There are six IES Abroad students living in my residence hall, which is located right in the heart of Granada between shops, bakeries and fruterías. All six of us originally wanted to live with host families. But... now that we’ve had some time here, none of us could imagine living anywhere else. While I expected some differences between living in a residence hall and a homestay here in Granada, what I didn’t know was just how different Spanish residence halls are from the American dorms I’ve lived in. So, without further ado, here’s the scoop:

I’ve spent the last week in Rome, Italy getting acquainted with the locals and new friends within my program. While the week has been difficult and draining, it taught me a lot by offering opportunities to go beyond myself and step outside of my anxieties.

Well, here I am, the night before I leave for my program in Christchurch, New Zealand, and in another stunning tribute to my ability to procrastinate, I am finally wrapping up the writing of my predeparture blog post! My procrastinatory habits aside, I think my last minute editing of this speaks a lot to how your study abroad experience can sneak up on you. You would think that with all the preparation I’ve been doing for the last year that actually leaving would purely feel like a “finally” moment, but somehow it also feels like “wow, already?!”.