OliviaArcRainbow

Valentine’s Weekend in Paris

Paris is one of those places that you dream of seeing your entire life. You see it in movies, read about it in books, and create this image of a somewhat magical place. Believe me when I say that this city, the city of lights and love, surpassed every archetype. On the plane ride from Seville to Paris I caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower off into the distance. I practically had my face pressed up against the plane window because it seemed so surreal! After landing, my […]

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AlyssaBirthdayParty

Aventures à Toubacouta

In picture: Crashing a birthday party in Toubacouta. We danced in the center: wonderful entertainment. Photo Credit: Alia Jeraj I spent a long weekend in Toubacouta, a village several hours south of Dakar, and it was definitely the most interesting weekend of my entire life, in a good way. I have 14 journal pages which describe my experiences in decent detail, but most of the things were truly unexplainable. This post won’t go into as much detail as my journal notes did, but if you want to hear more about anything […]

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KelsieRadio

Two Places at Once

I have to say that after being here in Quito for 5 weeks now, I have learned to expect the unexpected and let the day take you wherever it pleases. The Ecuadorian lifestyle is much more laid back than it is in the United States, and with that comes great challenges, but also great excitement. This week has been the epitome of these thoughts. This week was a bit different from weeks past because after returning from Montañita, every other track in this program had to leave for another trip. […]

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KatieSelf

Saatchi Gallery, Kensington Palace, and More

This past Wednesday I got to try Curry for the first time. CAPA hosted a curry night at a restaurant on Brick Lane. It was really good but super spicy! My friends were making fun of me for how often I asked the waiter to bring us more water, but hey, we were all thirsty. I got some sort of chicken dish with rice and potatoes. On Thursday night I went to a musical called Memphis with Luke, Paul, and Annie. Paul had purchased our tickets online before we went […]

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UofMSand

Southern Excursion, Part One

Southern Morocco held great wonders, surprises, and experiences for me. I learned so much more about this country in one week of travel than I thought I would. There is a lot I’d like to share with you about this trip, so I hope to make a series of 2 or 3 posts to try to fit it all in. Our itinerary: Saturday, February 14: Lunch in Azrou at Panorama Restaurant. Go to Cedar Forest (see Barbary Monkeys!). Spend the night at Hotel Taddart in Midelt; Sunday, February 15: Spend the night in […]

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AlyssaDance

A Weekend Away

In picture: Tori dancing in Sokone. The women would come over to the group of Toubabs and select someone to dance. Tori was selected most frequently, which seems only fitting anyway since she won our group dance competition. Tori, however, was not amused. I’m spending the weekend with my classmates in Toubacouta! I just arrived today, Thursday, and will be here until Sunday night. We have a lot planned and I’m sure you will hear more about it! It’s already been an amazing trip. The MSID program is truly incredible. […]

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DCIM100GOPRO

Hand Me a Suit

It is interesting to think that my first, real professional experience is an international one. I wonder if, in my future endeavors, I will always compare it back to this. In some ways, I think I will, but in others, I question if it will somewhat fade from my mind. For those of you who do not know, I am an Events and Marketing Intern at Cancer Council NSW, specifically for their POSH Gala Ball. I am currently only a few weeks in, but I have already learned a lot about the […]

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KelsieBeach

!Feliz Carnival!

Hey y’all, I know that its been a almost a week and a half since I have been back here on the good ol internet, needless to say it has been a really crazy week! Since we last chatted, I have driven for approximately 32 hours via bus around this country checking out two specific places and when I say places, I mean complete polar opposites. Last week Thursday, our CIMAS clan ventured to the Cantón of Pedro Moncayo (a cantón is more or less a county). In Pedro Moncayo, we stayed […]

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Luciwedding

My Big Fat Indian Wedding

There are some moments where I forget where I am. India is getting more and more normal to me and sometimes I forget I’m abroad at all. Then, there are other moments where I think, “yep, I’m in India.” I’ve been here for almost a month now and can officially check going to an Indian wedding off my bucket list. When the girl I’m rooming with and I told our host mom, Asha, that we’d like to go to a wedding our first week here she went, “Oh sure, I […]

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NatalieGraffiti

Sickness Attacks in Prague

Thursday: off to Prague!! Erin’s brother works for a travel company that works with weekend trips throughout Europe for college students studying abroad. So we booked through his company, and had nothing more to do than just book and pay! Erin had a 2pm flight, but Alexa, Baylie and I left around 5:30. We got there no problem, bus and flights on time, so no worries! We hit a bump when we asked about currency. We’d read that some people/stores accept Euros (instead of Czech Korona), so we figured we’d give […]

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KatieKrispyKreme

One Month Down

I have been in London for an entire month already! I can’t believe how quickly time goes by. I had another great weekend exploring the city. Thursday night my friends and I went back to the ISH bar for karaoke. It wasn’t as busy as last week when we went, but we met some locals so it was fun talking to them and comparing America and London (we learned there were ZERO police officers killed by guns the past two years here). We decided to go buy Krispy Kremes after […]

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AllysonCrepe

Paris, France AKA Crepe Land

CREPES CREPES CREPES, I won’t spent my entire post talking about how good the crepes were so i’ll just say it once. They were amazing. Nutella banana caramel is my favorite. Now I can move on with my writing. 30 January-1 February, 2015 I spent the entire weekend in Paris and I have never been so exhausted upon returning home. Friday we went on a walking tour, boat tour, and wandered around the Louvre immediately after arriving. Okay, when I say wandered around the Louvre what I mean is Claire […]

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Five Haikus for You

Each haiku is related to my day, another great one. not proud of myself for using the ATM I learned it’s simple walking in the dirt clean feet rare and exciting ha. TBT grass most risqué thing here stickers of half naked men found in gum wrappers All Time Hits station playing Lollipop right now oh hi middle school ten cent clementines stands close during prayer time they have changed my life Learning French: Si j’avais de l’argent, j’acheterais une île. If I had the money I would buy an island. (I’m trying to get comfortable […]

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NepalGroup

School Visits, Momo Making, and Language Class Completion

Greetings Friends, These past few days have been quite eventful. We made an excursion to a local school with hopes to talk both Nepali and English with the students there. We were both encouraged to ask questions pertaining to the differences and similarities found between our cultures. We were also equally encouraged by the students from the school to continue our language study throughout the semester. Even the teacher told us that we were welcome back anytime in order to practice / teach. By the end, we had made plenty […]

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AlyssaTentacle

Thoughts on a Thursday Afternoon

In picture: Feven with a 6-suction cup tentacle, and Katherine and Hannah, during lunch today at a Spanish restaurant. Today has been one of the best days since being in Dakar. First, I finally bought an adapter so I no longer need to rely on my Toubab friends to charge my laptop. I bought it from a vendor on the side of the road. I asked “Ñaata?” which is Wolof for “How much?” The guy said 600 francs. Then Hannah, my American friend who also needed an adapter, used her […]

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