La Primera Semana (The First Week) We arrived on Jan. 9, and now it’s Jan. 19. 10 days feel more like 30 days. Highlights and low-lights have included me coming down with tonsillitis for the 3rd time in 2 months, quickly getting antibiotics thanks to Peyton’s “host” cousin who is a doctor, hiking Pacaya Volcano…
I haven’t really been able to process everything I’ve just seen and experienced and done over the past three and a half months, and I think it is going to take me some time to do so. I’ve learned so many things. But one thing that sticks out to me as of this moment that…
24 October 2019* On September 27th, I had the privilege of playing soccer alongside refugees in a tournament that was part of “Langer Tag der Flucht” (long day of the escape), a full day event devoted to the stories of refugees in Vienna, Austria. As I was enjoying the sport I love and practicing my…
4 November 2019 When we started learning about the Holocaust in Europe, specifically in Vienna, I felt like being American, being so far removed from these tragedies, had made it difficult to understand them until I was there in the countries where they took place. It impacted me greatly to be standing in the plaza…
14 October 2019 One huge difference between Europe and North America is that you can take a three-hour train ride to get to another country and never have your passport checked! Thursday morning, our group met at Hauptbahnhof and took a train to Budapest, Hungary. During our three full days in a new city, we…
11 October 2019 I had no idea how living with a complete stranger for two months was going to go. I knew she was a retired teacher, had a daughter, and didn’t have any pets. That was it. The night we arrived in Vienna we all went to a restaurant for dinner and then waited…
9 October 2019 I spent the fall semester of 2018 in DC with the Washington Community Scholars’ Program. I have the privilege of spending this semester in Europe studying art and theater. Theater is one thing that my two cross-culturals have in common. While I was in DC I worked as the production intern at…
Highlights of Salzburg: Walking through old-town Salzburg Visiting stunning baroque churches like the University Church and the Salzburg Cathedral Hiking up Mönchsberg to visit Salzburg fortress Taking a cable car up the Untersberg and hiking to the top Day-trip to Bavaria, where we took a boat to King’s Lake and visited salt mines\ Visited Grossglockner,…
After 3 long days in the bus, including a 2.5 hour-long delay due to engine issues, we rolled into Capetown. As an exhausted and grateful bunch, we unpacked the bus, dragging our suitcases up 3 flights of stairs to our new home for the next 10 days. Many of us feel refreshed with the beach…
June 6, 2019 On Monday June 3 we went to Guanica, which is in the southwestern part of the island. We heard about the sugar factory that was actually located in a town called Ensenada. People who lived in Ensenada were able to work right there at the factory and when they got off work…