It’s important to prepare and learn about the culture you’ll be studying in; everyone knows this. But how can you research something if you don’t know what it is you should know? I hope this blog can help you by answering some questions about Germany you may not have known to ask.

Yesterday, I got to experience one of the most exciting days I’ve had in Madrid: the Second of May.

Six months ago, this wouldn’t have meant anything to me. May second in Madrid? It sounded just like every other day.

But in fact, the Second of May – el Dos de Mayo, as the locals say – is a very important date. It is la Dia de la Comunidad de Madrid (more or less “Madrid Day”), and it was chosen because it marks the anniversary of a very important and symbolic historical moment.

It is absolutely unbelievable to me that I am only one week away from boarding my flight back to Boston to return home. It’s hard to find the words to describe the passage of time here; it’s as if I’ve lived 5 years of life, but also as if I arrived a week ago. I’m now done with four finals, and have two to go. I am aware that seven days from now, I will wake up in my own bedroom in Maine about 4,000 miles away from the place I’ve called home since January. My dog will run into my room and I’ll see my backyard out of my window, and life will be surreal and normal again.

Follow me through a Thursday during finals week!

8:15 a.m.: Time to wake up! I usually wake up an hour before I have to leave to go to class. Cue morning routine. I also make a little breakfast and pack my lunch to eat during my break between classes. 

Do explore Ireland via the dart. The weekends are the perfect time to take the dart down to the coast and traverse some places you haven't been before. I would highly recommend trying to explore every stop. Even some of the smaller suburbs are so cute. One of my favorite experiences on the dart was when I explored Raheny and went to its little local public library. 

As I’m writing this, I’ve been back in Pennsylvania for about five days. I’ve been eating some of my favorite American foods and just relaxing for hours at a time, because that was something I never really did in Dublin. It’s been nice, but also pretty boring because I’ve been accustomed to being out all day with many plans at a time. However, it’s been great spending time with my puppies, which is one of the things I’ve missed the most. 

The course trips that IES Abroad organized, as I have said in other blogs, are some of the coolest ways to learn about the country you are living in with professors at your side. The last two trips that we went on were to Florence and the Val d’Orcia region!