbelievable the layers of history, architecture, and culture imbedded in the city and I have thoroughly been enjoying my “Rome as a Living Museum” class as we get to learn about and appreciate the sites and monuments by personally visiting them.
Some of the highlights so far:
Santa Marinella, just a quick train ride away, is a town straight west of the city on the coast and is the perfect getaway spot so we decided to beat out the heat and cool off on the beach.
The farewell dinner commemorated our semester in Sydney coming to an end. The four months have flown by and, for most, school is done and only packing and a few last days in Sydney remain. I have a couple finals left, but my bags are packed and the last day is quickly approaching. Students always talk about their study abroad experiences and it is crazy to think that ours is almost over. Sydney has been the best place to study abroad. It’s a safe place with great public transportation, making it easy to get around and do anything.