I went with my family to Bariloche in Patagonia before finally returning home. Bariloche was beautiful and I got to take my family hiking and horseback riding.

Taiwan: the island of street food, boba, and night markets. Taiwan has always been near the top of my must-visit countries so I’m glad that IES finally gave me that opportunity. As we landed in Taipei we were driven in a Karaoke bus complete with a speaker system, plasma screens, microphones, mood lighting, and disco ball which was an interesting experience. After arriving at the hotel we had a delicious banquet organized by the program waiting for us in the main dining room.

Paris has got it going on when it comes to the culinary scene. Sure, it may be a little on the pricier side but if you do your research,  you can find yourself having some amazing meals both on the divey as well as elegant side at reasonable prices. Below is a visual diary of what I have come across.

Over the weekend, I traveled to Germany for the second time this semester. Per the recommendations of many friends, I went to Berlin this time, but before I could enjoy the city about which I’d heard such great things, I had a very important detour to make, which requires a bit of backstory:

I feel like if IES asked, i could write a reflection post on my time in Morocco every day. My time abroad is not just a monolithic period of time that i memorialize, but a series of experiences that permeates my everyday, American life. To simply think of my semester in Rabat as something that happened is to do an injustice to the people and life that exists and occurs there daily.

My friend Rachel started this list when we first got to London. Here are some of our favorites:

Bits and bobs – this and that

Queue – the line, such as a checkout line in the grocery store. It took my a tad longer than I wish to admit to figure out what this word meant.

Pinch – to steal. “The lousy tea leaf pinched my wallet!” There’s a little rhyming cockney for you. Tea leaf – thief.

Rubbish – trash

Crisps – chips

Chips – french fries, but sometimes I do see french fries called french fries instead of chips

Biscuits – cookies

Thetford. Thetford. Thetford… I scanned the departure information. Ah, Thetford! Coach 409. Gate 19. Perfect. I pulled my red suitcase behind me and followed the signs to Gate 19.

I took my block of a phone out of my coat pocket. 2:13.

“Hi, um, are you Alyssa?” A girl with long black hair and black leather boots asked me.

“Yeah, I was just texting you.

“So are you excited for this?” The girl, Euna, asked me.

“Yes, I’m so excited! From her emails Mary just sounds like the sweetest old woman in the world!”

Now that I only have one week of class left, I figured it’s about time I tell you a bit about my academics here in Madrid. I wasn’t sure what to expect before classes kicked in way back in September, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my worries – professors who speak impossibly rapid Spanish; mountains of books taller than Madrid’s nearby sierra; shockingly little guidance in class, because Europeans call page assignments “coddling” – were unfounded.

A big food difference for me in Spain is the lack of pizza.  There is a Dominos and another Spanish chain, but they are very expensive.  My host mom couldn’t believe that in America “poor students” feed off pizza deals, basically using this type of food as a lifeline.  I miss my 1 AM delivery pizza.