It’s pretty common and pretty easy to get homesick while studying abroad, especially when you’re gone for a semester or even an entire year. As I actually go to school in my hometown, this semester is by far the longest amount of time I’ve spent away from my parents. As a lot of people know, it can be pretty hard to keep in touch. Even though I’m still very close to my friends from high school, I still have only managed to Skype with them a few times throughout each semester.

Early Saturday morning, after staying a few nights in Auckland, I packed up and hopped on a shuttle towards the airport.  After reuniting with the entire IES gang, we told all of our great stories about the previous two weeks and boarded the airplane.

I had a realization today, sitting with the sea birds on a cliff of basalt, and the realization was this: every animal on this island looks like an old man.  The blue-footed boobies look like bewildered old men who’ve just lost their spectacles.

Last Saturday we had our IES trip to Robben Island. We took a short ferry from the Waterfront to the island where we got on a bus tour around the island.

On the ferry from Cape Town’s Waterfront to Robben Island.

Last week there was a huge rally in Buenos Aires against the current government of Cristina Kirchner. Thousands of porteños came out to show their dissatisfaction with judicial reforms and against the “re-re” – meaning the re-re election of Kirchner. Many Argentines fear that Cristina will rewrite the constitution in order to “legally” run for another term. Many signs addressed this issue of constitutional edits, reading “no se toca”.

This week, I wanted to write about a park that’s quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Berlin.

I live in Schöneberg, which is a pretty diverse neighborhood south west of central Berlin (Mitte). While it isn’t exactly one of the trendy “it” districts, it’s a lively place with lots of thriving shops, parks, and bars frequented by locals. People of varying backgrounds reside here, and the many Indian restaurants, Turkish fast food places, and Asian supermarkets definitely give this neighborhood an exciting multicultural vibe.