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.

The other day I learned that Christchurch is the only airport that planes leave out of to go to Antarctica.  There is a museum of sorts here called the Antarctic Centre, which raises awareness of Antarctica and the animals and research done there.  It’s been pretty rainy this week here in Christchurch, so on Saturday, some friends and I went to there to check it out.  I think the pricing is a little absurd, but we used bookme (a discount website) and got $20 off, so it was more reasonable.

One of my favorite things about Barcelona is all that it has to offer. We’ve got the beach, a multitude of restaurants, places to hike, beautiful architecture and vibrant nightlife.

But take a short flight to Andalucía, Spain’s southern region, and it feels almost like an entirely different country, complete with Moorish architecture and small plazas. I went to Granada this past weekend on a field trip with IES and was amazed by what I saw.