With the start of my classes looming just over the horizon (literally) I thought I’d crank out another post before my life becomes ever so slightly more stressful. Here goes! Not having any classes on Fridays, we all found ourselves with no plans, so we decided to check out the local mall called “Luz del Tajo” (Light of the Tajo River) located about 10 minutes outside Toledo in a suburb called Poligono where a lot of my friends live with their host families. I had been hearing about this thing [...]

My first day in Toledo, after more than 24 hours of traveling, my new host mom told me a famous story. It was the story of El Pulgarcito, who we call Tom Thumb. Luckily, my host mom understood that I was tired and that my Spanish isn’t very good, so she spoke slowly and repeated words when my face told her that I had no idea what she was saying (it might freeze like that because I wear that expression a lot here). The story was written by the Brothers [...]

¡Hola a todos! Well let me tell you. Today has been a lot! After we went on the adventure (as detailed below) we went on another to find coffee. What we found was a bar/tapas (appetizers)/coffee shop that is super close to our school! We stood outside the place looking in like we had never seen a restaurant before, as we tried to decide what kind of establishment it was. After one of us spoke to an unintelligible, toothless, jolly old man, we walked the opposite way than he directed [...]

Welcome to my study abroad blog! This semester, or from roughly January 13th to May 1st, I will be living in Toledo, España!  I am so happy to have the privilege of studying at the University of Minnesota, a university that prides itself on the vast opportunities available for students like myself to travel the world and see new things! It was really easy to begin my study abroad process at the U, and I will be receiving credit for my Communications Studies and Spanish Studies majors, as well as finishing off my Leadership [...]

“ay, eres alto!” After stepping under a street lamp in the bleakly lit parking lot of the Supermercado, I bent over to greet my host mother for the first time. My apparent gigantism seems to be a common theme throughout my travels, and the population of Ecuador is no exception. Pilar, my host mother, is roughly as tall as my belly button. Yet, our extreme difference in height does not stop her from giving me one of the warmest welcome, a hug and kiss on the cheek, I have ever [...]

Yesterday was my first full day in Chile and also the orientation for my program. Matias and I walked to the metro station together so that I knew how to get there and how to use it. Since he and I go to the same school, we rode all the way together which was much easier than going alone. The metro ride (once you get out from underground) is really beautiful. It passes right alongside the ocean and you can see the coast of Valparaiso in front of you- so [...]

I have officially made it to Viña del Mar, Chile! It was definitely an advanture getting here. First I had a loooong layover in Atlanta, GA and as I was getting onto the plane all of the luggage storage bins filled up and they were going to have to check my bag (making it highly unlikely that it would make it to Chile with me…) But, I was rescued by a very nice flight attendant who I had told I was going to be living in Chile for the summer. [...]

This past Sunday was a lot of fun. After the New Years Eve clubbing, more than half of the group that I’m with in Cuernavaca met up at 10:30 am to get on a bus to Tepoztlán. It is about 45 minutes from Cuernavaca. It is known as a touristy town because of all the small shops and the temple that was built on the nearby Tepozteco Mountain. Once we got to Tepoztlán, we all just wanted to get up the mountain. Little did we know, just climbing up the [...]

The past couple of days have been insane. I have constantly been on the go. There is just so much to do here!! Okay so I will start with New Years Eve day… On New Year’s Eve day we had our first test. For 2 hours before the test, we just had a review session which was really nice. We pretty much quickly covered all the things that we had learned during the week right before the test. For me, I thought the test went pretty well! I hate the [...]

Here are some more pictures of our house. The house is kind of small but it is really comfortable. It is one of the better looking houses that are around here I think. Last night we had “pizza of Mexico”. Gloria likes to make food with the colors of Mexico and they are always delicious. The past two days have just been filled with a lot of class stuff. I’m beginning to find it hard to write in English actually. Sometimes I will just type in Spanish or have been [...]

So I am back in the United States after a twelve hour plane journey from Quito to Chicago I was picked up from the airport by the lovely Kendal Ann (Cupcake) and my mom.  I found my self stuttering with English and thanking the people that got me through customs in Spanish.  It is always great to come home, but weird at the same time.  I had a really wonderful experience abroad.  I am most proud of my language improvement and my academic work,  this study abroad program has advantages [...]

Yes, this is what I woke up to the first morning. The guys that I am living with are great. We all bring a lot of different things to our household. The woman that we are staying with, Gloria, spoils us so much. We were talking with some other people that are here with us and it seems like their host families are nothing compared to how great Gloria is to us. Every meal we are treated like we are kings. She was explaining to us that when we are [...]

Today was for sure one of the longest days of my life. First of all, I pretty much decided last night that I just wasn’t going to sleep before leaving for the airport because I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anyways. I was actually quite impressed with how fast I got into the actual airport. I left my house at 3:50 am and was in the actual airport, past security and everything right at 5:00 am. Being 2 hours early for my flight, I just kind of [...]

Getting ready for this trip was kind of a struggle. I just got done with finals on Thursday night, the 22nd. I was home in Sartell and saw some people on the 23rd. The 24th and 25th I was busy celebrating Christmas with the family. Christmas night, I found myself struggling to get everything in line. I am now fully packed and ready to go and it is 12:30 am on the 26th. I thought about sleeping for about 3 hours until I needed to go but 1) I’m too [...]

I have been living in Cotacachi for about a week now and it has been wonderful.  My new family is welcoming, loving and a lot of fun.  I live with a family of five, six total counting me.  Mom-Marcia, Dad-Victor, Brother-Santiago 19, Sister-Jose 13, and Brother-Gabriel 11.  Marcia and I go everywhere together; work, home, the gym, and we even go out together!  So far the hardest adjustment has been getting used to turning on the water outside to use the bathroom, or just knowing that the water isn’t there at all.  Cotacachi is a [...]