Top of the Mountain & Tropical Mindo

¡Hola a todos! Classes have begun and I’m looking forward to learning a whole new wealth of information about my host country! However, to celebrate the end of our first week of classes, I decided to take a few trips to different places around Ecuador. First of all, I took advantage of Friday by joining three …

Week Two Complete! Park Güell, Tarragona, and so much more

Hello everyone! Week number two is complete here in Barcelona and I could not be more excited to share my recent adventures with you. Just yesterday, I visited Park Güell, a masterpiece of the famous Catalonian architect, Antoni Gaudí. His work primarily was created around the early 1900’s, when Barcelona was flourishing after expanding rapidly through …

Going Inside of a Volcano?!

Sounds crazy, right? Well the truth is that the volcano, while active, only releases small bubbles to the surface of the lake that covers the crater of the volcano. So even though I was “inside” of a volcano, it only felt like I was on the lake! Inside of el Volcán Cotacachi is Lake Cuicocha. Here are some interesting …

First Impressions

The altitude takes some getting used to, but the view is phenomenal! This season is the rainy season in Quito, so it’s been mostly cloudy (Quito has two seasons: dry and rainy). However, when the sun comes up it gets HOT! I made sure to pack some SPF 50 sunscreen bottles to protect my skin. …

Me voy para Ecuador

For weeks, I knew that the hardest thing about leaving for Ecuador would be the goodbyes. My mom is very emotional (and so am I), so there was no way to escape the waterworks as I departed from the airport on my way to Quito. The Mexican culture is very familial, and my family is, …

Rainy Days in Auckland

When I first arrived in New Zealand, the weather was consistently warm, with temperatures rarely getting below 75 degrees. Now, winter has come and the weather has definitely been cooler. The leaves are changing and the sky is cloudy more often. Even so, the weather has still been quite enjoyable. The last couple of weekends have been …

Stickin’ Around Auckland

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been busy with essays and other tedious assignments for my courses. It hasn’t been easy balancing all of my school work with travel and adventures. I decided to buckle down and limit my travels to short day trips outside of the city for the last two weekends. I was …

From Raro to Fiordland

Two of the best weeks of my life just flew by. For mid-semester break, I had to the privilege of spending a week in the paradise that is the Cook Islands. It was an incredible time to be fully immersed into a beautiful, unique culture that welcomed us with open arms. This trip was organized …

{an afternoon at the finca}

Everyday we are responsible for our own lunches and get to venture out into town and find an almuerzo place. A traditional Ecuadorian almuerzo consists of a bowl of soup and a main plate of chicken or fish. Most of the almuerzo restaurants around town are really good, but there is one close to the …

The Shire one day – Mt. Doom the next

It has been quite some time since I have last posted. In the last few weeks, I have gone on many adventures including: skydiving, navigating through caves, climbing mountains, and more. I am adjusting more and more to this new life that I am living. It has just recently gotten to the point where I …