And That’s A Wrap

It’s been two weeks now since the program ended, and I write this final post back at my house, surrounded by my family, my cats, and a roaring fire to fight the Illinois cold. The program ended in a blur after arriving to Baños for our final retreat. While there, we took some time to …

Solo Trip: Nara Edition

One goal I had for my time here in Japan was to embark on a weekend solo trip. Thanks to Japan’s transportation system, agreeable prices, and the normalcy of being alone, this trip was easily made possible. I wanted to share an overview of my experience! Planning I’d actually picked Nara as my travel destination …

Fall Travels in Japan

I originally planned to study abroad next semester in the spring, but as this semester comes to an end, I couldn’t be happier I chose the fall semester. Autumn in Japan is beautiful. I’m accustomed to Midwest falls that start in September, followed by a temperature drop in October. Here in Japan, until around mid-to-late …

Unexpected Parallels: Exploring the Philippines and Accra as a Tourist

It has been a few crazy months since I have been all over the world. As a passionate traveler, I’ve had the privilege of exploring various corners of the world, each with its own unique charm. Recently, I embarked on a journey that led me to reminisce about my home of the Philippines destinations: Accra, …

All about IES London Theater Studies

Class Experience As a theatre studies student at IES London, the majority of my classes were theater-based, including Playwriting Workshop, Text and Dramatic Imagination, Theatre Industry, and Acting Then and Now. I loved all of these classes and highly recommend them to anyone interested in studying theatre. One of the highlights for me that came …

Ecuador, At A Glance

If you’ve been following me along with the semester so far, you’ve probably noticed a gap in my posts upon arriving to Ecuador. Time (as well as my 15 page research paper) caught up to me, but I’ll do my best to recap the whirlwind of the last month now! 45 straight hours of travel …

Country Havens to Hidden Homes

The places I once called Rome’s havens are now mine too. This morning on the way to class I stopped in with my guy friend at my favorite sweet little Sicilian-style bakery to get an overpriced fluffy cornetto on the walk to our last final (and truthfully treated myself to two cornetti instead of one). …

Nepal Vol. II

After the main two days of the Dashain festival were over, we jumped back into classes with a few exciting site visits. First, we headed to the Nepali World Wildlife Foundation headquarters to learn about their mission and projects as an NGO. Afterward, we headed to what was probably one of my favorite site visits …

Temples, Terai, and Tranquility

On paper, a month can sound like a long time, but based on how fast my time in Morocco flew, I was determined to squeeze every last drop out of my month ahead in Nepal right from the moment our plane landed, and fortunately our orientation gave us an exciting insight for just how much …

Life in Japan, so far

Inuyama, orientation week, dorm or homestay?, & Kanazawa こんにちは!Since you last heard from me, I’d made it into Nagoya. IES orientation week went great; I was able to meet everyone in the program, do some sightseeing, and had the incredible privilege of a nice hotel room to myself for the duration of orientation. Inuyama. On …