One of the things that I have really appreciated about the academics at IES Abroad Vienna is the numerous in-class field trips that we get to do. One of my classes, Vienna: Past & Present, has a field trip to a relevant site in Vienna every Wednesday, and a couple others have used class time to take us to really cool places like the United Nations and the nuclear power plant in Zwentendorf.

I’m very much an “action” person and tend to find looking at animals or beautiful views for more than a few minutes (let alone a few days) a little boring. But the Galápagos was different. I was captivated by almost every wildlife we saw (not to mention, I fell in love with piqueros patas azules or blue footed boobies) and you literally had to drag me away from everything as I went crazy over the ecology and geology of the islands.

This past weekend, center director Jeremiah Jenne led a group of IES Abroad students on an overnight trip to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, outside obligations prevented me from participating, but I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Wall on my own during our first long weekend. That’s one of the coolest things about studying abroad in Beijing—the most tourist-frequented parts of the Wall, Badaling and Mutianyu, are easily accessible from Beijing by a public bus.

I’ll begin this post where my last one left off. So after leaving Soweto, I’m pretty sure we drove the long way to Kruger in order for us to see the “Panorama Route.” This route featured some of South Africa’s most beautiful natural wonders. However, before we got to the nature stuff, we got to eat and eat A LOT! We stopped at this famous restaurant called “Harry’s Pancakes,” which were basically glorified crepes with countless filling options.

It was difficult, arriving in Morocco for the first time; it was a challenge for us all. Unacquainted and confused, we entered a new world that we would attempt to make our home. Fortunately, many of us became friends fast, and with each other’s company, studying abroad became an even better experience. So, here’s to our spring break – with a great group of people and a dance party to celebrate the fellowship, I mean friendship.

One Wednesday after class, one of my professors asked me what I was planning to do for Easter. I explained that I didn’t have plans yet, but I was hoping to travel somewhere to make use of the long weekend. He immediately recommended that I visit Ouro Preto. I had never heard of this city, and even after he mentioned that it was in the state of Minas Gerais (which neighbors the state of Rio de Janeiro), I still had no idea where this place was.

When you look up from my apartment building, you can’t ignore the humungous statue poking out of the mountain above us. Indeed, this is Cristo Redento (Christ the Redeemer), one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. Although I’ve always known he was right in my backyard, I didn’t know it was possible to hike straight up the mountain on a trail through the garden that neighbors my apartment. Exploring this trail was one of my favorite things done so far in Brazil.

All IES Abroad students had the privilege to go to Salvador da Bahia together for one weekend. Similar to our trip to Ilha Grande, we were all very excited to travel and explore a new part of Brazil! Both from what we were told beforehand and from what we saw, the culture of Salvador and Bahia is very different form Rio. There is a rich African history there, which brings different foods, dances, music, architecture, and attitudes of people. Also, as with pretty much every place I’ve seen so far in Brazil, it was absolutely beautiful.