Coming to Freiburg, I had a single semester of German — albeit an ultra intensive Turbodeutsch class  — under my belt and was a bit nervous about being in a foreign country unable to adequately communicate. As it turns out that wasn’t a problem at all. And technically, the Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ESS) requires no prior German knowledge, but cultural and language immersion was one of my primary reasons for choosing this program. 

Along with the 2 previous orientation trips, this trip in October was organized by the IES Abroad Salamanca staff, and it was one of my favorite trips around Spain. Read along to learn more about our journey to Sevilla, Granada, and La Mancha!

Sevilla: Day 1

The Sahara Desert trip is the pinnacle experience for students studying at IES Abroad Rabat. This experience was what swayed me to chose this study abroad program in the first place, and it certainly was worth it.

When we finally arrived in the desert after our 12 hour journey, I was faintly able to see the outline of a massive dune. Thanks to the winds that day, the visibility was quite poor. It was so faint and so large I simply doubted my eyes, but when we went passed it again, the air had cleared. I had no idea that some of the desert dunes were so massive!

This blog will consist of the most heavy, realistic, and honest topics from my experience studying abroad. While it is not exciting or fun like some of my other posts, I hope this post will provide a realistic, honest insight into some of the darker moments of my time in Salamanca.

Homesickness

This past weekend was full of Christmas festivities! Being so far from home leading up to the holidays means some of my traditions have looked a little bit different this year. One of my favorite things about being in Europe is how they celebrate the holidays. Here’s a little recap of all of the Christmassy things I have been doing recently to get in the festive spirit.

I am currently sitting on a train on my way home from my last weekend trip this semester. We only have two weekends until we leave and I’m having a lot of mixed emotions. One part of my brain is dreading having to back everything up and say goodbye to this life I have built in Europe. The other part of me is weirdly ready to go home. I feel like this is something you don’t hear a lot of people talk about. From all of my friends who had been abroad before me, I heard the same story: “It was the best three months of my life, I was dreading going home, etc”.