Reviews of the Rainforest

Well this past weekend was one for the books! We went on an IES trip to the Amazon Rainforest, yes THE Amazon Rainforest. Not many people have the chance to get there and now I understand why because it is pretty hard to travel there, so I feel extremely grateful for this opportunity. We did …

Birthday Weekend & Clean Monday

When you are quite young, it is not unusual to imagine what your milestone birthdays might be like. Will I get a car when I turn 16? (Definitely not.) Will I have newfound freedom when I turn 18? (No.) Will I party til the sun comes up when I turn 21? (Ha! Still no.) When …

Twelve Hours in Sevilla

This weekend I took my first non IES sponsored trip, and I went with two friends to Sevilla! We decided to take the six hour bus trip to Sevilla and back in the same day. On Friday, our bus left at 1:20am from Salamanca and we arrived in Sevilla at 7:35am. After getting our fix of …

Meteora: understanding beauty in the middle of the sky

Hello readers! If you have ever seen a tourism brochure of Greece, the cover was probably a picture of stunning rock formations, like the ones you will see in the photos below. On Thursday evening my roommates and I decided we would like to see this place for ourselves, so we planned our visit to …

Museums in Madrid

On Saturday, IES sponsored a day trip to Madrid to visit the museums. We arrived around 10:30am and immediately went to El Museo del Prado, one of the most important art museums in the world. We went on a guided tour to see the most important works of art, including art by El Greco, Francisco de …

To the Mountains We Go

Since the weekend before we went to the beach and had quite the relaxing weekend, some of us decided to go for some more adventure and spend this weekend hiking. Eight of us traveled to Quilotoa, a small town in the middle of nowhere that’s about three hours south of Quito. This rural town is …

Canoa: Sun, Sand, & Storytelling

This weekend my friends and I traveled to a town on the coast called Canoa. Canoa is not the typical beach town that you think of, but rather it consists of hostels and small outdoor restaurants/bars that line the beach. It isn’t very developed, giving it a feeling of seclusion and peacefulness which makes for an …

Châteaux of the Loire Valley

Because no visit to France would be complete without visiting a château, our first IES excursion was to the Loire Valley. This region of France is known for it’s vineyards, orchards, and historic architecture. Several excursions are included in  IES tuition and it was great to enjoy this trip before classes officially began First we …

Exploring Segovia, Toro, & Zamora

As a part of the two week orientation in Salamanca, the IES group takes a trip to Segovia and another trip to Zamora and Toro. Segovia is a small city to the east of Salamanca that is an attraction for its history and monuments. Immediately when we arrived we saw the Roman Aqueducts which run from …

Leaps of Faith

I’ve been in Ecuador for a little over three weeks now and it’s amazing to think about the experiences I have already had and how they have changed me. I am still observing everything around me and am trying to make sense of cultural differences, but so far it has been an adventure that I’m …