Throughout the whole semester there had been the idea of going to Machu Picchu as a possible trip. It had been difficult to coordinate schedules as well as decent airfare, but in the beginning of June I bought tickets and made the trip final. The trip was planned for the last days of June until the 3rd of July (my flight home was July 5th). So after finals and classes were all done, we left Santiago to spend a few of my last days in South America in Peru.
We’re back in Freiburg now, so life is relatively calmer than the last few weeks. It was strange to be back in my apartment, making my own food and talking with my roommates again. It turns out I have a new roommate, part of an IES program through Miami of Ohio’s engineering school. I was excited to meet another American, but it’s been a week since I’ve been home and I still haven’t seen a sign of him…seems strange but I won’t worry about it. I was relieved at least to not be the new kid in my apartment and to have some time to myself to relax.
This is it. I only have less than three days left in the most magical city I have ever encountered. I am sad to leave. However, at the same time, I miss my family and friends a lot. I think, for me, with this being my first time out of the country and traveling by myself, that six weeks was the perfect amount of time. I was given enough time to fall in love with this spectacular city, and not enough time for me to get too homesick.
OK, so apart from being completely eaten alive by mosquitoes and virtually melting from the humidity, I really enjoyed Dakar…once we got our accommodations in working order.
The ocean is gorgeous, and you can see it from almost anywhere. Our residence hall was a block from the beach and I never got over the view!
Lots has happened in the past week! I figured I should keep y’all abreast (I can’t believe that’s actually a word! The thirteen year old boy inside me is giggling.) So here goes…
The second day in the Amazon was just as incredible as the first. When we visited the lagoon we got in this tiny boat that rocked all over the place. Usually I am not afraid of a boat tipping over but this one rocked so much i thought we would all end up in the water. Usually ending up in the water would not be a big deal but this lagoon had caymen and piranhas that I would prefer to stay away from so I was a little bit scared being in the boat.
I had a lot of video clips I never got the chance to use so I decided to throw them together into a fun final video post. I wanted to make a video that reminded me of all the good times, the laughs, the love, the energy of our program group and of Rio de Janeiro, “Cidade Marvilhosa”!
After another great week in South Africa I have many more photos to share! From hiking Table Mountain, to attending rugby matches, shopping in the markets, diving with Great Whites, and hanging out in the townships, we have done it all! It is bittersweet to think that we are already halfway through our adventures in Cape Town…
For the past three days, the weather has been perfect. This is exceptionally uncommon in Beijing where pollution is an almost permanent resident. Since the smog is so thick, most days you can’t see the sky, or the sun, or sometimes even the tops of tall buildings. This article from February says you can even see the pollution from space. As I learned recently, though, this is partly because of topography.
