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. …

Best Part of the Day

Spanish word of the day: merienda Translation: snack…but that doesn’t do it justice. Merienda is one of the best parts of the day. While it’s not an “official” meal, it is common practice to have a snack and a drink around four or five in the afternoon. Sweets are definitely the most popular during merienda. …

Exploring London with Flying Dutchmen

My spring break here in Rome was held over Easter weekend, for obvious reasons. Since Rome is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics, it can get pretty crazy over Easter. So, I decided to meet up with my friends Annika, Jack (both studying in London with IES and CIEE respectively), and Grace (studying with IES …

Villa Ocampo

Spanish word of the day: escritora Translation: author (who is a woman) Villa Ocampo is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Argentina. It was the summer home of one Victoria Ocampo, who was a gamechanger for women authors. Not only did she decide to write in a time where it was a job …

Midterm Adventures

Last week marked the end of midterms week here in Vienna. As such, we all enjoyed a long weekend as soon as our last exam was over. I planned a trip to Dublin and Stockholm with one of my friends. Dublin First, we landed in Dublin just a few hours after our last exam. Why …

Mise en scène: Performing in France

The IES Abroad Nantes Program offers a variety of courses taught entirely in French, from Gastronomy to Translation, but the most interactive course is without a doubt TH 343: Theater Production. You read that right! Theater Production. No, we’re not sitting at desks in the IES center analyzing French comedies— we’re rehearsing for a live performance, every …

Finding hope in a hard week

I’m just going to say it plainly: last week was hard. I cried, I stressed, I struggled. There were a lot of factors going into this (I pulled a muscle in my back which freaked me out, I said goodbye to my family on Monday, and school was giving me a run for my money). …

The biggest takeaways from a weekend getaway in Barcelona

The highlight of this month has been that my lovely friend, Manna Sakon, a Hope alumni who is now a middle school ELS teacher, came to visit me in Ireland during her spring break. We took a short weekend trip to Barcelona, Spain, and two takeaways from this trip were: 1. show up to the …

Serendipity in a brand-new Italy

Last week, my mom and grandma visited me. We spent our weekdays in Rome and our weekend in Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. I never get this way when I’m gone for a semester at Hope, but wow… There is something emotional about getting to see (and also say goodbye to) your family when you …

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 …