tower

Minding the Gap in London

So by the time we get to London Daryl and I were exhausted. I know, I have no right to complain; this is the opportunity of a lifetime! However, by the time we had reached London we were mentally, physically, and fiscally (I’m not sure if this is a thing) exhausted. We also happened to have pick THE most expensive city to end our trip. This being said, the first meal we had was McDonalds. To make this story even sadder, we used a coupon. At Mcdonalds. Definitely a low […]

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Kære Danmark

Two weeks ago today, I flew into Chicago O’Hare. It has been a fun two weeks – full of reunions, good food, laughter, drinks, smiles. But there is not an hour that passes by that I don’t think about Denmark. What time is it there? Who is walking down Vestergade past the DIS front office? How busy is Nørreport Station? What did my host family eat for dinner? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t mention Denmark. In Denmark we did this and that and everything. (Are […]

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Homeward Bound

136 days and 6 hours ago I was taking my first breath of Florence air. That was the first time it had truly hit me that for the next 4 1/2 months I was going to be living in Italy, in a completely unfamiliar world with unfamiliar people. I had no idea what lay ahead for me, who I was going to meet, or what I was going to see. Little did I know, I was entering the experience of a lifetime. I have seen places that most people can […]

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trevi

Hey Now, Hey Now: When in Rome

After our tour of the Amalfi Coast our group headed back to Rome. Kimmie and I only had one full day in Rome so we were going to make the most of it! We spent the first night celebrating Allison’s birthday. We ended up in this quirky little Italian restaurant where the waiters constantly wanted to take pictures with us, and gave us free limocello to celebrate. We had a fun time joking around with everyone and ended the night with gelato and the live band playing at our hostel. […]

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The Last of Paris

This will be the last two and a half days in Paris, starting where I left of, at Notre Dame. Well I get to Notre Dame at about 5:30, so just as the sun begins to set over the gorgeous structure. I go inside just in time to sit and listen to some evening vespers, which left pretty awestruck for a few minutes in that chair. I leave and try to get a tour up to the bell tower to hang out with Quasimodo, but go figure the last tour […]

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Constitution Day

I know I haven’t finished Paris yet, but this past weekend has been pretty eventful, so I’ll finish it later. This past weekend was the bicentennial celebration of Norway’s Constitution Day. Everything started Friday morning, with a very strange parade of youngsters through my student village and then through campus, accompanied by a band of high schoolers in leprechaun costumes. Saturday started nice and early with me tagging along with a friend to a party with a bunch of Swedes. Go figure I spend Norway Day with a bunch of […]

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Touring the Amalfi Coast

For those of you who don’t know, I’m back in the good ole U S of A. However, I figured I should fill you all in on my last couple of weeks of the semester and traveling! To start my last break  (as if the 20 day break wasn’t enough!!) a few friends and I went to the Amalfi Coast of Italy. We decided to do this lag of the trip with a tour group who specializes in weekend tours for American college kids studying abroad, and we weren’t the only […]

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“It’s Hard to Say Goodbye”

“It’s hard to say goodbye.” My ten year-old host brother, Sixten, gets it right again. Tonight he said to me in 5 words what I have been trying to figure out how to say for 5 days. Tomorrow is my last full day in Denmark. I am so thankful for the 4 months I have had here, the people I have met, the things I have learned, and the experiences I have had. A special thanks to my mom and dad for helping me (big time) get to Denmark. Yesterday […]

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Favorite Memories

I don’t really know ho two start this post, because I can’t believe I’m actually at the end of my four months in Ecuador. It is completely bittersweet and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it yet. I leave Saturday night close to midnight. Then, I get into Minneapolis around 10:30 a.m. and will be on a flight at 3:30pm to go to Europe! The amount of “oh my god you’re insane” comments I have gotten when people hear about my quick turnaround doesn’t even phase me. I […]

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vaccinating

Last Week in San Pablo

Because I really don’t want to transfer my field journal from this week to my computer, I’m attempting to make it a fun activity and turn it into a blog post. Luckily, this past week was actually super interesting, so sharing it with the world makes sense! Monday, May 5- Today, the Técnicos de Atención Primaria de Salud (TAPS- I’m doing my monografía on their community health worker program) had a quiz, so none of the doctors or nurses wanted to go to the community. Home visits only happen with […]

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trevi

When in Rome

Ahhh Rome… where do I even begin? Well I started the trip by somewhat successfully navigating the Rome metro system. Actually, it was more like I got on a bus that I was told would bring me to my hostel and proceeded to ask the driver what stop I should get off at only to find out I was directed to the wrong bus. Luckily I had happened to get on a bus with just about the kindest (and most attractive) bus driver in Italy. I would guess that most […]

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Dear Future DIS Student

I just want you to know that I have written and re-written the beginning of this post like 5 times. I don’t want it to sound all preachy or anything, and it keeps coming off like that – ugh. I don’t purport to know more than any other person. I just want anyone considering DIS to know my thoughts now that I have been here for 4 months. My advice to anyone considering Denmark is this: Do it. So simple, right? I know it isn’t really like that. I know […]

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menneken

Sweet Memories & Difficult Realizations

Hello friends and family, I am currently in the thick of finals, trying to study and ace my exams in Limerick. But, what better time is there to tell you all about my trip to the Netherlands and Belgium than now? I was so excited to find the gap in my schedule to visit the Netherlands again. Many of you may not know why I love the Netherlands and why I hold it near to my heart. In my senior year, I was a part of the International Studies course […]

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dancelessons

An Example of a “Field Trip” While Studying Abroad

A few weeks ago, all of the students in our program had the privilege to go to Bahia together for one weekend (which was already included in our general program fee). Similar to our trip to Ilha Grande (which I posted about a while ago), we were all very excited to travel and explore a new part of Brazil! Both from what we were told beforehand and from what we saw, the culture of Salvador and Bahia is very different form Rio. There is a rich African history there, which […]

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easter

Easter in Brazil

One Wednesday after class, one of my professors asked me what I was planning to do for Easter. I explained that I didn’t have plans yet, but I was hoping to travel somewhere to make use of the long weekend. He immediately recommended that I visit Ouro Preto. I had never heard of this city, and even after he mentioned that it was in the state of Minas Gerais (which neighbors the state of Rio de Janeiro), I still had no idea where this place was. We didn’t talk much […]

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joseph

Procrastination, Meet Voluntourism

Wow. I really am an absolutely terrible blogger. So much has happened since my last post and you guys don’t know any of it! I almost finished this post as a procrastination measure while I was writing my final papers for class but even that I could not finish. It’s a shame. At any rate, I’m finished with school now! I finished right at the beginning of May and I have been traveling since May 2nd. I want to talk more about that and my travels but first, I want […]

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