1) It must have taken a lot of time and a lot of work to complete this piece located on Comte d’Urgell

2) This piece of art was one of my favorites, using the door and different levels of wall create an amazing end result

3) As I sit on the train headed towards Sitges I am constantly viewing amazing street art as it rushes by me out the train window

This past week has flown past. Classes have been going very well- I am really enjoying the fact that most of my classes take me outside of the classroom. I am seeing more of London this way. I’ve been to Greenwich, the National Gallery, the Museum of London, the list could keep going. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to go back to long lectures and notes next semester… 

Today was my first day volunteering at a NGO teaching English to Moroccans. The entire day I could not get my mind off of it. I have never taught before and I did not want to mess up. Although I am studying journalism at school, it is so much harder to teach something that comes naturally to you.

I spoke with other students who have already started and they spoke about teaching like it was very easy. “Just come up with a lesson plan and go from there. The students will catch on.” Definitely not the case.

Amsterdam is a wonderful, beautiful, historic city. However, the beauty that surrounds me everyday often gets overshadowed by its notorious reputation for legalizing marijuana and prostitution.

My friend Matt came to visit last week, and naturally he was curious about the Red Light District, the area in Amsterdam filled with sex workers, sex shops and coffeehouses – where one would go to purchase marijuana. I took him for a walk through the area and it really struck a chord with me.

Here is a poem that basically sums up, in all its touristy glory, that “Honeymoon period” I’ve been experiencing these past couple weeks. It’s to the tune of Under The Sea from the Little Mermaid, so you’ll probably get more out of it if you keep the song in mind.

Across the Pond

The US is quite a nation

The home of the brave and free

A symbol of innovation

But that’s not my cup of tea

My third week was much like the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen cinematographic masterpiece Passport to Paris, minus all the McDonalds and falling in love with twelve year old boys.