Lauren W. - Spring 2009 - Australia

Playing didgeridoos, learning to throw spears and boomerangs, swimming under waterfalls, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef among the manta rays, sea turtles, and sharks, these are just a few of the highlights of my trip to Australia so far. The trip started out with an orientation in which we were taken all over Northern Queensland. We were able to hold koalas and pet kangaroos at one of the wild life parks. After orientation our classes started, but these are not just any classes.

When we learn about the rainforest, we hike through one and then maybe have a swim in one of the water holes or just underneath some falls. When we learn about marine ecology, we swim the Great Barrier Reef. I've never experienced such a hands on method of learning. It will be hard to go back to a lecture hall setting after this semester. We actually spent a week living in tents with aboriginal elders, learning their ways of life and culture. We were taught how to throw a spear accurately 30 meters (everything here is metric) and we made our own boomerangs.

The group just returned from our stay at Lizard Island. It was the most beautiful place that I've ever been. You could swim straight off of the beach to the reef. We spent about 5 hrs each day for 11 days snorkeling and researching the fish. We are getting ready for our independent study section of the class. During this period all students travel to different parts of Australia and join an expert in their studies. I'll be heading down to the Gold Coast, around Brisbane, where the Australia Zoo, or Steve Irwin Zoo, is located. I'll be looking at the rehabilitation of injured koalas and other native wild life at the animal hospital on site. I should actually have the opportunity to stand in on the veterinary surgeries and hopefully go behind the scenes with the animals at the zoo. The photos are of me swimming at Nandroya Falls, playing with a wallaby (a wild one), and on the beach at Lizard Island. This has definitely been the opportunity of a lifetime so far. I would recommend SIT to anyone and everyone.~Lauren

Angie - Spring 2009 - Australia

Wednesday, March 18, 2009updates from Australia!Hey everyone,Here is a brief recap of my past month in AustraliaOur group went to a research lodge in the rainforest and lived there forten days in the wilderness. We spent most of the days hiking in differenttypes of rainforest and Eucalyptus forests to learn about the trees,animals, and insects that live there and how they all effect each other.We saw a tree kangaroo which was a very lucky experience since they arevery shy and endangered; it was absolutely adorable, it was dark brownwith a teddy bear like face and a long brown tail. He just curiouslywatched us pass as he sat high up in a tree in the canopy of therainforest. We did a long hike one hot day and it would have been awfulbut once we reached the end there was a huge, blue waterfall pouring overa cliff and we got to go swimming in its cool pool. We had to give acouple presentations one on an animal of Australia and one on a plant ofAustralia; it was a lot of work but very interesting and we got to be theexperts on them and teach the rest of class about them. One night we wentspotlighting, where you take a spotlight and shine it into the trees andthe reflection of the light will make animals eyes glow so you can findthem. We saw several marsupial possums which were very cute, one even hada little baby clinging to its back, they are much smaller than ones athome and have cute little round faces and bright orange or red eyes.Everything here is so unique. One of my favorite project though was whenwe helped a local farm plant over 50 trees to help re-grow the rainforestwhere it had be destroyed! It really made me feel like I was making animpact for the better. During the rainforest trip we had to drive througha lot of farmland and there were lots of black and white cows all over thehills and it made me miss my little mid-west home some.Reasons you should be jealousI got to feed wallabies (they are like miniature kangaroos) from my handand they climb right into your lapTomorrow I will leave to live on a little island, Lizard island, and willspend almost everyday on a beach and snorkeling in the Great Barrier ReefWhen I get to the end of a long hike I can see mountains and sky and oceanfor miles and miles and it is absolutely breath takingI swam under a freaking waterfall!Reasons you shouldn’t be jealousA python lived in my ceiling and a dead skink was rotting under my bedI got 5 leeches and that was lucky cause other people got over twenty andthat was in a single dayThere are spiders that are very hairy and it would take a baseball bat orhammer to kill themWe did a hike that was so steep it was like going up three stairs in onestep for half an hour or moreAll in all I am having a wonderful time and loving this beautiful place!Angie

Australia- travel
The best thing i learned from traveling abroad is bring everything youneed for at least three days in your carry on becasue all my luggage waslost when i arrived in Australia. No worries though as they say here i gotit eventually and was able to buy what i needed. It is very easy to buythings here that are also in the states so i regreted packing so muchextra supplies like deoderant and shampoo and toothpaste casue it took upalot of room in my suitcase and was easy to find and cheaper here so thereis a good tip as well. It was also easy to get a phone to call home withbecause it was a lot cheaper and i got a good startup plan with lots ofminutes; dont bother trying to buy a phone in the states to take abroadbecasuse alot of them dont work well at all. several people have broughtthem here and they havent worked. All the trouble was well worth it, iabsolutly love it here and have been seeing as much as i can of thisbeautiful conutry.My program group has been taking lots of hikes in the rainforest to learnabout the many plants and animals of this area. We've also just gottenback from an incredible six day camping trip where we learned aboutaboriginal culture and traditions; it was interesting to hear about suchan ancient heritage considering America's mix cultures and short history.It has all been very eye opening!

Emily - Spring 2009 - New Zealand

Kia Ora! (That means hello,welcome, goodbye in Maori)New Zealand is a lot of the "Same Same but Different." I have only written two sentences but need to explain the first one already! Kia Ora is a greeting said by many of the Maori, and some Kiwi people in NZ. Maori (pronounced MOW-rri--mow as in mow a lawn)are the indigenous people of NZ. They are laid back, humorus, and friendly people. The Kiwis are not only fruit, but native birds to NZ and what the "originally European" people of NZ call themselves. Now, what I mean by same same but different is that they are so similar to us, but there are just a few changes here and there. They speak English but with an Australian/British twist, they drive cars, but are on the left side of the road; they have normal grocery stores, but have different brands-- they even have chicken flavored chips! I haven't tried them yet; and their culture is simply different. It's beautiful down here. Green grass and blue skies= something IL hasn't seen in a while! Beautiful hills and SHEEP ARE EVERYWHERE! They have 25-30 million sheep and only 4.2 million people! It's crazy! Anyway, we spent our first 4 days in a city called Rotorua. We went caving, wet zorbing (youtube it!), visited a Maori village, went to the Agrodome where we saw lots of sheep, and then some! We stayed in a hostel (which is, when you're traveling, the best way to stay somewhere) called Kiwi Paka. Then we split and went to our Uni's. I'm studying at University of Waikato in Hamilton on the North Island. It's a great city with a wonderful downtown area that has EVERYTHING you need. New Zealand is one of those places people rarely think about, so it's hard to know what to expect. But I must tell you: they ARE civilized! When you come here, it isn't like if you left something at home you couldn't find it here. Again, same same but different. Because I came with Australearn, there are about 15 other students studying at this school too. We are getting to that stage where we made our American friends in Rotorua on the program introduction and now we are working on making Kiwi friends. Today all the other students are moving into campus because (we think) we start school on Monday. OH fun fact! --You only get the fun fact if you've actually made it this far into my blog:) kudos, by the way-- The time and date for you in Elmhurst, as I am writing this is... Tuesday, Feb. 24th, 7:42pm. For me? It is: Wednesday Feb. 25th at 2:42 pm. Crazy, huh? Well, that's all for me. Until next time, Kia Ora! Emily LabrecqueNew Zealand, University of Waikato, Spring 2009

Quinn - Spring 2009 - New Zealand

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I uploaded some pictures & a video onto my blog! This past weekend I went on a little trip up the west coast of the North Island with some friends.

http://quinnbo.wordpress.com/

^ Here is the link to my blog if you can't seem to find it.

I hope all is well at home! I've heard that you finally have some good weather! Yay!

Happy St. Patricks Day...soon!

Love,
Quinn

Shannon - Spring 2009 - Oxford, England

Two months into my time here at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies in Oxford, and I still wake up amazed that I am really here. These first two months have been a whirlwind of reading and writing. I cannot believe how much information I have learned in 8 weeks, it is, after all, a semesters worth of work crammed into 8 weeks. It's not surprising then that I have two papers and a couple books due each week. But, now that my first set of classes is wrapping up in another week, I am going to miss it. In a very strange way, the immense amount of work has been fulfilling.
True, I have spent most of my time either at Café Nero inside of the famous Blackwells bookstore, the Bodleian Library, or in my room with its extremely bright yellow walls writing and writing. But, I feel like I have gained so much, not only from the culture but also from what I have been learning. It's such a hands-on experience, one that stresses personal growth through learning. Wow, I sound so geeky, but it really is fulfilling. It's nice to accomplish something big each week, and knowing that I am improving gives me so much confidence.
However, I have also learned a lot outside of my studies. I have already traveled into London a few times. One weekend I visited my uncle and I went up on the London Eye Ferris wheel (it has a gorgeous view of the city from high above). I also got to see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and Lion King the Musical. On a separate trip, a group of us went to Trafalgar Square for the Chinese New Year celebration. My latest trip was to Coventry, where I walked through the medieval district and saw the famous St. Michael's Cathedral. During WWII, Coventry was heavily bombed and St.
Michael's Cathedral was hit. The inside of the church is completely gutted, but some of the sides are still intact. It is such a beautifully tragic place. After the war, another new church was built next to it to symbolize hope, as a sort of church rising from the ashes. That night I also got a chance to see a Scottish Musical, Sunshine on Leith. The music was great, but I didn't always catch all of the dialogue as they had very heavy Scottish accents.
The food here in England really is different from the food in the United States. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a really good burger (I did actually find one a week ago at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, it has since brought immense happiness), and a Chicago style pizza has yet to be discovered. Here they serve bacon on lots of different dishes, however, do not be deceived. It is not the crispy American bacon that I love. It is softer and of a light pinkish-red color. It is because they take the bacon from the back of the pig, whereas American bacon comes from the stomach.
They have a lot of little baguette shops here, and of course pubs on every corner. They are very fond of these cookies called Digestive Biscuits.
Now, I thought that they were used to help you digest, and I wondered why they sold them in the cookie aisles by the dozens. I learned that they do not in fact help you digest, and that when they are sold in the U.S. they have to change the name because it would be considered false advertising.
My favorite has chocolate on one side, and they are a salty-sweet biscuit.
They are often eaten with tea.
Well that sums up the last few months pretty well: studying, an occasional trip, and food. My future is filled with many more trips around England, and Europe. My biggest lesson thus far is if you want to do something, don't sit around waiting to do it. Just buy those train tickets to France, or find a hostel to stay in during a trip to Ireland. Don't hesitate, just try and don't be afraid to make mistakes, but also stay safe. Simple enough.

Dan - Spring 2009 - Germany

Hello Everyone,
I have been here in Freiburg, Germany for a little less than two months now, and I truly cannot believe how fast the time has gone. So far since being here I have had an absolute blast, and have met great people and seen so many great places. To anyone who is looking to study abroad in the future I would absolutely recommend this particular program. Although, the courses can get a bit overwhelming at times the courses have been so interesting and the teachers have been fantastic. If anyone has any interest in political science or economics from a European Union point of view than this is the program for you.
Now to the best part of this program and my time abroad is definitely the traveling that we have done. There is so much more to learn about a culture that is not found in text books, and in order to truly get a feel for a culture it is so important to get out and see the city and meet the people. Since being here I have had the opportunity to see so many great cities and learn about so many great cultures. The first month I was here we traveled to Riga, Latvia which I am so glad to have experienced because without this program I most likely never would have had the opportunity to go there. We also went to Berlin which even though it is in Germany like Freiburg it is vastly different. Finally, this past Saturday we returned from a weeklong trip to Krakow, Prague, and Budapest. This was one of the greatest trips of my life and every city was so different and so amazing in its own way. However, even though I have seen these great major cities in Europe I must say it is very nice to be living here in Freiburg. After coming back from trips it really has the feeling of going home, and life really slows down to a manageable pace of life. All in all my trip has been fantastic so far and I look forward to sharing more experiences in the future.
Dan Bak

Veronica - Spring 2009 - Oxford, England

There are always options somewhere. You just have to discover them.
For a long time I felt I couldn’t write. I wouldn’t be doing justice to the experience. Everything was too new and lovely. I didn’t know what to do or how to feel. I love it here. That’s all I can say. This is all very new to me so I don't feel like it's really happening. I’m the first in my family to go and live abroad since my Polish ancestors. I have come to a place I have always felt a strong connection to: England. I don't know how to feel now. Some advice: Prepare yourself. It’s very different and yet very beautiful. There's a lot more history here, just take it all in. Being nervous is natural, but a week before I left I got an odd sense of peace flowing over me and I knew everything was going to be great. Here’s an idea of my state of mine when I arrived, this is from my journal on the Oxford Express, “I'm here right now passing the cascading beautiful verdant mounds of England reveling in the fact that I am here, at last, the place of my dreams for 10 years.”
Meeting new people is probably the best part of my study abroad experience.
Many people are homesick right now. Why come to Oxford if you’re just going to be homesick and miserable? Why even leave the country? I love it here and would not trade my life for anything. I can't even think about coming home now. The style of teaching though is different and all about deep thinking instead of the American emphasis on facts, which is kinda difficult. I got a job as Assistant Junior Dean of the building; basically I’m on duty two or three nights a week just keeping up with health and safety of the building. It’s like an RA job at Elmhurst.
Overall, I love it here more than anything in the world, it’s almost like if I don't take enough pictures I'm freaked out I won't remember it here. 3 months isn't a very long time. But I want to stay here forever. I want to live and breathe England! But I can't. And it is depressing me.
Wednesday night wine night has become my middle of the week haven from schoolwork. At Oxford, with two papers a week, plus countless reading, you need at least one night during the week to kick back and have fun.
Sometimes when I'm outside I am this close to weeping hysterically in happiness, but I tuck it in and try to pretend to look British and bored. England is like a drug. I love feeling that HIGH that comes through you when you're walking down a street and you don't know exactly where you are going and you just want to explore greatly.
I have become used to Oxford. I don't know exactly what this is though. I love being here. Even day to day living, just walking on the street in the gross rain fills me with such joy. Going to London was an experience. To me it seemed like a dream. I could barely even realize I was there at those crazy landmarks, taking photos surrounded by other tourists. Being here is still some strange sort of reverie. I can hardly believe I am here, sometimes I wake up and think I'm dreaming other times I'm awake, but think I'm dreaming. I don't miss my life. I will miss what my life used to be though, because when I come back it will be different. My life will never be the same. Going back to work and school will be strange, going back with my family, it’s almost like they don't exist anymore or their somewhere in this parallel world that I have created for myself here at Oxford.
I can be something great. That's what Oxford has taught me. That I can adapt well in a short amount of time to any given situation. YES I CAN. God, this is lame. I'm one of those happy people that I used to hate. I've never felt this way before. It’s just something about being here its amazing
I wandered onto a Covered Market in Central Oxford by the bus station. I breathed in the air and the scent of Oxford. I thought... "This is real Oxford." Not studying, being outside with the people.I now call Oxford home. It takes leaving your home to really appreciate it. I LOVE Oxford. No qualms. I visited Edinburgh two weeks ago and it was amazing! It is a huge and beautiful city! Edinburgh was another fantastic experience that I may never do again, so it was something I was glad I did and sad I did. Who knows if I'll ever go back? Everything is going insanely fast! I don't want it to end! I'm leaving for Paris on Thursday! My dream destination. Everything is falling into place.

Quinn - Spring 2009 - New Zealand

Kia Ora from Aotearoa! (Welcome/Hello from New Zealand!),

After a week without internet, I am relieved that I can finally update all of you with what has been happening in my life during my first days down under (Kiwis do in fact say “down under” even though it seems Australians use it more).

First off, New Zealand is gorgeous and warm! Coming from freezing cold and snow, it was such a change to leave the Auckland airport and have it feel like summer! I am in New Zealand through the AustraLearn program and throughout the next couple of days, we spent our orientation in Rotorua – about a 3 hours drive from Auckland. Rotorua is known for it’s geo-thermal activity and if you have ever been to Yellowstone National Park out west, it smells just like it – rotten eggs! We spent the weekend learning about life in New Zealand as an international student, we went zorbing (rolling down a hill in a huge rubber ball!), caving in Waitomo, and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

Following that, I arrived in Wellington almost 2 weeks ago. Wellington is right on the harbour of the ocean, and I have the perfect view of the water and the entire city from my bedroom window. I have highly enjoyed living in the city…it is artsy, fun, and overall, a fun environment to live in. There are thousands of things to do to keep you busy. I’ve visited Te Papa, the famous museum. I’ve climbed Mt. Victoria (Wellington’s own mountain) and I’ve visited some Lord of the Rings filming locations! I can’t say that I have had a bad day in Welly!

Classes started this week and unlike Elmhurst, I will attend 3 50-minute lectures and a 50 minute tutorial for each class. Also, classes are called “papers” in New Zealand. I am currently taking three Maori studies papers and a Contemporary Fiction paper. I’m enjoying them so far, and it is interesting to hear my professors speak in a different accent. The problem with Kiwis is that they talk really fast, so I have to pay extra attention to what they are saying or else I get lost in their accent.

Food in New Zealand is different yet great at the same time! Dessert is definitely what I look forward to the most. I’ve had everything from Rocky Road slices to Christmas Mince pies! Yum! I do miss U.S. ice cream though…the ice cream here is runny and doesn’t have the best taste. I guess it’s all part of the experience of living abroad!

I’ll keep you updated as my classes continue but for now, stay warm in snowy and cold Illinois!

Libby - Spring 2009 - Galapagos Islands

Hola amigos!

I’m studying at the Galapagos Academic Institute for the Arts and Sciences with the International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership. There are about 10 of us in IPSL and

Jan. 4th: city tour of Quito. We visited Old Town Quito, the middle of the world museum, a few churches and el virgen (a statue of the Virgin Mary that watches over the city)
Jan. 7th: our first day of classes at la Universidad San Francisco de Quito. I'm currently taking two classes; one is called "Tourism, the community and the environment" and the other is called "Organizations, development, volunteerism and the environment." The latter is academic-based discussions related to our volunteer assignments.
Jan. 9-11: quite possible the best weekend of my life. A group of 15 of us took a bus for 4 hours to an area called Baños. It is called that because there are many pools in the area that are naturally heated by hot springs. The scenery of this area was absolutely breathtaking. The town was settled in between mountains and everywhere we looked there was another waterfall. On Saturday the 10th myself and two of my friends rented mountain bikes and went riding for three hours amongst the scenery. Then we visited the hot pools and in the evening we went canyoning. Canyoning was amazing. Basically we repelled ourselves down waterfalls. One of them was around a 30 ft. fall and the other was at least twice that size. The other amazing thing about the second, larger waterfall was it was more of a free fall than repelling; it was also in the dark. After the second, we rock climbed back up (without any safety equipment) and had to army crawl under barbed wire. It was an incredible experience.

Jan 19-23: Tiputinin Biodiversity Station in the Amazon Jungle
This was an incredible week. We went to TBS which is supported through USFQ (my university in Ecuador) and Boston University. It is there for students to come and study and for graduate/phd students and professionals to do research. For the last couple of years, National Geographic has been doing a project with infrared technology and cameras. They use the infrared to detect animals once they've stepped in front of the camera. They've captured tons of stuff on the cameras: various monkeys, deer, giant armadillo, tapiers, panthers and most impressively: panthers. It was a really intese process getting there. We first took a 30 minute plane ride to Coca which is where a lot of businessmen go. There are quite a few oil drilling sites in Ecuador's amazon area which seemed a little ironic to me. From Coca we took a 2 hour boat ride on the Napo river which feeds into the Amazon, then an hour long bus ride and another 2 hour boat ride on the Tiputini river.

On our first day, Tuesday the 20th, we split into two groups. In the morning we went on a long hike (around 3 hours) on a couple of the various trails based at the station. We had an extremely knowledgeable guide, Meyer. He was a hunter in the area when he was growing up and really knows the plants/animals of the jungle. We went up to one of the station's observation towers that I believe is around 45 meters up. From the top we were able to see on top of the canopy including a whole group of howler monkeys and various birds. We also took a canoe out to a lagoon where we saw a black cayman (like a crocodile), more birds and giant moths. In the afternoon we went to another observation tower, but by that time much of the wildlife was no longer out. We also did a canopy walk. The station has constructed rope/wooden bridges between trees in one area so we clipped a harness onto a cable above the bridge and walked between the trees, literally in the canopy.

On Wednesday my class worked on a project for most of the day. I won't bore you too much, but basically we discussed a real-life issue of the area. There is an idigenous group called the Huaroni. These are a traditionally migrant people, but because of the oil in the area, they have been forced to settle in houses. This has caused a lot of violence amongst the group and has given a lot of power to the oil companies.

On Thursday some of us took a hike in the morning. Toward the end of our hike we heard a group of spider monkeys making their alarm sound. Our guide led us much closer to them (you can see them in the facebook pictures). He told us that because of the specific sound they were making, there was most likely a jaguar or harpy eagle in the area. I'm going with jaguar just because it sounds more intense. We also went on a night hike that night. We saw a ton of frogs, various insects, lizzards, a huge very poisonous spider. It was pretty cool.

Friday was another travel day back to Quito.

Jan 25-27: Cotopaxi, Chimboraza and Riobamba
Just a day and a half after getting back from the jungle we were on the road again. We drove a few hours to Cotopaxi volcano. We climbed to the first base camp which was really really hard because we were at such a high altitude. I was able to take about 20 steps until I would have to stop and catch my breath and let my heart beat slow down a bit. When we got to base camp we had the best hot chocolate of my life at 4800 meters above sea level (almost 15,000 feet or half as high as an airplane flies!!).

We then drove to Chimboraza where we stayed with an indigenous community in a large houses (it was called Casa Condor). It was without heat so we all slept in like three layers. At one point my friend Aubrey and I had to cuddle a little to share some body heat. It was coooold.

On Monday one of the women of the indigenous community took us on a hike in the area. It was a beautiful walk looking at all of the mountain ranges, vegetation and at one point we walked through an extremely rare, endangered forest. It really was magical (again, you can check photos on facebook in a couple days). After our hike we drove to Riobamba where we went to ISQ--another university through USFQ. There we did a cultural exchange with some of the advanced English speakers at the school. It was a great way to practice my Spanish. The students spoke to me in English and I spoke to them in Spanish.

On Tuesday we had a short class at the university and then drove back to Quito.
I flew into Galapagos on Feb. 1st, and I'm probably never going to leave. It's even better than it looks in all the pictures. The town is small and extremely friendly. My family is awesome. My host mom works at GAIAS (my school here) as a coordinator for international students. She's also taking English classes in her spare time but prefers to speak Spanish with me--which I prefer as well. Her husband works as a finance/business guy for Parque Nacional de Galapagos. They have two kids: a four year old son and an eight year old daughter. They're pretty awesome and they're on summer break right now so they're around all the time. I'm actually living with another girl in my program, which is ok. I'd kind of prefer to be either on my own or with one of my closer friends, but we'll be fine. We each have our own room and bathroom, which is nice.

The school is really nice and really laid back. We can wear bathing suits and sandals (or no shoes, if we prefer) to class. A lot of times we have class on the beach that is right outside the school. I’ve taken one class here so far, and I’m in the middle of my second. The first was called “Health and the Environment,” the one I’m in now is called “Political ecology.” So far all of the professors have been really laid back. We’ve mostly only had presentations, essays and readings for each class. Compared to Elmhurst I’d say it’s around the same, maybe even less, of a workload.

I'm now a certified scuba diver! The whole process was pretty fast. We had a few classes where we watched some videos and had basic instruction from Victor (the owner of the dive shop), then we did a half day in the pool to get used to the equipment and then 4 open water dives (2 at a time). The open water dives were obviously the coolest things: we saw sea turtles, tons of fish and rays all over the place. I think I'm going to go diving this upcoming weekend or next weekend. There's a place not too far from here where we'll most likely swim with some hammerhead sharks. Should be pretty cool.

I started my service (for IPSL) the second week here. I'm working as a teacher assistant/tutor in the English as a Second Language classes. Also, with the help of one of the ESL professors, we have started a language exchange program. For this, we have paired up the visiting English-speaking students with the local Spanish-speaking students. The goal is that they do different conversational activities, spending half the time in English and the other half in Spanish, so that they improve their skills of the language they're learning in a realistic way. It's been really successful, thus far. I’ve also been tutoring a couple of students one-on-one a few times a week because they just need extra reinforcement. Tutoring has definitely been my favorite part of service thus far. I got another assignment today for my service. I’m going to be translating a brochure for the Parque Nacional Galapagos from Spanish to English. My service has been really important to me so far. In fact, it's made me re-think what I want to do with my life: teaching...maybe...?

Other than all of that I’ve just been island life: lying on the beach after class, swimming with sea lions and enjoying the well-above freezing sunshine. Of course I've had my days where I miss things about home (certain food and loved ones), but then I remind myself where I am, and how lucky I am to be here, and I'm fine. This Saturday is my halfway point of my study abroad. I’ll be coming back to the States 9 weeks from Monday, which is so bittersweet. Of course I can’t wait for my first meal back (the food here has been really difficult to get used to: lots of fried fish, white rice and beans) and to see all of my loved ones. But I cannot believe how fast this trip is going; I kind of wish it would slow down a bit so that I can enjoy it a little longer.

Please feel free to send me any and all questions you have! I’m so excited for all of you!!!!