A break from reflection to simply relate what on earth I have been doing lately…

I had no classes last week for the Chilean Independence Day, or Fiestas Patrias, on September 18^th. Some friends and I took advantage of our spring break (yes, spring!) to go to Pucón, eleven hours south of Santiago by bus.

One of the awesome things about going abroad with IES is the (approximately) two-week long trip that you take with your classmates. Its a great way to get to know your classmates as well as your host country, beyond the city you study in. For someone who is inexperienced in this type of travel (essentially, backpacking), a few tips for this trip can be really helpful:

This past weekend we took a trip to the Sahara Desert. It was one of the most surreal and breathtaking experiences ever. We were scheduled to ride camels into the sunset but Mama Africa decided to have a sand storm instead. Nonetheless, we resumed our trip the next morning to watch the sunrise.

Meet Malik everyone!

I brought three different rolls of film with me to South Africa to shoot during my travels around the country. I love using my mom’s old 35mm film camera that she bought when she was in college, because the picture quality is so much different than my digital camera. I love shooting a photograph with a solid idea of how the printed version of it is going to look in your mind, and then actually seeing how it truly turns out on paper after getting it developed.

One of the best things about studying abroad is that there seems to be no end to all the different kinds of things you can do. In a culture you’ve never experienced before, everything is new and exciting. Even a routine trip to the supermarket can turn into an adventure. This can make deciding what to do with your free time a difficult task. At first it may seem overwhelming, but here are a few tips to help you decide what to do with your free time while abroad:

No matter where you live during your time abroad, you’re going to have an incredible experience. However, where you decided to stay can intrinsically shape what kind of experience you have while abroad.