Winter Break in Spain: Madrid

Hello again! As promised, I am back to write about the second city in Spain I visited during my week long winter break: Madrid! Madrid is quite different from Barcelona, I might say, other than the fact that they are both the biggest cities in Spain. Upon arrival, I noticed that Madrid had the busy …

Winter Break in Spain: Barcelona

Hello! I have been gone from the blog for a while because as you may have guessed from the title of this post, I was away on winter break! I had a whole week to travel and the possibilities of where I could go were endless. However, the idea of going to Spain had been …

My New Home in Paris

Last weekend, on a cold and windy afternoon, I went ice skating. I’ve only gone ice skating a few times and I’m not the best skater around, but seeing as it is winter here in Paris, I decided to go anyway. I met my friends Jess and Amaya and we rode the metro together to the Eiffel …

Thoughts About My Classes in France!

As much as I would love to post only about my fun adventures I have had (and will continue to have) here, I do have classes to attend and homework to complete. But, it isn’t bad at all! I only have classes Monday through Thursday (Hello three-day weekend!). On Mondays and Tuesdays I only have one class …

Château de Fontainebleau

This weekend was the first of several group trips that my program, CIEE, planned for us. On a bright and early Saturday morning, we got on a bus and headed towards le Château de Fontainebleau, located in the southeastern part of Paris. Driving by and seeing fields upon fields of grass made me smile because it is so different from …

Exploring On My Own

Bonjour again from Paris! I have surprised myself with how well I have adjusted, from not feeling the effects of jet lag to not getting lost on the metro. I think I am starting to fit in after all – especially after being asked for directions a few times already! The past two weeks have been …

Day Trip to Versailles

It’s only been a little over one week since I arrived in Paris, yet I feel like I have seen and done so much! Last Saturday, some of the other students and I planned a day trip to visit Versailles. We all met up at one of the metro stops and from there, took a …

First Days in Paris!

Bonjour from Paris! I officially landed in the City of Light Saturday afternoon after an exhausting 5-hour delay and 8-hour flight. All of it was worth it when I was in the taxi on the way to my host mom’s apartment in the 13th arrondissement. It was surreal driving through each the different neighborhoods and seeing the …

Studying Abroad in College

Prior to coming to Hope, I knew, just knew, that I was going to study abroad. I told my friends, family, and even teachers about it long before I even applied to colleges. I planted that idea of studying abroad in my head because I was following my well thought out plan: Apply to college. …