Goodbye in Barcelona

At the start of the month, my friends and I made plans to take one last trip together to Barcelona, Spain. Like many of the places I’ve visited this semester, I was taken with it in ways I never anticipated. For Barcelona specifically, the architecture and the atmosphere it created was particularly enchanting. Of course, …

Spring Break Part 2: Croatia at Last!

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Croatia was the last stop on my spring break travel itinerary. What started as an average morning soon turned into a reminder about personal realms of control and the importance of perseverance.  The day started at 4am. My friends and I were staying in Rotterdam and had a …

Tour de Europe: Spring Break

We are here! The last month of study abroad, the last two weeks before I’m back for graduation, and the last moments with my friends here at IES and my host family. The time has been flying just as I anticipated it would this April, but I have so many new things to write about. …

Teaching English, Learning French

Coffee is a fact of life here in France, but each Tuesday and Thursday, I make sure to get my espresso extra strong. Why? These are the days I head to my student teaching internship at a local middle school here in Nantes, and those kids have a lot of energy.  Personally, teaching has been …

Essentially Nantes

Today I was struck with an idea. There are so many small tools that I’ve discovered during my time in France that I wouldn’t have heard of had a friend or family member not recommended them. So, I am here to be that friend to the future generation of students, specifically those heading to Nantes. …

Friends and Farmers Markets

This month my friend and I made a pact: each day we would visit a new place in Nantes. Whether that be a store or café, a study spot or garden, we wanted to push ourselves to keep exploring our city during the second half of our time here. On Wednesday, the new place we …

Draw, Like One Of Your French Girls

The story of my first day in art class My first day at l’Ecole de Beaux-Arts de Nantes, I got lost. After three levels of gray cement floors, catwalks, and metal railings, the only things that reassured me I was still in the right place were the eccentrically-dressed students and a mass at the entrance …

An American in Paris

This past week, we at IES were lucky to have a week-long winter break. I say ‘winter’ loosely, as the weather here has been steadily approaching the mid 50’s since the start of February and the rainy mist of January has given way to lush green grass, but I digress.  During this vacation, my older …

Enjoy the Show

“Profitez bien” is probably one of the most frequently used well wishes in France. Essentially, it is a sort of all encompassing “enjoy”. Enjoy an event, enjoy yourself, have fun, make the most of it, ‘profitez-bien’. One way I have been trying to profit from my time here has been to sign up for the cultural …

Trams, Trains, and Planes (But Mostly Trams)

Ok I might have lied. This is not a blog post where I talk about planes at all actually, or trains for that matter. Although both of the latter are very useful and common modes of transportation for traveling long distances across the country, I am excited to write about one of my greatest surprises …